In Laird Barron's Black Mountain, the 2nd installment in the Isaiah Coleridge crime thriller series, this noir novel would give you goosebumps on your skin. For Isaiah Coleridge, he's a former mob enforcer who's about to retire from the hitman business. But when he's tasked on his assignment to protect a mafia don's daughter and her fiancé from a stalker, he had thought it would be an easy task in Hudson Valley. But when he learned about Harold Lee was the second criminal to turn up dead recently, Coleridge decides to start his investigation to learn about Lee and his connection to Morris Oestryke, a former criminal who was supposedly dead and had strange ties to the mafia. When Ray Anderson's name popped out of the woodwork, he connected the dots that led to interview other unsavory characters about the real criminal known as the Croatoan and his former crime sprees. In this pursuit, he chases Nic Royal, a potential link to the case and possible copycat, when he learns about who really was Oestryke under his presumed identity. In the end, it's a do-and-die situation on a battle royale between Isaiah and Oestryke's hardened demise.

Published by G.P. Putnam's Sons on May 7, 2019

Isiah Coleridge, the retired Maori hitman who made his debut in Blood Standard, returns in Black Mountain. An underworld acquaintance asks Coleridge to look into the gruesome murder of Henry Lee, who collected debts for loan sharks. Coleridge’s investigation causes him to suspect that the murder was committed by a legendary and particularly evil mob hitman, now a septuagenarian, who may have spent his retirement years as a serial killer. Except that the police believe the hitman, known to the world as the Croatoan, died in an explosion many years earlier. So is there a new hit man, is the Croatoan still hitting, or is there another answer to the puzzle? The answer is satisfyingly grim and the novel’s ending is satisfying gruesome.

Coleridge enlists the help of his buddy Lionel and begins a search for Lee’s killer. In a subplot, he also helps (or at least annoys) a young woman named Aubrey who is being stalked by the ex-girlfriend of her current boyfriend. (Aubrey’s grandfather has a gym where Coleridge polishes his boxing skills; hence Coleridge’s involvement.)

Coleridge’s primary investigation leads to corporate shenanigans fostered by the greedy family that controls the corporation (perhaps modeled on the Sackett family, although there are plenty of other real-world examples). The shenanigans date back to a bogus scientific expedition in the Catskills. Nearly all of the scientists and students who participated have met with an unfortunate end. The investigation branches in other interesting directions, as well, providing ample opportunities for confrontations, threats, fights, shootings, and the generalized mayhem that Coleridge seems to attract.

“Contract killers have feelings. Fewer than most, but feelings nonetheless.” Coleridge isn’t what you’d call a sensitive guy but he doesn’t like being judged. He has his own moral code and a strong sense that evil is a force from which he stands apart, even when he feels its influence. It’s hard not to like him, his propensity for violence notwithstanding.

Apart from strong characterization, the two Coleridge novels benefit from smarter and sharper prose than is typical of crime novels. Coupled with entertaining plots, I can find little to criticize about this unique series.

RECOMMENDED

Blood Standard, the book that introduced the half-Māori mob enforcer Isaiah Coleridge, was one of my favorite books of 2018. Halfway through that one, I found myself lamenting over the wait for book two. I wanted it immediately! This, of course, means that I had ridiculously high hopes for Black Mountain — hopes that Laird Barron not only met entirely, but brilliantly exceeded.

Exiled from Alaska to upstate New York, Coleridge is making ends meet as a private investigator. As Black Mountain opens, we find him working a cheating spouse case, the aggrieved party of which is an Aryan gang member out to put the hurt on Coleridge’s client. Right off the bat, Barron delivers a big fight scene that showcases Coleridge’s talents for violence, which also has the added bonus of reading about an Aryan scumbag getting beat down in glorious detail. Few things are as satisfying as reading about a white supremacist getting his ass handed to him, but there are, of course, complications to follow. The Aryan is in league with the mob, and in order to square things and ensure he doesn’t get one in the neck, Coleridge is forced to take on a job for a local crime boss. One of said boss’s goons has recently turned up dead, decapitated, and missing his hands…and he’s not the first one. The killer’s signature is one that goes back decades and matches the work of a highly prolific serial murderer known as the Croatoan.

