Five Decembers

For a fat book that covers half a decade (as the title implies), Five Decembers moves at the speed of a drag-race sprint. Published by the self-conscious throwback wizards at Hard Case Crime, it's a throwback of sorts too, a stripped-down, hard-boiled World War II tale, but with a bit more heart than the coldest tales of Hammett and Cain. Joe McGrady is a Honolulu cop, and the first December of the story is 1941, so you might think you know where the story is going, but his war years are spent on a goose chase of his own, leading him into a lonely obsession that, if you're like me, you'll spend a few late nights staying up to get to the thrilling end of.