- Hardcover: 304 pages
- Publisher: Gollancz; 1st Edition edition (1 Mar 1988)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0575041978
- ISBN-13: 978-0575041974
- Product Dimensions: 21.8 x 14.7 x 3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,394,825 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Elmore Leonard
"No one writes a better crime novel than Charles Willeford."
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
The Washington Post
"A blend of gripping action and wry off-beat humour."
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Charles Willeford's novels often varied in their quality, but whenever he sat down to write a Hoke Mosely novel, you could be guaranteed of a tight, exciting tale which keeps you gripped from beginning to end. Detective Hoke Moseley's breakdown and subsequent period of enforced rest leads inevitably to trouble and violence in the best Willeford style.
Sideswipe includes memorable characters, including Stanley, the old man who keeps cyanide in his walking stick to poison the local dogs. Its hero, Hoke Mosely, also remains one of the more memorable characters in crime fiction. While hardly likeable, he is a fascinating, conflicted character in the best hardboiled tradition.
Willeford is a great influence on many modern crime writers, and with books like Sideswipe under his belt, its easy to see why.
Format:Paperback
Elmore Leonard is quoted as saying, "No one writes a better crime novel than Charles Willeford." Well, yes, they do, Elmore. You do, for a start -- but so do many others who have nothing like your class.
I bought this book because it figured in The Times list of 50 best crime novels. I'm a big crime fan and I'd read two thirds of the books on that list. All of them were better than this.
Characterisation is wooden. Motivation is just silly. The vaunted humour makes Carl Hiaasen look funny -- not an easy thing to do. The whole thing struck me as a sixteen year old's project. A precocious sixteen year old, but still nothing that would support a novel-length read.
Very disappointing.
I bought this book because it figured in The Times list of 50 best crime novels. I'm a big crime fan and I'd read two thirds of the books on that list. All of them were better than this.
Characterisation is wooden. Motivation is just silly. The vaunted humour makes Carl Hiaasen look funny -- not an easy thing to do. The whole thing struck me as a sixteen year old's project. A precocious sixteen year old, but still nothing that would support a novel-length read.
Very disappointing.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
7 reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
This deserves Six Stars!!!
7 Oct 1998
Format:Paperback
One of my favorite Willeford books. From start to finish, it never loses steam. The character of Stanley Sinkiewicz (Pop) is one of the funniest and most enjoyable characters in the crime novel genre. Troy Louden is a brilliantly structured psychopath. Troy and Pop create the most unlikely duo in crime, but you cannot get enough of them. Hoke's unsuccessful attempts at a very early retirement are hilarious as is his inept but somehow effective parenting of his two daughters. You can not go wrong with this one, folks!!
12 of 14 people found the following review helpful
why don't more people know about Willeford?
25 Feb 2000
Format:Paperback
If you're wondering whether or not it is necessary to've read the first two Hoke Mosley books to appreciate Sideswipe...the answer is a resounding NO. This was my first Hoke book & I absolutely loved it. Willeford had an amazing gift. I never found myself wondering where the story was going. It didn't matter...his storytelling abilities are that good. If the book ever seems slow, it is because Willeford actually takes the time to let you become familiar with the characters. Sideswipe is, on occasion, ugly, but it is more often hilarious. Willeford has a way of making his heroes flawed enough to make them believable. I will read the other Hoke Mosley books, without trepidation, because of what I found in Sideswipe. The quirks of Hoke, Troy, Stanley & the other characters steal the show from the actual mystery. It's almost as if the criminal events were created as a stage to showcase these bizarre characters. The strength of Willeford lies not in the story itself, but more often in the telling of that story. I don't like to give away anything in my reviews, just enjoy a wonderful book.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
A Florida noir masterpiece
7 Jun 2003
Format:Paperback
This is it, the classic Florida crime novel. Hoke Moseley's no Travis McGee. In fact Hoke's a LOT like a real person. And poor Stanley, what a great character. This stuff is TRUE Florida, this is precisely what things are like here. Willeford's slow style is just to be enjoyed, he has so much compassion for these incredibly flawed people. One of the top ten ever Florida crime novels.
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