Midnight Pass

Rating:
Summary: Fonesca is no Rostnikov
Review: After hugely enjoying all of the P. P. Rostnikov novels, this was a great disappointment. I could never muster much interest or empathy toward any of the characters, most of whom seemed to be pasteboard cut-outs. The book never elicited the can't-put-it-down absorbtion of Kaminsky's Russian tales or most of the books of Michael Connelly, Archer Mayor, Peter Robinson, Colin Dexter, or John Harvey.

One of the main strengths of the Rostnikov stories was their exotic and convincing Russian setting. Florida culture and the marginal characters in this book were all too familiar to add interest to the tale.

Rating:
Summary: A Complex Man Moving from depression back into sunlight.
Review: Great novel. Not merely a mystery or suspense novel at all. Transcends the genre, while satisfying the requirements of crime fiction. Reader and reviewers have objected to Lew Fonesca's depressed (unlikable to these readers) state in Vengeance and Retribution. I thought Vengeance was a good novel, while Retribution had its flaws, but it was still superior to 90% of mystery/suspense fiection. Midnight Pass shows Lew still tied to the past (his wife's death), still longing to be left alone with his old Joan Crawford, John Garfield etc. movies (escape the world), but he is a man who almost in spite of himself reaches out to others and others touch him. What Kaminsky has done brilliantly in this novel (apart from his spot-on creation of in-depth characters, no matter how small their roles in the novel) is to give us a man who is evolving, changing, but not through artifcial authorial manipulation, but by an author who gives us realistic, organic growth of Fonexca. I am a big fan of Kaminsky's Russian novels--his unforgettable, brilliantly etched characters, the rich atmospher, the exciting, yet plausible, plots and the main character who ties ties it all together, Rostnikov. His Leiberman novels are good. His Toby Peters novels are entertaining and often offer insight into the human condition. But Midnight Pass surpasses any novel he has written. Read this book and fall in love with real people (good, bad and in-between) and gain profound insight into yourself, a most worthy novelistic achievement. Highly recommended. Read it slowly, immerse yourself in its subtle, yet powerful, movement and, I believe, you will be a better person for having read it. Quite simply, "read it."

Rating:
Summary: Lew Fonesca is a character who wins your heart
Review: He is not a super hero, never uses violence, has a group of ecletically wonderful friends and is a process server who ended up in Sarasota Florida where his car broke down as he was on the run from his prior life, not a criminal or a felon but a gently damaged nice man whose wife was killed by an errant driver.

I think you will love him and his lifestyle and his way of lise ... he is dragged into finding missing people and solving crimes along the way, much to the consternation of the local police.

He is depressed over his past life and trades psychological consuling by doing favors.

He befriends tge young and old alike and resussatates lives as he works on his own life.

I keep looking for more Lou Forsecka books from a very busy Stuart Kaminsky.

He is overdue and I am anxious. He makes me happy and keeps me interested.

Rating:
Summary: Fonesca's Fantastic!
Review: Lew Fonesca is my favorite fiction character, bar none. Kaminsky has created a character who perfectly balances today's angst with yesterday's 'work, don't think' ethics. He struggles with his depression emotionally, while doing the right things physically. He hides in old movies and exercising, but is able to put those indulgences aside when needed.

The mystery is solid in Midnight Pass, as in all Kaminsky books. But it's the character development of Lew Fonesca that offers several laugh-out-loud moments, and a few tears to be wiped away. The book is somewhat dark, but not in an angst-ridden way. The humor is subtle and intelligent. A top-notch book in an excellent series.

Rating:
Summary: Lew's not macho, but he gets the job done.
Review: The hero in Stuart Kaminsky's latest book, "Midnight Pass," is Lew Fonesca. Lew is a sad sack who has been chronically depressed since his wife was killed in a hit and run accident. To make ends meet, Lew works as process server in Sarasota, Florida. He does not look forward to the future, which he is positive will be bleak. He sports a well-worn Chicago Cubs cap on his balding head, and he has little use for material possessions. His friends are an odd assortment of people, quite a few of whom live on the fringes of society.

What makes this seemingly unprepossessing man worth caring about? First of all, Lew has a soft and compassionate nature. He always offers assistance to those who have been battered by life, including Adele, a young unwed mother, Flo, a recovering alcoholic, and Digger, a homeless man. In addition, although Lew is not a licensed private investigator, he is an excellent sleuth. In "Midnight Pass," Lew is hired to track down a missing wife for her distraught husband. Lew also attempts to give a dying cancer patient the opportunity to fulfill his final wish.

Kaminsky tells his story in a spare, quirky, and whimsical way. He presents an off-the-wall cast of characters who say outrageous things with a straight face. Lew's sessions with his deadpan psychologist, Ann Horowitz, are both funny and poignant. Although the mystery in "Midnight Pass" is engrossing enough, it is fairly conventional. However, Kaminsky's colorful characters and his engaging writing style will have readers clamoring for more adventures with the inimitable Lew Fonesca.

Rating:
Summary: Character counts.
Review: This Lew Fonesca book does not quite give us a world-class mystery, but the character development is, indeed, world class.
This is a difficult book to put down simply because the reader
does want to know more about this odd "hero," and where he is
going. As he goes along his way, he meets, and interacts with,
some odd characters, and they usually seem to have something in
common with Fonesca: they are all operating on the fringes of
acceptable society. None of them have much in the way of material possessions, or if they do, they don't care about them,
and they have their own motivations and their owns reasons for
going on.
Fonesca, although making a living of sorts, is about as much on
the fringe as the rest of them, and during those times when he
is attempting to help someone else, we have to wonder how he
can afford to even think of others when his own needs are so
acute.
This guy, Lew Fonesca, about sums up his view of life, and his
part in it, when he observes: "I work as little as I can, live as cheaply as I can, and have as little to do with people as
I can."
Quite a philosophy, and one most of us sometimes wish we could follow. But as much as he wishes he could follow his own philosophy, he keeps meeting people who need his help, and something in his character won't allow him to let the needy people walk away without hope. So he frequently agrees to help
others, when he knows he is barely able to keep himself going.
It must be this need to help others that holds him together since the sudden death of his wife. Even how he ended up in Sarasota, Florida is both simple and revealing; he says he
was feeling so depressed, he just got in his old car and started
driving, and he drove until his car quit, and he had to try to
get by just where it stopped. So he does as little as possible,
which is serving legal papers for a law firm on an occasional
basis, and he keeps trying to stay away from the public.
But some members of the public keep needing his help, and there
he is again--helping.
Author Kaminsky does a fine job with all his writing; he is one
of those people who makes it all seem easy. When it isn't.
His ability to write, and especially to develop interesting
characters, grows stronger.
You need to read this one to see just how a character is developed. Most people will hate to see this story end.