Jana (A Tale of Decadence)

By David Veronese and Annabeth Albert

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1852423056
• ISBN13: 9781852423056
• Release Date: January 1993
• Publisher: Serpent's Tail
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.0" x 0.5" x 4.8"

Customer Reviews

Stunningly tasty piece of crime fiction

Wow! Just when I thought I'd had it with mystery... This book was recommended by George Pelecanos. It's not like anything I've read. The action takes place in Amsterdam and London, and deals with lust, deceit, drugs, femme fatales, crooked cops and then some. The writing style is superb, crafted with a knife. The author's mastery of description, evocation of scene, construction of strange, beguiling characters, is out of sight. I had to scour used book stores to find this gem. If you like something different, this is a the one. Check out the scenes at the Amsterdam flea market, the red light districts, the hashish bars, the London rock scene. Brilliant.

Crime, sex, drugs, rock n'roll, this is the one

Staggeringly good little crime book. If Dashiell Hammett was smoking hash in Amsterdam, this is where he'd be. Stunning women, really flashy writing, can hardly compare it to anything in the crime fiction field. This is something really different

An atmospheric tale of drugs,women, & deceit set in Amsterdam

If you liked Trainspotting (book or movie), or Pulp Fiction, give this a gander. Eddie Verlaine is a small time hustler who goes to Amsterdam and meets a beautiful mysterious woman named Jana. He falls hopeleesly in love with her and lends her a wad of money. Jana disappears and Eddie is drawn into a smuggling ring operating between Amsterdam and London, headed by Werner, a throughly evil Swiss-German gangster, and Jana's friend, Margo, a sluttish clever beauty who takes her own turn at seducing Eddie. In London, Eddie gets embroiled with his ex-wife Claudia, a movie starlet, and her new boyfriend, Trenton Lee, a rock star, and his flash, junked-out guitarist. Veronese's descriptive prose is not to be believed. You're quite certain that you're walking down the canals of Amsterdam or wandering the streets of Soho. There's something of Raymond Chandler, of film noir, of blinding poetry in his work. Aside from a decadent, Verlaine is a devotee of Renaissance art. Profane meets holy is ongoing. A must read