thestarman's review against another edition
VERDICT: Passing grade, as far as the hard-boiled detective genre goes.
Twisty but not unpredictable. Not bad, but not something I'd read again. I admit to just skimming the middle 50% of the book, as I had pretty much figured out the whodunit and didn't care about the in-between parts much.
Twisty but not unpredictable. Not bad, but not something I'd read again. I admit to just skimming the middle 50% of the book, as I had pretty much figured out the whodunit and didn't care about the in-between parts much.
kegriese1's review against another edition
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
bookbeehydrangea's review against another edition
3.0
I'm mostly just giving this book a 3 because it was boring. The only exciting part was at the end when the villain revealed the details of their evil plot. I'm sure some people would find this book more interesting but I didn't.
lou1sb's review against another edition
4.0
@hardcasecrime can be a bit hit and miss, but the last three I've read have been all hit.
zzzrevel's review against another edition
3.0
It's a wee bit mundane of a murder plot story,
with the detective protagonist getting beat up
not once, not twice but three times. Sheesh.
Oh, and he isn't too clever a detective either. In
fact, an amateur in the story does detective
work much better. Sheesh.
And I do not pretend to be so sharp as to always
be able to figure these out, but this one is a bit
obvious before the detective gets to the
bottom of it. Sheesh again.
with the detective protagonist getting beat up
not once, not twice but three times. Sheesh.
Oh, and he isn't too clever a detective either. In
fact, an amateur in the story does detective
work much better. Sheesh.
And I do not pretend to be so sharp as to always
be able to figure these out, but this one is a bit
obvious before the detective gets to the
bottom of it. Sheesh again.
jakewritesbooks's review against another edition
5.0
An excellent addition to the Hard Case Crime series by its creator Charles Ardai (writing under the pseudonym Richard Aleas). Tightly written with an explosive plot that takes quick turns (that still feel organic to the narrative). Can't wait to read his others.
djasson's review against another edition
1.0
Since I should say something nice, this book made me want to have a cuppa hazelnut coffee.
melodyvalentine's review against another edition
4.0
Charles Ardai, a.k.a. Richard Aleas, is the founder and editor of the Hard Case Crime series. What better way to get your work published than to create your own publishing imprint? And, furthermore, why not publish a piece of crap like Gardner's Top of the Heap at the same time to make your own novel look superb by comparison?
Of course, all of that is unnecessary when you can write a good story, which Aleas/Ardai does. He's undoubtedly studied the old masters of pulp, writing at a quick pace that doesn't get bogged down with exposition or long, drawn-out plot points. His contribution to the genre is the incorporation of cell phones and Google. How can the pebbled-glass window P.I. offices survive in the technology age? What happens when P.I. work becomes a corporate enterprise? These are questions that Aleas works to answer, creating a suspenseful narrative all the while.
The story is unremarkable, as you would expect in a pulp mystery. The P.I. is a social outcast, as usual--this time a preppy kid who dropped out of his budding career in academia for life in the alleys and shadows of NYC. The story is a personal one, about first love, loss, and betrayal. But if it's originality you're looking for, you wouldn't be reading pulp mysteries anyway. It's enjoyable, and that's all that matters. Aleas and his detective make a return appearance later on, as I understand it--I'll be looking forward to that much more than another Erle Stanley Gardner novel.
Of course, all of that is unnecessary when you can write a good story, which Aleas/Ardai does. He's undoubtedly studied the old masters of pulp, writing at a quick pace that doesn't get bogged down with exposition or long, drawn-out plot points. His contribution to the genre is the incorporation of cell phones and Google. How can the pebbled-glass window P.I. offices survive in the technology age? What happens when P.I. work becomes a corporate enterprise? These are questions that Aleas works to answer, creating a suspenseful narrative all the while.
The story is unremarkable, as you would expect in a pulp mystery. The P.I. is a social outcast, as usual--this time a preppy kid who dropped out of his budding career in academia for life in the alleys and shadows of NYC. The story is a personal one, about first love, loss, and betrayal. But if it's originality you're looking for, you wouldn't be reading pulp mysteries anyway. It's enjoyable, and that's all that matters. Aleas and his detective make a return appearance later on, as I understand it--I'll be looking forward to that much more than another Erle Stanley Gardner novel.
twilliamson's review against another edition
4.0
Little Girl Lost, published in 2004 by Charles Ardai under his pseudonym, is a great novel. It has all the seediness of a proper pulp detective novel, but also blends in a more modern sensibility of character drama and narrative flair. In fact, the book has some beautifully written sequences relying as much on a readerly sense of nostalgia for a past unrecoverable as it does on the suspenseful plot common to detective novels.
