Genre: Book
Grade: A-/B+
Notable People: Jon Talton
Title: City of Dark Corners
Review: Like Noir? Read Talton. The creator of the Detective/Historian David Mapstone series, once again sets his sights on Phoenix (he is fifth generation Arizonan), but this time in the 1930s at the height of The Depression. Talton lovingly depicts the beginnings of transition of his beloved Old West small dessert town to the lavish retirement oasis that it would soon become. Along with the remarkable development came all sorts of shadiness, graft, mob rule and dirty police work. Talton captures it well while weaving in a hell of a yarn. He also manages to capture the angst of the time and many of the more famous Phoenicians, such as Barry Goldwater, Bugsy Seagal and Del Webb. Dark, but comforting.