MacDonald, John. Travis McGee series. There are a lot more books in this series. Here are the ones I remember reading:
Also on video:
Cape Fear,
starring Robert DeNiro & Nick Nolte. Also, see the
older version
(1961) with Gregory Peck.
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MacDonald, Ross
The Galton Case
Mystery
1959
Vintage Crime Paperback
The truth is, there isn't much in this book about Lew Archer, the famed detective of Ross MacDonald's novels. At the same time, there is a lot there. It's in what he sees and talks about. He's not given to long speeches, either to himself or aloud, so most of the clues we have about the man come from what he observes, and sometimes what he comments about with a dry wit.
This book consists almost entirely of dialogue, much of it clipped and efficient. (If you've seen some old movies from the 40s and 50s, maybe one featuring Bogart, you'll almost be able to hear the manner of speech in your head.) Unlike some investigators, who allow people being questioned to ramble on, Archer actively conducts the investigation, baton firmly in hand at all times, with attention focused firmly on the objective.
Archer is hired for what appears at the outset to be a hopeless quest. A wealthy elderly woman wants to see her son before she dies. She hasn't seen or heard from him in about 20 years. The amount of information she can provide is scant. He had wanted, when he left, to sever all ties with his family and to live as a common person, and appears to have well succeeded in doing so.
Archer tells his employer, attorney Gordon Sable, that it's a waste of money. The boss, however, wants to humor his rich client. Accommodating soul, Sable; a lot of his time is spent likewise humoring his young, bored wife.
Fortunately for some, a diversion arises in the form of a body found stabbed to death on Sable's doorstep and discovered by his wife. Archer takes advantage of a trip to San Francisco on the dime of the missing persons client to investigate some leads regarding the dead man, a former gang member perhaps unwittingly employed by Sable to look after the grounds...and his wife. Another complication is that Archer's car was stolen by someone near Sable's house by a person who could have been involved in the murder. The investigation broadens, then narrows to a satisfying conclusion.
The outstanding feature of this book is the plot. The characters, including Archer, act in service of the plot, which grows more and more complex as the pages turn. One might despair of its ever being satisfactorily resolved except for the fact that the reader's attention is riveted on the progress of the story. I was pulled inexorably through the book at such a pace that I could not tell you truthfully whether I actually was able to anticipate any of the twists and turns.
MacDonald has, according to some, inherited the titles held by Hammett and Chandler in the world of detective fiction. I've seen nothing in this book, written in 1959, to dissuade me of the truth of this. Archer is as hardboiled as they come! In addition to the named predecessors, if you like this author, you might also enjoy books by Andrew Vachss.
For more information about the author, see:
http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/rossmacd.htm
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MacLean, Alistair.
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Maracotta, Lindsay
- The Dead Hollywood Mom's Society (Out of Print)
Hollywood mom turns up dead in pool of cartoonist who uses her connections to track down the killer.
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Margolin, Phillip
The Burning Man
1996
Bantam Paperback
Warner Paperback
Exiled to a remote practice and disinherited after crossing his father and losing a multi-million dollar lawsuit, attorney Peter Hale soon gets an opportunity to prove himself. His new client is a mentally challenged man accused of the latest in a series of murders thought to be related. As one thing after another goes wrong with the defense, Peter questions whether he has what it takes and wonders why he was selected to defend the man when he had formerly proved himself to be incompetent. Margolin spins a good tale; I'd not read any books of his in awhile but this one seems better than the last couple of his I read. Reviewed 12-13-99.
No literary giant, this author has produced some pretty good page-turning escape novels in the legal thriller vein:
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Martini, Steve
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Maupin, Armistead
Tales of the City
This classic San Francisco novel documents the friendships, trials and tribulations of a number of San Francisco residents. It started as a serial in the San Francisco Chronicle, and continued in the following books:
Also a PBS television series.
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McCrumb, Sharyn
She Walks These Hills
Mixture of modern times with Appalachian characters who seem to be frozen in a long ago time, this book uncovers mysteries surrounding a man who has escaped from prison where he was serving time for killing his neighbor many years prior.
Buy from Amazon.com U.S.
Buy from Amazon.co.uk
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McCullough, Colleen
- The Thorn Birds,
an engaging saga of a family through several generations.
- A Creed for the Third Millenium,
stylized and stilted future thriller in which computer programs are designed to select a spiritual leader to assist a U.S. President to restore morale in the face of an encroaching ice-age and anti-apocalyptic worldwide political agreement.
McMillan, Terry
A Day Late and a Dollar Short
Buy from Amazon.com U.S.
Buy from Amazon.co.uk
Viola reviews the lives and personalities of her four grown children while hospitalized. Subsequent chapters, narrated alternately by Viola, her children, and her husband, show how they clash or support each other as divorces, infidelities, illnesses, new family members and secrets change the dynamics of a family with love at its core.
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Meltzer, Brad
- Dead Even
A married couple, both lawyers, are pitted against each other on a case in this legal thriller.
