The Dark Farewell

By: Josh Lanyon

Narrated by: Max Miller

Don't talk to strangers, young man - especially the dead ones.

It's the Roaring '20s. Skirts are short, crime is rampant, and booze is in short supply. Prohibition has hit Little Egypt, where newspaperman David Flynn has come to do a follow-up story on the Herren Massacre. The massacre isn't the only news in town, though.

Spiritualist medium Julian Devereux claims to speak to the dead - and he charges a pretty penny for it.

Flynn knows a phoney when he sees one, and he's convinced Devereux is as fake as a cigar store Indian. But the reluctant attraction he feels for the deceptively soft, not-his-type Julian is as real as it gets.

Suddenly Julian begins to have authentic, bloodstained visions of a serial killer, and the cynical Mr. Flynn finds himself willing to defend Julian with not only his life, but his body.

Warning: This novella contains phony spiritualists, cynical newspapermen, labor disputes, illicit love affairs, high-calorie southern cooking, and more than 50 percent humidity!

Contains scenes of mild gay erotic content.

©2010 JustJoshin Publishing, Inc. (P)2014 JustJoshin Publishing, Inc.

An Unusual Mystery

Interesting, intricate classic Josh Lanyon. I was completely surprised (and confused) by the abrupt ending. Audio nicely performed by Max Miller.

Interesting historical mystery/romance

Any additional comments?

I enjoyed this book. The characters were well developed and interesting. The narrator did a great job with the voices and dramatization. I appreciate historical writing that gives me a new perspective or insights into how things may have been in that time. This showed a bit of how things were for gay men and how serious illness was understood and misunderstood. For a relatively short book, it has a lot going on in it.

Great but too short

I like the characters and the plot, but the story was way, way to short.

Awesome

I can listen/read The Dark Farewell all the time. Both, the author and the narrator, give the book such a beautiful noire feel and they drag me along with the story like a row boat on a calm lake :)
Love the supernatural element to it, there is just enough of it there, but it makes such wonderful addition.

A good short story

Any additional comments?

An interesting audio short/novella. Set just after WWI, very atmospheric, fascinating characters, unique storyline. It was all going well until the abrupt ending. WTH, Josh? See, this is why I hate most shorts. Yeah, I dreamed up my own conclusions, but I would have preferred you'd done it. And please don't use that narrator again.