Rat Race (Ama. Sleuth-Matt Shore-England-Cont) – 9th in series – Dick Francis Corona – VG+ - Read this awhile ago but did re-read it for tonight. This is one of her favorite Dick Francis books and such a study in contrasts between this and “The Leopard’s Prey” by Susanne Arruda that we read for February 2010 (when she first read this book). They both had women pilots, but this was more realistic and enjoyable. She particularly liked the the way everyone worked together in a crisis. The only reason she didn’t’ rate it “excellent” is that the character of the protagonists are pretty much identical in all of Francis’ books. Linda S – G – Liked it more than expected. The gender politics were a bit creepy but she liked the protagonist a lot. He was a study in contrasts; funny yet sad, living with tragic. She liked the puzzle and the details about flying. LJ - VG+ - Although I’ve not read this particular book since January 1977, it reminds me why I became such of fan of Dick Francis’ writing. The protagonist, Matt Shore, is so appealing and one of a style I appreciate—the “common” man caught up in an uncommon situation. He is not perfect. He is intelligent without being egotistical, attractive without being overbearing, and heroic without being macho. And, he gets the girl, but you know there are painful incidences along the way. In spite of the opening portent, the story captivates you from the very first page and never lets you go. The pacing between suspense and respite is every effective. The writing is masterful—not a term I use lightly—and imminently readable. I was surprised how much of the plot I remembered after all these years, and that’s a real tribute to the author. Whether Dick or Mary Francis was the primary author of this, and the other books by Dick Francis, I frankly don’t care. All I know is that it was a great read when I read it the first time, and it is a great read now.
Living Witness (Unl. Invest-Gregor Demarkian-Pennsylvania-Cont) – 24th in series – Jane Haddam LJ - G+ - Any book which deals with differing religious views can be both interesting to read and challenging to review. Ms. Haddam does include characters who fall within several camps; evangelicals, fundamentalists, Christians, secular humanists and atheists. She also raises issues of snobbery, peer pressure, ignorance and education. I appreciated reading Ms. Haddam’s views on each of these topics and felt she did a very good job integrating them into the plot For the most part, they were presented without blatant bias against the beliefs but rather against the individual character. This was the first Haddam book I’ve read but was pleased to find, as far as knowing the primary characters, it didn’t matter. Enough back story was provided for Demarkian and his fiancée that I was very comfortable and didn’t feel anything was missing. As to the other characters, I should like to have seen a better balance. Perhaps, however, it was only that those who are extreme in their views seem to predominate whatever environment they are in. However, there were some secondary characters I found fascinating but about whom I want to know more. I fault the author’s desire to focus on the attitudes and philosophies rather than the characters. For all that, the basics of the plot were very good. There was a clever diversion and an unexpected motive. I was also surprised when I realized that, for the volume of text, the story encompassed only three days. However, there were times one lost the focus of the story for the viewpoints. I felt this was a shame as it diminished what could have been a very good book with stronger editing. While I enjoyed the book, it didn’t make me want to seek out others in the series. Marcy G – DNF – She tried, but just couldn’t stay with this . She was frustrated by the extremist rants on both sides of the issues and didn’t find any of the characters expecially interesting. Marcy S – Poor – Took her several times to get into it. All the characters were too strident. Gary was the only slightly sympathetic characters. There wasn’t any real development or background of Demarkian so she never got a real sense of him.
Fer-De-Lance (PI-Nero Wolfe/Archie Goodwin-New York City-1934) – 1st in series – Rex Stout Joyce Andrews Ex - Loved Fer-de-Lance. Have been to the Nero Wolfe fan club web site and am going to try to work my way through the books. Reading THE LEAGUE OF FRIGHTENED MEN currently. I believe I have a crush on Archie but it is too soon to tell. I am absolutely attracted to his efficient use of language (slang). Nero's agoraphobia, bipolar episodes, alcoholism and flower fawning are some of the best character development techniques I have seen in a long time. Thanks for the recommendation. Linda S – VG+ - She read “The Doorbell Rang” and it was a hoot. She loves the characters as they are so much fun to read. Very clever story, really good mystery. LJ – Good - The fun of reading Nero Wolfe is not the plot, although this one did have a good twist to it, but for the characters. On one hand, you have Wolfe, the corpulent, beer drinking, gourmand who has orchids cultivated in his attic conservatory. He is well-read, well-spoken, often difficult to deal with yet a brilliant deductive and intuitive thinker. On the other hand is Archie, orphaned as a child, lives in Wolfe’s brownstone, uses common English, and drinks milk. The two characters are complete opposites but one immediately senses the underlying respect and affection which goes beyond a working relationship. It is the dialogue and relationship of these two characters that make the book, and series, work. An interesting aspect to this book is that we meet the characters seven years in, so references to previous cases abound. In most cases, this would annoy me as there would be that sense of something missing. Stout, however, is so adept in his writing and his characters are so well developed, the previous case references simply become historical notations. Stout was writing in present time, now history to us. Because of that, we are presented a living sense of time, place, social mores and behavior. There were certain expressions, common at the time. They are objectionable to us today and serve as a reminder of our advancement from the past. One element with which I did have a problem, was some of Archie’s slang. There were times I had to re-read sentences or paragraphs to understand what he was saying. It was fun to go back and re-visit Nero and Archie, but not so much as to make me want to reread all the books. However, if you’ve never read Rex Stout, I do recommend picking up at least a few of his books.
