Post by kungfuzu on Feb 27, 2022 13:35:57 GMT -8
I came across this author's name a couple of weeks back. I believe I had been looking for information on John D. MacDonald and landed upon some site with details of Ross Macdonald, whose real name was Kenneth Millar.
By chance, both Macdonald's were famous for their crime/detective stories. John D. for his Travis McGee series and Ross for his Lew Archer series. Perhaps even more strange is that when Millar decided to use Macdonald as a pen name, he chose "John" as his first name. It appears that John D. MacDonald put a halt to that. Finally, both men were about the same age, John D. being born in 1916 (died in 1986) and Ross in 1915 (died in 1983).
I have read all the Travis McGee books I could get my hands on, which is most of the series. I found them very entertaining. I believe I wrote a number of reviews at ST. Hoping to find a similarly entertaining series, I looked into Ross at my public library. Unfortunately, there were only three books to chose from. One of these was a compilation of three Ross Macdonald short stories with a short bio of Millar and history of how the short stories came about.
The short stories passed muster so I decided to move on to one of the novels. I landed on Find a Victim, which is the 5th book in the Lew Archer series, and was written in 1954.
The story starts one evening with private investigator, Lew Archer driving near Las Cruces, California. A short distance in front of him he notes a man on the side of the road. The book's opening paragraph is:
Archer stops and goes to the man who has been shot in the chest. Lew gets the man into his car and drives on looking for the nearest place to stop and get help. This turns out to be a Kerrigan's Court-Deluxe Motor Hotel. Inside the motel Archer finds Mr. and Mrs. Kerrigan, who appear to be a less-than-perfect couple. After some delay, Archer gets Mrs. Kerrigan to call for an ambulance. The victim, whose name is Tony Aquista, is taken to the hospital where he is pronounced dead. The Law is called in as Aquista's death is murder. Archer encounters the county sheriff, who tells him that his presence in Las Cruces will be required for a few days while investigations will be made into the crime. Archer expected this and finds a place to stay.
As a P.I., Archer is naturally curious and starts looking into Aquista's story. It turns out that Aquista was a truck driver for a Meyer's trucking company. He had taken a full load of whiskey out and it appeared that the truck was hijacked with Aquista becoming a murder victim in the process. By coincidence, the truckload of whiskey belonged to Kerrigan. This has Archer's nose twitching. He approaches Meyer, the owner of the trucking company and makes a deal to work for him with a remit to find out what happened to the truck and its load, as well as what has happened to one of Meyer's daughters, who has gone missing around the same time as the truck.
During his investigations Archer turns up a truckload (sorry for the bad pun) of dirt on almost everyone he speaks to. The only person who is not off is Kerrigan's wife. Nevertheless, Kerrigan ends up with a bullet in his head mid-way through the book.
In the end, Archer gets to the bottom of the murders. Justice is done, but nobody is particularly happy with the results, particularly Archer. One of the lines which I particularly liked was Archer's reply to Mrs. Kerrigan when she remarked that he was brave. Archer retorted, "Not brave. Merely stubborn. I don't like to see the jerks and hustlers get away with too much. Or they might take over entirely." The only thing that has changed is that, as a country, we haven't been stubborn enough and the "jerks and hustlers" have just about completely taken over.
"Find a Victim" is a good read. Macdonald's writing is straightforward and clear. He keeps the story moving along at a rapid pace, but spends enough time on the inner-workings of people to lay out logical reasons for their actions. I did not find anything silly or false in the novel. There were no glaring weaknesses in the story, nothing unbelievable. At 215 pages, it was long enough to take the reader to a different place, but not so long as to bore the reader into wishing to leave again asap.
One of the things which I particularly likes about "Find a Victim" was its firm setting in time and place. No doubt, Macdonald aimed at creating a realistic and convincing setting of California in 1954. In doing this, he has done readers in 2022 a huge favor. We can get a genuine feel for a period in history which has disappeared. No hand phones, no internet, no cable TV. Although a creation of Macdonald's mind, I see it as a solid representation of the past which is as dead as Caesar. It might do younger readers some good to have a look at the book.
