Rating: 
Summary: Amos Walker, Back in Form
Review: As a huge fan of the Amos Walker private eye series, I am happy to report that "Poison Blonde" is a return to form after the previous book in the series "Sinister Heights" had been something of a letdown. At his best, author Loren Estleman is an elite hardboiled mystery writer. Since its first appearance with 1980's "Motor City Blue" the Walker series has been rivalled only by Lawrence Block's Matthew Scudder series in term of quality hardboiled private eye writing. This time out, Walker is hired by a susperstar female Latin singer with a very dark and sordid past. A onetime revolutionary in her home country, she fled to the U.S. under an assumed identity after being accused of murder. When the person whose identity she assumed turns up missing after blackmailing her, she hires Walker to find the blackmailer before her secret becomes public. The plot draws Walker into web of intrigue, pitting him against his usual assortment of gangsters, cops and other assorted heavies. Though "Poison Blonde" breaks no new ground for the series, it is delivered with such fresh and inventive prose that it is a more than worthwhile read. Fans of hardboiled mysery novels owe it to themselves to get hooked on Amos.
Rating: 
Summary: It's Amos Walker...but less of him!
Review: At his best, Loren D. Estleman reminds me of Raymond Chandler. At his weakest, his characters are engaging and rewarding. So even if you are not an Estleman fan, I suspect that you will enjoy Poison Blonde. Poison Blonde belongs to Mr. Estleman's distinguished series featuring private detective, Amos Walker, who haunts the night in Detroit. His work is his life, and vice versa. Poison Blonde brings him a job working for a hot young recording star, Ms. Gilia Cristobal. The young woman is not whom she seems, and the many ex-cons around her bring Walker onto his guard. One of them is a man he helped put away for life. The music industry scenes ring true, and could have come out of a tabloid. The Detroit color is, as always, solid and striking. The thugs are as stupid and gratuitously cruel as anyone would want. The character of Gloria Cristobal is a particularly interesting one, and adds a lot to the story. She is one of Mr. Estleman's best characters in years. The story is fast-paced and engrossing, and I found myself unable to put the book down until I had finished it. Why did I grade the story down one star? There are mysteries here, but their explanations are the obvious ones that would occur to any reader in the first few seconds. Mr. Estleman does a pretty good job of making them seem more mysterious than they are by putting in lots of color, but at bottom there's not much here to exercise your mental processes. After you finish enjoying this book, I suggest that you take the time to get to know someone better whom you think you know. Look for the depths behind the obvious social facade. Take what you find and use it to look deeper into the hearts of all those you meet.
Rating:
Summary: Great Dialogue and Action in Thin Mystery
Review: At his best, Loren D. Estleman reminds me of Raymond Chandler. At his weakest, his characters are engaging and rewarding. So even if you are not an Estleman fan, I suspect that you will enjoy Poison Blonde. Poison Blonde belongs to Mr. Estleman's distinguished series featuring private detective, Amos Walker, who haunts the night in Detroit. His work is his life, and vice versa. Poison Blonde brings him a job working for a hot young recording star, Ms. Gilia Cristobal. The young woman is not whom she seems, and the many ex-cons around her bring Walker onto his guard. One of them is a man he helped put away for life. The music industry scenes ring true, and could have come out of a tabloid. The Detroit color is, as always, solid and striking. The thugs are as stupid and gratuitously cruel as anyone would want. The character of Gloria Cristobal is a particularly interesting one, and adds a lot to the story. She is one of Mr. Estleman's best characters in years. The story is fast-paced and engrossing, and I found myself unable to put the book down until I had finished it. Why did I grade the story down one star? There are mysteries here, but their explanations are the obvious ones that would occur to any reader in the first few seconds. Mr. Estleman does a pretty good job of making them seem more mysterious than they are by putting in lots of color, but at bottom there's not much here to exercise your mental processes. After you finish enjoying this book, I suggest that you take the time to get to know someone better whom you think you know. Look for the depths behind the obvious social facade. Take what you find and use it to look deeper into the hearts of all those you meet.
Rating:
Summary: Prolific Writer!
Review: I was surprised to see that this author has written over fifty books, including the Amos Walker series and Westerns. This was the first book I've read by Mr. Estleman but will not be the last. Amos Walker is a private investigator with an attitude. He lives by himself in a rundown house, drives a rattletrap of a car, is single, and does not have an ongoing relationship with anyone. He seems to have more enemies than friends. Along comes Latina singer Gilia Cristobel to involve him in trying to solve the mystery of what happened to her extortionist. From that evolves another mystery, who killed the woman Gilia is accused of murdering in her native country. I liked the Lincoln Question aspect. The plot at times lost steam and the overt witticism of the author sometimes got in the way. Good character development, though, and basically a good story. I liked it to enough to read others in this series.
