RE: RARA-AVIS: Re: Moratorium on serial murderer mysteries?

From: Ron Clinton (clinton65@comcast.net)
Date: 19 Aug 2010

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    > From: rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com [mailto:rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com] On
    > Behalf Of jacquesdebierue
    > > I found Red Dragon far superior to Silence of the Lambs in this respect.
    > >
    >
    > Me, too. With Silence of the Lambs, I was conscious of reading some sort
    of
    > concocted story with a super villain. Red Dragon felt more real.

    I've heard that a number of times, and while I still believe SILENCE is the better of the two for a number of reasons, I would agree that RED DRAGON is itself a remarkable work and would probably immediately follow the three top serial killer works I mentioned earlier (THE COLLECTOR, SILENCE OF... and BY REASON OF INSANITY). Ellroy's KILLER ON THE ROAD (aka SILENT TERROR) might take up the fifth spot...but I haven't yet reconciled if it's as good as I think it is or not.

    Actually, I take that back...Ellroy can have the sixth spot. I just remembered a terrific serial killer book: Bradley Denton's BLACKBURN. Loved that book. Since BLACKBURN stretches the thematic confines of the serial killer novel, I'll throw out another one that does as well and, like BLACKBURN, is highly recommended: Westlake's THE AX. Like Jimmy Blackburn, Westlake's protagonist kills for reasons that he sees as perfectly legitimate...reasons that also become all too comprehensible for the reader. For that reason, these latter two might be the most frightening books of the bunch.

    Ron C.



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