Kiss Me, Judas

Upon reading the opening paragraph of Kiss Me, Judas a few things become clear. The quality of the writing, the hallucinatory tone and the break from genre conventions are all apparent. It not only sets the tone but grabs your attention also. I think it is worth quoting at length.

Kiss Me, Judas is the kind of story that David Lynch would have told had he written novels instead of directing movies. It is an unrelentingly dark and at times twisted tale that offers no respite for the weak of heart. Will Christopher Baer has a heart of darkness, but because of his striking prose we are better off for it.

During the opening two chapters of the book, which only encompasses 13 pages, a dizzying amount of set up action and necessary background information is given about Phineas Poe. After being released from a mental hospital looking like a cancer patient he goes to a hotel bar and meets a gorgeous woman in a red dress named Jude. They go back to his room and after having unprotected sex he wakes in a tub full of ice missing his kidney. When questioned by the cops we find out that not only did he used to be a cop, but that he was also Internal Affairs Division. So, it goes without saying that the police don't like him. After his wife was shot and killed in an accident(?) he had a nervous breakdown on the practice range and started shooting imaginary people. After taking an ounce of crystal meth he locked himself in a holding cell with a female prisoner and had her urinate on him. Upon waking up in a hospital he decides he wants to leave and yanks out his catheter. Before leaving the hospital he goes into the room of a burn victim on life support to take her drugs and antibiotics. The woman suddenly stirs thinking he is someone else. Since she can’t see, he plays along telling her that he has been feeding her cat. She tells him that she is afraid and asks him to pray for her. He takes her hand and recites the only prayer that he knows, the children's bedtime prayer. He holds her hand until she falls asleep then steals $50 from her purse. Afterwards he realizes he has fallen in love with Jude and he decides to track her down and get his kidney back.

Phineas Poe, possibly the most unreliable narrator the mystery genre has ever produced, leads us through a nightmarish landscape in which nothing that happens can be taken for granted. He is mentally unstable and oddly comfortable in his own skin, so when something happens that would set the alarm bells ringing in others; he takes it all in stride. He is a drug addict that floats along in a hallucinatory cloud that lends a bizarre bent to an already hellish existence.

Because of his inability at times to distinguish between what's real and not real he has a strange proclivity towards violence. He is quick to act out against somebody that he feels threatened by, stranger or not. He is also equally quick to engage in sadomasochistic sex, binding, gagging and cutting Jude when they have sex; fantasies about rape or forceful sex when looking at other women. While knowing that he is physically vulnerable, especially after his surgery, he is confident that he will never face any consequences for his actions. If he gets beat up there is always more drugs to turn to, if he gets arrested then he will just go into a mental hospital again. So, in Poe's world even a normal semblance of justice, which arguably is not only a trademark but also a pillar of hard-boiled/noir, has been corrupted by the narrators own lack of a coherent grasp on reality.

One of the first things that become readily apparent is the lack of quotation marks. Unlike the lyrical lilt of Bruen or the indicative dashes of Huston, Baer’s dialogue freely intermingles with the text. The thoughts and words of Poe and others are so intertwined that it seemed superfluous at first, but you quickly realize that it was a stylistic choice on Baers part. The way that the dialogue weaves its way through the story compliments the hallucinogenic tone of the story.

Jude embodies a few noir standards: the sexy woman at the bar; the female assassin/killer; the nursemaid; the hellcat in the bedroom and most importantly she’s not just a femme fatale but THE Femme Fatale. She proves throughout the story to be a tough bitch with one hell of a mean streak that also has developed a soft spot for Poe. However there is ample evidence to suggest that she only has strong feelings for those men who are weaker then her. Whether it’s Phineas in his current state, a young man with AIDS or a boy in need of an organ. She only ALLOWS herself to be taken or captured when she chooses. The only female noir standard that she doesn’t embody is the Hooker with the Heart of Gold. While embodying these genre standards she also lays them to waste. She’s not only her own woman, she’s also unlike any other female character that has come before her. In one sense she is Poe’s Virgil but it remains to be seen if she will become his Beatrice.

This is a non ponderous retelling or exploration of a bland urban legend. It quickly moves past that conceit into something else entirely, a guided journey through hells that we don’t normally visit. After his re-birth in the tub of ice it remains to be seen whether Phineas will ever earn redemption from or respite for the sins of his past but his journey is surely an interesting one.

Miscellanea:

-The image shown above is that of the omnibus edition of the three Phineas Poe novels. The titles are available separately but this seems to be the most common edition these days. There will be future reviews posted of the other novels in the series as well.

-There’s a lot more to say about this novel that wouldn’t be appropriate in a review. I may work on an extended criticism of the trilogy after I finish reading the third book.

-Purchasing this book was blind leap of faith for me. I had never heard of the three novels, the character or the author prior to buying the book. Other then the intriguing synopsis it was a blurb from George Pelecanos on the books cover that helped seal the deal, so I'll give him the last word. George Pelcanos, who is probably the most respected writer in crime fiction, a writer’s writer as it were, said the following about Kiss Me, Judas...

Other Reviews of works by Will Christopher Baer

Hell's Half Acre - Sep 25, 2006

Penny Dreadful - Aug 25, 2006