I didn't get this one finished in time for 80s month. It's
the first Estelman (am I spelling his name write?) I've read.
I had this one and his THE GLASS HIGHWAY. Bill Denton had
recently given THE GLASS HIGHWAY two thumbs down so deciding
which to read was easy.
It was a good book. Amos Walker is the classic hard-drinking,
wisecracking private investigator, based in Detroit. Estelman
uses descriptions of Detroit effectively and the characters
and plot are interesting. He weaves some Vietnam experiences
into the book and he does a good job of conveying Amos's
loneliness and isolation without becoming overly
melodramatic. I liked it. Soulful. Amos drinks a lot but,
instead of the drown-your-sorrows-and-who-gives-a-damn
attitude of earlier hardboiled, he fears his fondness for
alcohol.
Somebody stated that Chandler's style isn't very portable but
it seems to have worked well in the 80s. I don't know if it
was just coincidence, but the four private investigator books
I read for the 80s (others were Corris's WHITE MEAT,
Reasoner's TEXAS WIND, and Lochte's SLEEPING DOG) all seemed
to do a great job of tapping into Chandler's style while
still offering something uniquely their own. Kevin Burton
Smith noted earlier that the 80s are what first attracted him
to the genre. I can understand why.
miker
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