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Menaker, Daniel
- The Treatment
Good character story, which follows the long relationship of a teacher and his Freudian analyst through resolution of his feelings regarding death of his mother and other life events.
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Michener, James.
These epic historical novels take a little patience, and there is much disagreement on which are good and which are not. You have to try them for yourself to see. I actually didn't care much for
Hawaii,
but others give it rave reviews. I liked the following:
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Mosley, Walter
Lovers of the Easy Rawlins mysteries will be happy to have a new Mosley to add to their pile of things to read this summer. I have a feeling that reading is going to be just the thing, too, with the droughts, heat waves, and power outages many Americans are anticipating for the season.
In his newest book, Mosley abandons Rawlins for a new character by the name Fearless Jones, also the name of the book. Fearless is called upon to help his friend Paris Minton, who runs a bookstore in 1950s Los Angeles. When the beautiful Lana Love enters Minton's bookstore, it's like someone has pulled a pin in a hand-grenade secreted beneath Minton's relatively quiet life--first he's beaten up, then his store is burned down. Together, he and Jones attempt to put things back together.
Great characters, noir atmosphere, and period detail all come together to make this book special.
Read more about this book by clicking
here.
Take a peek at
the first chapter.
Buy from Amazon.com U.S.
Buy from Amazon.co.uk (U.K. version not due out until October, 2001.)
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Muller, Marcia
Listen to the Silence
Published 2000
Warner Books Paperback
Buy from Amazon.com
The Women's Press Paperback
Buy from Amazon.co.uk
Sharon McCone, another one of my San Francisco favorites, must investigate a personal matter when certain documents come to light after her father's death.
Sharon finds out that the people in her life are not necessarily what they had seemed. Her search for the truth leads her to Shoshone Indian Reservations, new resort developments, and the home of an activist lawyer, all of which she hopes can lead her to the truth beyond her own lost identity.
True to form, Muller presents here a book you that you will not want to put down once you've started it. From shocking beginning to startling ending, it's rare to see even a half-step ahead of this ingenious plotter!
Games to Keep the Dark Away
1984
U.S. Edition: Warner Books Paperback
U.K. Edition: Women's Press Paperback
By coincidence, the plot of this story resembles the plot of "Sacred" by Dennis Lehane. When McCone's client hires her to find his missing roommate, the reason may not be exactly as stated.
Also curious are the client's own reclusive tendencies. On the trail of the missing Jane Anthony, McCone finds many people less than forthcoming regarding some problems at Jane's former place of employment. Of course, if you are being squirrelly when being interviewed by McCone, your rank in the list of suspects rises!
McCone continues to be one of my favorite San Francisco characters as I get a chance to read some of the earlier books. If you haven't tried any of them yet, take your pick. All of those I've read so far do well as stand-alone books despite the current of personal life which runs through them. Reviewed 2/1/00
- While Other People Sleep
Someone impersonates Sharon McCone, purportedly to gain entrance to a charity event. This incident, however, turns out not to be the last in a series of similar events adding up to identity theft. Is it possible that the thief may turn out to be a better Sharon than Sharon herself? Another excellent entry in this series of 19 Sharon McCone Mysteries.
- Broken Promise Land
- Till the Butchers Cut Him Down
Sharon McCone has barely got her new office put together after going independent when a client she's not sure she wants walks in. Is he crazy, or or are people really trying to kill this man from her past?
- A Wild & Lonely Place
Why are bombs being sent to consulates in San Francisco? $1 million goes to whoever figures it out. If McCone cooperates with the SFPD or Bombing Task Force, will she get credit? What about through RKI as a security consultant? Will she live to tell what she's learned, or get there on time?
Interview with Marcia Muller
http://www.twbookmark.com/authors/67/463/interview.html
This is part of the Time Warner Books website, with links to other site features.
Want to see other books with San Francisco Bay Area themes, settings and authors?
Click Here!
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The Wind-up Bird Chronicle
Haruki Murakami
1997
Life is peppered with small oddities and inconsistencies we tend to observe briefly and dismiss, never to think about again except perhaps as fodder for banter at a gathering of friends. In this book, though, the main character, Toru Okada, finds his life so crowded with strange occurrences and people, he has no choice but to examine them more closely.
First he loses his cat, and then his wife, and people mysteriously appear to help him in his quest for them without really helping him except to introduce more mysteries, and induce vivid dreams. Dreams seem real and reality seems dreamlike in this absorbing tale about fate and how sometimes the strange things we notice can be really important.
The back cover of this book describes the author as "Japan's most highly regarded novelist," and after reading this book, I can see why he ought to be considered one of the world's best. For lovers of great writing, this is a "must read."
Interview with Haruki Murakami.
http://www.salon1999.com/books/int/1997/12/cov_si_16int.html
A site visitor, Marieke, recommends this book: "An unusual story, told in a simple, kind of serene style. I couldn't put it down."
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