Reviews

Vine Street by Dominic Nolan

sophietica's review

5.0

Gritty, complex crime-writing, with a story spanning decades. If you liked LA Confidential (or James Ellroy in general) you'll really enjoy this.

realsiderzz30's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

lewiscain's review

4.0

Dark and gritty story set in soho through the 1930s-1960s. I enjoyed the story and characters very much, and thought the writing and scene setting was brilliant. The overall premise is clever and interesting but does take time to really get going. I also found it slightly long and at times a little confusing in keeping up with the full plot. Overall though a great gritty piece of noir fiction.

annarella's review

5.0

It's the first book I read by this author and it's not easy to express how much I loved this book.
It's dark, twisty, gritty and riveting. A page turner that takes on a historical trip down the memory, visiting long lost places and atmosphere that seems to be out of a 40s noir movie.
Great storytelling and plotting, excellent character development, a plot that keeps hooked and turning pages.
Great story and great thriller.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

drannieg's review

dark funny hopeful mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Stunning book, highly evocative and great characters. Good twist. (Suspect if set in modern times, plot would annoy me as the usual young women serial killer blah, but as it is this is a stand out of the year for me). Violence not gratuitous (sexually, anyway - quite a lot of general thumping, wallowing and shooting). 

trusselltales's review

challenging dark reflective tense medium-paced

4.5

Vine Street is distinctive, dark, disturbing, dreamlike (or do I mean nightmarish?) and quite a dazzling highlight of the crime fiction offerings of 2021. The word visceral has been used a lot in reviews I've read, and justifiably so. This is noir at its finest, with evocative scenes of 1930s Soho, with multi-layered intense characterisation and a sweeping plot. It's very gritty, and not for the faint of heart, but it's compulsive.