Find a Victim : A Lew Archer Novel (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard)

Rating:
Summary: Sex, murder, treachery.
Review: Find a Victim is a classic example of California noir. While driving from L.A. to Sacramento, ace private eye Lew Archer stumbles upon a city known as Las Cruces where sordid secrets abound. Archer is a card carrying member of the hardboiled school of criminal investigation. He's a tough customer who can take a beating as well as render one if necessary.
Early in the narrative, a truck driver is murdered. As Archer seeks to solve this particular crime, he soon learns of a complex web of betrayal and deceit which binds together a number of Las Cruces' citizens.
This novel is about the seemier side of life. Illicit sex is a recurring theme, as are greed and jealousy.
MacDonald uses a highly descriptive type of prose, much of which is quite artfully written. And there are several distinct subplots which are all tied together at the story's dramatic conclusion. Though I found the narrative to be more convoluted than necessary, I have no trouble recommending Find a Victim to anyone who likes their mysteries hardboiled.

Rating:
Summary: Fast Paced and Entertaining
Review: I enjoyed this book, as "typical" as it maybe, I think it's well worth a read.

Rating:
Summary: Fast Paced and Entertaining
Review: I enjoyed this book, as "typical" as it maybe, I think it's well worth a read.

Rating:
Summary: Fast paced and Entertaining
Review: I found this "typical" novel to be a refreshing read. If you enjoy Crime novels, then you'll enjoy "Find A Victim."

Rating:
Summary: Fast paced and Entertaining
Review: I found this "typical" novel to be a refreshing read. If you enjoy Crime novels, then you'll enjoy "Find A Victim."

Rating:
Summary: Tough guy P.I. takes a beating, but keeps on trucking
Review: This is a typical private detective book from the post-WWII era. In it, as usual, the hero (Lew Archer) is accidentally involved in a case, and then decides to pursue the case, even though DANGER is everywhere. There is the requisite amount of hero-being-beat-up stuff, combined with hero-beating-others-up. There are the "bad" girls, and the who-knows-what-they-are girls (or 'gals', perhaps). There are the seedy denizens of the seedy town doing seedy things. And those are just the cops! There is also the seedy motel owner and his dissatisfied wife. Also on hand is the young criminal (just graduated from the juvenile delinquent ranks) and the wise old man who has seen much heartache.
I suspect this book was pretty hot when it came out, but it's almost a parody of the genre today, sad to say. I can stand about one Ross MacDonald a year, just to give me some perspective on this part of the mystery/suspense scene, and Find a Victim is it for this year.

Rating:
Summary: Tough guy P.I. takes a beating, but keeps on trucking
Review: This is a typical private detective book from the post-WWII era. In it, as usual, the hero (Lew Archer) is accidentally involved in a case, and then decides to pursue the case, even though DANGER is everywhere. There is the requisite amount of hero-being-beat-up stuff, combined with hero-beating-others-up. There are the "bad" girls, and the who-knows-what-they-are girls (or 'gals', perhaps). There are the seedy denizens of the seedy town doing seedy things. And those are just the cops! There is also the seedy motel owner and his dissatisfied wife. Also on hand is the young criminal (just graduated from the juvenile delinquent ranks) and the wise old man who has seen much heartache.
I suspect this book was pretty hot when it came out, but it's almost a parody of the genre today, sad to say. I can stand about one Ross MacDonald a year, just to give me some perspective on this part of the mystery/suspense scene, and Find a Victim is it for this year.