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King Zeno
King Zeno: A Novel | Nathaniel Rich
10 posts | 7 read | 5 to read
New Orleans, 1918. The birth of jazz, the Spanish flu, an ax murderer on the loose. The lives of a traumatized cop, a conflicted Mafia matriarch, and a brilliant trumpeter convergeand the Crescent City gets the rich, dark, sweeping novel it so deserves. From one of the most inventive writers of his generation, King Zeno is a historical crime novel and a searching inquiry into mans dreams of immortality. New Orleans, a century ago: a city determined to reshape its destiny and, with it, the nations. Downtown, a new American music is born. In Storyville, prostitution is outlawed and the police retake the streets with maximum violence. In the Ninth Ward, laborers break ground on a gigantic canal that will split the city, a work of staggering human ingenuity intended to restore New Orleanss faded mercantile glory. The war is ending and a prosperous new age dawns. But everything is thrown into chaos by a series of murders committed by an ax-wielding maniac with a peculiar taste in music. The ax murders scramble the fates of three people from different corners of town. Detective William Bastrop is an army veteran haunted by an act of wartime cowardice, recklessly bent on redemption. Isadore Zeno is a jazz cornetist with a dangerous side hustle. Beatrice Vizzini is the widow of a crime boss who yearns to take the family business straight. Each nurtures private dreams of worldly glory and eternal life, their ambitions carrying them into dark territories of obsession, paranoia, and madness. In New Orleans, a city built on swamp, nothing stays buried long.
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Cosmos_Moon
King Zeno: A Novel | Nathaniel Rich
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Pickpick

Audio listen after I read the book a few years ago. Related to my work but fiction. First 100 pages are boring & a struggle to get through. Easier to listen but even boring on audio. It picks up & worth sticking with. Historical fiction with an ax murder mystery that ties in construction of the NOLA industrial canal & the birth of jass (or jazz). Didn‘t care for the reader‘s character voices & a few mispronunciations of local words. Still good!

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Cosmos_Moon
King Zeno: A Novel | Nathaniel Rich
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1. Yes! A few times. At 4 a very short bang cut. Shaved my head in HS with my BFF. Once in college my roommate thought I went crazy. And once as a professional adult and a coworker said I should just go to the salon.
2. My mom is home safe.

#ThankfulThursday

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Jessicaanne
King Zeno: A Novel | Nathaniel Rich
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Mehso-so

This book started off slow and though it picked up there were still parts throughout that bored me. Sometimes it seemed that the characters were kind of living in a haze which was how I felt while reading it causing some parts to be a little confusing and unclear.
The book is told by following three characters around and I did enjoy how the author kept them separate but gradually fully wound them together. 3⭐️

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Nitpickyabouttrains
King Zeno: A Novel | Nathaniel Rich
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Pickpick

A story which was very atmospheric and tonal (in a good way). Louisiana after the war with mobsters and jazz and murder. Also, snakes.

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Cosmos_Moon
King Zeno: A Novel | Nathaniel Rich
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Pickpick

A great story of my complex city spiced with conflagrant history. This is probably my favorite paragraph of the book.

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QuintusMarcus
King Zeno: A Novel | Nathaniel Rich
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King Zeno was just plain old fun. New Orleans, 1919, ax murderer, jazz, Spanish flu, etc. The author has previously written a study of film noir, and you can tell--final scene in particular could have come right out of a classic noir flick. Not a masterpiece of literature, just a fun story.

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TQTyson
King Zeno: A Novel | Nathaniel Rich
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Great and complex story set in New Orleans.

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Cosmos_Moon
King Zeno: A Novel | Nathaniel Rich
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Starting something new, maybe will bring some inspiration.

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Well-ReadNeck
King Zeno: A Novel | Nathaniel Rich
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‼️❗️‼️❗️‼️‼️‼️❗️❗️‼️‼️❗️‼️❗️‼️‼️‼️

Yeah!!! Caught my library on new acquisition day for OverDrive. Swept up these goodies. We‘ll see how many I can get through in 21 days!!

#overdrive #libraryhaul

SandyW Wow, nice haul! 6y
Reviewsbylola Nice!! 6y
sherrynuts Nice haul! I just finished The Wedding Date and it was charming and fun. I think I smiled though most of the book. 😊 6y
See All 9 Comments
mrozzz Wow!! Well done 👌🏻 6y
BarbaraBB Whatever you do, start with Home Fire 😀😀 6y
melbeautyandbooks Keep your kindle on airplane mode and you can keep them until you finish them. That‘s what I do. 6y
Well-ReadNeck @melbeautyandbooks Good idea. A bit afraid I might turn it off inadvertently, but will absolutely do it if I can‘t get through them!!! 6y
BarbaraBB 😀😘 6y
131 likes9 comments
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GregZimmerman
King Zeno: A Novel | Nathaniel Rich
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Not only does this book have THE best cover art of the year, the story is pretty fantastic as well. God bless New Orleans!

More here: http://www.thenewdorkreviewofbooks.com/2018/03/king-zeno-what-time-to-be-alive-i...