At its heart, Black Mountain sounds like the start of yet another dime-a-dozen serial killer thriller, but Barron adds a lot of depth to this scenario, as well a hell of a lot of cosmic creepiness. Laird Barron is a name well-known in horror circles, thanks to books like The Croning and his collection, The Imago Sequence & Other Stories. While Blood Standard was straight-up PI noir, Black Mountain takes on greater, and subtler, weight with its infusion of some small cosmic horror elements. That’s not to suggest that Black Mountain is a work of supernatural terror or a Lovecraftian creature feature — it’s not, although it does have plenty of grim moments that help blur genre lines. It is, however, most certainly a grim work of PI noir, much like its predecessor, and Coleridge spends plenty of time reflecting on his place in the universe and the cosmic implications of his existence, as well as those of the Croatoan. We get minor nods toward and mentions of H.P. Lovecraft and the unknowable, as well as a grand conspiracy that suggests possible conclusions, but the central threats herein are entirely human.

Coleridge’s cosmic wonderings are a part of what made Black Mountain so rich for me (the secrets of the Croatoan were another, but I certainly won’t go into detail about that). As established in Blood Standard, Colerdige is a smart dude. For as street smart and tough as he is, there’s plenty of brains to match all that brawn. He’s also a hunter, primarily of humans, and he knows that in order to track his prey, he has to play certain roles. One of the things I dug about his official status as a PI was Coleridge’s, and Barron’s, affectations toward the noir genre. His office isn’t a place to hang his hat, but rather, specifically, his homburg. Although it’s set in the present-day, many of the characters converse in old-fashioned nods to the 1930s. Coleridge, at one point, explains that he’s “looking into a murder most foul.” His FBI back-channel contact says of some mobsters that he’s “counting the minutes until they apparate back to their lairs.” We even get a dazzling femme fatale mixed up in the proceedings!

Black Mountain is a stunning sophomore investigation for Coleridge, and with the set-up for this character already established in his debut, both Barron and Isaiah have clearly gotten a comfortable grip on defining their new state of affairs and the territory they now both inhabit. It’s also very intriguing to see Barron slowly expanding the boundaries of those territories, which leaves me wondering what shape and form future Coleridge novels could take. Could this, for instance, grow into a more overtly cosmic horror series akin to John Connolly’s Charlie Parker books? I honestly don’t know, but the thought intrigues the hell out of me! This is a propulsive, energetic read, one that kept me up late a few nights turning the pages until sleep became impossible to fight. I wanted to live in this book for as long as I could, but I also couldn’t wait to see what would happen next. Black Mountain is simply phenomenal, and an easy contender for one of 2019’s best.

A former Mafia hit man turned private detective hunts down a serial killer who also used to moonlight as a mob hit man? Man, I really wanted to love this book. Sadly, I didn’t.
Isaiah Coleridge was introduced to us in, BLOOD STANDARD, and to say that his backstory is complex is an understatement. He used to make his home in Alaska where he worked as a top notch killer for the Outfit, but after he had a bloody falling out with one of the bosses Isaiah was exiled to in upstate New York. Determined to leave his old ways behind Isaiah has become a private detective, but he also doesn’t mind jobs where his skills as an enforcer might come in handy. He also has to maintain a delicate relationship with the local mobsters so when one of them comes to him with an ugly job Isaiah is in no position to refuse.
Two of the local thugs have been murdered in gruesome ways, and the boss wants to know if they’re connected and who might be behind it. Isaiah reluctantly begins to check out it out and quickly learns that a legendary hit man long thought retired or dead might be behind it. It also turns out that this guy’s hobby when not killing people for money was killing people for fun. If the mob connections weren’t bad enough it also seems like this man might have connections to the military and there’s some very rich people in the mix as well. Despite his plate being pretty full Isaiah also has taken on a gig trying to protect a local woman from the wrath of a family of local toughs because she’s dating someone that one of their sisters fancies.
Sounds like a lot, doesn’t it? And it is. Frankly, it’s too much. This was my problem with the first book, too. There’s a great idea in there with the idea of an ex-mob hit man trying to kinda go straight, but getting tangled up in bloody messes. However, everything has to get so complicated that the story gets bogged down as Isaiah pinballs from one thing to the next. The core story of an ex-hit man hunting a legendary ex-hit man is great, but the bad guy can’t just be an insane serial killer too. He also has to be wrapped up in a vast conspiracy that is pretty ridiculous. I guess mob killer/serial killer wasn’t enough.
And that’s kind of the problem to all of it. Barron has good ideas and is a capable writer, but he just never knows when to stop adding layers to the cake and focus on shaping the elements he already has into something edible and it just collapses on itself. For example, the big subplot in this book is dumped to the back burner and is pretty much resolved with a couple of sentences late in the book as action that Isaiah isn’t even involved with. So it was just a distraction in an already messy book.
There’s the core of a really cool character and series here, but it took too much effort for me to dig it out. More bloody violence and less plot, please.

