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jakewritesbooks's review against another edition
4.0
(TW: mention of rape)
There’s a lot going on in this book. Not sure the author pulls it all off but I know that I liked it and I wanted to keep reading to the very end.
I had been meaning to read this one for a while. Not only does it wind up on a lot of lists featuring great LA mysteries but the writer herself has cited Ross Macdonald as a major inspiration. This has the setup of an Archer-esque story: someone going undercover to unearth the dirty deeds of a rich, influential family full of greed and unconsummated desire.
But Denise Hamilton has a voice all her own and it shows. The prose and dialogue might be standard fare, sometimes to the point of cliche, but the plotting was superb. There were so many times where I thought I knew where the story was going only for Denise Hamilton to pull the rug out from under me. Some of the resolutions were predictable but much credit to Hamilton for keeping me guessing, which is rare with mysteries.
This also is a legitimately great Los Angeles novel. It gets the desperation of the city, the striver’s desire to advance their position in a city that chews up ambition and spits it out. I don’t know that it’s the best book I’ve ever read set in LA but it might be the best use of LA in a book, if that makes sense.
Again, not everything works. The characters are sometimes stock, the use of rape keeps coming up more as a plot point than with any investment as to how it impacts the characters. But I liked this a lot. I wish Hamilton had a better publisher because I feel like this should’ve catapulted her to bestseller stardom. As it stands, I’ll have to check out more of her work.
There’s a lot going on in this book. Not sure the author pulls it all off but I know that I liked it and I wanted to keep reading to the very end.
I had been meaning to read this one for a while. Not only does it wind up on a lot of lists featuring great LA mysteries but the writer herself has cited Ross Macdonald as a major inspiration. This has the setup of an Archer-esque story: someone going undercover to unearth the dirty deeds of a rich, influential family full of greed and unconsummated desire.
But Denise Hamilton has a voice all her own and it shows. The prose and dialogue might be standard fare, sometimes to the point of cliche, but the plotting was superb. There were so many times where I thought I knew where the story was going only for Denise Hamilton to pull the rug out from under me. Some of the resolutions were predictable but much credit to Hamilton for keeping me guessing, which is rare with mysteries.
This also is a legitimately great Los Angeles novel. It gets the desperation of the city, the striver’s desire to advance their position in a city that chews up ambition and spits it out. I don’t know that it’s the best book I’ve ever read set in LA but it might be the best use of LA in a book, if that makes sense.
Again, not everything works. The characters are sometimes stock, the use of rape keeps coming up more as a plot point than with any investment as to how it impacts the characters. But I liked this a lot. I wish Hamilton had a better publisher because I feel like this should’ve catapulted her to bestseller stardom. As it stands, I’ll have to check out more of her work.
tanyarobinson's review against another edition
3.0
An interesting mystery with a dozen disparate threads that were tied together too suddenly in the last 10 pages.
hcothran's review against another edition
4.0
I was going to rate this three stars for most of the novel, because it was a pretty straightforward mystery, somewhat reminiscent of the TV show "Scandal" with the whole crisis management of politicians angle, but it was a little too floridly-written for my tastes. I just don't think real people talk the way a lot of the pople talk in this novel. Also, with all due respect to Ms. Hamilton, I don't give a shit about perfume other than it smells nice, and so every time her character went on and on about some scent or another I totally zoned out. But! Then I found the ending somewhat surprising, but believable, and I think she did a nice job of crossing all her t's and dotting her i's...in other words, the mystery's resolution made sense and tied up all the loose ends nicely, and I find that rare enough in a mystery that I went ahead and tossd her an extra star for it. What the hell, I was in a giving mood.
jakewritesbooks's review against another edition
4.0
(TW: mention of rape)
There’s a lot going on in this book. Not sure the author pulls it all off but I know that I liked it and I wanted to keep reading to the very end.
I had been meaning to read this one for a while. Not only does it wind up on a lot of lists featuring great LA mysteries but the writer herself has cited Ross Macdonald as a major inspiration. This has the setup of an Archer-esque story: someone going undercover to unearth the dirty deeds of a rich, influential family full of greed and unconsummated desire.
