Eureka

Rating:
Summary: The mistakes drove me nuts
Review: OK, I'm a glutton for accuracy and this book is a great read.

But there are so many anachronistic, military and meteorological mistakes that I'm giving it three stars rather than four plus. Maybe I should blame Peter Gethers, who's listed as the editor.

Things that drove me nuts:

1. Purple Heart. Two characters win purple hearts, which Diehl seems to equate with a silver star. Doesn't anyone there know anything about the military? You get a purple heart if you sprain an ankle falling out of a jeep in a war zone. Once, I can take the heroic reference to purple hearts, but they keep recurring.

2. Anachronisms.
-LP records in 1941. Forget it.
- A "pants suit'' on a woman in the same year. That term didn't come into vogue until at least the 60s and women just didn't wear them then. Slacks, yes. Suits no.
_ Someone gets news from AP and UPI. In 1941, it was AP, UP and International News Service. UP and INS merged in the 50s to make UPI.
_ A storm coming up at sea in late May in Southern California. It happens maybe once a century. There's an old song "It Never Rains in Southern California'' that's not quite true. But the rainy season is late October to late April. Not late May. (Although I once remember a few drops in August in the San Francisco Bay Area.)

Overall, this is a good read and it's well plotted, although a few things aren't hard to spot ahead of time. But the mistakes (and there are others) started driving me nuts. One blurb on the back compares Diehl to Hammett and Ellroy. Forget it. He should have read them to get the mood right.

Rating:
Summary: Pardon me sir, was that the Chattanooga choo choo
Review: Shades of the turn of the century and up into WW2(the big one)
Showed him the buzzer( presented his badge) Just before he was ironed on the highway( a hit and run) all the buzz words and more from the fortys, when men were men and looked like them,plenty of scars and lots of beef. What a great story,and a real follow thru to a ending no one would have guessed. Have read all his books and will read everything else he will ever write.

Rating:
Summary: Mystery & History
Review: This book lets you see the history of a town and those who grew up in it. It gives you love, greed, hate, loss, murder, revenge and all that went into making a man who he became and his reasons for returning home...something he never planned to do, but couldn't stay away from.

Rating:
Summary: Best Book I've Read
Review: This book was wonderful!! Full of intrigue and mystery it keeps you guessing to the very end. By far the best book I have read in a long time.

Rating:
Summary: Back to the future.
Review: This is one of the top three books I read this year.

Whoops. It's January 5th. OK. If I had finished this book 6 days ago, I would have put it alongside of John LeCarre's "The Constant Gardner" and Lehane's "Mystic River." Forget any naysayers. "Eureka" is a eureka, a great mystery with wonderful conversations that smack of times gone by. An excellent novel.

Growing up on the East Coast, I remember old guys who had fought in WWI. One fellow lived into his late 80's with one lung gone, having given the first one up to mustard gas at Belleau Wood. So there's a 'reaching' aspect of Eureka that transcends a number of years. And we really don't feel it. Diehl is able to interrupt conversations in the past, flash forward, come back chapters later to finish them. Very tricky; very well done.

Diehl captures the chronology swiftly and smoothly. Sometimes he's writing of events a 100 years ago, sometimes 60, sometimes in between. "The bohunk got ironed out in a hit and run." The dialogue is crisp and seemingly accurate. Very timely. Great conversations.

Everyone who reads the reviews knows the plot by now. Honest cop, diamond in the rough, investigating the accidental electrocution of a widow in a 1940 bath tub, with only two things out of order: no will and "100 large in the bank."

A tough WWI veteran about to run for Governor, unanswered questions about the past igniting the future with a 40 year fuse. The quote from Gatsby, 'boats against the current,' is as prescient now as it was then.

Some romance that might be too much but everybody finds someone sometime.

The best dialogue is found in Elmore Leonard. Diehl gives him a run for his money in Eureka. Strongly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Amazing, again
Review: This is probably Diehl's best book.Seemingly hard to top in his previous few books about Martin Vail, Diehl creates a deep look into the past, and gives us insight to motivation and desire. Just when you think the end is near, a new twist and a rocket tide to another era occurs. As usual, he makes us want to come along to see what these jokers are up to, besides the usual wisecracking banter and soldierly comraderie,because life in old California seems too rough, too tumbled to see how it connects to the slick, banal present. The quality of Diehl's writing is high compared to the usual hackneyed, implausible crap by ex-cops and ex-soldiers. He is a true novelist, with an expert's ear for dialogue. The main character,Culhane, is a stern addition to the oeuvre.

Rating:
Summary: Best Noir & Mystery of 2002, Period.
Review: This is the best noir fiction I've ever read so far; although most inserted sections of those itallic parts could be omitted, since they really blocked the smooth flow of the story. I gulped it up in two night and really enjoyed it. Mr. Diehl delivered to us a wonderful tour de force with beautiful crafted storyline and profound characters covering almost half a century. Once you started, you could never put it down until you finished it. This is one of the greatest and most talented writers whose books always delivered and should not be treated merely a commercial bestsellers but should be included in the study of modern literature for those bookloving student to learn the art of writing by these great masters. Thank you, Mr. Diehl. Good health and God Bless.

Rating:
Summary: Poorly Researched
Review: This novel is full of geographical, and historical errors. For instance, LP's did not exist in 1942. Chino is no where near where Eureka is described geographically. This book is full of this sort of illusion destroying chinks. Usually I like Diehl, but this one is a dud. Not to mention, Eureka is an actual town in far northern of California

Rating:
Summary: A really good story
Review: This was a great story. I usually like psychological, serial killing, noir mysteries and this was different. It held my interest from the first page. Just a really great story. There aren't many of those around. This book is what I love most of reading...he made times of which he wrote so vivid, the early 1900's up to end of the war. I hated to see it end but had to stay up reading till I got to the end. No idea how it would resolve. I am always amazed why more of these stories aren't picked up for movies, guess it could lose something in the process. Nothing disappointing about this book.

Rating:
Summary: Shades Of The Black Dahlia
Review: This will probably be one of the best books of the year, writing and story content, in the hard boiled, noir field. The 1940's atmosphere permeates every page and the occasional mention of a jazz song creates an echo of a musical score in the reader's mind. I enjoyed this book very much for all those reasons, and I would call it a "kinder, more gentle Ellroy". There are shades of the Black Dahlia murder case (which was in 1947) in the plot without being too close to that historical event.
My only criticism is that the first 100 pages, that which leads up the main story in 1941, was too long. It all fits together, but I felt the first 100 pages could have been condensed without losing anything. This first part was distracting and I was anxious to get to the point. Skim the first 100 pages, don't get discouraged and it's a great read!