- Paperback: 256 pages
- Publisher: Arrow Books Ltd; New edition edition (6 Aug 1992)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0099600307
- ISBN-13: 978-0099600305
- Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 13 x 2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,176,976 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Review
'The Pope of Psycho-Pulp' - Time Out 'No one writes a better crime novel than Charles Willeford. - Elmore Leonard 'Miami seems to have eclipsed L.A. & New York as the crime capital, so it's fitting that the best book on the mystery racks these days should be Charles Willeford's Miami Blues' - Village Voice 'Bone-deep satire..a harrowing and surprisingly amusing story..a terrific thriller.' - Publishers Weekly
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
San Francisco Chronicle
"Elegant, tough and rhythmic as a championship boxing match."
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Paperback
'The Way We Die Now' follows Hoke Moseley, a Miami cop who re-investigates cold cases, gives the evidence a fresh looking over in the cold light off day, his boss has other ideas and sends him on a case to investigate a murder out in the sticks, meanwhile, a man Moseley sent down for murder is out on parole and buys the house on the opposite side of the street.
This is the first Willeford novel I've read after picking it up cheap in a charity shop and what surprises me is the fact that's he's not as well known as the likes of Elmore Leonard, Ed McBain and Jim Thompson as he has their punchy style of writing about people you don't want to meet in a dark alley.
I don't want to call it old fashioned because it sound like a criticism but this novel was written before everything became forensic based and is basically about a hard working cop, cleaning up the streets in a good old fashioned way.
This is the first Willeford novel I've read after picking it up cheap in a charity shop and what surprises me is the fact that's he's not as well known as the likes of Elmore Leonard, Ed McBain and Jim Thompson as he has their punchy style of writing about people you don't want to meet in a dark alley.
I don't want to call it old fashioned because it sound like a criticism but this novel was written before everything became forensic based and is basically about a hard working cop, cleaning up the streets in a good old fashioned way.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
11 reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Willeford is the boss
11 Jun 2005
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
The truth is, all of Florida crime writers after Willeford can type until their fingertips fall off, but Willeford will always remain the boss.
Willeford is the most deadpan writer imaginable. His Hoke Mosely books are totally without affectation or author intrusion, unlike certain other Florida crime writers whom I won't mention.
Willeford such a master, he can tug at your heartstrings without manipulating you like most writers do. _The Way We Die Now_ is no exception. For all of his cynicism, Hoke Moseley loves his kids as best he can, and he always goes out of his way to help the underdog. All of the Moseley novels leave us with a sense that life is worth living in spite of the pain and ugliness.
Also typical in this book is Willeford's refusal to cowtow to political correctness. I'm sure all the affirmative action types were retching with disgust when this book came out. Hilarious!
Willeford's prose style is so unapologetically straight-ahead that there's no point in trying to analyze it. I remember the first time I read a Hoke Moseley novel. I thought, "This guy either has no idea how to write, of he's one of the greatest writers of all time." It's because Willeford knows that the story and the characters rule. We're so accustomed to writers who can't resist showing the reader how clever they are. When a real storyteller comes along, we don't know how to take him.
There's simply nobody else like Willeford.
Willeford is the most deadpan writer imaginable. His Hoke Mosely books are totally without affectation or author intrusion, unlike certain other Florida crime writers whom I won't mention.
Willeford such a master, he can tug at your heartstrings without manipulating you like most writers do. _The Way We Die Now_ is no exception. For all of his cynicism, Hoke Moseley loves his kids as best he can, and he always goes out of his way to help the underdog. All of the Moseley novels leave us with a sense that life is worth living in spite of the pain and ugliness.
Also typical in this book is Willeford's refusal to cowtow to political correctness. I'm sure all the affirmative action types were retching with disgust when this book came out. Hilarious!
Willeford's prose style is so unapologetically straight-ahead that there's no point in trying to analyze it. I remember the first time I read a Hoke Moseley novel. I thought, "This guy either has no idea how to write, of he's one of the greatest writers of all time." It's because Willeford knows that the story and the characters rule. We're so accustomed to writers who can't resist showing the reader how clever they are. When a real storyteller comes along, we don't know how to take him.
There's simply nobody else like Willeford.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Author and detective in top form
7 May 2000
Format:Hardcover
Charles Willeford's well-deserved reputation as a writer of crime novels is based largely on the exploits of Miami police detective Hoke Moseley. In this page-turner, we find the author at the top of his form, with Hoke fully engaged in his life as a cop and family man. While busily solving a "cold" murder case, Hoke is dispatched on a puzzling and hazardous undercover job in a neighboring county. At the same time, a parolee who some years earlier had promised to kill him moves in right across the street from Hoke's house (how this turns out is what separates Willeford from the pack). In the house, Hoke lives with his two teenage daughters and his former officemate Ellita Sanchez and her infant son. With everyone in his unconventional but harmonious family contributing their share, Hoke is free to spend some time in his bedroom, pondering his problems and watching TV cop shows. And how unusual it is to find a cop enjoying a satisfactory family life! In a few brief sentences, Willeford suggests how this is managed - a sort of primer for disfunctional households, perhaps. Throughout the story's beautifully detailed and ingenious turnings, Hoke manages by dint of his experience and common sense to save his skin and do the right thing in general, which in some instances consists in doing nothing. At the end of the novel, he finds himself being coerced by his superiors into accepting a promotion in grade and assignment as head of internal affairs - a position he comes to realize he is well suited for. But that intriguing eventuality would have been the subject of another book, wouldn't it.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
For the Aficionados
6 Jun 2006
Format:Paperback
This novel is a last in a series, and established fans who come to get their fix of Hoke Mosley will not be disappointed.
I came to it first and I liked the believable characters and compelling descriptions. But ... not much actually happens.
The undercover assignment is set up, but then as soon as Hoke arrives at the place he blows the guy away and beats his sidekick to death - and that's it! As for the cold case subplot, Hoke achieves a breakthrough by claiming it's solved and panicking the guy - couldn't he have done this any time in the previous three years? Finally, the released revenge-promising con is made to buy a place across the road from Hoke just to rid him of Ellita, as it seems.
And what's this about an Orthodox Jew with his favourite brand of tuna?
I think the book needed a careful editor.
I came to it first and I liked the believable characters and compelling descriptions. But ... not much actually happens.
The undercover assignment is set up, but then as soon as Hoke arrives at the place he blows the guy away and beats his sidekick to death - and that's it! As for the cold case subplot, Hoke achieves a breakthrough by claiming it's solved and panicking the guy - couldn't he have done this any time in the previous three years? Finally, the released revenge-promising con is made to buy a place across the road from Hoke just to rid him of Ellita, as it seems.
And what's this about an Orthodox Jew with his favourite brand of tuna?
I think the book needed a careful editor.
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