I think there are so many variables that can contribute to your
overall reading experience, this is a good example of why we'll never
all agree about books (or anything, for that matter). I've read both
THE FEVER KILL and THE COLD SPOT, and reviewed both of them
favourably. Maybe O'Connell's comments are a bit over the top.
However, he's certainly entitled to his opinion.
In my view, I give THE FEVER KILL a bit of an edge over COLD SPOT for
a couple of reasons. One, FEVER KILL was my first Piccirilli book,
and whenever you try a new-to-you author you approach with a blank
slate. (Also, I'm one of those people who ends up having negative
reactions to extreme hype books. Damien Seaman, whose interview with
James Sallis Ali Karim linked to yesterday, is staying at my house
right now, and we were up half the night talking about books, and I
was explaining how if I'd known Ian Rankin was a bestseller I might
very well have not picked up my first Rankin book. The reason was
because I'd been - way back then, not knowing anything about how
bookselling worked - picking up books from those cardboard cutouts and
end displays and tables. Peri O'Shaughnessy and Martha Grimes were
but two of the ones I remember trying and not getting hooked on - in
the case of the Grimes giving up partway through - so I finally
decided to go straight to the mystery section and read the backs of
the books and find something. It's made me wary about hype ever
since, perhaps because it builds up those expectations.)
That said, I'm very enthusiastic myself when a book wows me. FEVER
KILL had a blank slate, and it was an example to me of a book where
you can see where some things are going in a loose sense (trying to
find answers to the old crime that destroyed his father's life) but
are happily led because you want that resolution as well, and there
are more than enough different variables to make it interesting and
build the tension. Plus, the ending was something I never saw coming.
I mean, you knew this one showdown was brewing, but the exact way it
unfolded was a kick in the head.
With THE COLD SPOT, I think the thing that's worked against it a bit
for me has to do with it being a series. I guess it really depends on
why you read a book, but in TCS we've already gone through a cycle of
redemption and loss with Chase. You can certainly see those things
coming. It's been set up for the beginning for him to return to the
life, as has already been mentioned by Mark, and it isn't hard to
guess at what will happen to push him back over that line.
Part of my curiosity with the move forward is that pretty well
everything in TCS is personal for Chase. He's motivated by his
emotions, revenge, guilt and blame. He's not in the life for the
thrill of it, not hooked on the adrenaline rush of breaking the law.
It's a challenge to sustain that believably book to book. The risk is
that future books will recycle back into "bad boy finds reason to go
straight, then all falls apart and he goes back to his bad ways".
Next paragraph my be a slight spoiler if you haven't read it.
In truth, it's very hard to do a series that's truly noir, because the
strictest definitions of noir require the death or destruction (ie: in
an asylum) of the protagonist in the end. I feel like a lot of time
(and maybe too much time) was spent straightening Chase out, and I'm
just not sure if I buy the idea that the love of a good woman will
change a person that much, and loss of said woman will push them to a
more violent extreme than they ever embodied before. As much as I
really liked the book when I read it, I've found myself questioning
that relationship since, and whether or not it was portrayed as too
idyllic, too perfect, if Lila was too angelic and easy to live with -
was she really just a simplistic woman who thought she could change a
bad boy and that was enough? Because years into a relationship what
you want changes, people get on each other's nerves, have their little
spats.
Anyway, I'll be curious to see how Pic moves Chase forward. If TCS
had ended differently and wasn't continuing those few niggle points
that have built up over the past year probably wouldn't have stayed
with me. I really think they were things that came to mind after I
thought about how the series would progress.
I'm always mindful of something Simon Kernick said to me about his
Dennis Milne books, and his own questions about how far you could go
and still keep it within some realm of believability because in truth
it would be very hard for Milne to get in and out of the UK as a
wanted man, and smuggle guns, etc. With only two books he was very
conscious of pushing across the line and having it be unbelievable.
It's a delicate balance. Personally, I'd just love more Milne, but
the more I read the more I appreciate the challenges of making these
types of series work.
But that's just my 2 cents. I think FEVER KILL was overshadowed by
the release of TCS just a few months later, from a substantially
bigger publisher (and being a champion of the underdog has probably
made me more a vocal supporter of it). I do think it's too bad,
because I think it was a very good book, one I really enjoyed, it both
FEVER KILL and TCS have left me wanting to read more by Piccirilli, so
whatever minor questions I have about where the series with Chase will
go, I'm interested in finding out.
Cheers,
Sandra
On Fri, Jan 9, 2009 at 12:20 PM, sonny <sforstater@yahoo.com> wrote:
> i enjoyed 'fever kill' too, but find o'connell's comments on it a bit
> extreme. i would be interested in reading other piccirilli, tho, and thanks
> for the recs i've seen posted.
>
> in what way is 'cold spot' part of a series?
>
-- THE FRAILTY OF FLESH Nov 08 Dorchester LULLABY FOR THE NAMELESS Dec 09 Dorchester http://www.sandraruttan.com/
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