Sirk TV Book Review: DOUBLE SOLITAIRE [Arcade Crimewise]

The essence of a fixer revolves in the crimes he must fix without begetting himself or otherwise sacrificing himself to the morality of what money covers up. As a crime noir in modern day Los Angeles, Quinn Farrell as a lead character tries to do the right thing while keeping everyone at arms length. The Los Angeles in "Double Solitaire" [Craig Nova/Arcade Crimewise/237pgs] is one of isolation with some glamour peaking through even though everyone seems to be telling a lie. With Farrell, despite the sludge he needs to pick up after for a producer trying to get films down with actors (one specifically who can't control himself), the cover ups become more and more elaborate until the impulses become too big too contain. Most of the pay offs back and forth are simply points of negotiation and Farrell never loses sight of the bottom line.

However, he still wants an essence of quid pro quo. It is when he heads outside this comfort zone, whether it is his side business of vending machines which attracts the attention of Russian gangsters or picking up the wrong female hitchhiker on a work trip into the desert between Vegas and LA, Farrell understands the irony of the world he lives in. The beacon of hope is Rose Marie, his next door neighbor who works with terminally sick kids at UCLA Medical. Their inclusion is meant as a counterbalance and to integrate different sides of Farrell's personality but in many ways it is too obvious of a counterpoint mechanism. It however does feed his identification of truth vs. consequence. Things start to get dicey but they tend to integrate back to a flashpoint which Farrell has to settle to allow his psyche in a way to move forward. "Double Solitaire" is not bad for an LA crime noir stuck in the modern age while still understanding the world it has become. B-

By Tim Wassberg