This is the second book in the hard boiled crime series featuring Isaiah Coleridge. As I noted in my review of the first book, “Blood Simple”, Coleridge is a (mostly) reformed mob enforcer who was working in Alaska until being exiled to upstate New York after a problem involving walruses pissed off the wrong man. Isaiah is half Maori and has a fondness for classic literature and dogs. I enjoyed the first book and I wasn’t at all disappointed by the second.

Coleridge is now working as a PI, and the Albany mob wants him to investigate the murder of one (and possibly two) of its independent contractors. His search leads him to an infamous, elderly hitman known as the Croatoan, a shady corporation and an heiress/burlesque dancer. It was interesting to see how hitmen, including Coleridge, are groomed through an informal mentoring program. They seem to recognize who has the potential to excel at this craft. He investigates with the help of his friend Lionel, who is ex-military and also a former mercenary. I like the author’s writing style. The dialogue was sharp. I particularly liked the exchanges between Coleridge and Lionel. The plot was tight and wasn’t resolved by someone being an idiot or suddenly confessing everything. The author is also very good at describing characters, scenery and action sequences. I will definitely continue reading the series.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

When two mutilated bodies of local criminals are found, signs point to a hired killer called The Croatoan. But the Croatoan has been dead for years, right? That's what Isaiah Coleridge wants to find out...

Laird Barron jumped nearly to the top of my favorite authors list in 2017. When this popped up on Netgalley, I had to read it.

Black Mountain continues the story of Isaiah Coleridge, part Maori former hitman trying to leave the killing behind. As Coleridge plays sleuth, his violent nature stares him in the face again and again. In this volume, Coleridge tries to find the perpetrator of two murders and winds up with much more on his hands.

Laird Barron's writing is as great as ever, part Chandler, part Thompson, part Ellroy, and even some Roger Zelazny in the mix, equally adept at poetic descriptions and stark violence. I had no idea who the killer was for most of the book. I was too busy trying to piece things together along with Isaiah and Lionel.

For part of the book, I thought Isaiah was a little too capable and the book meandered a bit. Then the rug got yanked out from under me and I wolfed down what was left in one long ass-numbing sitting. The Croatoan wound up being far more interesting than your run of the mill serial killers. The book flirted with cosmic horror a bit at times. Maybe the Children of Old Leech will be mentioned in the next one?

While I love his brand of horror, sometimes you just want to see bad guys get got. Laird Barron delivers the goods here. Four out of five stars.

Black Mountain by Laird Barron- I got a review copy of this book expecting a chilling horror rendition or a H. P. Lovecraft homage, what I've come to expect from this gifted writer before, but got an intense and well done noir detective yarn instead. Isaiah Coleridge is a retired Maori hitman from Alaska, who has put his PI shingle up in New York state and decided to leave his old life behind. Fat chance, having dealt with killers, psychos, and the Mob, the straight and narrow eludes him. A Mob boss wants him to track down a sadistic killer, a legend among assassins. He takes the job despite his foreboding because the latest victim was a friend. And so opens a Pandora's box of violence, bloodshed, and intrigue.
The writing is first rate and with a deep sense of the poetic. The story moves along quickly and accelerates to a satisfying climax. This is the second book in the series and doesn't come out until next year, but the first book Blood Standard is available now, and if you're like me, you'll get yourself a copy now and start getting into Isaiah Coleridge