Same here. I love me some suffering

Chandler's prose is fantastic. His books are very enjoyable for me. However, I would classify him as a hardboiled author, rather than noir (I know the distinction is contested, but I need some shorthand to describe my preferences). From Wikipedia:

Author and academic Megan Abbott described the two thus:

Hardboiled is distinct from noir, though they're often used interchangeably. The common argument is that hardboiled novels are an extension of the wild west and pioneer narratives of the 19th century. The wilderness becomes the city, and the hero is usually a somewhat fallen character, a detective or a cop. At the end, everything is a mess, people have died, but the hero has done the right thing or close to it, and order has, to a certain extent, been restored.

Noir is different. In noir, everyone is fallen, and right and wrong are not clearly defined and maybe not even attainable.

Stephen King is a big fan. The Parker novels were one of the inspirations for The Dark Half.

Thanks for the recommendation. I have heard of the Parker books, but I haven't read any of them. I'll add the first one to my list.

You're welcome. I hope you enjoy the new Clevenger. I have it on my e-reader, lined up for after I finish the new Jake Hinkson.

I actually read Baer first. I devoured the whole trilogy and tried to find similar stuff. I read somewhere online that he shares a fanbase with Clevenger, so I read Dermaphoria. I had a few false starts, because the first chapter is very abstract and confusing (by design, of course). But once I got properly into it, I couldn't get enough. It's a real shame that the film adaptation is so bad. I watched it with my mom, and I kept pausing to explain that the book does this part much better.