Rating:
Summary: superb hard-boiled noir
Review: Latino singer Gilia Cristobel is as hot an act as one will find today with her albums at the top of the charts and her popularity at stratospheric levels at least with music lovers. However, the down side of her meteoric rise is that her fame has brought her to the attention of someone who knew her back in the old country in Central America. That individual has blackmailed Gilia claiming he has proof of her involvement in an atrocity back home. Paying off her extortionist is worth the lost cash to Gilia, but three months pass without further word from the blackmailer. Desperate to end the potential fiasco that if it went public would sink her career permanently, Gilia hires Detroit private investigator Amos Walker to find the real Gilia who has vanished since the threats surfaced and whose identity the singer has paid for so she can remain in the USA. The latest Amos Walker tale is the usual superb hard-boiled noir that hooks the reader from the very beginning until the finish because the entire cast seems so genuine. Readers believe what Amos becomes entangled in due to the ensemble, whether they make a cameo appearance or are a key secondary player. The story line is vintage Walker who solves one thing only to be engulfed in something larger. Loren D. Estleman delivers another winner as the Motor City sleuth remains at the top of his game investigating on all cylinders. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: superb hard-boiled noir
Review: Latino singer Gilia Cristobel is as hot an act as one will find today with her albums at the top of the charts and her popularity at stratospheric levels at least with music lovers. However, the down side of her meteoric rise is that her fame has brought her to the attention of someone who knew her back in the old country in Central America. That individual has blackmailed Gilia claiming he has proof of her involvement in an atrocity back home. Paying off her extortionist is worth the lost cash to Gilia, but three months pass without further word from the blackmailer. Desperate to end the potential fiasco that if it went public would sink her career permanently, Gilia hires Detroit private investigator Amos Walker to find the real Gilia who has vanished since the threats surfaced and whose identity the singer has paid for so she can remain in the USA. The latest Amos Walker tale is the usual superb hard-boiled noir that hooks the reader from the very beginning until the finish because the entire cast seems so genuine. Readers believe what Amos becomes entangled in due to the ensemble, whether they make a cameo appearance or are a key secondary player. The story line is vintage Walker who solves one thing only to be engulfed in something larger. Loren D. Estleman delivers another winner as the Motor City sleuth remains at the top of his game investigating on all cylinders. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: It's Amos Walker...but less of him!
Review: This is not the best Amos Walker by any means...very light plot, very apparent killer...but a "lesser" Amos Walker mystery is still miles above the best of most other authors. Buy it...you won't be sorry!
Rating:
Summary: It's Amos Walker...but less of him!
Review: This is not the best Amos Walker by any means...very light plot, very apparent killer...but a "lesser" Amos Walker mystery is still miles above the best of most other authors. Buy it...you won't be sorry!
Rating:
Summary: Hard boiled detective fiction at its gritty best.
Review: This latest Amos Walker mystery finds the Detroit based private eye in the employ of Latina singing sensation Gilia Cristobal. Apparently subscribing to the old saw that it's better to deal with the devil you know, Cristobal makes an unusual request: she wants Walker to track down a blackmailer, not to bring him/her to justice, but to determine whether he/she is alive and well. Accordingly, Walker embarks on a dangerous investigation, involving confrontations with the police, international drug smugglers, music industry gangsters and a pack of vicious guard dogs. Certainly one of the top mystery authors of modern times, Estleman offers yet another winning piece. Although Poison Blonde is his seventeenth (!) Amos Walker novel and his fiftieth (!) published book, the writing is as fresh and engaging today as it's ever been. Estleman has a real feel for the streets of Detroit, and a real understanding of his tough, frank, and often bemused private eye, an appealing mix of tough guy bravado and sensitivity. Rather than showing signs of wear, the series continues to offer up all the trademark humor, violence, suspense and surprises for which it is known. Hard-boiled detective fiction at its gritty best.
Rating:
Summary: Hard boiled detective fiction at its gritty best.
Review: This latest Amos Walker mystery finds the Detroit based private eye in the employ of Latina singing sensation Gilia Cristobal. Apparently subscribing to the old saw that it's better to deal with the devil you know, Cristobal makes an unusual request: she wants Walker to track down a blackmailer, not to bring him/her to justice, but to determine whether he/she is alive and well. Accordingly, Walker embarks on a dangerous investigation, involving confrontations with the police, international drug smugglers, music industry gangsters and a pack of vicious guard dogs. Certainly one of the top mystery authors of modern times, Estleman offers yet another winning piece. Although Poison Blonde is his seventeenth (!) Amos Walker novel and his fiftieth (!) published book, the writing is as fresh and engaging today as it's ever been. Estleman has a real feel for the streets of Detroit, and a real understanding of his tough, frank, and often bemused private eye, an appealing mix of tough guy bravado and sensitivity. Rather than showing signs of wear, the series continues to offer up all the trademark humor, violence, suspense and surprises for which it is known. Hard-boiled detective fiction at its gritty best.
| 
