Смертельная ртутная ложь

Garrett Files #7

by Glen Cook, Глеб Косов (Translator)

Гаррет — это человек в стране троллей, гномов, вампиров… Гаррет — блестящий детектив, способный раскрыть любое преступление в мире магии, всегда готовый идти на риски даже в самых отчаянных ситуациях не теряющий чувства юмора.

Genres: Fantasy, Mystery, Urban Fantasy, Fiction, Detective, Noir, Humor

528 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Glen Cook was born in New York City, lived in southern Indiana as a small child, then grew up in Northern California. After high school he served in the U.S. Navy and attended the University of Missouri. He worked for General Motors for 33 years, retiring some years ago. He started writing short stories in 7th grade, had several published in a high school literary magazine. He began writing with malicious intent to publish in 1968, eventually producing 51 books and a number of short fiction pieces.
He met his wife of 43 years while attending the Clarion Writer's Workshop in 1970. He has three sons (army officer, architect, orchestral musician) and numerous grandchildren, all of whom but one are female. He is best known for his Black Company series, which has appeared in 20+ languages worldwide. His other series include Dread Empire and and the Garrett, P.I. series. His latest work is Working God’s Mischief, fourth in the Instrumentalities of the Night series.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/glencook

Reviews

[✘✘ Sarah ✘✘ (former Nefarious Breeder of Murderous Crustaceans) · Rating 5 out of 5]

🕵️ Sleuthing Mercenaries R Us Buddy Read (SMRUBR™) with The Overlord and My Dearest of Wives 🕵️

Foul-mouthed jungle chicken that scream rape (don't ask) + ⚠️ redhead alert! ⚠️ + hahahahahahahaha + that body count 😍 + mostest awesomest two-dimensional girlfriend ever + bartenders who go by the name of Shrimp 😎😎 + watch out Agatha Christie, for Glen Cook is out to get you + supporting cast members who eat hedgehogs for breakfast without peeling them first + hahahahahahahahaha again + that Goddam Parrot needs to have his very own series + vegetarian dark elves assassins and their rare roast beef-induced postmortem spasms + bloody shrimping hell of the fishing twist, I sure didn't see that one coming = oh yeah, God Cook sure did it again. Let's dance and stuff.



👋 To be continued and stuff.

· Book 1: Sweet Silver Blues ★★★★
· Book 2: Bitter Gold Hearts ★★★★
· Book 3: Cold Copper Tears ★★★★
· Book 4: Old Tin Sorrows ★★★★★
· Book 5: Dread Brass Shadows ★★★★
· Book 6: Red Iron Nights ★★★★★
· Book 8: Petty Pewter Gods ★★★
· Book 9: Faded Steel Heat ★★★
· Book 10: Angry Lead Skies ★★★★
· Book 11: Whispering Nickel Idols ★★★★
· Book 12: Cruel Zinc Melodies ★★★★
· Book 13: Gilded Latten Bones ★★★★
· Book 14: Wicked Bronze Ambition ★★★

[Jacob Proffitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is seventh in a fantasy mystery series with lots of recurring characters and minor developments along the way. I recommend reading them in order.

This one is a bit of a romp with lots of moving parts and there's switches and identity wonk going on so it'd be easy to get lost if you didn't pay close attention. The biggest drawback on this one is that both Dean and the Dead Man are absent until the very end so we get to see bachelor Garrett all alone at home as we seldom do the rest of the series.

Among the interweaving antagonist factions, we also have Winger and Morley with outside motivations that get a little twisty along the way as well. We know enough by now to know that Morley isn't going to do anything to cross Garrett (as much as it may look otherwise), but Garrett thrashing around with his own hacked-together squad of crazies is a big part of the plot. I did love seeing a blast from Garrett's past with Handsome (a neighborhood witch) and I really want to visit her shop, even risking an admonitory scratching from her ancient cat Malkyn.

There's a lot of homosexual players in this one and Garrett has an old-fashioned soldier's disdain for the lot of them. And Winger expresses her disdain using terminology that is taboo in our day. I get the feeling it's more the specific crew they're dealing with because Garrett suspects Crask and Sadler of playing for the other team and is never dismissive of them in that same way. There were definitely no sensitivity readers involved in the production of this book and you might want to give it a big ole skip if that's going to be an issue for you.

