I think I was going for a Chinatown-like flavor in Echo Park
when it came to the Garlands. I was going with the idea that
the rich are different and expect priviledge that leads to a
sense of being above the law. So that T. Rex Garland would
excuse and protect his son simply because he could and
because he believed himself above the law. If he was above
the law, so should be his son. It was just some sort of
unexplained riff like that. The trait of unstoppable rage in
the son would have been exhibited in the murder of Marie
Gesto. He got away with that for many, many years and
everything else he ever did. It breeds a false sense of legal
invincibility. Of knowing you will walk away. I thought that
this made what he did in Echo Park at the end explanable and
believable.
--- In
rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, Patrick King
<abrasax93@...> wrote:
>
> --- michaelconnelly187
<michaelconnelly187@...>
> wrote:
> 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.
>
*****************************************************
> I hear you. As a reader I was hooked by that
eerie
> first chapter going through Marie's car in
that
> cramped garage. Along with Harry, I became
very
> interested in what happened to her. Now I know
that
> Anthony Garland killed her. But there's a
whole
> underpinning of the story that's left me
wondering.
> Just how corrupt is T. Rex Garland? What did his
son
> have to say to him that would allow him to not
only
> cover up the murder of a young woman, but excuse it
if
> not condone it?
>
> I do understand what you're saying. Of course
we're
> reading a detective story here and it should not go
on
> for 600 pages speculating about the motives of
a
> spoiled sadist. The characters you create are so
vital
> that to some extent it almost feels like
non-fiction.
> Of course, non-fiction often ends like Andrew
Cunanan
> where nothing is ever explained.
>
> I enjoyed the book greatly and will be catching up
on
> the rest of your work throughout this year.
Thanks
> again for a terrific story.
>
> Patrick King
>
>
>
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