Last of the Independents: Vancouver Noir (Vancouver Noir, 1)

Almost inconceivable that this is the author's first book. I've been looking for worthwhile Canadian crime fiction, and other than the Giles Blunt books have been disappointed. Then I picked up "Last of the Independents," and was floored by the clarity and assurance of the writing. Moves seamlessly between drama, suspense and humor, with great pacing and momentum. I don't want to oversell, but for me this was a lightning bolt, just a fantastic crime novel that I never saw coming.

This is without a doubt the most depressing book I have ever read. Not depressing like Nazi concentration camp depressing--but a downer nonetheless.I did not throw it down---, some amusing lines--but nothing good ever happens--kind of like the facination with a roadside accident. Spoiler alerts--if you are into dying dogs and abducted children, --with no good ending- and every other depressing cliche about bad relationships and bad choices and flawed human beings with no redeeming characteristics, than this book is for you. I really do not need happy endings and I do not mind gratuitous violence; what I need is a feeling that the trip was not wasted. I mean, the dog could of died peacfully in his sleep instead of having his throat cut by grandma--in the epilogue no less.

If you like PI novels, you'll love this one. Intriguing story lines, interesting characters and snappy dialog. Just a good, fun read.

What a great debut novel. I couldn't put it down once I started reading it. The author clearly understands the rich history of Noir, but manages to update the genre in a truly compelling way. Definitely looking forward to more Vancouver Noir from Sam Wiebe.

One caveat: I know Sam Wiebe personally. He was my student when I was a TA at SFU in the Fall 2008 term. I haven't seen much of him in the intervening years, and this is the first of his writing I've experienced since marking his assignments six years ago. Reading is part of my job description, and this is not the first time I've read something written by someone I know; I do my best to remove my subjectivity, just as I ask my students to do. Now my review:This is the debut novel of Vancouver writer Sam Wiebe, and the first in his proposed Vancouver Noir series following the cases of Michael Drayton, former Vancouver Police (VPD) officer and current independent private-eye. Independents was the unanimous winner of the Unhanged Edgar Award in 2012, an award given for the best unpublished mystery novel in Canada. Fortunately for us, Dundurn picked up Wiebe’s book, and we can now settle down to an evening or two of highly entertaining modern noir.Drayton is a private detective, the self-proclaimed "Last of the Independents." This is likely an homage to The Pretenders 1994 album, which fits right in with Drayton's age and type - 29, and a bit of an outsider. His friends and his work are completely indivisible - they either work for him, or are his work. Drayton's life is complex, and nothing about him is easy. He's sympathetic yet flawed, honest to a fault, hard as nails, yet unable to euthanize his direly ill dog.Drayton's personality is where the novel absolutely shines. He's a true warrior on the streets, if a reluctant one. Never claiming to be more than he is, his well-developed sense of justice and a clear understanding that the world isn't divided up into Manichean black and white means that he can easily shift between the worlds of official Vancouver and its darker alleyways, speaking the language he needs to be able to deal with cops, bosses, and bagmen. No rose-colored glasses on Drayton's eyes - he sees all the world's shades of gray. And despite his sense of honor and justice, when facing his own heart of darkness, Drayton can - and does - make the difficult decisions that define a person.I think that terms like "tour-de-force" and "triumph" are bandied about far too easily in reviews, especially by those looking to get their copy on the front of a book or magazine. I've never used those terms myself, but here I think they do apply - Wiebe's debut novel shows a masterful touch, an awareness of the giants whose shoulders he is standing upon, and a great deal of promise for his new Vancouver Noir series. I look forward to reading more of Michael Drayton's investigations in the future.

LAST OF THE INDEPENDENTS is one of these novels that compensate what it might lack in originality by a tremendous clarity of purpose: it is a detective novel. It doesn't want to be anything else than a detective novel and it really does a quite good job at what it wants to be good at.LAST OF THE INDEPENDENTS might not me an emotional journey, but it offers a sharp, engaging portrait of Vancouver's underbelly that doesn't draw outside the lines.I thought LAST OF THE INDEPENDENTS was a successful novel because of two things: 1) there isn't one, but three interesting, distinctive investigations riding coattails, which is unlike most detective novels and really leaves little places for superfluous material and 2) Sam Wiebe's character cast is a colourful crew of battle hardened kids who are easy to identify to. There are no boring white knights in LAST OF THE INDEPENDENTS. While the novel is rather conservative in the form, it sold me Sam Wiebe's writing talent and you should definitely pick it up if you're looking for a new P.I grind to check out.

I tried this novel after enjoying some of Wiebe's short fiction. It's gripping and readable. Wiebe also has a fluent writing style; clever and amusing lines are frequent but don't get in the way of plot or characterisation. Last of the Independents also offers a slightly different flavour of noir, being Canadian rather than American; both the setting and some of the social attitudes are quite distinct from American writers in the same genre. I read a lot of crime and I'd happily recommend this as worth a try.

A first class novel. Thoroughly engaging and marvellous writing. I could picture every scene with vivid description and found the storyline compelling. Impossible to put down!

This is a first class read! Intriguing characterization; engrossing plot and subplots; vivid descriptions of Vancouver. Is Wiebe Canada's answer to Chandler and Mosley? Read it, enjoy it, and judge for yourself.

<Last of the Independents> is a very satisfying and attention-gripping crime novel. It is far better than its perhaps unfortunate opening scene talking to a father-son team of undertakers would predict it to (although the subplot that opening scene initiates turns out far less silly than one might expect). Michael Drayton, an ex-cop turned private investigator telling his own story in a spare and speedy idiom, works two cases at once on a journey that leads him through various interviews and neighbourhoods in downtown and greater Vancouver, and on the ferry over to Vancouver Island. Drayton's character grows on the reader: we feel like we have him figured out, then he surprises us with decisions and performances (some surprisingly violent, others compassionate and pscyhologically astute) that we could not have foreseen. He seems immature at first, but proves himself totally adult by the end of the novel. He is such a rounded character that the reader feels impatient for the next Drayton Vancouver noir thriller: if # 2 in the series were available now, I would buy it today and start reading it today. Drayton is vulnerable and flawed as the genre demands, but his first-person narrative is never self-pitying or smart-ass superficial – he says just enough to show himself thoughtful and analytical, whitle at the same time his actions express his stance on big questions very eloquently. He is an eminently likable lead figure. Like Drayton, the plot manages to move fast and surprise us in big ways at key junctures. One plot line involving high-rank and low-rent Vancouver criminals and another comprised of a love-betrayal conflict involving contacts Drayton has in the Vancouver police are both left open, so that – as above – one wonders if they will return in future installments in the series. I read a lot of crime fiction. This first entry in what I hope will become a series of Michael Drayton novels is masterful. I hope Wiebe catches the attention of a big American publisher so that his work will get the marketing force it deserves..

great noir novel and a lot of fun for one to take place where I grew up (instead of someplace far away)well written.. refuse to spoil a single thing.