I LOVE a good noir procedural so I was very excited to get an email from Denise Frost, a debut author, asking if I’d read her book. A Punishing Breed is Modern LA Noir. What does that mean and will you like A Punishing Breed? I am here to reveal all!
A Punishing Breed by DC Frost: Overview
- Published on June 11 by Canis Major Books
- 320 pages, paperback
- Thanks to the author for providing an advance copy for review
- This is the debut novel of Denise/DC Frost.
A Punishing Breed: Jen’s Quick Take
- This is a noir police procedural set in Los Angeles
- It has multiple omniscient POV narrative
- And a villain POV
- Set on a college campus, A Punishing Breed touches on a variety of topical campus issues
A Punishing Breed: Jen’s Analysis
A Punishing Breed combines an L.A. noir procedural with an idyllic campus setting. What is a noir book? It’s typically a variety of police/PI procedural and you can read my overall thoughts on noir fiction here.
I’m a big fan of modern LA Noir writers like Michael Connelly and Robert Crais. But I’d even call The Shards by Bret Easton Ellis an LA Noir book. And of course, my beloved Veronica Mars.
If you typically find noir too dark (I mean, yes, it’s IN the name) I think you still might try A Punishing Breed, which sets its story at an elite college campus. It’s a book that and shows the privilege and the expensive trappings of its setting and also the evil that lurks underneath.
Hesperia College is a small liberal arts school in Southern California. A Punishing Breed opens with the gruesome murder of Hesperia’s head fundraiser. The news spreads rapidly through the community, a group in which everyone knows everyone, yet the murderer could be anyone.
A Punishing Breed‘s narrative structure has an omniscient POV that dips into the minds of multiple characters, including that of the killer.
DC Frost does an artful job of weaving in current campus social issues, juggling multiple suspects, and giving us a peek into the tense relationship between the two men who form the heart of the story.
DJ Arias is the prickly lead detective investigating the murder case. The case puts him face to face again with Danny Mendoza, the college student whom Arias put behind bars a decade ago. Many on the campus felt that Danny was railroaded for a tragic mistake, and he now works on the college landscaping crew.
What I think A Punishing Breed does well is giving the reader plenty of suspects to mull over. There were many people who wanted Will Bloom dead. It would be easy for Arias to try to pin it on Danny Mendoza, but Danny is now an older and more formidable man.
If you love a procedural and would like to support a small press and a debut author, give A Punishing Breed a try!