Last night, I finished The Wheelman by Duane Swierczynski.
Really, really good.
I don't know why, perhaps the title, but I expected a very
stripped down, almost minimalist story like the great car
movies of the '70s, like The Driver, Two Lane Blacktop or
Vanishing Point (is the use of the name Kowalski a shout out
to Barry Newman?). That's not at all what I got. Stripped
down, yes, but I got enough plot to fill a vintage Gold Medal
(amazing how much plot they stuffed into those thin volumes).
And Duane keeps it very tightly under control. I must admit I
didn't think that was the case with his earlier novel, Secret
Dead Man; I thought the plot got away from him near the end.
But The Wheelman juggles a lot of people and subplots, but
expertly weaves them in and out. As I said, really, really
good. Sure to be loved by just about anyone on this list. All
it needed was trashier cover art (not that I didn't really
like the kinda punky artwork it does have); maybe the
paperback will get that.
MAJOR SPOILER ALERT
Duane, I do have a question about the bodies in the pipe.
When Perelli's men went to check the bodies in the pipe, they
found six bodies. But I only counted five -- Bling, Mikal and
Andrew on the first dump, Holden later dumped Evsei and
Wilcoxson. So who'd I miss? Also, are we supposed to know who
are in the last two body bags? Did the mustached guy perfom a
coup on Perelli and take either Dovaz or his daughter with
him? Or were they just two more, random casualties?
Mark
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