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- Newsgroups: rec.arts.books
- Path: sparky!uunet!stanford.edu!nntp.Stanford.EDU!Leland!jyc
- From: jyc@leo.Stanford.EDU (Jon Corelis)
- Subject: Re: Police Procedurals
- Message-ID: <jyc.725913339@Leland>
- Sender: ?@leland.Stanford.EDU
- Organization: DSO, Stanford University
- References: <9212291811.AA25043@deepthought.cs.utexas.edu>
- Distribution: usa
- Date: 1 Jan 93 18:35:39 GMT
- Lines: 20
-
- Since people are interested in police proceural series, I thought I'd
- mention a couple of books I've just read that are from related genres.
-
- Lawrence Block has written a series featuring an ex-policeman turned
- unofficial private detective named Matthew Scudder, who works in
- Manhatten. Lots of New York atmosphere, very violent in parts, with
- some good dialogue. An interesting slant is given by Scudder's being a
- recovering alcoholic. I've read Eight Million Ways to Die and When the
- Sacred Ginmill Closes, both of which I'd recommend if you like the
- "tough" style.
-
- Charles McCarry has written a series of spy novels set in the early
- sixties. Sort of untopical now that the Cold War is supposedly over,
- but very well written -- I think he's a better stylist than Le Carre.
- His main character is Paul Christopher, a top field agent. One thing I
- found unusual about this series is that I thought none of the
- characters, including the "good guys," was very attractive, and I wasn't
- sure that was the author's intention. I've just read The Secret Lovers,
- which was excellent. I'd previously read The Tears of Autumn, based on
- an intriguing theory about the JFK assassination.
-