Boulevard Dreams
Good Mystery Genre Book To Read Online
Home »
Boulevard Dreams
Genre: Mystery/Dark
As a reader, have you ever longed for a mystery book from a renowned mystery book author who actually injected a sense of humor into their story? This theoretical blending of humor and mystery results in the kind of dark humor books category that Boulevard Dreams more than fits into quite nicely.
In this intelligent and darkly funny mystery set in 1958 San Francisco, a private eye, Joe Nails, endures a series of surrealistic dreams in which his once best friend, Mark Tamlyn, pleads for Joe’s help, before turning a gun to his own head and firing.
This eBook is always free reading with your Prime or Kindle Unlimited Membership!
Q & A FOR BOULEVARD DREAMS
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE BOULEVARD DREAMS?
Well, you can get the best descriptions of it off its Amazon page or right above on this very page. But, ah, I guess I’d say it’s a mystery book loaded with wonderful characters that leads to an ending that will shock you right out of your socks – that is if you wear socks. If you don’t, well, I’m afraid you probably will guess the ending.
AS A REKNOWNED MYSTERY BOOK AUTHOR YOURSELF, WHAT PAST OR PRESENT AUTHOR IS YOUR STYLE MOST REMINISENCT OF?
Well, I don’t think I write quite like anybody else, and I’m certainly not in the same league as those who I’d consider to be the classic greats: Dashiell Hammett, Mickey Spillane, and Raymond Chandler. But I might suggest, if you demand an answer, that my writing is close to the style of Mark Twain if he were to write a private eye detective thriller. That is if he were on acid and had no quantifiable talent.
I’VE HEARD BOULEVARD DREAMS IS ONE OF THOSE DARK HUMOR BOOKS, BUT IT ALSO ADDS QUITE A BIT OF HUMOR THAT’S NOT SO DARK. CAN THOSE INGREDIENTS BLEND TOGETHER WELL WITH ALL OF THE MURDERING THAT EVIDENTLY GOES ON IN IT? I HEARD THERE'S QUITE A BIT OF THAT SORT OF THING.
Well, I think humor can blend with just about anything. The main trick, of course, is that it needs to be funny, and I think there are some very funny moments in Boulevard Dreams – dark or otherwise. Try it and I think you’ll agree. I must warn you, however, I’m not terribly bright.
This is the first in a series of wholly unnecessary articles written by Biff Steele regarding books by E Ryan Janz, including Boulevard Dreams, undoubtedly one of the great mystery books to read.
Boulevard Dreams – A Contemporary Classic Mystery
An Essay by Biff Steele (What on earth gave me the idea I know how to write an essay?)
You know, I love good mystery books, the kind loaded with dark secrets, twists and turns and shocking endings, and among one of the great mystery books to read online and among my favorite mysteries of all time is Boulevard Dreams by E Ryan Janz. It is one of those must read mystery books that you will be kicking yourself if you die before reading it. Obviously, I am assuming that kicking oneself after death is doable.
Now, you may ask, okay Biff Steele, what makes Boulevard Dreams among the great mystery stories to read? Or you may also ask, would it be closer to the truth that you are employed at the E Ryan Janz website, whereby the man himself ordered you to write an incredibly positive sounding essay despite your limited skills? Well, my answer is of course Janz ordered me to write a rave critique of his book, but it actually goes much deeper than that (He also ordered me to say that).
The thing is though, I really love this book, you know? You see, when one talks of mystery genre books like, oh, I don’t know, like classic detective fiction for example, or more specifically mystery books for adults or mystery thriller novels, or all of the above, Boulevard Dreams grabs you and refuses to let go until the very end. Isn’t that what a reader of online mystery books looks for?
So, how does a terrific mystery go about accomplishing that? And by what criteria does a reader decide upon what mystery books to read? Well, for starters, Boulevard Dreams contains a protagonist upon which every mystery book reader demands, namely a hero the reader can enthusiastically root for, and that hero in this story is Joe Nails. But why root for him? First of all, he is flawed, with a past that reveals itself, flaw by flaw. He is also not a terribly successful private eye, not necessarily due to any ineptitude on his part, but more as a result of events beyond his control. Yet he maintains a sense of humor, and the reader will discover just how difficult that is for him to do, not to mention how unusual it is to locate genuine humor in good mystery books.
