Dynamite Road

Rating:
Summary: Very simplistic story but well worth your time
Review: The plotline of this novel comes straight out of a 40's gangster movie, although it's been updated to deal with the modern world. But Klavan has added an extra undefined something to the story - something that puts it more than a cut above your average detective novel.

True, the people are stock characters - the hard-boiled private eye who was once a cop; his partner, who's still on the force and has the personality of a crab; the gorgeous damsel in distress (who we never actually get to meet); and the prototypical arch-villains. But they all mesh together and you enjoy knowing what happens to them. I've read many other similar stories - some published in the 40's, some fairly recently - and a lot of them I just discarded because the people in them were basically cartoon characters. Not here. I hope the next novel in this series (and the cover indicates this is the first of a series) tells us a bit more about the damsel in distress, and about the mysterious Shadowman and his relationship with Weiss.

Oh, and if the author is the Drew Klavan whose twin brothers I grew up with a few blocks down the road, and he reads this - tell those brothers I said hello.

Rating:
Summary: the birth of a new series is a success!
Review: This is ellen in Atlanta - When I learned that Klavan would be starting a series featuring a private investigating firm, I started to worry - I stopped worrying when at the 1st sitting of reading Dynamite Road, I was over 125 pages in! It is wonderful and is gritty, exciting, and the characters are of the old school of PI's and a great start to a wonderful series - long live the Weiss Investigative Firm!

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful in its Simplicity
Review: This is the first novel I've read by Andrew and I have read 130 thrillers in the past year. 10 occupy my "hall of fame" shelf. Dynamite Road makes it 11. In the context of a tough guy mystery, Klavan spins out original gut punching turns of phrase in which I delight. My copy bleeds with yellow highlighter. Ignore, the name Shadowman and read the book for its brilliant simplicity.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful in its Simplicity
Review: This is the first novel I've read by Andrew and I have read 130 thrillers in the past year. 10 occupy my "hall of fame" shelf. Dynamite Road makes it 11. In the context of a tough guy mystery, Klavan spins out original gut punching turns of phrase in which I delight. My copy bleeds with yellow highlighter. Ignore, the name Shadowman and read the book for its brilliant simplicity.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful in its Simplicity
Review: This is the first novel I've read by Andrew and I have read 130 thrillers in the past year. 10 occupy my "hall of fame" shelf. Dynamite Road makes it 11. In the context of a tough guy mystery, Klavan spins out original gut punching turns of phrase in which I delight. My copy bleeds with yellow highlighter. Ignore, the name Shadowman and read the book for its brilliant simplicity.

Rating:
Summary: New Exciting Directions
Review: Those of us who eagerly await Andrew Klavan's novels are rewarded again. DYNAMITE ROAD is the latest in a series of thrillers (DON'T SAY A WORD, MAN AND WIFE, THE ANIMAL HOUR and TRUE CRIME, among others) which have that eerie ring of truth, which make them so easy to enjoy and impossible to put down.

Klavan introduces the Weiss Agency with Jim Bishop and Scott Weiss, detectives who live and work in a gritty, rugged world. There is very little sentimentality here and cruel, disturbing things happen and these unorthodox detectives will stop at nothing to achieve their goal, even venturing beyond their client's wishes, once they become involved in this marvelous adventure.

The author clearly is fascinated by the intricacies of flying small planes and the mechanics of flying unifies the story, making this book a must read for anyone with a similar interest.

Klavan has written another exciting book, with a twist. Returning to much earlier days, he has invented characters who promise to return, hopefully in the near future.