Chasing the Dime

Rating:
Summary: And your point was . . . ?
Review: A friend lent me this book, and I just don't know why. I didn't buy the premise, found the characters unsympathetic, and was waiting for someone to grab the protagonist by the shoulders and tell him to get a grip. This is my first encounter with Michael Connelly. It would have been my last, but after reading some other comments, I think I'll try a book that features Harry Bosch. I'd also encourage other first-time Connelly readers maybe to do the same and avoid this one.

Rating:
Summary: Unconvincing
Review: Somehow a novelist has to convince the reader that the events described in the tale could or did happen. This is extremely important in a mystery/suspense/spy/action book. The writer utterly failed to do that here.

Yuppie genius, Henry Pierce, on the brink of wealth and worldwide fame (dare we hope, a Nobel Prize?), receives some calls for a prostitute named Lilly on his new phone and rather than get his number changed, he races off to find Lilly and "save" her. Bah, humbug. His reason is that his own sister was a runaway, years ago, and was murdered because he failed to help her. This is supposed to be the psychological motive, I suspect. If one can accept that premise, the rest of the book is all right, I suppose, even if it is populated with several of the characters from "Pulp Fiction."

Paranoia, I might add, is too facile in creating suspense. It has been used and abused in too many other works of fiction. Ludlum was/is probably the master of the art. That's why I quit reading Ludlum a few years ago. I couldn't tell one book from another.

Pierce comes to suspect and distrust everyone, his business partner, his ex-live-in, his secretary, etc. It got a little tiresome, and when he finally got to the real villain, I no longer cared very much.

I'll try another Connelly book, but I have misgivings after this one.

Rating:
Summary: Engrossing....
Review: William Connelly, he of the anti-heroes Harry Bosch and Terry McCaleb, takes another trip into stand-alone novel territory. Like "Void Moon", his past non-series effort, "Chasing the Dime" is worth the read and you'll recognize a lot of the writing talent that make Connelly's series so popular.

A little thin of plot, Chasing the Dime features another troubled hero, Henry Pierce - but this time Connelly showcases the dot com world of stress and success. Detailed descriptions of Pierce's inventions are excellent, and the concept that such a technology might exist one day is exciting. So, too, is the stress and high stakes poker in finding venture capital, which Connelly showcases in a realistic way. But these are secondary to the plot -- Henry's obsession and inability to forget someone he never knew, but who reminds him of his murdered sister.

His new phone number is tied to the website of an exotic escort named Lilly. A little cursory research piques Henry's curiosity about Lilly and he begins to seek out what has happened to her. A twisted path of lies, deceit and danger follows, with Henry being drawn into a trap. Keen insight and an analytical mind keep him on the trail, without the police instincts of Connelly's other heroes.

Connelly does more than just dash off a novel for a change of pace -- he's purchased websites mentioned in the book and made them companion pieces to his novel -- and he left his "Hieonymous Bosch" signature when he mentions the famous painter in passing, and also links the story to the tale of "The Dollmaker"....the villain in "Concrete Blonde".

Connelly is heads and shoulders above most of today's thriller writers, and although this is not as good as his last two novels, it will keep you turning the pages long past the time you meant to keep reading.

Enjoy!