Mario said:
> 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.
MrT: The more I think about the body of work that includes
the Bosch novels, the more I realize just how good Connelly's
characterizations have been. Bosch, in particular, has been
portrayed much fuller and deeper than, say, Nathan Zuckerman,
who seems to be the gold standard amongst the literary types.
(Yes, I have read all from both series).
I say this especially today because I finished Blonde Faith
by Mosley this afternoon. The book does such a wonderful job
of reminding us of previous installments in the series and I
was struck by just how powerful the Easy Rawlins series can
be, especially the books from Bad Boy Brawley Brown on (and
how cool is it to see a series improve as it goes along?).
I'm so pleased to be a reader in an era where the likes of
Connelly and Mosley are contemporary. Not to mention the many
other greats of this era.
p.s. to Lau: Winslow is terrific. The Power of the Dog is the
best book I've read in the past few years and The Winter of
Frankie Machine is not far behind.
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