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A review by lmb1011
The Strangler by William Landay
2.0
Like so many others I had read Defending Jacob first, and was blown away by how good that book was. I was excited to pick up another William Landay and truly expected a similar experience.
I believe my dislike of this book is at least partially my own fault. I expected a book titled 'the strangler' to have the Stranglings be a main focus of the story. I didn't know until reading other reviews that the Boston Strangler was an actual case, and this was at least partially based on (or inspired by?) that. However, it seems like the Strangler was used as a backdrop. I was actually invested in figuring out who that was, to go chapters and chapters without it being really mentioned or cared about. Instead of following the strangler, you follow the 3 Daley brothers who are in their own ways caught up in the Strangler business, while also dealing with their own lives. Joe is a cop with a gambling problem and has roughly 0 redeeming qualities. He does stupid things, and then seems frustrated when it all blows up in his face and I really never felt bad for him. Michael is a lawyer who ends up getting assigned to work on the strangler case (which then goes on to describe the victims to a gross degree) meanwhile their youngest brother, Ricky is a thief.
None of them are particularly great, and i was expecting a lot more 'murder mystery' than I got. Most of this story is about Joe dealing with his gambling problem, Michael trying to decide who killed his father after someone suggests to him the story is different than what he was told. and Ricky being a thief.
The story shined best when it was actually providing mystery and action, and i did eventually get invested in Michael's secondary mystery. However I feel like the story I expected was not the story told, and in the end I just didn't like it. I will continue to try Landay's newer works as I believe this came before Defending Jacob, but this is just not one i can recommend to anyone, even if you like his other works.
I believe my dislike of this book is at least partially my own fault. I expected a book titled 'the strangler' to have the Stranglings be a main focus of the story. I didn't know until reading other reviews that the Boston Strangler was an actual case, and this was at least partially based on (or inspired by?) that. However, it seems like the Strangler was used as a backdrop. I was actually invested in figuring out who that was, to go chapters and chapters without it being really mentioned or cared about. Instead of following the strangler, you follow the 3 Daley brothers who are in their own ways caught up in the Strangler business, while also dealing with their own lives. Joe is a cop with a gambling problem and has roughly 0 redeeming qualities. He does stupid things, and then seems frustrated when it all blows up in his face and I really never felt bad for him. Michael is a lawyer who ends up getting assigned to work on the strangler case (which then goes on to describe the victims to a gross degree) meanwhile their youngest brother, Ricky is a thief.
None of them are particularly great, and i was expecting a lot more 'murder mystery' than I got. Most of this story is about Joe dealing with his gambling problem, Michael trying to decide who killed his father after someone suggests to him the story is different than what he was told. and Ricky being a thief.
The story shined best when it was actually providing mystery and action, and i did eventually get invested in Michael's secondary mystery. However I feel like the story I expected was not the story told, and in the end I just didn't like it. I will continue to try Landay's newer works as I believe this came before Defending Jacob, but this is just not one i can recommend to anyone, even if you like his other works.