Much like the wonderful "A Beast in View" this demonstrates the wonderful elegance with which criminality can penetrate our lives. It shows us how we must guard against evil and always be aware of the consequences of our actions.
It revolves around a love triangle between a husband, wife and mistress. Inevitably this becomes messier and more tangled than a simple set of flings and whilst Andree (mistress) begins to feel that there is more, Tony (husband) does not do what is necessary to drown such embers of love and lust. Thus he is sucked into a nightmare of his own making but quickly out of his control.
Another example of "if all else fails; read Crime Masterworks".
Monday, 16 March 2015
Murder at the Savoy by Maj Sjowall - A Review (3 Star)
This was my first foray into the world of Martin Beck as I managed to pick this book and the next in the series for 39p each from a charity shop. Frankly, I'm glad I did not pay much more...
Don't get me wrong, I think this was a well written story with lots of decent characters but for someone so used to detective fiction, the plot let me down a little. *VAGUELY SPOILERIFIC* I found that the line of inquiry followed by the detectives in this story was deep, realistic and had suspects in abundance. However, as the story progressed (about 3/4 of the way through) the leads took a decided left-turn, shedding light on a new angle and motive. Maybe the book was trying to say "this is how real investigations go" or "social prejudice causes inaccurate pre-occupations in investigations" but all I heard was "the first portion of this book was pointless - you've just wasted your time". Perhaps such a twist of direction would have been more welcome if the seeds had been planted earlier (or perhaps I was just too dumb to see them) but it seemed to have come from nowhere making you wonder what was the point of the build up of the story.
I may get around to reading the other one I picked up (to see if the problem is the book rather than the author), but I've got other things to go on with for the time being.
Don't get me wrong, I think this was a well written story with lots of decent characters but for someone so used to detective fiction, the plot let me down a little. *VAGUELY SPOILERIFIC* I found that the line of inquiry followed by the detectives in this story was deep, realistic and had suspects in abundance. However, as the story progressed (about 3/4 of the way through) the leads took a decided left-turn, shedding light on a new angle and motive. Maybe the book was trying to say "this is how real investigations go" or "social prejudice causes inaccurate pre-occupations in investigations" but all I heard was "the first portion of this book was pointless - you've just wasted your time". Perhaps such a twist of direction would have been more welcome if the seeds had been planted earlier (or perhaps I was just too dumb to see them) but it seemed to have come from nowhere making you wonder what was the point of the build up of the story.
I may get around to reading the other one I picked up (to see if the problem is the book rather than the author), but I've got other things to go on with for the time being.
Monday, 23 February 2015
Sacred by Dennis Lehane - A Review (3 Star)
3 Stars means "I liked it" according to Goodreads and I am not sure I can go much further than that.
The first two Kenzie & Gennaro's were fascinating reads because they packed all of the punch of a hard-boiled detective novel while retaining some understanding of the humanity of evil. In this story the evil is for evil's sake and it leaves little room for the moral ambiguity I truly long for in the genre. Because of this, there is none of the internal conflict of the main characters that I enjoyed in the first two books - they are free to do villainous things to the villains.
The other problem I had was the love story. This was the first real love story of the series and yet it was not. Part of the interest was the romantic and sexual tension between the two main detectives with past relationships and habits getting in the way, along with the potential jeapordy of an existing, extremely strong brother-sister like bond. Because they were able to fall for one another it allowed the book to take a bit of a love-conquers-all stance, again freeing the protagonists from morality for the sake of their selfish desire to preserve their love. The other problem I had with this is that one of them should have had some serious emotional baggage to deal with as a result of previous books in the series. This was dealt with flippantly and naively at the beginning of this book and then ignored for the rest.
So unfortunately, whilst I did like this book, I did not love it.
And don't get me started about the end/resolution....
The first two Kenzie & Gennaro's were fascinating reads because they packed all of the punch of a hard-boiled detective novel while retaining some understanding of the humanity of evil. In this story the evil is for evil's sake and it leaves little room for the moral ambiguity I truly long for in the genre. Because of this, there is none of the internal conflict of the main characters that I enjoyed in the first two books - they are free to do villainous things to the villains.
