Re: RARA-AVIS: Flood

From: R. & J. Clinton ( clinton65@comcast.net)
Date: 26 Jun 2007


----- Original Message ----- From: "ninposamurai" < ninposamurai@yahoo.com>
> Hi. Not long ago i read,Flood by Andrew Vachss,again.I would like to
> know your opinion,of it. Thank You!
> Jeff

I thought his first three books -- FLOOD, STREGA and BLUE BELLE -- were outstanding. Unfortunately, he opted to continue what would have been a very memorable and remarkable trilogy into a series that quickly became stale and repetitive (though the 4th and 5th in the series were okay), progressively morphing into a pale cartoon caricature of its former power and originality. I haven't read a new Vachss in years, but I did read the Burke series up to the tenth volume (SAFE HOUSE, 1998), so I think I can safely say that I continued to give it a chance to prove itself anew, to reignite some freshness to the character, his "family" and their struggles...but it all began to read to me like a episodic comic book, full of cliches, forced/trite dialogue and all-too-obvious commentary.

His standalone works are hit and miss. STELLA was brilliant. THE GETAWAY MAN was similarly striking. Conversely, I found TWO TRAINS RUNNING unreadable.

His short-story collections are always entertaining and impressive...I'd highly recommend both.

Ron Clinton



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