Corona – VG+ - Read this awhile ago but did re-read it for tonight. This is one of her favorite Dick Francis books and such a study in contrasts between this and “The Leopard’s Prey” by Susanne Arruda that we read for February 2010 (when she first read this book). They both had women pilots, but this was more realistic and enjoyable. She particularly liked the the way everyone worked together in a crisis. The only reason she didn’t’ rate it “excellent” is that the character of the protagonists are pretty much identical in all of Francis’ books.
Linda S – G – Liked it more than expected. The gender politics were a bit creepy but she liked the protagonist a lot. He was a study in contrasts; funny yet sad, living with tragic. She liked the puzzle and the details about flying.
LJ - VG+ - Although I’ve not read this particular book since January 1977, it reminds me why I became such of fan of Dick Francis’ writing. The protagonist, Matt Shore, is so appealing and one of a style I appreciate—the “common” man caught up in an uncommon situation. He is not perfect. He is intelligent without being egotistical, attractive without being overbearing, and heroic without being macho. And, he gets the girl, but you know there are painful incidences along the way. In spite of the opening portent, the story captivates you from the very first page and never lets you go. The pacing between suspense and respite is every effective. The writing is masterful—not a term I use lightly—and imminently readable. I was surprised how much of the plot I remembered after all these years, and that’s a real tribute to the author. Whether Dick or Mary Francis was the primary author of this, and the other books by Dick Francis, I frankly don’t care. All I know is that it was a great read when I read it the first time, and it is a great read now.
Living Witness (Unl. Invest-Gregor Demarkian-Pennsylvania-Cont) – 24th in series – Jane Haddam
LJ - G+ - Any book which deals with differing religious views can be both interesting to read and challenging to review. Ms. Haddam does include characters who fall within several camps; evangelicals, fundamentalists, Christians, secular humanists and atheists. She also raises issues of snobbery, peer pressure, ignorance and education. I appreciated reading Ms. Haddam’s views on each of these topics and felt she did a very good job integrating them into the plot For the most part, they were presented without blatant bias against the beliefs but rather against the individual character. This was the first Haddam book I’ve read but was pleased to find, as far as knowing the primary characters, it didn’t matter. Enough back story was provided for Demarkian and his fiancée that I was very comfortable and didn’t feel anything was missing. As to the other characters, I should like to have seen a better balance. Perhaps, however, it was only that those who are extreme in their views seem to predominate whatever environment they are in. However, there were some secondary characters I found fascinating but about whom I want to know more. I fault the author’s desire to focus on the attitudes and philosophies rather than the characters. For all that, the basics of the plot were very good. There was a clever diversion and an unexpected motive. I was also surprised when I realized that, for the volume of text, the story encompassed only three days. However, there were times one lost the focus of the story for the viewpoints. I felt this was a shame as it diminished what could have been a very good book with stronger editing. While I enjoyed the book, it didn’t make me want to seek out others in the series.
Marcy G – DNF – She tried, but just couldn’t stay with this . She was frustrated by the extremist rants on both sides of the issues and didn’t find any of the characters expecially interesting.
Marcy S – Poor – Took her several times to get into it. All the characters were too strident. Gary was the only slightly sympathetic characters. There wasn’t any real development or background of Demarkian so she never got a real sense of him.
Fer-De-Lance (PI-Nero Wolfe/Archie Goodwin-New York City-1934) – 1st in series – Rex Stout
Joyce Andrews Ex - Loved Fer-de-Lance. Have been to the Nero Wolfe fan club web site and am going to try to work my way through the books. Reading THE LEAGUE OF FRIGHTENED MEN currently. I believe I have a crush on Archie but it is too soon to tell. I am absolutely attracted to his efficient use of language (slang). Nero's agoraphobia, bipolar episodes, alcoholism and flower fawning are some of the best character development techniques I have seen in a long time. Thanks for the recommendation.
Linda S – VG+ - She read “The Doorbell Rang” and it was a hoot. She loves the characters as they are so much fun to read. Very clever story, really good mystery.
LJ – Good - The fun of reading Nero Wolfe is not the plot, although this one did have a good twist to it, but for the characters. On one hand, you have Wolfe, the corpulent, beer drinking, gourmand who has orchids cultivated in his attic conservatory. He is well-read, well-spoken, often difficult to deal with yet a brilliant deductive and intuitive thinker. On the other hand is Archie, orphaned as a child, lives in Wolfe’s brownstone, uses common English, and drinks milk. The two characters are complete opposites but one immediately senses the underlying respect and affection which goes beyond a working relationship. It is the dialogue and relationship of these two characters that make the book, and series, work. An interesting aspect to this book is that we meet the characters seven years in, so references to previous cases abound. In most cases, this would annoy me as there would be that sense of something missing. Stout, however, is so adept in his writing and his characters are so well developed, the previous case references simply become historical notations. Stout was writing in present time, now history to us. Because of that, we are presented a living sense of time, place, social mores and behavior. There were certain expressions, common at the time. They are objectionable to us today and serve as a reminder of our advancement from the past. One element with which I did have a problem, was some of Archie’s slang. There were times I had to re-read sentences or paragraphs to understand what he was saying. It was fun to go back and re-visit Nero and Archie, but not so much as to make me want to reread all the books. However, if you’ve never read Rex Stout, I do recommend picking up at least a few of his books.