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Kirsten Sanders's avatar

I started reading Klavan's mystery novels thanks to a review from John and grabbed this latest when it first came out. I'm... still on the fence. He is doing some genre bending with this one that hasn't resolved for me, but he remains a fantastic story teller.

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John Wilson's avatar

Kirsten, I agree entirely about the "genre bending" in this installment. It is clearly different from the first three books without (so I think, at least) breaking continuity w/ the core of the project. For one thing, it's deliberately _wackier_. So glad to know that you are a fellow admirer.

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Kirsten Sanders's avatar

some of his other series also do this, which is why i haven’t taken to them. i hope this is a temporary experiment and not a longer term change in this series!

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John Wilson's avatar

Very true that he has done similar things in other series!

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Mary's avatar

I am a big fan of Michael Connolly's work and the Bosch Series on Amazon, though sometimes Connelly's moralizing gets too predictable. It's a small price to pay, though, for the fascinating character arcs of this series and the way he makes LA a character, not just a backdrop, to the story. I was delighted to hear that you liked him! I was just at the ND Fall/CIC Conference and speaking with Dorian Speed about our love for Connolly. She mentioned that someone mocked her for liking his books, and genre novels, in general. I assured her that since the great John Wilson, a man with very fine taste, likes him, we have permission to enjoy him as much as we want!

I've yet to read Klavan, though I did read his conversion memoir, The Great Good Thing, which I liked very much. Klavan is on my list, but I seem unable to commit quite yet.

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