Comic Novel: "Peepland" by Christa Faust and Gary Phillips

Comic Novel: Peepland by Christa Faust and Gary Philllips, 2017, 978178585119.

Compilation of a limited comic series Faust wrote with Phillips. Set during the scuzzy era of Times Square where the neighborhood was populated by prostitutes, strippers, and other sex workers. Faust has reminisced many times about her life working and living in Times Square. Well, what better way to reminisce than write a book about it? And if you can publish with Hard Case Crime then that is doubly nice.

Peepshow worker Roxy is working in her booth one night when a local videographer bursts into the customer's side and hides something inside the worn out vinyl seat. The videographer is Dirty Dick who films soft and hardcore porn on the streets. Dirty Dick runs back out or the booth and is chased by two goons. Dick heads down to the subway, ends up cornered, and falls on the tracks in front of a train.

Things happen. Roxy watches the video and finds out Dick inadvertently filmed a murder in Central Park. The murderer is the son of a wealthy loud mouth real estate mogul. Now, those goons who chased down Dick are still looking for the tape. Roxy teams up with an ex-boyfriend to figure a way out of this. The son of Roxy's friend from work is being railroaded for the Central Park murder. The friend's girlfriend commits some robberies to get bail money. Another video guy has a copy of the tape and tries to blackmail the mogul. Dirty cops get involved. A witness gets killed. Things end badly for most people.

I enjoyed the story and the setting and the characters. The story is a bit nihilistic - a topic that comes to mind during #twertzog day on Twitter, September 5 - with most people chewed up by the meat grinder. The poor and outcast are under the thumb of good and bad cops. The good and bad cops are under the thumb of the Trump-inspired scumbag real estate mogul.

The Central Park murder is based off the Preppy Killer. I remember that August, 1986 killing fairly well. That is, I remember the press coverage fairly well. The murder and prosecution were well covered by each nightly news show. I looked the killer Robert Chambers up and recalled how he got little time for strangling a teenage girl to death. I did not know that he got out of prison in 2003 - no prison time off when you're using in prison and fighting with the staff. Chambers is now back in prison for dealing and won't be out again until 2024.