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2000s: Welcome to Sunset City – a drug infused, sweaty Noir setting
Sunset City
What you need to know before your trail
Charlotte Ford gets back in contact with Danielle, her best friend from high school. They’re both 22 now and despite the time that has past, they’re keen to catch up. However only a few days after they do, Danielle is found bludgeoned to death in a motel room.
It’s from this moment that Charlotte’s life starts to spiral out of control. She descends into the city’s underbelly to see what could have happened to Danielle for this to happen. She encounters the varied characters of the underworld – the drug dealers, strippers and other shady types
This is a journey which is dangerous and which she may not return.
Travel Guide
“Houston was always flooding, the whole city built atop paved wetlands. The storm kept the sky dark, and the streetlights glowed through the morning.”
This is the dark, dank and shocking Houston that Melissa Ginsburg has created. Noir in every sense of the word and seedy in every detail. This is the city underbelly where drinks lead to bribes for phone numbers and dodgy inheritances. Before her death, Danielle knew the underbelly well since she is familiar with the drugs world and the porn industry.
The sunsets
The world is shade and light – fluorescent light like that on the cover. Cocaine is described as “fluorescent light in my bloodstream.”
The bayous and the bars
Houston here wears a cloak of danger and darkness -even the title Sunset city is said to have been inspired by the vivid sunsets it’s known for. Move around the city after dark from the bayous to the harbour and the many dank streets. There’s also the chain of bars and dens featured, and the dubiously named House of Pies. A sweaty, drug hazed setting, soaked in alcohol and set alight – that is the Houston here.
Streetview Maps
A) Sunset over Buffalo Bayou
E) House of Pies
Booktrail Boarding Pass Information: Sunset City
Destination: Houston Departure Time: 2000s
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