The Glass Highway

Rating:
Summary: Walker at his darkest, and best
Review: Amos Walker has one heck of a rollercoaster ride in the third installment of Loren D. Estleman's suberb P.I. series. Its Christmas in Detroit and our hero gets seduced, beaten up, arrested, threatened; your usual yuletide activities. Along the way he encouters crooked cops, media hungry politicians, spoiled rich kids and ham-handed Federal agents. I'd rate "The Glass Highway" a notch above the first two novels in the series ("Motor City Blue" and "Angel Eyes") because its plot is tighter and more plausible. Nevertheless, there seems to be no such thing as a bad Amos Walker mystery.

As a bonus, this I-Books edition features an afterword from the author regarding his inspirations for the novel. It also contains an Amos Walker short story, "Cigarette Stop" as the dessert to a very fine meal.

Rating:
Summary: Walker at his darkest, and best
Review: Amos Walker has one heck of a rollercoaster ride in the third installment of Loren D. Estleman's suberb P.I. series. Its Christmas in Detroit and our hero gets seduced, beaten up, arrested, threatened; your usual yuletide activities. Along the way he encouters crooked cops, media hungry politicians, spoiled rich kids and ham-handed Federal agents. I'd rate "The Glass Highway" a notch above the first two novels in the series ("Motor City Blue" and "Angel Eyes") because its plot is tighter and more plausible. Nevertheless, there seems to be no such thing as a bad Amos Walker mystery.

As a bonus, this I-Books edition features an afterword from the author regarding his inspirations for the novel. It also contains an Amos Walker short story, "Cigarette Stop" as the dessert to a very fine meal.

Rating:
Summary: A Strong Hardboiled Thriller
Review: Loren Estleman's Detroit private investigator, Amos Walker, returns in the 4th instalment of what has become one of the most dependable private eye series of modern times. Displaying sharp humour, taut plotting and crackling dialogue, THE GLASS HIGHWAY is the archetypical hardboiled mystery.

The storyline of THE GLASS HIGHWAY follows the well worn traditional formula of many private investigator books that have come before it or have followed. It's a missing person investigation that is solved very quickly, but in solving it many more questions are raised revealing a darker, more sordid mystery underneath. It's Estleman's ability to keep the pace high while the atmosphere borders on bleak that sets the story apart from others.

The missing person that Walker is hired to find is Bud Broderick, the estranged son of local newsreader Sandy Broderick. Rather than showing concern for his son's safety, he wants him found because he is worried that Bud may be into drugs, a possibility that may adversely affect his broadcasting career. It doesn't take long for Walker to find Bud, but he also finds Paula Royce, the girl he has been staying with. It's Paula Royce who sends the investigation spinning off on a right hand turn.

Soon after supposedly solving his missing person investigation, a murder takes place. Although Walker is, at best, a fringe participant, the police jump all over him, taking him in for questioning and locking him away for a couple of days. In quick succession, another couple of bodies are discovered by Walker, both somehow linked to Paula Royce, who has now gone into hiding, but who is still obviously the key to everything. It's up to Walker to piece the mystery together, save his own skin and keep his private investigator's licence.

This is a gritty mystery combining clever, light humoured dialogue with Walker's darker more introspective moments. Walker displays a keen tenacity as well as an intuitive detective's brain in this very enjoyable hardboiled mystery.

Rating:
Summary: Where Hardboiled Lives
Review: Methaphor, descriptives, grit - Loren Estleman delivers it straight. No gratuitous violence, clear lines of right and wrong.

"When a man's partner is killed, he's supposed to do something about it." Amos would, except he's the kind of guy who would never want a partner. In a world of compromise, moral shades of gray and groupthink, Amos Walker stands out as a model of clarity and purpose.

Then there's Detroit. No one captures the flat grayness of the city like Estleman, and, now that they no longer make Oldsmobiles, I don't know what he'll have Amos driving next.

For pure escape into a bad world made better by the shine of one man, it's hard to beat this series. Within the series, though, this installment is not one of the steongest.