The strength in this series is the long-suffering Weiss. He
is a wonderfully tormented, tortured soul. Bishop is,
regretably, a cliche. Lee Child handles the character more
sucessfully.
Keith Sparrow Sparrow's Nest Books www.bibliomania.net
Member: IOBA: Independent Online Booksellers
Association
----- Original Message ----- From: "Craig Larson" <
CLarson@nhcc.edu> To: <
rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com> Sent: Monday, November
29, 2004 6:26 AM Subject: RARA-AVIS: Shotgun Alley
> Over the weekend, I read Andrew Klavan's
> second Weiss and Bishop novel, Shotgun
Alley,
> and really enjoyed it, though in retrospect,
the
> book is chock-full of cliches: the tough guy
hero
> who infiltrates a biker gang and proves
himself
> to be just as virile as the rest and a femme
fatale
> right out of film noir. But Klavan writes with
such
> power and assuredness, that the whole thing
comes
> to vivid life and it moves.
>
> Jim Bishop is charged with bringing back the
daughter
> of a rich man who is planning a senate run. In
an
> act of rebellion, she's joined a biker gang made
up
> of misfits and castoffs too crazy to be accepted
in
> the traditional gangs (at one point, a character
says
> "What does a biker have to do to earn the
nickname
> Mad Dog?"). They're the Outriders and they're
not
> above killing a few innocent bystanders who
might
> get in the way of their smash and grab
thefts.
>
> Back at the office, Weiss has been hired by a
feminist
> professor to track down the person responsible for
a
> string of sexually-harassing emails. The only
problem
> is she's been receiving them for over nine
months--it
> turns out she's fallen in love with the sender and
wants
> help tracking him down. The process of finding out
who
> the sender is allows Weiss some time to reflect on
his
> unrequited love for his fantasy woman from the
previous
> novel. He knows that there's an unstoppable killer
out
> there, just waiting to follow him should he try to
find
> this woman.
>
> There's a great scene where the unnamed "I"
narrator
> (if we believe the book's foreword, this is Klavan
himself)
> meets a woman who seems to be his perfect match
and
> they have a wonderful conversation which ends with
her
> giving him her phone number and eliciting a promise
for him
> to call. Very soon after, he drifts into an
all-consuming
> sexual relationship with Weiss' female operative
Sissy, and
> forgets all about Emma McNair, his perfect woman.
Very
> sad, really.
>
> We learn more about the backstory of the
relationship
> between Bishop and Weiss and how they started
working
> together. It all builds to a raid on a warehouse
during a
> dark and stormy night, with police and FBI agents,
tipped
> off by Bishop, waiting to capture the
gang.
>
> I really had a great time with this book and it was
literally
> a page-turner that wouldn't let me go. There were
several
> times that I was about to put the book aside and do
something
> else, but I read just one more sentence and that was
enough
> to draw me into the next chapter and then the next.
I liked
> Dynamite Road a lot, but Shotgun Alley is even
better.
>
> Craig Larson
> Minneapolis, MN
>
>
> RARA-AVIS home page: http://www.miskatonic.org/rara-avis/
>
>
>
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