I enjoyed both of these books. Kings next book will be a Max
Freeman novel.
Congrats to Pelecanos for winning for the second time in a
row a Los Angeles Times Book Prize. Hard Revolution may be a
three-pete.
Aldo
-----Original Message----- From:
owner-rara-avis@icomm.ca [mailto:
owner-rara-avis@icomm.ca] On Behalf Of Kevin Burton Smith
Sent: Monday, April 26, 2004 11:43 AM To:
rara-avis@icomm.ca Subject: RARA-AVIS: Re: Shadow Men by
Jonathon King
Craig wrote:
>Following a huge April snowstorm that closed pretty
much everything, I
>spent the weekend holed up with a bunch of new books,
including _White
>Devils_ by Paul McAuley, _Midnight Mass_ by F. Paul
Wilson, and the
>newest Max Freeman novel, _Shadow Men_ by Jonathon
King.
>
>I can remember reading King's debut, _The Blue Edge
of Midnight_ and
>thinking it had best debut Edgar written all over it.
So I was excited
>when his second book came out. Unfortunately, I
wasn't quite as
>impressed by this second novel, _A Visible Darkness_.
In moving the
>action away from the Everglades, where his character,
Max Freeman, an
>ex-policeman turned private detective lived in
virtual
>isolation, a lot of the magic of the debut was
lost.
>Apparently, King learned from this because book three
is
>a real keeper.
Hmmm... I was certainly less impressed than you were. My
review of SHADOW MEN for JANUARY MAGAZINE is up now at
http://www.januarymagazine.com/crfiction/shadowmen.html
Essentially, although I enjoyed the book and will certainly
read the next one, I found the characters and the plot a
little too underdeveloped this go-round.
And just up this morning, I think, is my review of HARD
REVOLUTION by our old pal George. After reading several early
(and generally negative) reviews of this one, I was all
geared up to be disappointed, but I was very pleasantly
surprised -- this one pays off on a lot of promises Pelecanos
has made through the years, distilling many of his favourite
themes and plot devices into what I think is possibly his
richest, ballsiest book yet. My review's posted at
http://www.januarymagazine.com/crfiction/hardrevolution.html
Mind you, maybe I swayed by the free CD full of primo soul
tunes that came with it.
--
Kevin Burton Smith Nothing on? Try The Thrilling Detective Web Site/CrimeSeen TV/Movie Poll http://www.thrillingdetective.com
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