Actually quite good
Rating:
5 / 5
After the disastrous CATCHING WATER IN A NET, Mr. Abramo seems to have learned something. This time the cast of characters isn't so confusing (though it helps that they are listed at the front of the book), there's an interesting plot that not only makes sense this time but is really pretty exciting, and the description and sense of place are strong. Abramo does an admirable job of twisting some of the tried-and-true standards of the genre into something we can enjoy reading, and the characters are more than talking heads. I even started to like some of these guys: the educated burglar who gets framed, the never-do-well kid that Diamond employs just to keep him out of trouble (who turns out to be smarter than Diamond - or I - would have given him credit for), the wayward woman, the ex, the ex-father-in-law. . .Abramo creates an intriguing story line from the first hit-you-in-the-face chapter to the very end. The story doesn't bog down like the first one, the dialogue and action are crisp and true. Skip the first one and go straight to this. You won't be sorry.
Dumb Luck
Rating:
5 / 5
So here I am, it's nearly two in the morning, I leave a Jazz club on Bleecker Street because the cat on xylophone (vibes, man) is giving me a funny look. I grab a Sunday Times, carry it into Caf� Dante, and work on the crossword over a double espresso. They've got Joe Franklin on the radio, Memory Lane, and Joe is talking with this guy J. L. Abramo who writes Private Eye novels. I write it down in the margin of the magazine section. Following afternoon, I walk to the nearest bookstore, I won't name names, and find "Clutching at Straws", a signed copy if you can believe it. It's raining in New York City, which is all it ever does lately, and I read the thing in one sitting. You want a review, go to Publishers Weekly. You want advice, read this book.
action-packed murder mystery
Rating:
4 / 5
Vic Vigoda hires Lefty Wright to steal a package from the safe of Judge Chancellor. Lefty grabs the job as the pay is great, $15K for under fifteen minutes to perform an easy heist. However when Lefty enters the bedroom with the safe, the murdered body of the judge greets him. Almost immediately two cops charge into the house and arrest Lefty for killing Chancellor.Lefty knows he is already in deep trouble, but adding to his woes is that the DA is running for office and sees this case as an easy media victory to further his ambitions. Lefty asks San Francisco private investigator Jake Diamond to learn why Vic would set him up to take the fall. Jake makes inquiries, but mostly concentrates on who owned a valuable Rolex found near the body. As he tries to learn the identity of the owner, he wonders about the motive. As he digs deeper into the case, bodies pile up as someone is bumping off anyone remotely related and potentially able to provide information that could free Lefty. Though readers will need a calculator to keep score of the corpses, fans of action-packed murder mysteries will enjoy this tale. The story line is loaded with non-stop hyper energy, as the audience will compute the correlation between alcohol drinking and homicides. Fans of mass homicide investigative tales will want to follow Diamond as he steps over bodies while making the rounds of the streets of San Francisco. Harriet Klausner
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