Very intense and gritty. A terrific throwback to the classic noir story, with the twist of a strong female protagonist. ( )

A thoroughly entertaining read. The central friendship between our hero and the titular Queenpin reminds me of the relationship between J. Lo. and Constance Wu in Hustlers . Sure the dialogue and plotting verges on parody of noir thrillers, but Abbott gets away with it turning phrases with the best of them. Sometimes you just want to read some pulp fiction. ( )

This novel was a great change of pace for me. The narrator is a young woman from a small, undistinguished city who gets a job keeping the books at a small casino and quickly uses her looks and intelligence to start moving up in the underworld.

Her sponsor is Gloria Denton, a legend in this noir world: closing on middle age, but still beautiful -- and even more smart and dangerous. Our narrator idolizes Denton and wants to prove herself worthy of her attention and perhaps one day becoming her equal. Denton herself, tough as nails though she is, appears to genuinely like her apprentice, taking pleasure in teaching her how to dress and telling her what she needs to know to thrive in gangland.

But, because this is a noir, trouble comes in the form of a member of the opposite sex. Soon passion, lies, and violence complicate the relationship between mistress and apprentice, and our narrator has to make life or death choices about where her loyalty lies.

The book is well-written, and I didn't even notice until I was 2/3 of the way through that we never learn the narrator's name. Others address her with nicknames and she never shares the truth with us. Which only makes sense. You never know who to trust in this world.

I'm definitely going to check out Megan Abbot's other noir novels. ( )

I picked up this book after reading a great review from an incredibly reliable source here on Goodreads. I'm really glad I did. This book is unbelievably good. Megan Abbott's prose is as hardboiled as it gets yet highly crafted so that each sentence reads with just the right amount of punch. The story has all the elements of surprise, inevitability, and more profound notions of character you could ever want from a novel. There were more than a few scenes in Queenpin that made me turn to whoever was sitting next to me (okay it was usually just Bean) just so I could say out loud how awesome a certain passage was, or else just make an "exclamation face" and go back to reading. It's the kind of book that invites a sort of "did you see that?" reaction. Perfect noir. Perfect summer read. Give yourself an "exclamation face" and buy this book. ( )

I picked up this book after reading a great review from an incredibly reliable source here on Goodreads. I'm really glad I did. This book is unbelievably good. Megan Abbott's prose is as hardboiled as it gets yet highly crafted so that each sentence reads with just the right amount of punch. The story has all the elements of surprise, inevitability, and more profound notions of character you could ever want from a novel. There were more than a few scenes in Queenpin that made me turn to whoever was sitting next to me (okay it was usually just Bean) just so I could say out loud how awesome a certain passage was, or else just make an "exclamation face" and go back to reading. It's the kind of book that invites a sort of "did you see that?" reaction. Perfect noir. Perfect summer read. Give yourself an "exclamation face" and buy this book. ( )