Ben Perkins is a working class joe who's doing a little
better than the average working class joe. That's because he
manages Norwegian Wood, a pricey apartment complex in
suburban Detroit, and supplements his income as a private
investigator. And he has friends in high places, too. Like
The Judge, a state supreme court justice with ties to his old
law firm. And his old law firm represents a reclusive disc
jockey named Alex Farr. Alex is suspected of the rape and
murder of 3 women in the Detroit area. Upon meeting Farr, it
becomes obvious that isn't possible. Farr is a severe
agoraphobe, going to work every night in a van driven by his
handyman, working in a studio no one else can use at the
station, and ordering everything through catalogues. Alex
Farr is a prophet, foretelling the coming of Amazon and
eBay.
It becomes clear that someone is framing Farr, and in the
days before e-commerce, when telemarketers took down your
Visa number to pay for your latest Ron Popeil gadget, there
was probably MORE opportunity for identity theft.
While the technology in the book is dated (Perkins' cell
phone, an expensive novelty in the first two books, is barely
in evidence here), the themes and situtations most certainly
are not. The book would do well written today, although I did
find references to Roger Daltrey's solo album (He did a solo
album? Yes, kids, and I have a copy of it bought when "After
the Fire" was in heavy rotation.) and Stevie Nicks were
amusing. I probably wouldn't recognize half the bands a newer
writer might mention.
One of these is the media and how it goes after a
high-profile murder case like soccer moms in a death struggle
over the last copy of the new Harry Potter at Borders. Karen
Cash is either a wonderful female sidekick or a femme fatale,
and Kantner doesn't let us in on it until the end. Phil
Paros, the state homicide dick who's already tried,
convicted, and executed Farr, is a media whore who's not
above a little police brutality. The other thing that struck
me was the theme of identity theft. The book has a 1988
copyright, so ID theft wasn't nearly as pervasive as it is
now. However, it's not only central to the story, it also
forms one of the subplots (There are several), the son of one
of Perkins' suspects who kills his parents to collect on
dad's Social Security payments and investment income. When it
debuted, DIRTY WORK must have been shocking. Now it's about
an all-too-common problem.
I'm torn between which of the three Perkins I've read so far
is the best. I'm inclined to say THE BACKDOOR MAN because it
seemed so fresh and new. However, I tend to believe it's
DIRTY WORK. Perkins is fleshed out nicely in this one, and
the plot is the most complex of the three books. Definitely
recommended.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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