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A review by tracey_stewart
Dead Famous by Carol O'Connell
4.0
Reading this series in only slightly interrupted sequence is strange, because it becomes very clear that while they are a series, the books are largely isolated from each other: what happens in one does not necessarily affect what happens in the next. A cat which figures prominently in The Man Who Cast Two Shadows and seems to have been adopted by Mallory is gone without trace or mention in the next book. Another case of unrequited love (besides Charles's, that is), disappears below the surface. A major fire in one book has little impact on the next, or those after. Long story short, the relationships – and, in fact, the characters' ages, as far as I can tell – remain static. Which detracts from an otherwise powerful and affecting book in Dead Famous.
Carol O'Connell is a past mistress of (to use a poker metaphor in keeping with the Tuesday games of Kathy's fan club) keeping her cards close to the vest, of anteing up in small increments until suddenly a stunning hand is revealed and she scoops up the pot. My brother plays cards like this: in a game (not poker) in which you're supposed to go down as quickly as possible with three of a kind, he likes to hang on to all of his cards, maintaining his poker face, risk getting caught with a handful of high-value cards, and go down all at once with a fan of matched cards, and one in the middle, and he's out before the rest of us know what hit us. This is so far the best example of O'Connell's poker face. There was a trial, we know – a murder trial with unshakeable evidence against the defendant. There was a Not Guilty verdict which shocked the nation. And now the jurors are being hunted and killed, one by one. Who was on the jury, who the defendant was, what the mystery is that Johanna Apollo carries around with her, and why – if there is a sane reason – the British-born shock jock Ian Zachary is playing the games he is playing with the remaining jurors' lives - - these are all questions left unanswered far past the point of ordinary plot suspense. I think with a great many writers that fact would have resulted in a wall-banger – there's a fine, fine line between suspense and frustration – but Carol O'Connell can pull it off. Her writing is compelling, and the need to know outweighs the less pleasant aspects of the wait.
Is the payoff worth it in the end? Yes and no. The ending is, really, the only one feasible within the Mallory universe, and there is an oomph to it that is gratifying. But personal matters for several characters do not work out as might be hoped … and part of the sadness that accompanies this for a long-term reader is the probability that – just as the rookie cop from the last book (whom I hoped would be a new recurring character) disappeared, and the cat "Nose" before him – nothing that happens in these pages will carry over into the books that follow.
The patterns each book follows become glaring after so many back to back. While I do still very much enjoy O'Connell's style and the characters, by this point it's hard not to eyeroll a little at the secrets kept by the characters from the reader, or at Mallory subverting authority again, or gosh there was some past occurrence five or fifteen or twenty years ago from which this story stems. Each book on its own is excellent. Taken sequentially, they lose something. So I guess my conclusion is: read these books, because they're very good – but don't ingest the series in a lump.
Carol O'Connell is a past mistress of (to use a poker metaphor in keeping with the Tuesday games of Kathy's fan club) keeping her cards close to the vest, of anteing up in small increments until suddenly a stunning hand is revealed and she scoops up the pot. My brother plays cards like this: in a game (not poker) in which you're supposed to go down as quickly as possible with three of a kind, he likes to hang on to all of his cards, maintaining his poker face, risk getting caught with a handful of high-value cards, and go down all at once with a fan of matched cards, and one in the middle, and he's out before the rest of us know what hit us. This is so far the best example of O'Connell's poker face. There was a trial, we know – a murder trial with unshakeable evidence against the defendant. There was a Not Guilty verdict which shocked the nation. And now the jurors are being hunted and killed, one by one. Who was on the jury, who the defendant was, what the mystery is that Johanna Apollo carries around with her, and why – if there is a sane reason – the British-born shock jock Ian Zachary is playing the games he is playing with the remaining jurors' lives - - these are all questions left unanswered far past the point of ordinary plot suspense. I think with a great many writers that fact would have resulted in a wall-banger – there's a fine, fine line between suspense and frustration – but Carol O'Connell can pull it off. Her writing is compelling, and the need to know outweighs the less pleasant aspects of the wait.
Is the payoff worth it in the end? Yes and no. The ending is, really, the only one feasible within the Mallory universe, and there is an oomph to it that is gratifying. But personal matters for several characters do not work out as might be hoped … and part of the sadness that accompanies this for a long-term reader is the probability that – just as the rookie cop from the last book (whom I hoped would be a new recurring character) disappeared, and the cat "Nose" before him – nothing that happens in these pages will carry over into the books that follow.
The patterns each book follows become glaring after so many back to back. While I do still very much enjoy O'Connell's style and the characters, by this point it's hard not to eyeroll a little at the secrets kept by the characters from the reader, or at Mallory subverting authority again, or gosh there was some past occurrence five or fifteen or twenty years ago from which this story stems. Each book on its own is excellent. Taken sequentially, they lose something. So I guess my conclusion is: read these books, because they're very good – but don't ingest the series in a lump.