When you read piles of noir PBOs (or piles of any fictional genre), many of them do, of course, start to seem the same, but this only heightens your appreciation of the ones that are really good. When the formula has worked its way into your DNA, you can see which writers are innovating and pushing boundaries and which ones are just going through the motions. In the early chapters of any genre novel, it is generally difficult to tell which kind of book you are reading. Is it one whose every move you will be able to predict, or is it one that will surprise you? Suffice it to say, this one surprised me. Grade: A
I'd say there are very, very few mystery novels by John D. MacDonald that are less than grade A.
ReplyDeleteJDM had wonderful quality control. The only "bad" JDM book I've ever read was THE GREEN RIPPER.
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