In the forgotten back alleys and flophouses that lie in the shadows of Rigus, the finest city of the Thirteen Lands, you will find Low Town. It is an ugly place, and its champion is an ugly man. Disgraced intelligence agent. Forgotten war hero. Independent drug dealer. After a fall from grace five years ago, a man known as the Warden leads a life of crime, addicted to cheap violence and expensive drugs. Every day is a constant hustle to find new customers and protect his turf from low-life competition like Tancred the Harelip and Ling Chi, the enigmatic crime lord of the heathens.
The Warden’s life of drugged iniquity is shaken by his discovery of a murdered child down a dead-end street . . . setting him on a collision course with the life he left behind. As a former agent with Black House—the secret police—he knows better than anyone that murder in Low Town is an everyday thing, the kind of crime that doesn’t get investigated. To protect his home, he will take part in a dangerous game of deception between underworld bosses and the psychotic head of Black House, but the truth is far darker than he imagines. In Low Town, no one can be trusted.
So, to avoid confusion, I’m reviewing The Straight Razor Cure, which is the first book in Daniel Polansky’s series, Low Town. Except, in the US, the first book is simply called Low Town. I don’t necessarily have a preference when it comes to the titles, and I can understand why the change was made. Having read the book, what I really can’t understand is the covers (one in particular) for the US versions. I actually had a pretty banged up used copy of this edition:
And, like…what about that cover says “fantasy/crime/noir mashup?” It’s baffling to me, and looks like it should be a collection of Philip K. Dick short stories, or something.
There’s also this edition, which at least hints at the notion that this is a dark & gritty crime novel:
And while I don’t think the UK cover (the one in the main image at the top of this post) is wildly original, it at least alerts the reader to the fact that it’s a fantasy novel!! The covers for books two and three (which I’m not even sure ever got proper US releases?) in this series are fucking gorgeous, but it definitely feels like the first book may not have been marketed and packaged in the best way.
Anywayyyyyyy…..on to the actual book, which is fucking amazing!!
Low Town is a series that seems to maybe fly under the radar a bit, but it’s one that has some really prominent fans. Myke Cole and Mark Lawrence in particular are two of the biggest champions of this series. I loved Polansky’s novella, The Builders, and have been really looking forward to starting the Low Town series for awhile now! And goddamn, The Straight Razor Cure was so brilliant & brutal…a near perfect blend of dark fantasy & crime fiction.
This is the story of the Warden. We get exactly as much background information about the Warden as we need. He grew up on the streets. Spent some time in the army. Fought in a war. Had a failed career in law enforcement. Wound up becoming a pretty high-level drug dealer. Has a small circle of people he’s close with.
And although he operates outside of the law these days, he feels pulled inexorably back into the life of an investigator when local children keep turning up dead.
This is a grim, dirty, bloody story, and I just devoured it. I don’t read much in the way of crime fiction anymore, but in my 20’s it was a huge part of what I read…Raymond Chandler, James Ellroy, Richard Price, George Pelecanos…I was as obsessed with crime fiction then as I am with fantasy right now, and The Straight Razor Cure just felt like the exact halfway point between the two genres.
Daniel Polansky is a phenomenal writer, and he brings Low Town to life in a big way in this first book. The Warden is not written to be the world’s most likable protagonist, but buried beneath the layers of pain & self-loathing & cynicism, there’s a pretty good guy with his heart in the right place. And he’s like the unofficial protector of Low Town…he’s like Batman, but on drugs.
The Straight Razor Cure reads like some glorious nightmare mashup of Sin City, The Black Dahlia, and Mark Lawrence’s Broken Empire books. I fucking loved it!
Grimdark Dad 
I know exactly what you mean about the covers! I met him at comic con in 2018 at London and was gonna ask him, but he got insanely excited about how my name is the correct way of spelling Aaron that I kind of lost track of what I was going to say.
Glad you loved this. Really made me remember that I need to buy the 2nd book in the series. I also loved the Builders (what’s not to like about Hyper-violent animals?)
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Hahaha!!! Did not know there was a right & wrong way to spell Aaron 🤔
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You can spell it a variety of ways. Aaron, Aron, Aarron, Arron 😭 the look in Daniel’s eyes when I told him how to spell my name was like seeing a man win on the lottery. He’s quite religious and that’s the way it is spelt in the Bible, so he loved that.
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