Rating: 
Summary: Fun read
Review: "McHally's Dare" by Vincent Lardo is yet another pleasant romp amongst the rich and infamous on the island of Palm Beach by Discrete Inquirer Archy McNally.The twelfth installment contains a more complex plot as Archy attempts to solve a murder and determine if an apparent heir to a fortune is an imposter, all the while lunching in fashionable bistros and attending parties and benefits. The eclectic supporting cast is terrific as usual...lending color, intrigue, witty dialog and interesting sidebars. Archy has no shortage of suspects and eventually brings the truth to light...but not before a couple of reversals, amusing detours and romantic interludes. "McNally's Dare" is not hard boiled noir...rather a mystery in the wry...easy to enjoy...a weekend diversion...a book for the beach...a guilty pleasure. Big time fun!
Rating: 
Summary: Deceived
Review: Have enjoyed many of the books by Lawrence Sanders.
I had not realized he had died in 1998. I purchased "McNally,s
Dare" because Lawrence Sanders' name was so prominently
displayed on the cover. Looked great, I haven't read him in
years. I know now why, and think it is intellectually dishonest
as well as a cheap ploy at the expence of his name.
I will admit it was my mistake and one not to be repeated.
I only made it through a couple of chapters to realize Mr. Lardo is no Mr. Sanders and probably explains the deception.
I won't make that mistake again.
Rating: 
Summary: and the beat goes on . . .
Review: I have read all of the McNally stories and almost all of Mr. Sanders novels. I believe that Mr. Lardo has done a marvelous job of picking up where Sanders left off. To those who don't see it that way, so be it! Just wish you could open up your minds a bit and allow yourself to keep enjoying these wonderful stories. Dare is highly entertaining if a bit busy. It keeps one guessing about who really "done it" throughout the story. Archy's panache and his love of fine food is strangely comforting and all said and done, these stories are like an old friend, and good company to boot.
Rating:
Summary: and the beat goes on . . .
Review: I have read all of the McNally stories and almost all of Mr. Sanders novels. I believe that Mr. Lardo has done a marvelous job of picking up where Sanders left off. To those who don't see it that way, so be it! Just wish you could open up your minds a bit and allow yourself to keep enjoying these wonderful stories. Dare is highly entertaining if a bit busy. It keeps one guessing about who really "done it" throughout the story. Archy's panache and his love of fine food is strangely comforting and all said and done, these stories are like an old friend, and good company to boot.
Rating: 
Summary: lardo's true style coming through
Review: i just finished mcnally's dare this week. i have read all the books in this series and all of lawrence sanders work. this book has lardo writing more in his own style, rather than that of sanders. it seems to me that he is not quite the same as sanders in description writing, however he has done a fine job of plot and carry through. i will forever miss the vivid and textured descriptions that sanders gave the reader, and fervently hope that lardo will keep archy dressing with savvy and eating the fabulous concoctions by ursi at the mcnally manse and the pettibones at the infamous pelican club
Rating:
Summary: Dare
Review: I missed the detailed description of Archy's dress, his meals, and his Marc and English Oval at night in his room. Also, his policeman friend, Al, was hardly around in this book. The plot was good and kept me interested but it seemed to lack the personal details and daily routine of Archy that makes this series so good.
Rating:
Summary: Another Good Job
Review: It cannot be easy, writing a mystery series and keeping the prose fresh. It has to be even more difficult to take over characters created by another author. Keeping these two points in mind, author Vincent Lardo does a good job in McNALLY'S DARE, continuing a series begun by the late Lawrence Sanders.
In DARE, the story is fresh and, oddly, believable, once the reader accepts that Palm Beach, the place where all of these McNALLY mysteries are set, is a peculiar town. PB forever marches to the beat of its very own drummer--a drummer who uses solid gold drumsticks.
And since, for a time, I had lived in Palm Beach, I can say that Lardo definitely gets its rhythms. The sense of place is perfect and Archy, the protagonist, never fails to be amusing.
In fact, Archy's being, well, arch may be these books' greatest problem. There are times when the dialogue gets too damn cute. Lardo needs to watch this; there is a fine balance between clever and fey.
Still, as with all of the McNALLY books, McNALLY'S DARE is lots of fun.
Rating:
Summary: Good, but not great
Review: Lardo is changing McNally's style, in sort of the way Roger Moore changed Sean Connery's version of James Bond. In other words, it gets a little too silly at times. But the story is interesting, involving a rich young man from Switzerland who may or may not be who he claims to be. Another young man ends up dead in a swimming pool at a party, starting the mystery. At one point, McNally is working for three clients at the same time, which I thought would develop into more conflicts of interest than it did (seemed like a lost opportunity for the author). The drama of the second pool party was one of the best parts of the book. Especially when McNally started to count toes.
Rating:
Summary: Good but not particularly great.
Review: McNally is in rare form in this particular novel. It will stand the test of time in its own right and will probably stand with "McNally's Chance" as the two best entry's to be contributed by Lardo to the McNally lexicon. But don't count on it winning any of the awards given to mystery writers by their peers.
Rating:
Summary: Good but not particularly great.
Review: McNally is in rare form in this particular novel. It will stand the test of time in its own right and will probably stand with "McNally's Chance" as the two best entry's to be contributed by Lardo to the McNally lexicon. But don't count on it winning any of the awards given to mystery writers by their peers.
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