As the story opens, Nails quickly develops a simple quandary brought on by his own nightly dreams of a long-ago best friend, Mark Tamlyn, repeatedly committing suicide in those dreams. So, given he has nothing better to do, and to ease his troubled mind, Joe sets out to locate Tamlyn. While doing that, he runs right into the second major element most must read mystery books require, a great antagonist, or in the case of Boulevard Dreams, a massive brick wall going by the name of “Bellings.” He’s a fellow that I promise will be a character you will love to hate.
At the outset, all Joe wants to know is whether Tamlyn is still alive, so after a bit of investigating he discovers Mark’s landlady, among others, has not seen him for weeks. So, Joe ventures to a huge corporation where Mark is employed, a corporation owned by Bellings. However, in response to Joe’s inquiry of whether Tamlyn has been to work lately, Bellings provides little information. Therefore, one of the truly exceptionally good mystery books to read online draws us in deeper, mainly because Bellings forces us to.
Assuring its status as one of the must read mystery books, there are other memorable antagonists in this story including an unidentified dangerous assassin who acts as a sometimes narrator, as well as a few henchmen Bellings employs to do his dirty work, but Bellings truly stands out as an antagonist for the ages.
The third element most good mystery books contain is a mysterious beautiful woman, and Boulevard Dreams is home to several. The first, Kristine Kamen, is a sultry, sexy, and unhappily married feme fatale. The second is the equally beautiful blonde-haired Pamela Tamlyn, who happens to be the ex-wife of the man for whom Nails is searching.
Now, atmosphere is undoubtedly another factor contributing to Boulevard Dreams being among the great mystery books to read online, for this book is set in one of the superlative locations for such a work – the great city of San Francisco. What makes this location doubly superior is it is set in the misty past, 1958, a past not rooted in the lovely swirls of color, but instead lies teetering somewhere between the noirish hues of black and white. Many of the novel’s unforgettable characters spin their scheming webs upon these streets of the city, streets both upscale and downtrodden, creating a realism that captures that long ago time with equal servings of charm matched up against doses of tawdry decadence. These qualities only add to making it one of the great mystery books to read.
So, to this point we know that Boulevard Dreams contains a sympathetic protagonist, an unforgettably rotten antagonist, and a one-of-a-kind location, but what else is there? In other words, what really sets it apart from even the greatest of mystery genre books? Well, in one word – humor. It is very funny at times, so Boulevard Dreams contains a true wildcard that many others cannot match, and when one recognizes that this is a novel that is also quite tragic, you have a truly unusual story containing a myriad of near unparalleled qualities.
To top things off, I’m gonna add a fifth element to the mix. A fair number of you book lovers will relate to this point when considering superior mystery books to read online, or for that matter, any book genre to read online. It is something that has always bugged me, and that is, dialog. How often do any of you find realistic dialog in a book? Sometimes it is mind numbing how bad it can be, and how unrecognizable it is as it relates to how people actually talk.
Boulevard Dreams contains realistic and memorable dialog throughout each and every page where it appears, not often found in mystery genre books that descend into the trappings of cliché, and the reason is simple. Janz tells me he listens to the dialog as he writes it to ensure it reflects realism. In fact, he prides himself on it. To him, it has to sound right.
I guess I could go on and on about Boulevard Dreams, one of the wonderfully good mystery books, but to me the sooner you stop reading this article the faster you’ll pick up a copy. In fact, if you scroll up this page and click on the “Buy Now” button, it directs you to its Amazon page where you can purchase it in either the paperback or the eBook format.
So, there you have it, but I’ll leave you with this thought. When looking for great mystery books to read within the category of mystery genre books, or any type of enjoyable book, I suggest you look no further than Boulevard Dreams.
I’m betting you will love it
About the Author
Biff Steele has been employed at E Ryan Janz since its inception as a website in 1847. He also acts as Mr. Janz’s personal assistant, bodyguard, and chauffeur to Mr. Janz’s dog. This will be the first in a series of essays Mr. Steele will be writing for each of E Ryan Janz’s must read mystery books, among others, all done in order of their date of publication.