Very stodgy throughout, we readers almost as frustrated as Milo and Alex at the passing time with virtually no forward progress solving a double homicVery stodgy throughout, we readers almost as frustrated as Milo and Alex at the passing time with virtually no forward progress solving a double homicide. Somewhat disappointing conclusion......more
We were frankly totally disappointed with this latest, “Iced” (after the protagonist’s tobogganing hobby) from Felix Francis. Dad Dick’s lead characteWe were frankly totally disappointed with this latest, “Iced” (after the protagonist’s tobogganing hobby) from Felix Francis. Dad Dick’s lead characters, as were the joint efforts with son Felix, and most recently Felix’s solo efforts, were all protagonists that any man would love to emulate and that any woman would love to latch onto! But our “hero” in this one was a half-baked son, Miles Pussett, of a steeplechase champion who could in no way repeat his father’s legacy. And so in the process, he developed severe PTSD symptoms after being in a car crash fatal only to his father; he became an alcoholic, and actually spent 85% of the story wretched and depressed. That condition did exactly nothing but depress this reader, and what little mystery there was in a weak horse-racing related plot was soon enough summed up near the end. The only saving grace at all was that Miles eventually kicked all his troubles amid a romance with a nurse, and all more or less ended well. Getting there was tiresome and did very little to entertain throughout. Meanwhile, a bevy of hard-to-follow flashbacks were at best confusing.
If Felix is being criticized for formerly being formulaic, our vote is to go back to the formula!...more
“Someone” is author Atkins’ ninth extension of Parker’s Spenser series; we’re delighted these fine tales are being continued. The character of Mattie “Someone” is author Atkins’ ninth extension of Parker’s Spenser series; we’re delighted these fine tales are being continued. The character of Mattie Sullivan is reprised from the first Atkins’ novel; she is now essentially an intern with Spenser and is involved in investigating a pedophile situation with a famous rich man being set up with underage teenagers by a female society queen. We had to laugh when Spenser meets with an apparent victim, and mentions actresses Bridget Moynihan (a favorite in our household) and Thelma Todd, who we had to look up to discover her movie roles from the 1930’s!
The plot is not exactly to our taste as it deals with very young teens (aged 12-14 or so) engaged in illicit sexual activities for good money, which is how they get sucked into this predicament, often taken off-shore to a private island in the Bahamas. Spenser’s protégé Mattie gets involved with uncovering several of the victims, and eventually it’s Spenser and Hawk deciding to take on the bad guys once and for all. The “Gray Man” from a couple of Parker’s original novels (“Small Vices” and “Rough Weather”) has an important role, and the book climaxes to a fairly surprising conclusion.
Except for the basic subject matter per se, we enjoyed this tale, as usual....more
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