Keith,
Re your comment below:
> I thought that this [WHERE SERPENTS LIE] one
was
> too close in many
> respects (plot, characters) to
> Connelly's superior THE POET. Granted it's been
a
> while, but I found the
> similarities distracting. It seemed as if Parker
was
> deliberately trying to
> affect a serial killer chic "style" common
to
> Connelly and Thomas Harris.
Haven't read THE POET, so I can't comment, but I thought the
characterization of the cop was very well-done. I liked the
writing. And I found the police work convincing. The
"frame-up" attempt on the hero was a distraction that I think
the book could have dispensed with, but maybe Parker felt
some need to introduce a "fair-play whodunit" aspect, and,
since the main villain was known, used the "frame-up"
sub-plot for that purpose. And, aside from the fact that that
main villain was serial killer, I didn't find the book all
that derivative of Thomas Harris.
Serial killers are dealt with by cops. I don't think the fact
the Thomas Harris has made the fictional use of serial
killers so commercially successful should bar other police
procedural writers from serial killer plots.
JIM DOHERTY
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