Skip to main content

Purgatory finished


Gritty almost to the point of being over-the-top. Jack Taylor is an intellectual version (and more interesting) than Jack Reacher, but they share a similar moral code. Irish writer who is unrelenting in his analysis of the flaws of the Irish. I'll definitely read another of his books, but I'm going to give it a rest.

Some spoilers follow:
The book is notable for killing off characters that are--conventionally--off limits. So, Stewart is murdered by the psychopath he is shadowing. Ridge (female cop) dies from a stupid act of violence--huge rock thrown on her car from the overpass. The good-looking chick (Kelly) turns out to be the serial killer. (How many serial killers are women?) She's also married to the rich guy who is taking over Galway; in addition, she makes a play for Jack.


Jack, the vengeful, does not kill Kelly. Instead, he visits her at her "psycho" ward where she is being treated (including memory suppressing) for her psychopathic traits. Jack tells her that he will kill her some day . . . she just won't know when. Effective ending -- it really would have been tough to pull off Jack shooting a woman as a "happy" ending.

Style: Hard-boiled prose. 1st and 3rd person. Odd paragraphing and line breaks, but easy to get used to. I read/listened to the book. As usual the Audible reader was terrific. (less)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin . . . finished

 Follows Sadie and Sam (Mazer) from childhood to mid-thirties when both are feeling old and a bit out of it in the gaming world.  Characters are well-rounded, develop throughout the novel in interesting way.  Plot is involved but sensible.  Not a single, "Oh, come on!" moment.  The book could have been faster paced. Odd, since the main topic is video games which are not for their speed of engagement and Gabrielle Zevin clearly knows her video games. Recommended by Michael Connelly in an interview.  He also has Bosch pick up the book in his novel, Resurrection Walk, as Bosch tails a possible witness to a crime as she moves through a bookstore. Sadie and Sam do not get together at the end, which is good.   Marx killed by homophobic nutcase who really wants to kill Sam, but Sam isn't there. Marx is father of Sadie's child. 
Post a Comment
Read more

The Secret, Book and Scone Society

Cozy mystery with a "women are superior creatures" underpinning. The four women have all had their struggles, which we will learn about one-by-one, but they all remain/emerge wiser, kinder, smarter, etc. than the men in the novel, most of whom are corrupt, narrow-minded, unfeeling and potentially violent. (Nora's encounter with the paramedic-hunk is the exception, though it occurs to me that he may be the murderer.) Even Estelle, who uses sex to get what she wants, is portrayed positively.  The men are comically manipulated by her curves.  In one scene, she goes skinny-dipping with a married man but is rescued by her buddies before she actually has sex with the guy. Nora, our main character, is told by her female friends that she is beautiful despite her scars. No male says this to Nora because males are just too crass to see beyond surface beauty.  I hope I'm wrong and the book is more nuanced. If not, then this author is a one-and-done writer for me.
Post a Comment
Read more