kateofmind's review
4.0
I came into reading this book without knowing anything about it except that the author is a hell of a nice guy and sings like an angel and likes to wear natty hats. The hats more than anything else were a clue as to what I was getting, but only a small clue.
And Then She Was Gone reads most of the way through like the influences it wears on its sleeve -- great old hard-boiled detective fiction the likes of Hammett and Chandler -- with just hints that there's something much stranger than a kidnapping/murder/20th century-style crime polot going on, until wow, bang, surprise, there's a dash of techno-thriller thrown in, like a dash of tabasco on a nice helping of perfectly scrambled eggs.
In Clarke Lantham, Sawyer has created the perfect 21st century counterpart to Sam Spade et al: an ex-cop, clasically trained in the detective arts but technically savvy to the hilt. From GPS tracking to data mining, Clarke is a stranger to no tool that could be used to solve his cases. Far from perfect, though, he has to roll with a lot of punches taken and live with a lot of mistakes made.
The language, too, fits right in the good old San Fran crime tradition, taut and witty and occasionally extraordinarily funny ("all shorts and no scrotum" "Coincidence is a hemorrhoid on the ass of reality"). Lantham is the kind of guy you want to knock back a few good strong drinks with, but you might end up snorting some scotch up your nose while you listen to him spin his yarns.
I look forward to more of them!
And Then She Was Gone reads most of the way through like the influences it wears on its sleeve -- great old hard-boiled detective fiction the likes of Hammett and Chandler -- with just hints that there's something much stranger than a kidnapping/murder/20th century-style crime polot going on, until wow, bang, surprise, there's a dash of techno-thriller thrown in, like a dash of tabasco on a nice helping of perfectly scrambled eggs.
In Clarke Lantham, Sawyer has created the perfect 21st century counterpart to Sam Spade et al: an ex-cop, clasically trained in the detective arts but technically savvy to the hilt. From GPS tracking to data mining, Clarke is a stranger to no tool that could be used to solve his cases. Far from perfect, though, he has to roll with a lot of punches taken and live with a lot of mistakes made.
The language, too, fits right in the good old San Fran crime tradition, taut and witty and occasionally extraordinarily funny ("all shorts and no scrotum" "Coincidence is a hemorrhoid on the ass of reality"). Lantham is the kind of guy you want to knock back a few good strong drinks with, but you might end up snorting some scotch up your nose while you listen to him spin his yarns.
I look forward to more of them!
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