Top positive review
4.0 out of 5 starsMove Over, Sam Spade! Great Noir Mystery!
Reviewed in the United States on May 8, 2021
Set in late 1940's Nevada and California, gumshoe, apprentice Aloysius Archer, having survived "One Good Deed" is back facing a neverending series of troubles, while starting over again on the West Coast. Armed with his calm, self-assured manner and quick perception of people, Archer gives his real-time narrative of events as he sees, lives, and thinks them. Confident, realistic, yet just a bit uncertain. Charming but vulnerable.
Highly reminiscent of Dashiell Hammett's earthy and dry-witted but flawed characters, David Baldacci's crisp and edgey storytelling creates an entertaining tale of murder, corruption, and indomitable criminals in a Goliath versus David adventure, brusque yet enjoyable to the last page.
The author's skillful writing style combines 1940's post war language, social issues, and historical contexts into a believable fictional crime story ripped from newspapers over 70 years ago.
Strong characters and crusty dialogues bring the complex storyline to life with novelty and freshness without resorting to clichéd redundancies. Although a little rough at times, it is a fast, fun read with many surprises and several sharp storyline turns. Hold on!
This second Archer series installment builds on the strong plotline of book 1, but it also makes a great standalone read for any wishing to just jump right into the series here.
Audible's narration reading supplement was well done, almost recreating an old-time radio series but without sound effects.
A good divergent read to add variety to any fictional library collection to add some national nostalgia experiences to balance many more modern and experimental reading genres.
Definitely 4.5 Stars
