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A review by paul_cornelius
An Expensive Place to Die by Len Deighton
3.0
Better to read this for the telling of the tale than for a sense of satisfaction at the end. For this short novel of Deighton's is quite an enjoyable action piece. And his anonymous hero is back, with fewer tart quips but observations that are just as trenchant as those in the earlier works.
In fact, An Expensive Place to Die reads much more like a detective story than a spy thriller. And I suppose that is part of the reason it frequently reminds the reader of Raymond Chandler in places. I'm especially thinking of the trip to Datt's house hidden away in a countryside village. Like Chandler in The Big Sleep, Deighton indulges in images of corruption and society tainted with contact from the immoral and degenerate Far East. It especially applies to immoral sexuality and illicit drugs coming from Oriental masterminds or their sympathizers.
That leaves the ending, at once bitter and so hollow that the shock on the reader is lost. And that is what you are left with. A brief explosion of violence that puts a seal on secrets best kept tucked away. When things are over, they're simply over and finished. Not much in this story weighs on the mind afterwards. But, again, it is a thrill reading through the unfolding of it all.
In fact, An Expensive Place to Die reads much more like a detective story than a spy thriller. And I suppose that is part of the reason it frequently reminds the reader of Raymond Chandler in places. I'm especially thinking of the trip to Datt's house hidden away in a countryside village. Like Chandler in The Big Sleep, Deighton indulges in images of corruption and society tainted with contact from the immoral and degenerate Far East. It especially applies to immoral sexuality and illicit drugs coming from Oriental masterminds or their sympathizers.
That leaves the ending, at once bitter and so hollow that the shock on the reader is lost. And that is what you are left with. A brief explosion of violence that puts a seal on secrets best kept tucked away. When things are over, they're simply over and finished. Not much in this story weighs on the mind afterwards. But, again, it is a thrill reading through the unfolding of it all.