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A review by krisrid
The Silver Gun by L. a. Chandlar
4.0
If you love New York City, then I highly recommend this book to you. The author's bio tells us she lives there so that's probably expected, but her love for the city and its history - the good as well as the bad - comes through in every page of this story. There are people, places and things, as well as events that truly celebrate this vibrant city where anything can, and often does, happen.
I vacillated a bit on the rating for this between 3 and 4 stars, because the romance portion fell a bit flat for me. But in the end the mystery, the action, and the sense of place in 1930s New York, which was the majority of the book was so well done and entertaining I gave it the extra star.
The character of Lane was for the most part very likable. She is spunky, determined and very modern especially for her time. I absolutely adored the relationship between her and her boss, NYC mayor Fiorello La Guardia! The scenes with the two of them were some of the best in the book, and the author's note at the end confirms that virtually everything she has LaGuardia do in this book are in fact things he actually did do. He is a character and a half, and I loved getting to know him in this story.
The actual plot and the mysteries that were part of it I also very much enjoyed. Between mad dashes around various parts of New York, gangsters, guns, and complicated plots, this was pure entertaining fun. There are plenty of clues if you're the type who likes to try to figure things out before the reveal, but you don't have to do that to enjoy the adventure.
As I said earlier, the one part of this that didn't really work for me was the romance the author had happening for Lane. I felt like the story was more than enough entertainment without a romance component, and the scenes where Lane was having or talking about romantic encounters felt really sort of forced into the story. It seemed out of left field in with the other stuff that was happening and distracted me each time. I don't have anything against romance in a story, and I liked Lane and her potential suitors - I just didn't feel like it really "fit" with the main focus of the story. But that is a very small quibble. Overall, I very much enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend it.
I vacillated a bit on the rating for this between 3 and 4 stars, because the romance portion fell a bit flat for me. But in the end the mystery, the action, and the sense of place in 1930s New York, which was the majority of the book was so well done and entertaining I gave it the extra star.
The character of Lane was for the most part very likable. She is spunky, determined and very modern especially for her time. I absolutely adored the relationship between her and her boss, NYC mayor Fiorello La Guardia! The scenes with the two of them were some of the best in the book, and the author's note at the end confirms that virtually everything she has LaGuardia do in this book are in fact things he actually did do. He is a character and a half, and I loved getting to know him in this story.
The actual plot and the mysteries that were part of it I also very much enjoyed. Between mad dashes around various parts of New York, gangsters, guns, and complicated plots, this was pure entertaining fun. There are plenty of clues if you're the type who likes to try to figure things out before the reveal, but you don't have to do that to enjoy the adventure.
As I said earlier, the one part of this that didn't really work for me was the romance the author had happening for Lane. I felt like the story was more than enough entertainment without a romance component, and the scenes where Lane was having or talking about romantic encounters felt really sort of forced into the story. It seemed out of left field in with the other stuff that was happening and distracted me each time. I don't have anything against romance in a story, and I liked Lane and her potential suitors - I just didn't feel like it really "fit" with the main focus of the story. But that is a very small quibble. Overall, I very much enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend it.