I'm torn on rating this. I liked the twisty plot and having whole factions twisting around each other tangling things up in deadly fashion. Having Garrett come up with the prize was very satisfying. I'm less a fan of some of the racial tension ramping up in the setting, though, and the secret police getting a major footing are more than a little troubling as well. Those are borrowed trouble, both of them, but it adds enough friction to keep this from being a complete win. Maybe call it 4½ stars that I'm having trouble rounding up?

A note about Chaste: There's a new squeeze in this one, Doc Chaz (aka Castity Blaine) and I had hopes for her for a bit. She's smart, though a bit weak on the banter. I was a little relieved when it fell apart, though, because I just didn't warm to her. There are some hijinks, but it's all off-page. So pretty chaste by my standards.

[C.T. Phipps · Rating 5 out of 5]

DEADLY QUICKSILVER LIES is a great book that deals with Garrett being hired by a beautiful former mistress of the old king. Her daughter has apparently gone missing and she wants her back. However, there's an old enemy of hers that is also looking for her as well as a powerful hate group that is rapidly gaining power. Throw in a treasure map, some more beautiful woman who want to sleep with Garrett, and you have another good installment of the series.

[Elena Linville-Abdo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good book, though I admit that I had trouble keeping all the women in this one straight. The story felt rather crowded with redheads, blondes, and brunettes.

Though I would like to know what the deal was with Chaz and her father. Strange behavior indeed.

[Gilbert Stack · Rating 2 out of 5]

Even though I am rereading the Garrett Files series, I was not anxious to pick up this volume. Memory told me that it was of significantly lower quality than the first six books and it’s just hard to get excited about rereading a book like that. Unfortunately, my memory was correct. I started and stopped the novel roughly ten times before biting the bullet and reading it through to the end. The problem is one of pacing. This book with “quicksilver” in the title reads like frozen molasses trying to find enough heat to drip off a table. It’s not that any particular part of the plot, or any particular onion layer of the mystery isn’t good, it’s that it happens so incredibly slowly.

It's a shame, because there are actually a lot of really good elements to this story. Garrett gets slammed into an insane asylum. The Deadman is asleep for the whole novel leaving Garrett to figure things out totally on his own. The primary villain is a fascinating figure with big surprises. There’s actually some very good action scenes as well. But these elements are stretched so far out that it just doesn’t save the story. Maybe if Cook had cut one hundred pages it would have been all right, but this one, I sadly report, just didn’t work for me.

If you liked this review, you can find more at www.gilbertstack.com/reviews.

[Melissa McShane · Rating 4 out of 5]

I discovered Glen Cook sometime around 1992, and Deadly Quicksilver Lies was the first "new" Garrett novel I read. It was disappointing, and I'm not sure why, because I like it very much now. There are a lot of storylines going on here that ultimately come together, which makes it a little more challenging than the earlier books in the series--not, you know, War and Peace challenging, but the sort of thing where you can't just nod your way through the book. I love that the heart of the story is not the cross-dressing, or the missing girl, but a quest for three rare first edition novels. Also that TunFaire has a library. A big one. This isn't the first time we've seen that TunFaire is not your typical pseudo-medieval fantasy city, but for a long time it was just background noise for Garrett's adventures. Here's where that definitely stops being the case.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is the 7th in Glen Cooks Garrett PI series, and by now a certain form for these books have arisen, which tends to be that Garret gets roped into a job that sounds simple, by a gorgeous woman, and then everything that possibly could go wrong does and this book is no exception. As usual with these books the pacing is fairly quick, there's plenty of wit and banter between the characters who are all generally very strong presences established over several books except for the damsel and villain who of course are new to the series, however by the end of the book even these characters are quite layered, especially in this instalment.

Overall its a good book that stays true to form and fans of the series will certainly not be disappointed.

[Nighteye · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good Read. Funny at times, intresting to se how he does without Dead Man awake. Still his friends do a lot of work for him and he is dependent on them and not always solving the cases by group as much as by himself. Unlucky with ladies still.

[Trish · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sadly, I've come to the conclusion that I just don't like Garrett, plus I don't like the casual misogyny in the writing - which seems particularly bad in this one - so this will be the last one I read in this series.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Glen Cook is one of my favorite authors. Deadly Quicksilver Lies is a great read. Deadly Quicksilver Lies is the seventh book in the Garrett Files collection. Garrett is a tough former marine, private investigator in the mold of Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer. The series is set in a fantasy world that has faeries, trolls, sorcerers, wizards,elves and humans living alongside each other in one city. Garrett's adviser is "the Dead Man" who is really not a man at all and isn't exactly dead. Garrett solves the murders and mysteries in Deadly Quicksilver Lies in his typical and self described way, "by stirring things up like a bull in a china shop". He also enlists the help of some of his friends. A must read for fans of Glen Cook.

