The characters were well drawn and the writing was succinct.
My copy
had less than 200 pp while the latest Healy I just finished,
Invasion
of privacy, had 100 more and as much as I like Healy, I think
he
could learn something in brevity from RM.
I enjoyed the setting of Calif life in 1951 which was not so
crowded
as it is now. But the characters are true for today too. The
wife's
husband and his lover could have been written in any of
today's
books. Some of the people like the barman are maybe too nice
for
today so they wouldn't transfer. The policeman who turned out
to play
such an intregal part in the story, was also impressive as a
person.
The only part of the story that bothered me was the
Kilbourne. The
characters just didn't seem real. The violence was well
described and
I liked the scene where Archer manages to escape from
the
hydrotherapy room by getting the water faucets to open and
float him
to the ceiling.
How about that young man who was willing to drive Archer and
prisoner
Reavis back for $10?
And the writing: "What sort of a boy is he? I've seen him
around, but
never talked to him."
"There's nothing wrong with him a pre-frontal lobotomy
wouldn't
fix..." p.56
I'm glad this book was suggested for reading. Found it on my
ancient
TBR pile.
Marian Poller@netvision.net.il
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