IMPOSTORS

by George V. Higgins

Hardcover in very good condition. First edition, first printing. The unclipped jacket has some minor sunning on the spine. Pages are clean; text is clear. CM

Genres: Crime

336 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

George Vincent Higgins was a United States author, lawyer, newspaper columnist, and college professor. He is best known for his bestselling crime novels.

Reviews

[Megargee · Rating 4 out of 5]

"So why did you read The Imposters?"
"I read The Imposters for the sprightly dialogue and repartee."
"But there is no sprightly dialogue or repartee. all the characters speak in lengthy paragraphs."
"I was misinformed." (With apologies to Rick in Casablanca.)
I had read that author George Higgins was a master of writing dialogue. Having read all the Robert Parker novels in our library, I decided to give him a try. However Higgins' dialogue is exposition as characters relate the story to one another in interview after interview. In between they often repair to the bathroom.
Higgins writes very detailed descriptive sections. A theatrical producer could faithfully design sets with the detailed descriptions of the various interiors. People don't just dine; they masticate their food bite by bite, sometimes with mouths open and a piece of lettuce is apt to remain on someone's tooth. Sex scenes are gritty, beginning with discussions of STD status and ending with stained sheets. No ellipses for George. Few of the characters are celibate or monogamous.
In spite of all this a story does emerge and the concluding sections moved my rating from a 2* to a 4*.

[False · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was one of the more intriguing Higgins books I've read lately. The characters seemed to have more depth. Yes, it was dialogue laden as they all are, but there was more plot and descriptive detail in Imposters. Also, in this book, the women have a myriad of roles they are expected to fulfill, and you see the limitations of that era, if even not now of what is allowed and what is perceived.

The book had real flow to it. One thing I've been doing, as I read all of Higgins work. So much of it listed here on Goodreads is that there isn't a picture of the book, nor the author, and Higgins appearance seemed to change from book to book. So...I've been taken the time to edit a picture of the book as well as the author (if available,) so that it can again become part of Higgins history with a more fuller visual understanding.

It saddens me that his wife and children lost him so soon. Just in the past few years, I've lost Philip R. Craig, Robert B. Parker, Elmore Leonard...and more...as favorite "fun" writers...for my less academic reading...and I always learn from them.

[T-bone · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another book that got on my tits. The excessive exposition in the dialogue was unrealistic and the main source of my tit irritation.

[Deby · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was as confused when I finished the book as I was throughout most of it.

[Vin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Way too much exposition, not enough action. I think it might work better as a movie if the actors were good enough to make the characters pop, but as a book it just sorta meanders. The final chapter was sorta fun, in a cynical way, but other than that it felt that nothing was really happening.

The plot's this: Some guy shoots the drunk driver who killed his family, and maybe knows the dirty secrets of the town's rich and powerful: the lawyers, businessmen, prosecutors, newspaper owners, etc. So one of the people hires a pretty lady with plenty of moxie to find out what's going on and how much this guy knows. Then, we figure out pretty quickly that yes, everyone has some shady stuff in their past, but it doesn't matter because no one really cares. And that's it.

The problem is, since no one cares, the reader can't care. No one goes through a character arc, nothing substantial happens, and no one cares. At the end, everyone is the same person they were at the beginning of the book, maybe with a few of their illusions gone - but really only half-hearted illusions that they didn't really believe and weren't that attached to. It's reasonably well-written, but that's not enough to make up for the lack of any plot or character development.

Also, all the women are either prim sexless helpers, over-sexed bimbos who are bad because they get attached and are "high maintenance" - so are obviously bad and crazy, or over-sexed bimbos who are good because they don't get attached or make demands. There's really nothing else to their characters.

[Tom Calvard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably not as memorable or thrilling or funny as some of his more crime-oriented novels, but I still enjoyed it.

Although many of his books are out of print, I find Higgins is a master at implausible, elaborate, and engaging dialogue between city characters - politicians, professionals, criminals, lawyers, police, etc. The plots are complex, but the dialogue is very engaging, full of people telling each other stories behind each others' backs, while the reader tags along.

Here, we get a panorama of mostly affluent 1980s Boston city dwellers and suburbanites. Their careers, their homes, their relationships, their secrets, and their deceptions. They talk about decades gone by, crimes, clients, workplaces, politics, marriage, divorce, sex, and corruption.

At times, it feels a bit corny and dated, limited in scope and perhaps inconsequential. But for me it's a guilty pleasure. I like the short descriptions of backdrops, but with recurring details, set up for a scene with characters you want to listen to and miss when you finish reading.

[Philip Girvan · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s the usual good stuff from Higgins: a riveting yarn is spun and not much actually happens.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars, rounded down for the heavily dated content.

[Kit · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not as great as Outlaws, but still worthy of reissue. There's too much going on to summarize - Higgins has a lot of balls in the air and doesn't drop any, though he makes it easy for the reader to.