In a message dated 2/19/02 5:31:18 PM,
keith@globetrotter.net writes:
<< I thought that this 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. >>
Where Serpents Lie IS extremely similar to The Poet, which IS
superior. I was at a Connelly appearance where someone asked
him about it. He said he didn't even notice. He may however,
have just been trying to be diplomatic. The two men know each
other, and are fans of each other's work. I have in fact seen
Parker at a Connelly appearance. Both men are around the same
age, and have similar backgrounds: crime reporters for big
Southern California newspapers. And while Parker's best work
may have been his first three books, he has been trying to
extend his reach by playing around with point of view in his
story telling. Someone mentioned Summer of Fear being bad- I
thought so too, this was his first foray into the first
person. Since then, he has also switched back and forth from
the protagonist's first person, to the bad guy's third
person, notably in Serpents, which is one of the similarities
to The Poet. The Poet interestingly, I believe was Connelly's
first venture into the first person.
IMHO, Serpents isn't bad, it just suffers in comparison to
one of the most riveting thrillers written in the past
decade.
Parker, who has written primarily stand-alones his entire
career, seems to be trying to make a series of his recent
female cop character Merci Rayborn, who appears in both The
Blue Hour and Red Light. I still find him eminently readable.
I can't say the some for some of my other old
favorites.
John Lau
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