What makes this novel so enjoyable is not the rather convoluted noir-style detective story forming the plot, but the uniqueness of its main character: a small-time criminal turned detective who has Tourette’s syndrome. Lionel Essrog doesn’t let loose with a stream of profanities every other sentence, though. His Tourette’s takes the form of nonsense words, tics and other compulsive gestures, and because he is telling the story, the narrative takes on the disjointedness and strange logic of Tourette’s. This unusual approach breathes life into a tired genre and gives the old private dick story a skewed, new aspect.

Totally different than what I normally read, but I was sucked in and loved every moment.