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Bad Things Happen
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Review
BAD THINGS HAPPENis a very smart, well-written roller coaster ride that is always threatening to hurl the reader out into roaring empty space. Go along for the thrill! --James Patterson
a tense read that keeps you tightly in its grip until the very last page. Harry Dolan has written an incredibly rich, smart read reminiscent of A Simple Plan or Presumed Innocent - not to mention that it's just a damn good story. Readers are in for a breathless ride --Karin Slaughter
Great f***ing book, man. I was totally hooked. --Stephen King
If I say that the novel is as well plotted as Agatha Christie at her best, I don't mean to make it sound old-fashioned; it's not. Even more than Christie, this novel reminded me of Patricia Highsmith. It's witty, sophisticated, suspenseful and endless fun - a novel to be savoured...and the best first novel I've read this year.
--Washington Post
a tense read that keeps you tightly in its grip until the very last page. Harry Dolan has written an incredibly rich, smart read reminiscent of A Simple Plan or Presumed Innocent - not to mention that it's just a damn good story. Readers are in for a breathless ride --Karin Slaughter
Great f***ing book, man. I was totally hooked. --Stephen King
If I say that the novel is as well plotted as Agatha Christie at her best, I don't mean to make it sound old-fashioned; it's not. Even more than Christie, this novel reminded me of Patricia Highsmith. It's witty, sophisticated, suspenseful and endless fun - a novel to be savoured...and the best first novel I've read this year.
--Washington Post
Book Description
A pacy, intelligent crime debut - Raymond Chandler meets the Coen brothers with shades of Harlan Coben
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review
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A murder mystery set amongst the literatti of Ann Arbor,this starts off like a Raymond Carver short story and seems like it's going to be something really special before ending like a rather more ordinary Agatha Christie/Ellory Queen type mystery. In between though it's very entertaining for at least three quarters of its length with a long cast of characters, although admittedly, as is usually the case where the plot is the most important aspect,few of them have much depth. It's a cleverly contrived mystery with an unexpected twist in practically every chapter and will have most readers avidly turning the pages.
I don't agree with the comparisons to A Simple Plan, which I thought was a much better book, because stylistically the writing here is quite cool and detached and consequently the central character, David Loogan,never really engaged my sympathies in the way that the characters in A Simple Plan did. Anyway, this struck me as a different kind of book, almost an exercise in classic mystery writing, a book that sets out simply to entertain. It does become somewhat garbled in the last thirty or forty pages with far too much exposition and as with many an entertaining journey the ending comes as something of a minor disappointment.Nevertheless, I enjoyed this and found it a fast and clever read and will certainly be investigating Harry Dolan's next novel.
I don't agree with the comparisons to A Simple Plan, which I thought was a much better book, because stylistically the writing here is quite cool and detached and consequently the central character, David Loogan,never really engaged my sympathies in the way that the characters in A Simple Plan did. Anyway, this struck me as a different kind of book, almost an exercise in classic mystery writing, a book that sets out simply to entertain. It does become somewhat garbled in the last thirty or forty pages with far too much exposition and as with many an entertaining journey the ending comes as something of a minor disappointment.Nevertheless, I enjoyed this and found it a fast and clever read and will certainly be investigating Harry Dolan's next novel.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review
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This is a deceptive novel. At first glance it appears to be a typical "hard boiled" American thriller; certainly there are plenty of references to the classic noir period from the USA.
However, in its portrayal of a tight knit community in a quasi-small town setting (Ann Arbor is in fact a small city rather than a small town), or in this case list of suspects, it actually bears a lot of comparison with the golden age novels of the grand dames of classic English crime literature. In fact I would not have been surprised to find the suspectsa being gathered in the library for the protagonist to reveal the killer.
Surprisingly, it all works quite well. The characters are good, and there is enough interaction of every conceivable type, love, frienship, hatred and rivalry, to make them all seem credible.
The tale has a number of good twists and turns although the final dénouement does not come as a great surprise.
This is a good character driven crime novel which I would describe as entertaining rather than enthralling.
However, in its portrayal of a tight knit community in a quasi-small town setting (Ann Arbor is in fact a small city rather than a small town), or in this case list of suspects, it actually bears a lot of comparison with the golden age novels of the grand dames of classic English crime literature. In fact I would not have been surprised to find the suspectsa being gathered in the library for the protagonist to reveal the killer.
Surprisingly, it all works quite well. The characters are good, and there is enough interaction of every conceivable type, love, frienship, hatred and rivalry, to make them all seem credible.
The tale has a number of good twists and turns although the final dénouement does not come as a great surprise.
This is a good character driven crime novel which I would describe as entertaining rather than enthralling.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
Plenty of twists. Quite a few suprises. I enjoyed this book, a good read. My only criticism would be I got confused by a few of the characters. I think it was because many of the surnames were unfamiliar. I kept getting mixed up as to who each character was when they reappeared later on in the story.
It's a classic crime whodunnit. Who is David Loogan? the main character in the book, we find out eventually. Who are this mixed bunch of writers he works with as an editor of a crime magazine 'Gray Streets'. Who is his boss Tom? and how does Tom's wife Laura fit into all this?
I believe this is the authors first book. He is already writing a sequel to this. I for one will be looking out for it!
It's a classic crime whodunnit. Who is David Loogan? the main character in the book, we find out eventually. Who are this mixed bunch of writers he works with as an editor of a crime magazine 'Gray Streets'. Who is his boss Tom? and how does Tom's wife Laura fit into all this?
I believe this is the authors first book. He is already writing a sequel to this. I for one will be looking out for it!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A Mysterious Editor of Detective Stories Finds Himself in a Murder...
"A violent man entices his neighbor,
And leads him in a way that is not good." -- Proverbs 16:29 (NKJV)
This a rave review. Read more
And leads him in a way that is not good." -- Proverbs 16:29 (NKJV)
This a rave review. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Donald Mitchell
Great Debut
A classic crime novel - Chandler in style but with so many plot twists you never know what will be thrown at you. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Cambridge Ian
A great read
A very nice book, the whole film noir charisma of this novel really sets for something great. The style of storytelling, and the story setting is quite mysterious and dark in... Read more
Published 18 months ago by Octagon
thoroughly entertaining
Harry Dolan's extraordinary debut novel, Bad Things Happen, has so many delightful twists and turns that many readers will, upon finishing it, no doubt start over and re-read it... Read more
Published 19 months ago by ratscat13
another great read
a who did it, with a why, where and when thrown in. The characters are really good and from the start where an unknown loner gets hired by a rich publisher, to the end where hunter... Read more
Published 19 months ago by 70s
Slow to start but then a good read.
After a slow start the book picked up the pace and became a gripping read. Possibly tries to be too clever at times with an extra twist to the tale that isn't needed. Read more
Published 19 months ago by MarkH_1974
Harry Dolan - Bad Things Happen
This is a story involving a series of crimes centered around a group of crime authors who all contribute to a small magazine called 'Gray Streets'. Read more
Published 21 months ago by molko
Mystery man
David Loogan begins as a loner and patently a man with a past, but the basic human need for contact with other people pushes him into eventual friendship with the couple who run... Read more
Published 21 months ago by Dinky
A magazine of crime
A magazine publishes literary crime stories. Suddenly there are a number of associated deaths round about. Read more
Published 22 months ago by R. Lawson
Writers and Editors fall out, fatally.
Set in a quieter part of America, a cluster of murders involve David Loogan, a calm, clever man trying to escape his past, with a nervy clique of writers and editors and the... Read more
Published 22 months ago by R. F. Stevens
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