The other problem I had was the love story. This was the first real love story of the series and yet it was not. Part of the interest was the romantic and sexual tension between the two main detectives with past relationships and habits getting in the way, along with the potential jeapordy of an existing, extremely strong brother-sister like bond. Because they were able to fall for one another it allowed the book to take a bit of a love-conquers-all stance, again freeing the protagonists from morality for the sake of their selfish desire to preserve their love. The other problem I had with this is that one of them should have had some serious emotional baggage to deal with as a result of previous books in the series. This was dealt with flippantly and naively at the beginning of this book and then ignored for the rest.
So unfortunately, whilst I did like this book, I did not love it.
And don't get me started about the end/resolution....
Tuesday, 10 February 2015
The Way Some People Die by Ross MacDonald - A Review (4 Star)
Ross has produced some masterpieces and a couple of not so great works but that can be expected from the volume of his library. This title falls a little short of the masterpiece standard but is still very, very good.
The thing that shaves off that fifth star and masterpiece mantel is the conventional nature of the piece. Ross Macdonald is one of my top authors and all members thereof have distinct strengths, Parker is volume and wit, Thompson is psychological existentialism, Chandler is simply being a God. Ross' strength was always the interpersonality of the stories and reaching studies into the whys and wherefors of crime. His stories are family dramas containing realistically flawed people doing bad things for what seem to them to be good reasons. His stories nucleate from this seed, growing naturally before blossoming into a full blown confrontation. This story was different - it was a standard, fairly linear, clue-chasing detective stories with characters that crept a little bit more towards the archetypes in other stories.
However, ignoring what I seek Ross for and what I normally get, this is a very, very good standard detective story. There are twists and turns, nasty places occupied by nastier people all doing what they can to make a break. And like with most of his works I remember those places and people even now (I am on my third book since).
Still one of my top five authors and I can not see that changing any time soon.
The thing that shaves off that fifth star and masterpiece mantel is the conventional nature of the piece. Ross Macdonald is one of my top authors and all members thereof have distinct strengths, Parker is volume and wit, Thompson is psychological existentialism, Chandler is simply being a God. Ross' strength was always the interpersonality of the stories and reaching studies into the whys and wherefors of crime. His stories are family dramas containing realistically flawed people doing bad things for what seem to them to be good reasons. His stories nucleate from this seed, growing naturally before blossoming into a full blown confrontation. This story was different - it was a standard, fairly linear, clue-chasing detective stories with characters that crept a little bit more towards the archetypes in other stories.
However, ignoring what I seek Ross for and what I normally get, this is a very, very good standard detective story. There are twists and turns, nasty places occupied by nastier people all doing what they can to make a break. And like with most of his works I remember those places and people even now (I am on my third book since).
Still one of my top five authors and I can not see that changing any time soon.
Tuesday, 6 January 2015
The Monkey's Raincoat by Robert Crais - A Review (3 Star)
This story was fairly good at filling the gap between other books but did little to really blow me away or make me remember it. The mystery element was resolved/revealed way too early so there were only the stated stakes to keep one turning the pages. These stakes, though quite high to the characters involved are a little one dimensional and don't make you sweat too much (there's a feeling that the good guys are going to win no matter what). The finale also is a bit blunt and unimaginative showing the protagonists' strengths are not necessarily what I personally prioritise in a detective.
As for the protagonist, Mr. Elvis Cole, I found him a little dull and dumb. The only Crais I had previously read was a Joe Pike (Cole's Reacheresque partner) story and expected whilst Pike was the brawn, Cole would be the brains, but was left disappointed. He was slow to pickup clues (often slower than Pike) and his "wit" was like the wit of the runt kid in a school social group who couldn't think fast enough to keep up with the rest of the group and tried his hand at desperate hackneyed humour.
The plot itself was fairly tame and repetitive. There were very few memorable characters and the scenes seemed to blend into one.
I'll give Crais another go, since this was his first Cole novel, but it might not be for a little while.
As for the protagonist, Mr. Elvis Cole, I found him a little dull and dumb. The only Crais I had previously read was a Joe Pike (Cole's Reacheresque partner) story and expected whilst Pike was the brawn, Cole would be the brains, but was left disappointed. He was slow to pickup clues (often slower than Pike) and his "wit" was like the wit of the runt kid in a school social group who couldn't think fast enough to keep up with the rest of the group and tried his hand at desperate hackneyed humour.
The plot itself was fairly tame and repetitive. There were very few memorable characters and the scenes seemed to blend into one.
