One of the most exciting things about Sara Gran’s The Infinite Blacktop...is the way it uses all of these often restrictive neo-conventions to its advantage in order to create a completely original hybrid of mystery, thriller, contemporary noir, dark comedy and postmodern meditation about what it means to be a detective ... Gran makes...fragmentation, in which no single story line ever becomes central, feel organic to her main character, who also seems constructed out of jagged shards ... Gran has an engagingly sardonic voice and a sure grip of storytelling basics, even those she is manifestly interested in ignoring or transcending ... The Infinite Blacktop is droll, savage and healthily unsettling, even at moments when it verges on becoming an essay about its own construction.
...trust me, you are in for a singular mystery experience ... her cases seem like they’re taking place on one of those old Anytown, U.S.A., Twilight Zone sets. The Infinite Blacktop is the most intricately plotted of the series ... The peculiar charisma of Gran’s mysteries derives not only from her wayward plots but also from eccentric details.
Claire DeWitt is a private detective not always easy to like ... In the end, you want her on your side ... By adding a comic-book teen detective and an elegant French investigator to the Claire DeWitt mystery mix, Gran turns The Infinite Blacktop into a thriller that is no ordinary, by-the-book crime procedural.
Gran’s unique mysteries are an irresistible blend of quirky philosophical quests, gritty fight scenes, and painful truths. This very special series will have Alan Bradley fans imagining what might have happened if Flavia de Luce had grown up and landed in noir-tinted California.
...an extraordinary series that blends the tropes of locked-room mysteries, noir thrillers, and girl-detective stories with a touch of far-eastern mysticism thrown in ... Gran moves seamlessly between the three threads in her quirky, original writing style.
...strange yet wildly entertaining ... As the narrative proceeds, another cold case gets woven in, and Gran deftly jumps back and forth between them, bringing the reader along for a wild ride across the decades.
Gran writes for TV...and the book shares certain qualities with prestige television—snappy dialogue, an interlocking, episodic structure, and a complex antihero. Claire is far from likable. In fact, she’s so edgy that it’s a bit exhausting at times. Those who prefer their detectives logical and their mysteries wrapped up in a neat bow will be frustrated by her antics, which occasionally veer into self-consciously quirky territory. But readers who are willing to follow along for the ride will find much to entertain them in this ongoing series ... Gran excels at keeping those dice in the air.
The quick movement from time period to time period, coupled with Claire’s intellectual and sometimes depressive musings, makes the novel slow to start, but there’s a fascinating echo in these pages of classic LA noir detective fiction from the age of Hammett and Chandler ... Give it a bit of time to wind up and you’ll be charmed by this eccentric, enticingly artful mystery.
...bold and stunning ... Mixing classic tropes of teen detective fiction with elements of eastern philosophy and a profound sense of the absurd, Gran takes readers on an unforgettable journey.
