One of the Pauls wrote:
>Although on the surface Jack Liffey seems reminiscent
of Block's Matt
>Scudder; an honourable, unlicenced, middle-aged,
divorced, recovering
>alcoholic P.I., it's the sense of absurdity and the
bizarre that intrigues
>in this book. You never know what'll happen next,
whether it's a backhoe
>tumbling from a hillside into the roof of someone's
garage or meeting a
>circus dwarf and a living skeleton in a
bar.
Scudder? I see him more as more like Stephen Greenleaf's
Marsh Tanner, with that whole middle-age, male menopause
depression/cynicism thing going on. But Tanner is settled,
almost inert at times, whereas Liffey always seems curiously
adrift. And the continual bizarro events like those you
mentioned, or the staged-by-Fellini traffic accidents, add a
real touch of surrealism to everything. Sort of
Chandler-meets-Dali. The sensibility of these books is hard
to describe, at times, but it just feels right and
unique.
>I've already decided to order THE CRACKED EARTH,
Shannon's second Jack
>Liffey book.
There's a new one that just came out, the third, THE POISON
SKY. His publisher marked the occasion by dumping
Shannon.
The good news, though, is that there are at least three more
in the series, and Shannon is shopping them around.
And Doug wrote:
>Anyhow, since then I occasionally scribble
down
>authors that various listmembers recommend, and
with
>the exception of the lackluster Robert Crais I
haven't
>really been disappointed.
Lackluster? Hmmm...I haven't heard that one before. Have you
tried L.A. REQUIEM? I really liked that one. If you were put
off by the earlier books, and their Spenserian similarities
(even Crais admits it), you might try that one. He
essentially bulldozes most of the series to start building it
up again.
My interview with Crais, and my review of his latest,
DEMOLITION ANGEL, a stand-alone about a former LAPD bomb
tech, are now online at http://www.januarymagazine.com.
Kevin Burton Smith The Thrilling Detective Web Site http://www.colba.net/~kvnsmith/thrillingdetective/
An A&E Mystery.com Site of the Week, but don't let that
discourage you.
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