The Quick

Rating:
Summary: A great book -- this is destined to be a collector's item
Review: I can't believe how good this book is. I happened to see it in the papersack section of the bookstore and was captivated by the cover. I read the first page, and was entranced. This guy is a great writer. It combines a hard boiled detective story with a supernatural bent a la Dean Koontz. I am quite sure that some day this will be the basis for a film or tv series and that some day people will attend conventions where they dress as Sailors. This book has everthing. Dan Vining is a writer to watch.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent existential noir
Review: I started reading this on the beach one Saturday afternoon. Good thing my kids know how to swim, because within an hour I wasn't looking up from the book.

The originality of this detective novel shines around it like blue sometimes does PI Jimmy Miles, one of the undead who still has unfinished business to take care of on earth, although neither he nor his fellow "Sailors" know exactly what their unfinished business entails, nor precisely the rules of their unnatural existence. This existential angst, amplified by the prose style, adds noir on top of noir. And the LA setting is both literally and metaphorically perfect for Jimmy Miles's cruising in search of multiple answers, both internal to himself, and external to the decades-old murders he is asked to solve. The fact that no pat answers, even to the "who" of the who-dun-it part, are arrived at is part of this remarkable novel's appeal.


Rating:
Summary: cool idea, but confusing
Review: It's an interesting idea and since it seems like Vining has set up a potential series of books with the same character, maybe it will get better. The scenes don't flow together very well and the ending is downright disappointing.

Rating:
Summary: A Formidable Debut
Review: Jimmy Miles is attending a party thrown by his friend Joel. It's a Mensa Night of Mystery Party. At the party he notices a beautiful woman that Joel introduces to him as Jean Kantke. Jean wants to hire him. Jimmy is a private investigator with enough
money that he only takes cases that draw him on a visceral level. Jean wants him to investigate the 1977 murder of her mother and a friend -- a murder that her father was accused of and later executed for. But did he really do it? She doesn't know (nor do most people)that Jimmy is a Sailor, a person who died but still remains in human firm. People see a different face than the one he had in life so he can move about without people recognizing him. Jimmy is alive and cannot be killed but he can be badly injured. This case incolves some very dangerous people including other "Sailors" without Jimmy's morals. Mr Vining has created a refreshingly original character in Jimmy Miles, a P.I. with a supenatural twist. I felt honored to be of Jimmy's world. A man, who can love, eat, take care of a newly arrived Sailor, and surround himself with good friends mostly Sailors, but some not yet dead. I hope that Mr. Vining decides to make this a series. This reviewer will follow Jimmy wherever he goes. An excellent debut novel.

Rating:
Summary: Exciting idea that doesn't come to fruition
Review: Jimmy Miles, a private investigator in L.A. , is asked by a lovely client, Jean, to discover the truth about her parents. Many years before, Jean's father was executed for the murder of her mother. Jean just wants to know the truth. As Jimmy sets out to find the answers for Jean, he stirs up unexpected trouble from L. A.'s other-wordly side, the Sailors.

As the novel progresses, the truth about Jimmy and the Sailors is gradually revealed and the reader discovers an un-dead underworld living in the shadows of L.A. Jimmy's investigation causes him to step on the toes of some of the more powerful Sailors.

The premise was exciting, but The Quick doesn't deliver. The cloud of secrecy and intrigue that surrounds the Sailors builds and builds. . . but the apex is a disappointing and somewhat silly ritual.

The actual mystery Jimmy is out to solve, never comes to a satisfying conclusion. It just fizzles away in the aftermath of the Sailors.

On the whole, I was quite disappointed with The Quick. The idea, so fresh and exciting, never came to fruition and I was left frustrated and unsatisfied.

Rating:
Summary: Quirky, Offbeat and Wonderful
Review: Michael Marshall put it perfectly in his review "Strange, haunting, cool - and very hard to put down"
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and it's strange, dream-like feeling. Some books are meant to be read slowly and their language and set pieces digested at leisure. This is one of them.
It's not a bang, bang, bang...type of book.
Jimmy Miles is an engaging character. I got a kick out how he is interested in EVERYTHING, no matter how unimportant or trivial, and when I thought about it, it all made sense. When you are pretty much eternal and don't really sleep....well, sure, if you are going to keep going you are going to have the time and the inclination (not to mention the necessity) to be interested in all sorts of things.
This really is very dreamlike and just a pleasure to read.
I look forward to more books from Dan Vining.

Rating:
Summary: Quirky, Offbeat and Wonderful
Review: Michael Marshall put it perfectly in his review "Strange, haunting, cool - and very hard to put down"
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and it's strange, dream-like feeling. Some books are meant to be read slowly and their language and set pieces digested at leisure. This is one of them.
It's not a bang, bang, bang...type of book.
Jimmy Miles is an engaging character. I got a kick out how he is interested in EVERYTHING, no matter how unimportant or trivial, and when I thought about it, it all made sense. When you are pretty much eternal and don't really sleep....well, sure, if you are going to keep going you are going to have the time and the inclination (not to mention the necessity) to be interested in all sorts of things.
This really is very dreamlike and just a pleasure to read.
I look forward to more books from Dan Vining.

Rating:
Summary: Raymond Chandler meets Swayze
Review: The gimmick long suspected takes 115 pages to confirm and even longer to partially explain. The ending leaves us in purgatory, unsatisfied and longing for answers. The author can write and succesfully creates a mood that is difficult to shake. If this is a series, it will be interesting to see where it goes.

Rating:
Summary: cool idea, but confusing
Review: The problem with this novel is that it never really goes anywhere. The supernatural element is hardly intriguing and the mystery itself is a real bore. Even the author's description of the Hollywood nightlife and the disco era fail to captivate. Sunset strip comes across as little more than a cheap cliche, and the whole thing just plods along at a deadening pace. I guess the book is okay if you've got an evening or two to kill, but it isn't going to change your life.

Rating:
Summary: The Quick: An Awesome Read
Review: The Quick by Dan Vining. It's a private eye book with a supernatural twist. Private investigator Jimmy Miles works
the Hollywood nights. His new client is the desperate daughter of a dead man. Her father was executed for a long-ago murder-and she wants Jimmy to uncover the truth about the crime and the real killer's identity. A well written noir story with an interesting mystery, fascinating characters and a really cool woo woo element. The story did leave some unanswered questions which I hope may be answered in another book if this is intended to be a series. If you are looking for a cozy this isn't it. Rather it's a noirish
haunting mystery that may leave more questions than it answers.