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gimpyknee's review against another edition
4.0
Can't go wrong with reading whatever Jack Taylor is reading (Ken Bruen's The Killing of the Tinkers).
pattydsf's review against another edition
4.0
I wanted a new author to try as an audiobook. Sallis had two things going for him - We have the whole series on talking book and at least the first one is short. Sometimes I get lost in long talking books because it takes me awhile to listen to them.
Lew Griffin, the protagonist, is a black man reviewing his life from the 60's through the 90's. This is not necessarily a good time to be African-American and it is definitely not a good time to be Lew Griffin. He is angry, frustrated and an alcoholic. He is also supposed to be finding several missing persons.
I can't really do justice to James Sallis' writing. The way he uses words, the knowledge he puts in Griffin's head, the way he turns a phrase all add up to more than the sum of these parts. I thought I was reading a simple mystery, but by the end I knew I had met a unique character. I don't want to give away the ending, but this book really startled me. I think I just stared at the road for five minutes thinking about the conclusion.
G. Valmont Thomas is the perfect reader for the book. I had not heard him read before and may be that is why I could accept him as Lew Griffin. I certainly hope he reads the rest of the series.
I recommend this book to those who like to discover lost treasures, to those who like being inside characters' brains, to folks who know New Orleans and to may be interested in unexpected plot twists.
Lew Griffin, the protagonist, is a black man reviewing his life from the 60's through the 90's. This is not necessarily a good time to be African-American and it is definitely not a good time to be Lew Griffin. He is angry, frustrated and an alcoholic. He is also supposed to be finding several missing persons.
I can't really do justice to James Sallis' writing. The way he uses words, the knowledge he puts in Griffin's head, the way he turns a phrase all add up to more than the sum of these parts. I thought I was reading a simple mystery, but by the end I knew I had met a unique character. I don't want to give away the ending, but this book really startled me. I think I just stared at the road for five minutes thinking about the conclusion.
G. Valmont Thomas is the perfect reader for the book. I had not heard him read before and may be that is why I could accept him as Lew Griffin. I certainly hope he reads the rest of the series.
I recommend this book to those who like to discover lost treasures, to those who like being inside characters' brains, to folks who know New Orleans and to may be interested in unexpected plot twists.
comeintothegraveyardmary's review against another edition
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
ja_hopkins's review against another edition
3.0
This is an interesting, if slighly unexpected book.
Told by Lew Griffin, a sort of private eye/odd job man, alchoholic resident of New Orleans, this book covers a few of the key phase of Griffin's life/career, spread over several decades. Starting in the 60's, we jump 6, 16 and 10 years for the various 'acts'. His relationship with Verne is certainly unconventional, but then Griffin's always seems to be a bit uncomfortable in his own skin. Perhaps that is more to dealing with the persistant racism that pervades evocatively described New Orleans.
Not as good as Drive, but worth a read - I don't think I realised there were others in the series, so will be getting the next one to see how it moves along given the ending here.
Told by Lew Griffin, a sort of private eye/odd job man, alchoholic resident of New Orleans, this book covers a few of the key phase of Griffin's life/career, spread over several decades. Starting in the 60's, we jump 6, 16 and 10 years for the various 'acts'. His relationship with Verne is certainly unconventional, but then Griffin's always seems to be a bit uncomfortable in his own skin. Perhaps that is more to dealing with the persistant racism that pervades evocatively described New Orleans.
Not as good as Drive, but worth a read - I don't think I realised there were others in the series, so will be getting the next one to see how it moves along given the ending here.
andrew61's review against another edition
3.0
I have struggled to rate this book. As a study of a man on the edge struggling with drink and violence but staying on the right side of the law it is very good, lew griffin is a new Orleans private eye who in 1964 investigates the disappearance of a poster girl for the civil rights movement.The investigation leads him to drink and we then leap to 1970, 1984, and 1990. The reader follows lew's highs and lows until at the end of the book he confronts more personal issues. The book is a very literary crime novel however as a mystery it lacks a plot which ultimately left me a little dissatisfied as i rattled to the end in this very readable book expecting loose ends to be tied together but they weren't. So don't read it if you are looking for plot driven thriller, but do read it if you are looking for an analysis of a troubled man and the issue of race in modern America.
I wanted to go to four stars as I am curious to read the rest of the series and hope that book1 is foundation for future great reads as it certainly demonstrates that as a genre crime writing can stand with the best literary writing.
I wanted to go to four stars as I am curious to read the rest of the series and hope that book1 is foundation for future great reads as it certainly demonstrates that as a genre crime writing can stand with the best literary writing.
bhan13's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed this book very much and the reader, G. Valmont Thomas, is one of my favourites. Since it skips through the decades I'm curious about how this will be handled in the rest of the series.
jakewritesbooks's review against another edition
4.0
I liked this book, albeit with some trepidation. I'm always concerned about white writers writing from the perspective of black characters. I'm not sure Sallis navigates it well (the first vignette had some cringeworthy moments, mostly because of a character who wasn't the protagonist) but maybe well enough. Otherwise, this is a very good book, soaked in the atmosphere of New Orleans (I felt like I was back in the city). Sallis has a good gift with dialogue and I liked how the cases enmeshed with the PI's life. That's a tough trick to pull off with some satisfaction but he does.
delton215's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
t_bone's review against another edition
3.0
I started out loving this book, but by the end I was glad it was over. I did read it over a single night so maybe that has something to do with me losing interest. It's basically four short stories about a hardboiled-type black private in New Orleans set in four different time periods. The first couple of stories were very Raymond Chandler-esque, which I quite enjoyed, but the last two stories were too ponderous for my taste. I like my hardboiled detectives to be fast paced. The first story, set in 1964, seemed to be referencing Black Power activism, though I thought the setting was little early for that, but what would I know, I'm only the smartest person alive. I seem to have some kind of issue with white writers writing from the perspective of black characters. I don't know why, I never question men writing women or women writing men or gay writing straight or vice versa. When I read a white author writing from the perspective of a black person though, I just get a bit pulled out of the story looking for inauthenticity for some reason.