FFWD Weekly
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Books by Lee Shedden Voluntary Madness by Vicki Hendricks Serpent's Tail, page count?? "Across the bar a lean blond with a missing front tooth is massaging my tits with his eyes, and I get an idea." From the first sentence of Voluntary Madness it's clear that we're in noir territory – charted, refreshingly, by a modern female sensibility. And it's clear – and remains so throughout the book – that Vicki Hendricks is a very good writer. Punch, an alcoholic diabetic, and his young, screwed-up girlfriend, Juliette, will commit suicide in seven months. Between now and then they must live a wild life – "Nothing's good or bad, just interesting or boring" – for Punch to use as material for the Great Novel he's writing. As they commit ever more outrageous and criminal acts "for the muse," the tension rises: will Punch finish his novel before they are captured and thrown in prison? Can Juliette even survive Punch's rough love? Hendricks's sparse, rich prose propels the episodic plot along at a clip. Noir fans may find, as in the novels of Cain and Chandler, a romantic, almost sentimental moralism dogging the characters' amorality. It must be tough for writers in the genre to escape that. However, it's not a failing here – because of it, you don't put this exceedingly dark book down feeling as though you've been violated. Rather, you may find you have a new writer to admire. Also, the book as an artifact is exceptionally well produced. The binding is extraordinary; unlike most current hardcovers, it opens fully and easily, and you don't feel like it's going to fall apart in your hands. And it's beautifully designed, inside and out – a delight to hold and read.

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