I don't really like to discuss things that are off the page,
like motivation. If its not on the page then I probably
didn't consider it or care about it. I think from my years of
writing about true crimes and hundreds of murders that
motivations can not be fully explained or understood. People
kill for unbelievable reasons and they kill for clearly
motivated reasons. To me, that is not what I am interested
in. I'm interested in the good and noble person who has to
confront this evil, who has to go into this darkness and
figure out how to keep the darkness from getting inside
himself. So my off hand comment is that I don't really know
why Garland killed Marie Gesto. I just know that he did it. I
think Harry Bosch views it the same way. I know there is a
tradition in crime fiction that such things are known and
loose ends get tied up, but the package is never tied with a
bow in my books. Your thoughts on what happened to T. Rex
after is great food for thought. I think that maybe I should
drop in some mention in a future book about how T. Rex beat
the rap. Because you are right. Justice is a different thing
when you have money. And its seems to be a really different
thing when you have money and live in LA. Your observations
on Rachel are very astute. She is in a couple books before
Echo Park. The Poet and The Narrows and you will find if you
read these that yes she has issues with intimacy and the
reason is in her sad childhood history which is told in the
Poet. She comes back after Echo Park in The Overlook but the
story takes place over only 12 hours and there is no time in
it for personal relations with Harry. They are all about the
case at hand.
--- In
rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, Patrick King
<abrasax93@...> wrote:
>
> I found the resolution and ending of ECHO PARK
quite
> satisfying. There are a couple of elements I'd like
to
> raise for discussion. It was great to see Pratt
meet
> his demise when he was so close to pulling off
his
> scam and it was equally great to see Bosch
vindicated
> in his pursuit of Anthony Garland.
>
> I'd like to know how Garland actually came to
kill
> Marie Gesto. As far as we know, Garland,
though
> certainly deeply disturbed, is not a serial
murderer.
> We assume, along with Harry, that he murdered
Gesto
> because of her resemblance to the girl who moved
to
> Texas, but we don't really know. The only story
we
> have about Marie's death we got from Waits and we
do
> know that for the most part its fabricated.
It
> troubles me that Garland, who was so unflappable
on
> the subject for 13 years, completely loses it in
Echo
> Park and murders Pratt, even though his father
told
> him not to. Not that it's unrealistic. Certainly
minds
> that resort to murder can behave very
irrationally
> after long calculating periods. Under the
circumstance
> I didn't see that Pratt's demand for more money
would
> have acted as such a powerful stresser on
Anthony.
> Part of Anthony's motive has got to be not only
to
> embarrass his father, but to involve him in
his
> crimes.
>
> Tho other thing about T. Rex Garland is what
happens
> to him? We're left thinking that he's going to
prison.
> But from what we know about the history of LA crime
&
> punishment, people like T. Rex tend to get off
scott
> free. The recent case of Phil Spector comes to
mind.
> This guy shot a girl after a lifetime habit
of
> bringing women home and threatening them with
guns.
> But the jury was hung and they're not going to try
him
> again. WHAT? Conclusion: If you have enough money
you
> can kill people in Los Angeles. So as far as I can
see
> T. Rex didn't kill anyone. He's at best guilty
of
> conspiracy after the fact. A good lawyer can
probably
> get most of the evidence thrown out as
inadmissable
> due to the way it was collected. There was
nothing
> illegal about the campaign contributions. Maybe
all
> this is addressed in a future book I haven't read
yet.
> If so, rest assured I will read it.
>
> My last comment is about Rachel Walling. What is
the
> matter with this woman? She fights side by side
with
> this guy. Did he put her life in danger? Not once.
He
> faced the danger himself, calculated the
odds
> correctly and solved the problem. And this in
her
> opinion makes him a loose cannon and she doesn't
want
> to live with him. This from an FBI agent
who
> completely ignores all the rules imposed upon her
when
> she sees an opportunity to bring a bad guy to
justice.
> That she walks out on Harry makes a good story,
but
> her reasons don't ring true. My sense is she
has
> emotional problems around intimacy and if Harry
plays
> it cool, she'll come crawling back. Where else is
she
> going to find a guy like that?
>
> I greatly enjoyed my introduction to Harry
Bosch.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Patrick King
>
>
>
>
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