[Gintautas Ivanickas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Garretto ciklą būtų visai sveika mest po pirmų šešių knygų. Bet aš vis dar murkdausi. Tiesiog norisi kažkuo superlengvu kiek atskiest mažumėlę rimtesnius skaitinius.
Šį sykį Garrettą nusamdo buvusi karaliaus meilužė, siekianti surasti savo dingusią dukterį (ne, ne nuo karaliaus). Tačiau šioje byloje viskas – ne tai, kas atrodo. Po truputį aiškėja, kad viskas sukasi aplink knygas, kuriose gali rasti nuorodą į paslėptą lobį. O tų knygų (tiksliau, lobio) užsigeidžia ir galingas burtininkas, ir nusikalstamo pasaulio galva, ir... Žodžiu, beveik visi. Tad įsivėlusiam į paieškų sūkurį Garrettui išsaugoti galvą šįsyk bus ypatingai sudėtinga.
Lyg ir viskas yra. Lyg ir yra puikių, bet ne iki galo išnaudotų, epizodų. Lyg ir stilius išlaikytas.
Bet viskas kažkaip skysta. Vos vos trys iš penkių.

[Gary · Rating 3 out of 5]

My third Garrett book - strange that the cover artwork shows Garrett looking like an Indiana Jones clone when the books are set in a decidedly fantasy setting with elves and centaurs etc abounding - nevertheless Mr Cook writes a jaunty good read and while I gave this one 3 stars when others have been 4 stars it's still fun and sufficient escape from the brisk reality of the real world. I have another 3 of the series waiting coyly on the book shelf and I can recommend them to those who like Jim Butcher's Dresden files.

[Nathan Balyeat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another really fun Garrett Files book. The characters and world continue to evolve and Garrett is starting to become a bit less of a bull in a china shop sort of detective, and more of a planner. He's relying more and more on his friends and less and less on the Dead Man.

Still lots of fun, still full of self-depreciating humor, and still one of the best first-person perspective series of books that I've read.

A GREAT fun read.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Garret books are like a rollercoaster; sit back and enjoy the ride, don't try to over-think it.

This one is especially twisty, involving even more double dealing than usual.

Highly entertaining series, that gets better and better the more you come to know the cast of characters...

[Joshua Simon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not much new to say about the series at this point other than for me this was the best so far. Very inventive ideas and less of a reliance on standard methods of solving problems (Dead Man).

Good stuff.

[Bob · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one is pretty disconnected. Needed a stronger story outline.

[Dennis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I do like this one. Most of the Garrett books are good ones.

[Ben Truong · Rating 4 out of 5]

Deadly Quicksilver Lies is the seventh book in the Garrett P.I. series written by Glen Cook and centered on the adventures of private investigator Garrett.

Bored out of his mind, Garrett finds himself wishing for something new. When Winger drops by with a job investigating a woman known as Maggie Jenn, while said Maggie hires Garrett to find her missing daughter, Emerald. Everything seems to be going just fine until Garrett is attacked in the street, knocked out, and thrown in the Bledsoe's mental ward. When Garrett escapes, he discovers that the man who put him there goes by the name of Grange Cleaver, also known as The Rainmaker.

Deadly Quicksilver Lies is written rather well. Cook continues to expand the world of TunFaire, although the narrative is comparatively weaker than his previous installments. While the writing is wonderful, there are fewer actions scenes and the humor of previous installment seems to be lacking with the climax of the narrative underwhelming.

All in all, Deadly Quicksilver Lies is written rather well and is a good continuation to what would hopefully be a wonderful series, which I plan to continue in the very near future.

[Pye Josephus Joestar · Rating 5 out of 5]

I opine that this is a great book. Gods Glenn, was that the word of the day when you wrote this one? But I digress. I loved this one, i couldn't put it down unless I had to go to work or do some other life responsibility. I was captivated from the start and interested all the way through. The characters were great, I wasn't disappointed by the Goddamn Parrot and story flowed really well. I found myself wanting to know more and why things were happening and the next thing I knew I was done the book, which by the way had an awesome ending. This book especially (more so than the others) made me want a TV series of this book series. unfortunately this isn't really a book you could just start at in the series as there's a lot of characters and backstory from previous books that made this so enjoyable. I still recommend this one none the less, and Morely opined to read it too.

