I've very much enjoyed the discussion of McBain and Block, and I'm reminded
once again of how much personal taste enters into these discussions. What
we like is good. What we don't like is bad.
As for me, I'm a big fan of the work of both writers. I discovered them
long ago, long before there was any list like this for discussion of them,
and I read pretty much everything by them that I could find. Some of the
books were better than others, but I can't think of any that I didn't enjoy
at least a little. The same is true of Ross Macdonald and John D.
MacDonald. I liked just about everything they've written, though in
re-reading them I can see things that I don't admire as much as I once did.
As for Robert Leslie Bellem, I enjoy him in small doses. Somewhere a roscoe
sneezed. KA-CHOW!
I read a lot of early Ellroy, having discovered him with the publication of
his first book. (Yes, I still have those first Avon paperbacks.) But he
lost me after awhile. I couldn't read WHITE JAZZ, and haven't tried another
one since. Others love those later books. Different strokes.
Bill Crider
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