The Science of Paul

Fans of gritty, uncompromising noir will welcome Clark’s promising debut, set on the mean streets of Philadelphia, “a blue-collar town, with a blue-collar way of killing you.” Paul Little, an ex-con who killed a mother and her son while driving drunk, has been fortunate enough to find a woman who loves him in Tammy Delgado. But in the wake of the death of the grandfather who reared him, and with his term of probation about to end, Paul decides to move on, convinced that he’s not good enough for Tammy. Almost broke, Paul is tempted to make some easy money from businessman Harlin Washington, who offers him a job. When his decision to earn $1,000 from delivering a package for Washington leads to tragedy, Paul again considers himself a blight on others’ lives. Though the contours of the plot—including betrayals, corruption, and more bloodshed—are familiar, Clark makes the darkness of the City of Brotherly Love palpable and his wounded, Hume-reading lead plausible. [em](BookLife) [/em]