T,
Re your question below:
"Did Westlake's Mitch Tobin series end or did it just, er,
get discontinued?"
The whole series depicts Tobin's slow healing process.
He starts by shutting the world out, and, in each book,
engages with the outer world a little more.
In the penultimate book, he finally comes to terms with his
guilt in a healthy way, and decides to become part of the
outside world again. As part of this process he applies for a
PI license.
In the last book, he's a licensed PI, working part-time as a
security guard at an art museum, and is back to being a fully
functional human being.
So it didn't end in the sense that Tobin had some rendevous
at the Reichenbach that absolutely closed off the possiblity
of being further adventures.
But, in the sense that the whole series was about Tobin's
psychological healing process, the series comes to a definite
end when that healing process has been completed.
OTOH, the early entries in Lawrence Block's Matt Scudder
series formed a similar arc that came to a similar conclusion
in EIGHT MILLION WAYS TO DIE, but Block has found ways to
continue the series despite Scudder's coming to terms with
his guilt and dealing with his alcoholism.
So there's always the possibility that Westlake may someday
resurrect his "Tucker Coe" persona and tell stories about a
fully healed Mitch Tobin.
After all, he brought back Parker.
JIM DOHERTY
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : 06 Jul 2007 EDT