Do You like book The Far Side Of The Dollar (1996)?
This was headed toward a four, the characters were just not as intriguing as some of the other Archer books (although Stella is one of MacDonald's most endearing personalities) and the plot had some funny coincidences in it that seemed somewhat arbitrary. As a crime novel, first-rate; as an Archer novel... I was thinking that it wasn't one of the best until, BANG!, the plot just tied up in the last 30 pages in a manner so masterful that it would take far to long for me to explain MacDonald's method. I would recommend other Archer stories first, but I don't think I have read an Archer book yet that wouldn't rank as one of the top 100 crime novels I have read.
—David
I simply love the way this man writes. Granted, he's glib, and pop, but he's very good at what he does. He nails people: She smiled, and I caught a glimpse of her life’s meaning. She cared for other people. Nobody cared for her.He catches those fleeting but profound emotions:She climbed down the ladder and flitted away through the trees, one of those youngsters who make you feel like apologizing for the world.He can sum up a personality in one line:Daly had the habit of serviceability. “Okay. I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”He can observe society from a cynical distance:The crowd of onlookers ... had ... dwindled. There were still a few waiting for something more interesting than their lives to happen.As a detective story, it checks off all the obligatory boxes. Not for everybody, I guess. But I like it.
—Joe
This is a very good book with a desapointing ending. The plot is fast paced, with very interesting points of philosophy in the prose and a lot of twists in the end. If you have already read other Macdonald books, this will look familiar to you. Broken families, a unensolved mistery of the past and a missing teenager looking for his real parents. Just like a lot of other stories of Macdonald, but he has a way of implement the story and putting the words that it's so unique and poetic, that it aways sounds like it's a new plot all over again. I enjoy reading this book, but the ending quite disapointed me. I think Macdonald tried to surprise the reader, and not only it sounded surreal, but made the whole story lost it's sense. Things were lefted unensolved, and the character that was the biggest victim of the plot, suddenly became the villain. Not only it was bad written, but as usual, blame it on the woman. Not the irreponsable and arrogant teenager, or the selfish and greedy husband. Just like in other pretty good novels of Macdonald, in the end he tries to surpreend everyone, and things become too complicated, with too many twists and out of character personas. I recommend this book if you are a Macdonald fan, if you're not, try another one.
—Diego Paim
