Nothing Personal

By Jason Starr

Book Overview

From the Anthony Award-winning author of Twisted City comes a classic New York crime thriller.

CAN YOU TRUST YOUR FRIENDS?

The DePinos are barely scraping by in a rundown apartment above a Hell's Kitchen deli. The Sussmans live comfortably on the Upper East Side, insulated from consequences-or so they think.

When Joey DePino loses his job and finds himself cornered by bookies and a loan shark, desperation pushes him toward a sick, reckless plan to wipe out his gambling debts. To pull it off, he drags the Sussmans into a scheme that will destroy every illusion they have about loyalty, friendship, and control.

But ad executive David Sussman has problems of his own. His psychopathic mistress is threatening to ruin him, and David is determined not to go down quietly. As the lives of the DePinos and the Sussmans collide, both men plunge their families into an amoral world of betrayal, obsession, and escalating violence-where no one escapes unscathed.

Nothing Personal is a dark, razor-sharp noir novel about class envy, moral compromise, and the lies people tell themselves to survive, told with the relentless tension and street-level authenticity that define Jason Starr's fiction.

PRAISE FOR JASON STARR AND NOTHING PERSONAL

"Has the New York sound and energy, dialogue that's right on the beat."

- Elmore Leonard

"The King of Noir is back. It doesn't get any darker-or funnier-than this. The best novel of the year."

- Bookends

"An original modern noir tale reminiscent of Jim Thompson or David Goodis."

- The Irish Times

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1070270768
• ISBN13: 9781070270760
• Release Date: May 2019
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 276 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Starr does it again

I love Jason Starr for his fantastic characters, intricate plots, and nasty little trick endings. This book delivers all of these things and more in a tale where the seemingly perfect upper-class couple is contrasted with a couple down on their luck. Through a series of events and entanglements and with some interferences from the requisite crazy ex-girlfriend (if you are a regular Starr reader you know this character by now, and you also know how well this guy can write her) the roles of the two couples start to reverse. Opposites abound in this book...fat vs. thin, rich vs. poor, cheaters vs. noncheaters...questions are posed about which status is really the most attractive and/or pleasurable...and it's all done in a really subtle, snarky, fun way. The whole thing is plotted wonderfully, the characters are hilarious and dark and ridiculous, and the whole book is pretty fantastic. I don't really see that this book is written in any particular way for the male late night reader, as a reviewer said below. I'm a chick and I finished it in the daytime and found it equally fantastic. Yes, this book has some very dark parts, most of which occur at the expense of females, but I don't get the impression that these events are meant to be titillating or appealing to the male sensibility in any way. Kind of the opposite actually. So, whatever your gender or persuasion, go ahead and read this book. It's got great characters and plot and everything you could want from a twisted little noir novel.

Loved this book

It is well-written, held my interest and I immediately went and read all of Jason Starr's other books. I am a big fan of the Mildred Pierce, Postman Rings Twice, etc and this book was such a delight as the genre has been updated to modern times.

I loved this book and went and read all other books by Jason

This book is an edge of your seat tension building plot that held my interest grippingly. I read it in one night and then the next day went and bought every other book written by Jason Starr. They are all brilliant. I love the New York setting in the dead end type jobs with the tension between the boss and main character. The marital tension. So well-written and clever. I haven't read a similar book and it was joy to read something different and intriguing.

Noir at its best

At thirty-five years old, Joey DePino worries about what the bookies and loan shark will do to him. However, Joey is more concerned about how his wife Maureen will react if she learns about his gambling debts. Frankie the bookie has already cut off Joey's credit and two thugs employed by Carlos the loan shark has cost him two stitches and bruised ribs. Joey also lost his job for lunching too long at OTB, but feels one more bet, perhaps the Pacers against the Magic will make things right. Ad executive David Sussman was strutting just a week ago about his affair with employee Amy Lee. Now he panics that the obsessed Oriental will destroy his life. She threatens to call his wife if David fails to marry her and who knows what she will do to his daughter. David wonders how he will end his relationship with the troubled Amy. Maureen and Leslie have been friends since school, but soon their lives will intertwine through the actions of their spouses in a way neither could have predicted. NOTHING PERSONAL is a dark urban noir that takes the audience into an amoral world where beating the rap is more important than accountability for one's activities. On the surface Joey and David seem like two radically different personalities, but they react to their crisis in similar ways, mostly not wanting it to reach their wives. The characters are fully drawn so that the audience understands the two couples even Amy's fatal attraction. Jason Starr lives up to his surname with this taut thriller that climaxes with an intriguing unexpected twist.Harriet Klausner

Starr creates another nasty noir thriller!

I can think of a lot of adjectives to describe Jason Starr's latest novel like: dark; disturbing; exciting; funny; crafty; thoughtful; and, depressing. My top two, however, are gripping and complex. It's gripping because you have, at most, 3 pages to relax, and then, if you don't want to ignore more important things than reading this book, you must be clinically obsessive-compulsive. It is complex because, once again Starr creates accurate portrayals of people we know and must both sympathize with as well as detest by the end of the story. Starr's ability to peel away the superficial layers of sanity, sobriety and humanity that his protagonists hide behind, is disarming and terrifying. By the end of the story almost every character is both a predator and victim. The story is dark, cold, exciting and tense, but with enough "justice" such that you should be able to face your friends and neighbors again with a manageable amount of contempt.If you like Brooklyn and New York settings you will probably love their portrayals here. Starr is able to accurately capture the ambience of two distinct worlds that lay side by side and constantly grind and bump with tension. Starr knows New York and presents it in a way that is inciteful but not overbearing.Starr's story is always well plotted with an exceptional interweaving of two worlds that ultimately collide. At times, I was repulsed, scared, angry and excited by this unpredictable story. As with his previous novel, Starr blends much of societies culturally chic obsessions and pathos with humor. He also seems to be able to accurately portray, even with some sympathy, the psychological traumas of chosen and popular lifestyles.So...do you like noir? Do you like well written suspense? Do like dark, dark humor and enjoy twisted justice? If you can answer yes to any one of these questions, you'll love this book!