Book Review: Black Mountain (Isaiah Coleridge #2) by Laird Barron

Black Mountain (Isaiah Coleridge #2) by Laird Barron

Hardcover, 320 pages

Published May 7th 2019 by G.P. Putnam's Sons

In the wake of True Detective there was a rush of readers and interest in the various influences Nic Pizzolatto drew from in that first season. One of those influences was the often stunning cosmic horror of Alaskan ex-pat Laird Barron. Know in his early years for writing some of the most dread filled short stories in the weird lit field Barron is a house hold name in the horror lit world.

We didn’t need internet articles pointing us to these so called hidden gems that inspired the tone if not the story of True Detective. Look I like weird brooding cosmic horor Laird Barron as much as the next horror reader, but it is his last two novels that really spoke to me.

Black Mountain is the second in a series featuring ex-hitman Isiah Coleridge who is forced to leave Alaska and the Mob. Now serving as private detective we have Coleridge returning as the same interesting character in pleasantly different feeling book. The second book does not feel like a rehash that is perhaps the best news.

Let me go deeper on why that news will be music to the ears of Laird Barron’s readers. The dark tone and plot of this novel shows more of that super dark tone we all know Barron is capable of, while still delivering a fun crime read. Even as the story goes darker, a brutal serial killer that appears to be targeting mob killers is weird enough. Mix it with the fun sarcastic almost Elmore Leonard style dialogue and you have a great combo.

The serial killer part of the story certainly would have worked in its own novel even with a dark SEVEN like feel. Coleridge investigating the killer known as the Croatoan is interesting enough for a novel alone, this killer was thought to be dead long ago. But Coleridge and his attempts to leave violence behind is equally compelling and that is where the fun comes in.

Barron blends in a variety of influences that you don’t notice in the moment, but after you close the book it stays with you. That is when you smile thinking about the last pages feeling like Ellroy or Chandler. That is great, and plenty of writers do that, but how many can get a Harlan Ellison or Thomas Liggoti feel into that mix? Not many. I love reading a novel and getting a feeling for what their book shelves look like. That is a compliment even if some might not see it that way.

The first book Blood Standard took me by surprise a bit more, but that is to me expected when a author takes a big turn. Both these books are solid entries in a series that will have me locked in.