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A review by hieronymusbotched
He Died With His Eyes Open by Derek Raymond
3.0
A brilliant lead detective let down by a fairly mundane ending. What started out as a horrifically banal evil gets overblown by the end. Not to mention the victim’s tapes, which hit a fever pitch in the last 40 pages, which kills the present-tense narrative dead, however interesting they may be.
Otherwise, great setting, crackling dialogue, and a whole lot of swagger. Like Raymond Chandler slumming it in down-and-out London, except all the sordid moments don’t all happen offscreen.
So the ending’s not killed my interest dead, at least. Will definitely cozy up to the next two in the Factory series, if only to read the introduction by Will Self for the third. Besides, maybe they’re all up and up from here.
3.5
Otherwise, great setting, crackling dialogue, and a whole lot of swagger. Like Raymond Chandler slumming it in down-and-out London, except all the sordid moments don’t all happen offscreen.
So the ending’s not killed my interest dead, at least. Will definitely cozy up to the next two in the Factory series, if only to read the introduction by Will Self for the third. Besides, maybe they’re all up and up from here.
3.5