a.n.smith (ansmith@netdoor.com)
Fri, 24 Dec 1999 11:10:14 -0600
> Neil, I second the emotion on Don Winslow. Great
writer, and his Neal
Carey mysteries are wonderful, too.
Wonder why I haven't gotten around to them...Thanks. I'll
give them a shot. But these recent ones read fast and broken
and bending the rules, and I'm so glad someone's
willing.
Another guy, who isn't one of these language-benders but
still I'm impressed with on story, is Greg Rucka. I read some
of his first one (Finder or Keeper? I forget) a few years ago
and didn't care so much for it. Thought maybe it had a little
potential, but it didn't stick. Turns out, after returning to
Rucka's work with Shooting at Midnight, that I just wasn't
ready for what he was doing yet. I'll have to go read the
whole series now. I'm happy to see younger detective
protagonists here, people in their twenties and early
thirties, because that's my age group, and it's not often I
see them portrayed in detective fiction. Usually, I see late
thirties detectives who remember their "youth" in their
twenties, innocent childlike times. Well, time to see some
people doing stuff in their twenties. And the thing is,
they're bound to make mistakes, but also grow and change in
interesting ways over the life of the series, provided it's
in real time, not "mystery fiction time." You know, the never
aging characters? Not my cup of coffee, except in the case of
Nero Wolfe. Someone could write new Nero Wolfe stories in
2045 and I'd probably still enjoy them.
Neil Smith
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