I'll give Crais another go, since this was his first Cole novel, but it might not be for a little while.
Thursday, 18 December 2014
Darkness Take My Hand by Dennis Lehane - A Review (4 Star)
With a new son and the largest project in the history of my department at work, my time for reading has diminished of late. When I finally got back on the wagon I selected the follow on to my much-loved "A Drink Before the War"; Dennis Lehane's "Darkness Take My Hand"...
Kenzie and Gennaro are back as their witty, self-loathing, love-denying beautiful selves in this thriller that is far, far darker than its predecessor. There are more psychos than you can shake a straight jacket at and they are so sickly creepy that you can feel them crawling from the pages under your skin. The emotional stakes are raised in this book also, which combined with the villainous elements above led to a more tangible feeling of dread than I can remember encountering in a book in a long time.
The plot is fairly good, starting off quite straightforward and becoming massively more complex as it goes on. Many different strands, past and present are brought together into something far less inconspicuous than we are first led to believe. The best thing about the writing and the plot (and I am only projecting my own experiences onto the objectives of the writer) is that our own emotions are employed to betray and deceive. The solution to the mystery, though a little out of the blue, was fairly surprising.
All in all a very good way to get back into my reading (and writing) routine.
Kenzie and Gennaro are back as their witty, self-loathing, love-denying beautiful selves in this thriller that is far, far darker than its predecessor. There are more psychos than you can shake a straight jacket at and they are so sickly creepy that you can feel them crawling from the pages under your skin. The emotional stakes are raised in this book also, which combined with the villainous elements above led to a more tangible feeling of dread than I can remember encountering in a book in a long time.
The plot is fairly good, starting off quite straightforward and becoming massively more complex as it goes on. Many different strands, past and present are brought together into something far less inconspicuous than we are first led to believe. The best thing about the writing and the plot (and I am only projecting my own experiences onto the objectives of the writer) is that our own emotions are employed to betray and deceive. The solution to the mystery, though a little out of the blue, was fairly surprising.
All in all a very good way to get back into my reading (and writing) routine.
Friday, 5 September 2014
The Underground Man by Ross MacDonald - A Review (2 Star)
Not his best. Obviously "The Drowning Pool" is a masterpiece of crime and I really enjoyed "The Moving Target" but this one really let me down.
What I usually enjoy so much about Ross MacDonald's stuff is that slight freshness to his characters and scenes. They're not as tired as some of his cohorts' works giving us that little extra splash of colour to keep them in our minds.
Unfortunately this one was a little different:
The characters were flat and confusing. No single one really stood out (except maybe Fritz) and there were so many families and flings to keep track of I only knew what was really going on when character's started spewing their exposition summaries of their lives. And I didn't really care about any of them.
The scenes were basically none existent. There was so little action in this it slipped a little too far into the British Gentile mystery genre and too far from Hard-Boiled Noir. Lew Archer just basically went around from one dysfunctional family to the next to have a chat and move on.
Another of the things I have admired Ross for in the past is his sensitivities to the whys of the crime rather than just the hows. Unfortunately, this one was a little lacking in that respect also and after reading one of his wife's masterpieces Ross seemed a little simplistic in his understanding.
All authors are allowed a dip (I've not got out of mine yet) so its a bit too early to lose confidence in the guy.
What I usually enjoy so much about Ross MacDonald's stuff is that slight freshness to his characters and scenes. They're not as tired as some of his cohorts' works giving us that little extra splash of colour to keep them in our minds.
Unfortunately this one was a little different:
The characters were flat and confusing. No single one really stood out (except maybe Fritz) and there were so many families and flings to keep track of I only knew what was really going on when character's started spewing their exposition summaries of their lives. And I didn't really care about any of them.
The scenes were basically none existent. There was so little action in this it slipped a little too far into the British Gentile mystery genre and too far from Hard-Boiled Noir. Lew Archer just basically went around from one dysfunctional family to the next to have a chat and move on.
Another of the things I have admired Ross for in the past is his sensitivities to the whys of the crime rather than just the hows. Unfortunately, this one was a little lacking in that respect also and after reading one of his wife's masterpieces Ross seemed a little simplistic in his understanding.
All authors are allowed a dip (I've not got out of mine yet) so its a bit too early to lose confidence in the guy.
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