Night Shadows

Rating:
Summary: Waiting for the movie
Review: I saw this in a used book shop and was drawn by the glowing comment quoted from the LA Times Book Review. When I saw Amazon's rave reviews for this author's second book I got curious. The author is an LA celebrity. The reviews in Amazon are all brief and similar to each other. The author seems to have his fans. Or are they friends? I had to read it to find out.

Travis McGee and The Busted Flush transported to California? That is what the Amazon reviews suggest. Jake Sands is a big, handsome, in-shape, can-do philosopher who is also an ex-something tough. His Matt Helm / Dr No cliff house overlooking the Pacific may be equivalent to the alter ego for a custom designed houseboat. But the author's inclusion of every act (so he opened the door and walked over to the garage and...) and description (how he was able to get his second wind) slows down the story, while the exclusion of routines in investigation (such as calling or checking on the missing person's relations for a start) makes it a bit incredible, and distinguish this book by Ron Ely from those by John D MacDonald.

In a way it reminds me of the early James Bond movies versus later ones. The stories are comparable, but the way they progress are not. In Dr No James Bond checks into his Caribbean hotel room and is shown going through a laborious sneaking around which, in later movies, is abbreviated. In Night Shadows there is a lot of emphasis on stuff that does not progress the story--such as how many reps Jake Sands does of one exercise and how often the information is repeated. It is not until 2/3 of the way through the book that the pace picks up a bit and yet he is still driving to one place and then another--in an old television western this would have been the guy on the white horse riding in the countryside seen at first going left and then going right across the screen. Cumbersome.

The characters are overblown, but perhaps that cannot be helped in a book aiming to be popular in the USA. As usual, the main characters are compellingly good looking. There is emphasis on physical attributes and even on relative pulchritude. Although the sidekick is confined to a wheelchair this is compensated for by having him own the mythical roadhouse, this one overlooking the sea, where only the classiest and, one assumes, most attractive folks disport themselves--despite the contemporary chronology one almost expects to find Lauren Bacall crooning over the piano making devil-eyes at Humphrey Bogart. Perhaps too many movie scenes have been blended with too many pulp fictions as the jasmine and honeysuckle in the story itself.

Despite all my criticism I found the story to be interesting and the main character's observations gentle, informed and surprisingly sensitive. It is written in good USA english. There is a lot of information-fact in the book revealing commendable research or breadth of knowledge. Because of the overdone descriptions it was easy, too easy, to envision every act and fact on each and every page of the book. Perhaps Jake Sands could have been played by Ron Ely in a movie. And maybe Ron Ely was trying to combine the book, screenplay, set direction, and all else into one overlong story.

Rating:
Summary: Great mystery/suspense book with fine protagonist
Review: Ron Ely did well with Jake Sands. He is a throw-off of John D's Travis McGee. A well written, fast paced book, that will not disappoint a veteran reader of mystery/suspense books. Hope you turn out another Jake Sands book soon, Ron.

Rating:
Summary: Great mystery/suspense book with fine protagonist
Review: Ron Ely did well with Jake Sands. He is a throw-off of John D's Travis McGee. A well written, fast paced book, that will not disappoint a veteran reader of mystery/suspense books. Hope you turn out another Jake Sands book soon, Ron.