I took Jenny's advice and read Prime, the second book in Poppy Z. Brite's Rickey and G-Man New Orleans chef series. She was right: the characters are pretty irresistible, and I think I might have enjoyed this one more than the first.
EXCEPT for the mystery thing. I figured out the plot twist on p. 190 (of 283), and the denouement was, simply, absurd. Way too contorted and coincidental. In fact, it kind of made me want to read some more mysteries, to see if I could find any that aren't too contorted and coincidental, except that I don't like mysteries because they are contorted and coincidental, so that seems a little masochistic. (And don't even talk to me about nineteenth-century novels: they are SUPPOSED to be contorted and coincidental: it's a generic imperative.)
[If you're expecting the definitive Anna Nicole post, I'm afraid it's not going to happen, at least for now. I had some vague and contorted thoughts about the ethics of regarding other people's lives as narratives for your entertainment, and I thought about just noting how sad and pathetic, not to mention alien, it all is, but, really, I don't think either thought adds much to the discourse. The other cheerful topic on my mind is child abuse, which is on the front page around here and elsewhere, but maybe I'll spare you that one as well.]
1 comment:
I'm glad you liked this one--I just find these books irresistible, I do not care about whether or not I can guess the plot twist!
We will talk sometime about good crime fiction, I feel sure there's stuff you'd really like but you must steer clear of a lot of the formulaic & bestselling...
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