I have reserved the only other Archer novel which my library has, i.e. The Drowning Pool. Unfortunately, I am 2nd or 3rd on the waiting list so it may be weeks before I can get back with a review.
By chance, both Macdonald's were famous for their crime/detective stories. John D. for his Travis McGee series and Ross for his Lew Archer series. Perhaps even more strange is that when Millar decided to use Macdonald as a pen name, he chose "John" as his first name. It appears that John D. MacDonald put a halt to that. Finally, both men were about the same age, John D. being born in 1916 (died in 1986) and Ross in 1915 (died in 1983).
I have read all the Travis McGee books I could get my hands on, which is most of the series. I found them very entertaining. I believe I wrote a number of reviews at ST. Hoping to find a similarly entertaining series, I looked into Ross at my public library. Unfortunately, there were only three books to chose from. One of these was a compilation of three Ross Macdonald short stories with a short bio of Millar and history of how the short stories came about.
The short stories passed muster so I decided to move on to one of the novels. I landed on Find a Victim, which is the 5th book in the Lew Archer series, and was written in 1954.
The story starts one evening with private investigator, Lew Archer driving near Las Cruces, California. A short distance in front of him he notes a man on the side of the road. The book's opening paragraph is:
He was the ghastliest hitchhiker who ever thumbed me. He rose on his knees in the ditch. His eyes were black holes in his yellow face, his mouth a bright smear of red like a clown's painted grin. The arm he raised overbalanced him. He fell forward on his face again.
As a P.I., Archer is naturally curious and starts looking into Aquista's story. It turns out that Aquista was a truck driver for a Meyer's trucking company. He had taken a full load of whiskey out and it appeared that the truck was hijacked with Aquista becoming a murder victim in the process. By coincidence, the truckload of whiskey belonged to Kerrigan. This has Archer's nose twitching. He approaches Meyer, the owner of the trucking company and makes a deal to work for him with a remit to find out what happened to the truck and its load, as well as what has happened to one of Meyer's daughters, who has gone missing around the same time as the truck.
During his investigations Archer turns up a truckload (sorry for the bad pun) of dirt on almost everyone he speaks to. The only person who is not off is Kerrigan's wife. Nevertheless, Kerrigan ends up with a bullet in his head mid-way through the book.
In the end, Archer gets to the bottom of the murders. Justice is done, but nobody is particularly happy with the results, particularly Archer. One of the lines which I particularly liked was Archer's reply to Mrs. Kerrigan when she remarked that he was brave. Archer retorted, "Not brave. Merely stubborn. I don't like to see the jerks and hustlers get away with too much. Or they might take over entirely." The only thing that has changed is that, as a country, we haven't been stubborn enough and the "jerks and hustlers" have just about completely taken over.
"Find a Victim" is a good read. Macdonald's writing is straightforward and clear. He keeps the story moving along at a rapid pace, but spends enough time on the inner-workings of people to lay out logical reasons for their actions. I did not find anything silly or false in the novel. There were no glaring weaknesses in the story, nothing unbelievable. At 215 pages, it was long enough to take the reader to a different place, but not so long as to bore the reader into wishing to leave again asap.
One of the things which I particularly likes about "Find a Victim" was its firm setting in time and place. No doubt, Macdonald aimed at creating a realistic and convincing setting of California in 1954. In doing this, he has done readers in 2022 a huge favor. We can get a genuine feel for a period in history which has disappeared. No hand phones, no internet, no cable TV. Although a creation of Macdonald's mind, I see it as a solid representation of the past which is as dead as Caesar. It might do younger readers some good to have a look at the book.
I have reserved the only other Archer novel which my library has, i.e. The Drowning Pool. Unfortunately, I am 2nd or 3rd on the waiting list so it may be weeks before I can get back with a review.