But Denise Hamilton has a voice all her own and it shows. The prose and dialogue might be standard fare, sometimes to the point of cliche, but the plotting was superb. There were so many times where I thought I knew where the story was going only for Denise Hamilton to pull the rug out from under me. Some of the resolutions were predictable but much credit to Hamilton for keeping me guessing, which is rare with mysteries.
This also is a legitimately great Los Angeles novel. It gets the desperation of the city, the striver’s desire to advance their position in a city that chews up ambition and spits it out. I don’t know that it’s the best book I’ve ever read set in LA but it might be the best use of LA in a book, if that makes sense.
Again, not everything works. The characters are sometimes stock, the use of rape keeps coming up more as a plot point than with any investment as to how it impacts the characters. But I liked this a lot. I wish Hamilton had a better publisher because I feel like this should’ve catapulted her to bestseller stardom. As it stands, I’ll have to check out more of her work.
There’s a lot going on in this book. Not sure the author pulls it all off but I know that I liked it and I wanted to keep reading to the very end.
I had been meaning to read this one for a while. Not only does it wind up on a lot of lists featuring great LA mysteries but the writer herself has cited Ross Macdonald as a major inspiration. This has the setup of an Archer-esque story: someone going undercover to unearth the dirty deeds of a rich, influential family full of greed and unconsummated desire.
But Denise Hamilton has a voice all her own and it shows. The prose and dialogue might be standard fare, sometimes to the point of cliche, but the plotting was superb. There were so many times where I thought I knew where the story was going only for Denise Hamilton to pull the rug out from under me. Some of the resolutions were predictable but much credit to Hamilton for keeping me guessing, which is rare with mysteries.
This also is a legitimately great Los Angeles novel. It gets the desperation of the city, the striver’s desire to advance their position in a city that chews up ambition and spits it out. I don’t know that it’s the best book I’ve ever read set in LA but it might be the best use of LA in a book, if that makes sense.
Again, not everything works. The characters are sometimes stock, the use of rape keeps coming up more as a plot point than with any investment as to how it impacts the characters. But I liked this a lot. I wish Hamilton had a better publisher because I feel like this should’ve catapulted her to bestseller stardom. As it stands, I’ll have to check out more of her work.
robinhigdon's review against another edition
3.0
i enjoyed listening to this murder mystery. The story never lagged and it was an interesting view into the workings of big PR firms.
fluffiliscious's review
3.0
Damage Control is about a woman who works for a PR firm that cleans up after the powerful and wealthy. As the book opens, we get a small peek of her as a teenager and event that will forever change her life.
This was a pretty decent read. The beginning was a bit slow for me and it took me a while to connect with the main character, Maggie. But, she grows on you as her world spirals out of control. The story and the characters kept me engaged and always wondering what would happen next.
One of the criticisms is the amount of time throughout the book that Ms. Hamilton spends describing various perfumes that Maggie wears. I'm not a serious connoisseur of perfumes but Maggie's constant switching seems to be a bit much. It doesn't add much to the story. Yes, the sense of smell is the sense mostly closely connected to memory but I'm not sure what the point of the various perfumes served. Also, Maggies Adderall addiction seemed a bit gratuitous.
Overall, however, this is a good read. I hadn't guessed the twist by the time it was laid out, which is always a plus.
This was a pretty decent read. The beginning was a bit slow for me and it took me a while to connect with the main character, Maggie. But, she grows on you as her world spirals out of control. The story and the characters kept me engaged and always wondering what would happen next.
One of the criticisms is the amount of time throughout the book that Ms. Hamilton spends describing various perfumes that Maggie wears. I'm not a serious connoisseur of perfumes but Maggie's constant switching seems to be a bit much. It doesn't add much to the story. Yes, the sense of smell is the sense mostly closely connected to memory but I'm not sure what the point of the various perfumes served. Also, Maggies Adderall addiction seemed a bit gratuitous.
Overall, however, this is a good read. I hadn't guessed the twist by the time it was laid out, which is always a plus.
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