Our protagonist is Darren Tasking, aka: Task. He’s a pimp in
Great Crown, Florida - a fictional city Zahler created to be an amalgam
of Miami, Tampa and Jacksonville. For a pimp, Task treats his
prostitutes (“the butterflies”) surprising well, ensuring their
security, childcare and a fair wage. He employs significant deception to
lure them onto his staff, but after that, he’s a pretty good boss.
Zahler spends a lot of time world-building and getting the reader
acclimated to the organized crime hierarchy and customs of Great Crown.
The city is run by Russian mob consortiums to whom independent hoodlums
like Task pay for the right to operate in the city. The consortiums
compete for indie talent and provide some level of protection and
support.
Task’s prostitution ring is pretty fascinating as well - operating
out of small whorehouse and gambling lounges in converted apartments
with architectural security designed to protect the workers and
customers from corrupt police raids.
The underworld vernacular everyone uses is a great element of the
novel. I won’t spoil it all here, but Zahler’s use of slang and language
makes the novel poetic and a pleasure to read.
The plot takes awhile to get off the ground but centers around a
new prostitute in Task’s stable named Erin. Her recruitment by Task is
diabolically clever and Task’s infatuation with the girl is riddled with
complications. Beyond that, the twists and turns were amazing and
shouldn’t be ruined in a book review.
You should be aware that this is a graphically-violent novel.
Please take this warning seriously because you’re going to read scenes
in this paperback that will stick with you forever. It’s a great, great
crime novel in the spirit of a classic Fawcett Gold Medal paperback
filtered through a blood-soaked gauzy filter of depravity. This is the
crime fiction equivalent of an extreme horror novel.
But even with the shocking violence (or maybe because of it), The
Slanted Gutter is one of the best modern crime novels I can recall
reading. I audibly gasped several times while reading it, and the plot
twists and literary fake-outs were so satisfying. Highest recommendation
(for the right reader). Get it HERE.
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