Concourse

Rating:
Summary: Well above average.
Review: A wonderfully written and richly textured novel. Very well plotted and it makes sense thru-out.

Some passages were so well written I found myself reading them three or four times just to appreciate their beauty.

It is at least semi-dark and not the fastest read, but well worth the time and effort. It needs to be savored.

The protagonists are well drawn and this should be a strong series. The supporting cast is most intriguing.

Rating:
Summary: I couldn't stop thinking about the characters...
Review: I stayed up late to finish this book, and woke up the next morning still thinking about the characters- the gang leader "Snake" and the bitter cop, in particular. Rozan has successfully pulled off a rather difficult trick- changing the point of view in the middle of a series. Much to my surprise, I liked Bill Smith as a protaganist just as well- perhaps even a bit better than Lydia Chin. I've enjoyed them all so far, however. But Concourse soars above the average mystery in its superb character development. I'm looking forward to more from S.J. Rozan!

Rating:
Summary: I couldn't stop thinking about the characters...
Review: I stayed up late to finish this book, and woke up the next morning still thinking about the characters- the gang leader "Snake" and the bitter cop, in particular. Rozan has successfully pulled off a rather difficult trick- changing the point of view in the middle of a series. Much to my surprise, I liked Bill Smith as a protaganist just as well- perhaps even a bit better than Lydia Chin. I've enjoyed them all so far, however. But Concourse soars above the average mystery in its superb character development. I'm looking forward to more from S.J. Rozan!

Rating:
Summary: A dramatic and well-written P.I. novel
Review: I thought this was a well plotted and hard hitting PI novel. It is a fast paced, well-written page-turner with a dramatic and satisfying conclusion. Smith and Chin are interesting and likeable characters, but possibly a bit underdeveloped. (But I'll attribute this minor complaint to the fact that I did not read the first Rozan book.) The Smith/Chin relationship seems a little familiar, and the relationship with the burned out detective also seems overdone, but overall, Rozan creates a believable and original story that blends big-city corruption and inner city violence.

The minor complaints mentioned above notwithstanding, I give this a strong recommendation and I am looking forward to the next installment.

Rating:
Summary: I was really looking forward to reading this book
Review: Rozan is a favorite of mine, but the other books I had read by her were focused on Lydia Chin. This book shifts the focus to Bill Smith (who sometimes partners with Lydia Chin). I missed Lydia and I found this book a little too "Humphrey Bogart" for my taste. I would not describe this book as a real page-turner, at least for me. Still, Rozan is a very skilled writer, particularly good at plotting and creating believable characters, people you care what happens to. This book would particularly appeal to people who like tough, gritty detective mysteries.

Rating:
Summary: I was really looking forward to reading this book
Review: Rozan is a favorite of mine, but the other books I had read by her were focused on Lydia Chin. This book shifts the focus to Bill Smith (who sometimes partners with Lydia Chin). I missed Lydia and I found this book a little too "Humphrey Bogart" for my taste. I would not describe this book as a real page-turner, at least for me. Still, Rozan is a very skilled writer, particularly good at plotting and creating believable characters, people you care what happens to. This book would particularly appeal to people who like tough, gritty detective mysteries.

Rating:
Summary: Chin & Smith - Book 2
Review: Several months ago I read "China Trade" and enjoyed it immensely. Lydia Chin, Chinese-American Manhattanite, was a fun new slueth. Her partner, Bill Smith, had a small role in the book which was filled with Chinese-American culture.

Concourse is an entirely different sort of book. It's narrated by Bill Smith and is almost entirely his adventure. Maybe it was the monotoned narrator on the Chivers audiotape but I found myself vacillating between neutral and negative when it came to Bill. He smokes way too much and just seemed pretty whiney. Lydia drops by once in awhile but there's hardly any of her charm or the interesting cultural aspects of the first book.

The mystery itself starts with the death of guard at a nursing home in the Bronx. Bill goes undercover as a guard and quickly finds lots of unanswered questions. The prime suspect in the crime, a gang leader named Snake, convinces Bill that someone else did the crime. Then there are more deaths and strange happenings around the nursing home. The solution is nicely complicated without being totally beyond belief.

According to my notes this book won a Shamus award and was chosen by the Independent Mystery Booksellers as one of the 100 best mysteries of the 20th Century. It didn't do all that much for me but it might be better reading in print (and for someone is isn't as opposed to smoking).

Rating:
Summary: Chin & Smith - Book 2
Review: Several months ago I read "China Trade" and enjoyed it immensely. Lydia Chin, Chinese-American Manhattanite, was a fun new slueth. Her partner, Bill Smith, had a small role in the book which was filled with Chinese-American culture.

Concourse is an entirely different sort of book. It's narrated by Bill Smith and is almost entirely his adventure. Maybe it was the monotoned narrator on the Chivers audiotape but I found myself vacillating between neutral and negative when it came to Bill. He smokes way too much and just seemed pretty whiney. Lydia drops by once in awhile but there's hardly any of her charm or the interesting cultural aspects of the first book.

The mystery itself starts with the death of guard at a nursing home in the Bronx. Bill goes undercover as a guard and quickly finds lots of unanswered questions. The prime suspect in the crime, a gang leader named Snake, convinces Bill that someone else did the crime. Then there are more deaths and strange happenings around the nursing home. The solution is nicely complicated without being totally beyond belief.

According to my notes this book won a Shamus award and was chosen by the Independent Mystery Booksellers as one of the 100 best mysteries of the 20th Century. It didn't do all that much for me but it might be better reading in print (and for someone is isn't as opposed to smoking).

Rating:
Summary: Better than China Trade, and C.T. was great!
Review: This book has interesting characters and plot, and is extremely well-written. I read it first, then found China Trade, the first novel in the series, in the library. As a (real) man, I can say that Rozan's Bill Smith is realistic; I would not have guessed that the author was female if I hadn't already known it. Smith reminds me of J.P. Beaumont, Jance's Seattle detective, and I can't think of a better compliment. It was a pleasant surprise to find that China Trade was written from the viewpoint of Lydia Chin. I hope that the viewpoint continues to alternate between the main characters in the later novels. If the quality continues, Rozan will join J.A. Jance, Minette Walters, Dick Francis, Robert Crais, and Ed McBain on my A-list of mystery writers whose new books I will buy in hardcover. On to Mandarin Plaid!

P.S. Jonathan Kellerman is borderline for my A-list. Sue Grafton, Robert Parker, and James Lee Burke are former A-listers.