Novel Noir (Synopsis)

What if you could only see in black and white?

How?

A rare, disorder of the central nervous system (achromatopsia) distorts your vision. Since birth, everything you’ve seen looks like a strange, black-and-white movie. Welcome to William Raven’s first-person point of view in Novel Noir. But unusual vision is just the beginning of Raven’s disturbing, postmodern problems.

The Past: Two years ago, Raven lost his license to practice medicine. The reason? Stephanie Lane, the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. A toxic mixture of promiscuity and pizzazz. Secretly, she became Raven’s lover for one purpose—to persuade him to give her the facelift she needed to attract the richest man in New Berlin, Sir Hubby Pryor, an honored war vet and a man twice her age. Fearing he might lose her, Raven inserted within her cheek during the facelift a computer chip called a Termite, a device that ties directly into her central nervous system and that will eat a hideous deformity in her cheek within 30 days if Raven does not deactivate it. But Stephanie leaves Raven without warning. Is unfindable for more than thirty days. And the Termite reeks its havoc. Ultimately, Sir Hubby marries Stephanie, but as retaliation for having deformed his new wife, he ruins Raven’s medical career. As a result, Raven has become a grifter, always on the run, performing illegal plastic surgeries in the seedy context of the black market.

The Present: Enter the mysterious femme fatale. A forty-year old, near-twin for the now-ruined, twenty-eight year old Stephanie Lane-Pryor. Her goal is to have Raven perform plastic surgery on her, making her look exactly like the real Stephanie (deformities included). After the real Stephanie is dead, the mystery woman plans to take Stephanie’s place without anyone knowing. Her motive? Sir Hubby’s wealth. In order to succeed, however, Raven must duplicate the same deformity on the mystery woman, whom he considers just as lovely as the original Stephanie. What’s in it for Raven? After assuming the place of the real Stephanie, the mystery woman will get Raven his medical license back. The catch? In order for her to successfully make the switch, Raven himself must perform the murder! His opposition? A more-than-antagonistic Sir Hubby, and Stephanie’s “friend”, a bizarre, Marilyn Manson-like, ex-musician-turned-private-detective, named Lizzie Lennon. And Raven almost succeeds–until his obsession, and his inability to distinguish color, lead to the destruction not only of himself, but also the object of his obsession.

The Place: Imagine Mardi Gras, Carnival, and Club 54 all rolled up into one. A smorgasbord of sex, drugs, booze, masquerades, masks, and claustrophobia. Then, transplant that atmosphere into a spaceship the size of the Titanic, which takes tourists around the moon and back, like some weird and futuristic Carnival Cruise vacation that lasts 30 days. The hook? A very high price tag. In more ways than one. Only the ultra-rich can afford this get-away. And, since the ship is traveling through space, it conveniently remains outside the jurisdiction of any country; hence, no laws, no prosecution, no taboos.