[Emmalyn Renato · Rating 4 out of 5]

A story about a hard-boiled private eye solving a mystery (or several) in a fantasy setting. This is another series I use as a break from trying out new authors and/or more complex novels. It really helps to have read the previous one in the series (and to have remembered them too). I'd read the last one about 18 months ago, and it took a while for it all to slot back into place. The plot was good (although maybe overly complex and a bit repetitive). Garrett (as usual) relies on help from his friends to get through everything that happens. The loud mouthed parrot got annoying over time and I'd be quite happy if it had an unfortunate accident fairly quickly. Not my favorite one in the series, but I'll continue to look for and read the others as they turn up.

(Reddit Fantasy 2024 Bingo squares that this would fit: Published in the 1990's (HM)).

[Kirkirvarpa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gera turėti mėgiamą rašytoją ar seriją, prie kurios grįžti su didžiuliu malonumu. Gali padaryti metų, dvejų ar trejų pertrauką. O paskui grįžti, ir viskas čia pažįstama, miela ir taip pat įdomu, kaip prieš N metų, kai pirmą kartą čia atsidūrei.
Ilga pauzė buvo nuo Gareto, bet puikios emocijos vėl grįžus. Atrodo, nieko naujo. Viskas jau kažkiek matyta, bet vis tiek puikiai skaitosi ir kelia šypsnį.
Vienintelis minusiukas. Kažkodėl beveik visame Gareto cikle pirma knygos pusė man visada susiskaito puikiai, o antra, kai veiksmas išsiplėtoja ir įtraukia daugiau veikiančių asmenų, išbarsto dalį žavesio. Bet nesu tikras, kad tai rimta problema, kuri mane bent kiek atbaidytų nuo tolesnio ciklo skaitymo.

[Genna · Rating 4 out of 5]

One massively homophobic character who left a bad taste in my mouth, and Garrett's usual gross Heinlein-y attitude towards women which makes me want to punch him, except he's the kinda guy who thinks that any attention at all from a woman means she probably wants to sleep with him.

I am still enjoying the series, though. Happened, through sheer luck, to read this one right after #6. #6 was the first one I read because these books aren't clearly marked to show which one falls when in the series. Luckily it doesn't really matter.

[John Carney · Rating 1 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading Cooks Garrett P.I. books back in the day and have been re-reading them. While the stories are generally fun, it’s hard to ignore the everyday misogyny and racism they are wrapped in. Deadly Quicksilver Lies adds homophobia to the mix, making it the most objectionable read of the series so far.

Do the books advocate these bigotries? No, but all the characters use racist and homophobic slurs, including the protagonist. And 6 books in you would think Cook might ease up on Garrett’s near-continuous bird-dogging, but no. It’s tiresome.

[Gio C · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this one. Garret is sent on a missing person quest but not is all as it seems. This is pretty typical for him but the author really takes it up a notch here. It was a complete guessing game from start to finish. I did like that the Dead Man wasn't really in it and you get a good glimpse of what Garret can go all on his own. Mostly. Great book and I can't wait to read the next one.

[Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite Garrett novels yet. Cook spins a succinct, fast paced mystery with some interesting takes on societal roles. As always, the jargon is top-notch and story is filled with a variety of interesting characters. Garrett is a bit more open with his own vulnerability in this tale, and we also get to see a more positive side of both Garrett and his relationships with his friends. Worth a read!

[Keith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one did me sad again. Great amount of action, excellent plot twists especially the big one. Seems this time everyone's got it out for our hero Garrett. His pal Winger plays him dirty and it lands him in the loony bin with no chance of getting out. There's ancient treasure, hidden books, the rich, criminals and all out to get in each other's way. Cook is one good author.

[Jeremiah · Rating 3 out of 5]

The series takes a strange dip with this one, which seemed to have too many ideas and too little execution. Some interesting character moments, but overall the plot gets far too confusing and the resolution really isn't one...

[Alapogo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Historia wciągająca i dynamiczna. Chociaż odnoszę wrażenie, że bardzo chaotycznie opowiedziana. I polskie wydanie to jakiś dramat. Literówki, źle odmienione czasowniki i zaimki osobowe, twory typu (cytuję) " (...) poszedł dół w ulicą" . Żądam nowego wydania.

[Ric · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story, once again adding new characters gives is followers more to juggle as things develop and progress.
A good read.

[Blaine Padgett · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked it, but I liked the earlier stuff much better.