The plot, though, is probably the book's weakest area, as it feels like Ardai only introduces information about the setting when it becomes convenient to the book, and so much of the narrator's constant figuring and "detecting" seems to serve to hide the fact that the "twist" of the novel is so utterly predictable.
The book's sexual politics, though, are at least fairly interesting; there's a femme fatale and a male detective, and yet much of the book illustrates just how fragile the male detective is (emotionally and physically) and how powerful the femme fatale can be. This is not to say that the book is some feminist masterpiece; on the contrary, the novel's overarching structure reiterates traditional gender roles, but its complications are at least welcome in a genre dominated by rigid gender archetypes.
It's really the narrative "flashbacks," though, that I find most compelling through the novel, and the noir craftsmanship is worth the read. It's a fine read, and another great addition to the Hard Case Crime print.
The plot, though, is probably the book's weakest area, as it feels like Ardai only introduces information about the setting when it becomes convenient to the book, and so much of the narrator's constant figuring and "detecting" seems to serve to hide the fact that the "twist" of the novel is so utterly predictable.
The book's sexual politics, though, are at least fairly interesting; there's a femme fatale and a male detective, and yet much of the book illustrates just how fragile the male detective is (emotionally and physically) and how powerful the femme fatale can be. This is not to say that the book is some feminist masterpiece; on the contrary, the novel's overarching structure reiterates traditional gender roles, but its complications are at least welcome in a genre dominated by rigid gender archetypes.
It's really the narrative "flashbacks," though, that I find most compelling through the novel, and the noir craftsmanship is worth the read. It's a fine read, and another great addition to the Hard Case Crime print.
iguana_mama's review against another edition
4.0
Posted at Shelf Inflicted
Little Girl Lost begins with private investigator John Blake scanning the headlines and learning of the brutal death of his high-school sweetheart, Miranda Sugarman, who was most recently working as a stripper. When they were in high school 10 years ago, she had ambitions of attending college in Los Alamos and eventually working as an ophthalmologist.
John Blake is young and idealistic, a refreshing change from the traditional hard-boiled, world-weary, cynical older detectives so prevalent in this genre. His youthful and clean-cut looks are out of place in the violent, sordid and grimy urban environment he has to work in. John encounters a lot of unpleasant characters while he is investigating this case, but he also has help from some good people, his boss, Leo, who is a former cop, and Susan, a stripper who knew Miranda and demonstrates a strong aptitude for detective work.
This was a very well-written, suspenseful, and atmospheric crime thriller. Some of the clues were a little too heavy-handed, making it relatively easy for me to figure out who the murderer was, but I enjoyed revisiting the city I grew up in, the characters, the situations, and John’s strong sense of justice and deep feelings for the woman he once loved.
This is the first Hard Case Crime book I read, and I look forward to more.
Little Girl Lost begins with private investigator John Blake scanning the headlines and learning of the brutal death of his high-school sweetheart, Miranda Sugarman, who was most recently working as a stripper. When they were in high school 10 years ago, she had ambitions of attending college in Los Alamos and eventually working as an ophthalmologist.
John Blake is young and idealistic, a refreshing change from the traditional hard-boiled, world-weary, cynical older detectives so prevalent in this genre. His youthful and clean-cut looks are out of place in the violent, sordid and grimy urban environment he has to work in. John encounters a lot of unpleasant characters while he is investigating this case, but he also has help from some good people, his boss, Leo, who is a former cop, and Susan, a stripper who knew Miranda and demonstrates a strong aptitude for detective work.
This was a very well-written, suspenseful, and atmospheric crime thriller. Some of the clues were a little too heavy-handed, making it relatively easy for me to figure out who the murderer was, but I enjoyed revisiting the city I grew up in, the characters, the situations, and John’s strong sense of justice and deep feelings for the woman he once loved.
This is the first Hard Case Crime book I read, and I look forward to more.