- Hardcover: 288 pages
- Publisher: St. Martin's Minotaur; First Edition edition (July 2001)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0312274971
- ISBN-13: 978-0312274979
- Product Dimensions: 24.1 x 15.7 x 3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,283,476 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Dan Simmons told an interviewer that he created his new private eye hero Joe Kurtz as an homage to the Parker novels of Richard Stark (aka Donald Westlake.) He wanted "a protagonist so mean that no one, not even his mother, could love him," Simmons said. But I suspect that the real reason he called his hero Kurtz was so that he could have an equally mean black killer say at one point (much to the delight of fans of Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness,") "Mistah Kurtz, he dead." There are lots of inside, vaguely literary jokes in Simmons's dark but also oddly jaunty and cinematic story, set among the surly and largely unloved denizens of Buffalo, N.Y. After a former prison colleague turned homeless philosopher suggests that the works of Homer might help Joe plan an upcoming attack on a local crime family, Simmons tells us, "Kurtz had not gotten the idea for the diversion from the Iliad. But Pruno's suggestion of referring to books had reminded Kurtz of a trashy espionage paperback that had made the cellblock rounds at Attica. Something about Ernest Hemingway running around playing spy in Cuba during World War II..." The book in question is, in fact, Simmons's own "The Crook Factory..."
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
It's alright as a quick read but bearing in mind that Dan Simmons has written some great books this reads a bit like a teen crime novel in comparison. The language is very poor and the plotline is shakey and events generate broadcast their coming miles in advance.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Dan Simmons is a fine fine author and is obviously having fun with the detective genre in this novel. The hero, Kurtz is the archetypal anti-hero, complete with dark past, lightning reflexes, killer instincts, an absence of conscience and yet a strong sense of personal honour. The usual round of supporting characters also feature (the faithful secretary, the femme fatale and even a hitman called 'The Dane').
The plot has a few twists and turns and for the most part is told in short and snappy chapters. All in all, its a quick and enjoyable read, but it ain't Hamlet.
The plot has a few twists and turns and for the most part is told in short and snappy chapters. All in all, its a quick and enjoyable read, but it ain't Hamlet.
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