“Snitch World” is a great find. It is a kind of a Bukowski’s “Barfly” meets the tech world kind of story and is told in a somewhat slow pace that just reels the reader in bit by bit. It is a small story, not a grandiose world story, about a small-time guy in San Francisco’s North Beach, who stopped caring so long ago that he doesn’t even remember when. Klinger sometimes scrapes together enough dough to buy some drinks, often hot water with Jameson, but whatever he can afford from the well. It is better for Klinger not to have too much dough at once because it will just pour out of his pockets into the nearest barkeep’s register. He is a petty criminal, prone to sleight-of-hand, robbery, playing messenger, anything that will keep him liquefied. Its dark and dreary and rainy throughout the story. He is not too proud to ask for help or to walk away from trouble, praying that his accomplice’s won’t snitch him out.

But, San Francisco is a small city filled with many cultures and criss- crossing the same blocks as Klinger and his ilk are an army of yuppies running from one dot-com to the next and one IPO to the next. The story tells the tale of how Klinger’s path crosses with that of these yuppies. It is not exactly worlds colliding, but there is a different mood, a different pace to their lives and you begin to wonder who is more desperate, more trapped.

This is a book that is simply beautifully written, perfectly paced, and gently takes the reader into a tale of modern noir. This is worth reading. It certainly is. ( )