Dick Lochte wrote:
... As you correctly note, Macdonald wasn't going to write
about Buenos Aires (though one of his pre-Archer spy novels
may have headed in that direction).
********** I read Ross's THE DARK TUNNEL a few weeks ago. Is
that considered one of his spy novels? The main protagonist
is a college professor, and he discovers a Nazi spy operation
tapping information out of the college military board's
files.
I was a bit disappointed with this book. It wasn't really
bad, but it was my introduction to Ross MacDonald and seeing
as how he is one of the "big three," I expected better.
I have a hard time putting my finger on exactly what I
thought it was missing. I guess, for one thing, I didn't find
the main protagonist compelling. The characters were not bad,
but the book was definitely plot-dominated. I know I'm being
vague here, but when I compare this book to JDM's DEEP BLUE
GOODBYE and DRESS HER IN INDIGO, I find JDM to be smooth,
colorful, and entertaining, whereas THE DARK TUNNEL seems
awkward, contrived, and technical. My "contrived and
technical" label probably comes from his use of the old
"locked room" crime made popular by Poe in his
"Murders in the Rue Morgue" story. The solution of this type
of mystery usually proves tedious for me.
I'm hoping I like the Archer books better.
miker
-- # To unsubscribe from the regular list, say "unsubscribe rara-avis" to # majordomo@icomm.ca. This will not work for the digest version. # The web pages for the list are at http://www.miskatonic.org/rara-avis/ .
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : 12 Dec 2002 EST