jdcorley's reviews
184 reviews

Charlie Muffin U. S. A by Brian Freemantle

Go to review page

adventurous medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Charlie is back, thrust into the middle of a complex caper. We know even before he does that his presence is going to throw a wrench into everyone's plans, but because he isn't committed one way or another, and everyone seems some degree of loathsome it is a bit hard to care. The consistent theme of power causing people to become petty, awful tyrants remains. 
Hell to Pay by George Pelecanos

Go to review page

emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I mentioned in my review of the first Quinn and Strange novel that you aren't supposed to really love Quinn and Strange, exactly. The detective novel requires you, on some level, to believe in the moral qualities of the detective so they aren't just a busybody. Strange fulfills that purpose in the first novel; Quinn, even right at the end, we are not supposed to fully think he's great.  In this, the second book of the series, this approach bears fruit.  Quinn still is who he is, and around the edges you still see that his views on race and violence still have a dark undercurrent to them.  Yet this time he is the one who receives acceptance and support, while Strange, who is a bit more of a judgmental figure, is genuinely challenged on his moral stances and actions.  Some he rises to.  On others he fails. 

About two thirds of the way through the book, Strange, who has been investigating the suitor of a friend's daughter as a favor, is confronted by that suitor after Strange uncovers a secret.  The suitor directly comes at Strange's moral judgment and turns it around on him. Both the reader and Strange are hit hard by it.  

The bad guys are given inner lives, and because our heroes struggle so much you start to truly understand the conflict between them.  This goes into my "best private eye novels of all time" list, with a bullet.  An incredible work.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings
Sad Cypress by Agatha Christie

Go to review page

dark emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

A highly underrated Christie, in which a dreamlike and sometimes grotesque atmosphere serves to distract us from key elements of the mystery, so that when Poirot points them out we feel surprised and impressed even though everything he knows, we know. This is the essence of the classic mystery style. The reader is caught up in events, in a whirl , mystified quite literally. The detective alone draws us out.
The Con Man by Ed McBain

Go to review page

adventurous dark fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

If you want to see the world change, a little bit, find your way to this book. A black detective faces bigotry, and somewhere inside it he identifies the condescension that helps him crack a case. A disabled woman and a Chinese guy who lives inside a white man's stereotype find connection and bravery. The usual coincidental cast of characters and crossed wires leads to a thrilling, half comic conclusion. The prejudices of the past loom large over this, and perhaps the novel does not fully emerge from it, but here the aficionado of pulp can see the sunlight breaking through. Marvelous and fun.
Starr Bright Will Be with You Soon by Joyce Carol Oates, Rosamond Smith

Go to review page

dark emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Finally all of Oates' practiced skills and passionate darkness come together in a story that's both simple and deeply propulsive. A deranged serial killer being hunted across America decides to visit her sister. Everything that implies is fully explored here, there are no rabbit holes without a rabbit at the bottom. Constructed flawlessly, she's at her best, every character is vivid, careful, and when we get into their lives we always feel they go forever. A masterpiece.
Baal by Robert R. McCammon

Go to review page

adventurous dark medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

The sexual assault and other rather gruesome elements don't really add up to much, the only real flaw in a rip roaring tale of devilry and monstrousness, with the mad level of escalation that is crucial to McCammons horror work. 
They Thirst by Robert R. McCammon

Go to review page

adventurous dark fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

A marvelously grungy vampire novel unafraid of the most deranged escalations. A cackling, energetic kind of self-one-upmanship means you always have some idea of what's next, and the characters aren't too complex, but it's a full on delight as it delivers and delivers.
The Beautiful Thing That Awaits Us All by Laird Barron

Go to review page

adventurous dark medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

As Ive mentioned when reviewing Barron, he has a pretty facile view of pulp/mens adventure. His passion for it shines through with the glee of a teen sharing a sick looking horror comic with you. Yet it is the other points of view and focuses that make this collection shine - a woman hiding from a violent man, a recurring set of forgotten dreams, a bland corporate drone finding his lack of a soul does indeed mean something. A real development in his style and growth as an artist.
Because the Night by James Ellroy

Go to review page

dark emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Ellroy finds his feet in this second volume of the Lloyd Hopkins trilogy.  Hopkins himself seems more real, and the lead woman character also seems to be given a bit more psychological leeway by Ellroy (she does remain a sex worker, though - roll your eyes at Ellroy now folks).  Most importantly, Hopkins' unknown enemy, a truly awful cult leader, is given both flaws and strengths, moves and counter-moves by Ellroy. You do think about half way through that there's a strong possibility that he will win, which is almost unheard of in a cop novel. Ultimately it's the mastery of character that makes this a fantastic read, not the somewhat generic depiction of L.A. in the eighties. Incredible jump in quality after the first novel.
Lady by Thomas Tryon

Go to review page

emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

I thought it would be a ghost story, and it really isn't, but the Gothic, haunted feeling is so overwhelming that it drips in through the widening cracks in the warm, enveloping nostalgia of slowly growing up. It's oddly beautiful, a real find.