In a message dated 11/22/07 2:34:42 PM,
jacquesdebierue@yahoo.com writes:
>
> I think that for suspense, Michael Connelly has to
rank very high, and
> not just among his contemporaries. Here's a guy who,
from his first
> book, seems to have all the technical tricks under
his belt, including
> how to create unbearable suspense. I don't rank him
as high in other
> aspects (characterization, for example), but for
suspense, he's just
> plain great. I am not saying that suspense is the
most important
> ingredient for a great hardboiled or noir novel, but
it's a necessary
> ingredient... or else ZZZZZZZZ.
>
Connelly's plotting skills take a backseat to no one as
well
I had mentioned awhile back that I had put down Ken Bruen's
The Guards because I got sidetracked by Terrill's Blonde
Lightning. well, Bruen is a terrific stylist, but I finally
gave up on the book because I could find no compelling reason
to keep picking it back up and I have a lot of others piling
up behind him. I started reading Connelly's The Overlook and
I'm already halfway thru it. I even brought it to my
brother's house to read while I was waiting for dinner to
arrive at the table. yeah, I'm that sociable
there's not a better prose stylist than Chuck Palahniuk. and
yet I stopped reading Choke with only 25 pages left to go.
how compelling is that novel? entertaining perhaps, but
c'mon. you need to tell a story, plain and simple. at least
if you're writing crime fiction. it's actually where Elmore
Leonard has fallen off in his later years
a guy who does both great: Don Winslow. at least in
California Fire and Life. I've got another Winslow in my
queue and it looks strong too
John Lau
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