RARA-AVIS: Easy Money - again

Nebula (nebula@cam.org)
Thu, 17 Dec 1998 19:41:35 -0500 Wanted to add my two cents to Pete Walker's on the subject of _Easy Money_,
the first novel by Jenny Siler. I was certainly nowhere near as impressed as
Pete was; in fact I'd be hard pressed to truly recommend this one. Yes, it
does roll along pretty quickly, going from Seattle to the Florida Keys by
way of Crumley's Montana and Burke's Louisiana but it's an unconvincing,
amateur chase led by supposedly experts. And just when you thought you had a
heroine young enough to forget the USA's sad political recent past (Allie
Kerry is 27), the spectre of Vietnam is raised and is indeed integral to the
plot. Why does this war/police action have to be at the crux of so many
works? Maybe being Canadian I just feel too remote from that whole conflict
and its repercussions. Oh, and the whodunit aspect was way too obvious from
the get-go.

Good stuff about the book: Allie, her father and their friends are all
unabashed criminals, no qualms or apologies about living on the wrong side
of the law. When the action takes place it is appropriately hard-boiled, and
Siler does have a fine sense for dialogue. A little refinement in terms of
plot would make this one much better; I do look forward to more from her. A
valiant first go.

Here's the North American ordering info:

Easy Money by Jenny Siler
Henry Holt and Company
ISBN 0-8050-6025-1
US$24.00 hardcover
Pub date January 1999

Keith Logan

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