Paperback: "Sangre Road" by David Tromblay

 Paperback: Sangre Road by David Tromblay, 2021, 9781643961910.

Not a mystery. Not a thriller. And no revenge or comeuppance swinging back the protagonist's way. This does fit into the wise-cracking PI subgenre though.

It's the mid-'90s and Moses "Moe" Kincaid has driven his beater from Kansas City, KS to central Oklahoma in search of a bail jumper. Moe slid into skip-tracing work after leaving the Army and his last post as a guard at Leavenworth.

Things happen. Moe is still a bit of a novice. Moe makes wise cracks. He frequently has to explain his Ho-Chunk native citizenship to the local OK people. Has to explain to white readers - most of us, I presume - about some Native cultural differences. He runs into the wrong people. He runs into the right people. Tragedy ensues.

As much a slice-of-life or romance as a crime novel. I suppose this also fits into the rural noir subgenre. 

One thing I like about this is that there was no fictional baloney of elaborate gunfights, car chases, or derring-do. No best-friend cop to provide information. No mysterious and deadly friend to show up and save the day. No wealthy and powerful politician/businessman/CIA/pastor/etc doing evil against the little guy. Everything is low lever and local.  

• This goes pretty quick at 154 pages. I enjoyed it a fair amount. 
• I bought Tromblay's memoir for the library and that book sounds like it could be a tough read. It has circ'ed 6 times. That is a decent amount for an autobio in our library since it went on the shelf in October.
•  Another novel of Tromblay's has a blurb by Willy Vlautin. If you are thinking, "How does he have a blurb from a dead guitarist?" That's because you are thinking of Willy Deville. 
• I confuse Leavenworth, KS with Atchison, KS.