I finished this book a few days ago and it's still on my
mind. When I took it down off the bookshelf to read it, I
noticed that the front cover mentioned Hammett, Salinger, and
Nabokov. The first seemed right in line with what I would
expect but the next two raised an eyebrow. After finishing
it, I understood.
I can't seem to do anything but pick winners out of the 80s.
Reasoner's TEXAS WIND, Corris's WHITE MEAT, and now this fine
novel. It's a roller coaster ride. Sordid and mean, then
funny and heart-warming, and then deadly and dangerous. The
dialogue is wickedly amusing and witty, and the developing
relationship between the aging private eye Leo "Bloodhound"
Bloodworth and 14-year-old Serendipity Dahlquist is
intelligent, moving, and believable. Lochte is fearless in
exploring forbidden territory, and he walks the edge like a
trapeze artist on a tightrope. He looks damn good doing it,
too.
The book has two main protagonists, Leo and Serendipity. They
swap first person accounts in alternating chapters. The two
meet when Serendipity loses her dog and a policeman who knows
Leo sends her to him as a joke. The two of them traipse
across the California territory and a growing pile of bodies.
The characters are vivid and memorable.
Read this book.
miker
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