I received this book to review from Real Readers.

I was intrigued by this book. The cover was striking and unusual. It is set in a call centre even more unusual although some of the calls I receive I want to get my revenge.

Other reviewers have likened this author style to Jim Thompson and James M. Cain, I wanted to read this and make up my own mind. Yes I could see similarities, but for the reader who had not read books of these authors- still go ahead you are in for a good read.

The author has a good style of writing and the story is narrated by the criminal which makes this interesting.

I found the book became darker as the story progressed and the main character Bill Moss just gives the reader enough information to keep the reader guessing and on their toes. The back humour did surprise me.

An author to look out for, I am hooked now by this author and sourcing his other books. ( )

Cold Caller - Jason Starr

I couldn’t put this down; I simply had to know what happened and how things ended up.
Is that the mark of a good book? Maybe. It’s a compelling narrative very typical of its genre, a story that creates a spiral of unease as the protagonist hurtles into an abyss of, really, his own making. The same feeling you get from reading Patricia Highsmith. The sense that if one thing had happened slightly differently the whole story would have taken a different course. Fairly ordinary, mundane people get enmeshed in a web from which they cannot seem to extricate themselves. There are unexpected twists and turns especially at the end. There’s something very uncomfortable about the main character of a fiction being so lawless and unpleasant, such a liar and so immoral. And add to that the fact that the book is written in the first person so you know the character survives and you are imbibed with the need to read on. I thought the dialogues, especially between Bill and Julie, were overlong and didn’t add overall to the book. If it was a tool to indicate how unexceptional they both were then it worked but I wanted to move on with the story. And like the layers of an onion peeled away Bill was revealed to be a pretty worthless apology for a human being.
But this book is a must read for fans of noir fiction for it surely won’t disappoint. And whilst I won’t actively seek out Mr. Starr’s oeuvre if Real Readers, or anyone else for that matter, were to send me another I would read it with enthusiasm I’m sure. ( )

Cold Caller – Dark White Collar Noir

Cold Caller by Jason Starr has been dubbed white collar noir and having read and enjoyed his short thriller it is easy to see why it has attracted that tag. Cold Caller gets darker the more you read and the more you read the easier it is to identify with Bill Moss. If you have ever worked in a call centre those soul destroying places that are the modern satanic mills then you will closely identify with what Starr has written, especially about some of the daft rules that are in place.

Bill Moss used to be important in advertising but he had to now work in a call centre while trying to get back in to the advertising world. He kept seeing idiots being promoted while was stuck in his cubicle making the contacts for the sales team. When humiliated by his line manager the seeds of destruction were sown in his mind.

At the same time Bill’s world with his girlfriend Julie was starting to unravel as was every other aspect of his life. His work was stifling him his girlfriend was stifling him and he was slowly reacting against it. When workers were being let go he thought he too would be shown the door but somehow ended up being promoted. The more he wanted to rise in the job the more willing he was to kill his boss Ed to get there and destroy the evidence in the process.

Even after murdering Ed, Bill’s life really does spiral out of control until he has no control over his life whatsoever. Even at the end we see the cycle of offending start again even though things will be a rather lot harder for him.

Cold Caller is a well written scary noir story with some excellent twists that leave you guessing all the way to the end. This thriller is both dark and funny at the same time set in a world where a great many people can identify with Bill Moss. An excellent addition to the American Noir shelves a book that you will regret not reading sooner. ( )

The back cover hints that Cold Caller makes the reader think of Jim Thompson with an MBA. I couldn't agree more. A thrilling read if you like getting inside the head of the bad guy. Excellent characters throughout and an ending with a very satisfying twist. ( )