RARA-AVIS: Still some thoughts on characters

From: Juri Nummelin ( jurnum@utu.fi)
Date: 30 Oct 2001


On Tue, 30 Oct 2001, Carrie Pruett wrote:

> > Hmm, Demolition Angel is one I might say IS on the bloated side in terms of
> > dwelling on the character's past trauma. This is the kind of book you
> > usually get way down the road in a series when the author thinks "I'm out of
> > things for Joe Bob to do, let's put him in therapy!"

I thought once more about this. "Demolition Angel" is a police book, while not actually a police procedural. I've liked Ed McBain's, Ben Benson's and Collin Wilcox's police procedurals, even though there are no deep characterizations. (Benson's Ralph Lindsay changes throughout the series, but it's not the main point.) I get more involved in the procedures than in Carol Starkey's trauma in Crais's book. Men doing their business is more interesting to me than traumas of the officers.

Juri

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