This is one of those books that puts a smile on a reader's face. And for a writer, a perfect example of how it's done, not just the PI genre, but pulling a story together that touches a person on so many levels.
Amos Walker is a wonderful character, hard-nosed and soft centered, he walks through life knowing how it should be lived and knowing that he'll probably never be able to live his life in the way most people do. I felt sad for him.
Sugar-Town is the fifth in the Amos Walker series and won a Shamus award for best Private Eye novel. Written in 1984 it captures Detroit's scramble to keep the auto industry happy by turning people out of the homes they'd lived in all their lives. I could see all of this so easily as its reflective of the steel industry in Pittsburgh and even the coal mines of Scranton, city government trying to keep companies happy and providing jobs. But sometimes, the cost is simply too high. And that was just the setting.
The plot revolves around the search for an old lady's grandson and a second case involving the protection of a Russian author, with the two cases twining together for the final unexpected outcome. While I suspected what was coming, Estleman still floored me with the ending, putting a spin on the plot that I never expected. This book is rich with subtle humor and layers of gentle sadness that touch the heart.
While this was the fifth book in the Amos Walker series, and the first one I've read, I didn't feel like I'd missed anything. Estleman doesn't refer to past cases, past life experiences or anything that made a reader feel like he had to go back to the beginning to catch up. But I will be looking for more of Amos Walker because I liked him. He made me smile at his thoughts and nod in agreement, even as he poked fun at Parker's Spencer. If you're going to write a PI novel you couldn't find a better blueprint to follow than Sugar-Town. A most excellent read!
I just stole this quote from John Baker's blog, but it's worth repeating:
"A writer doesn't solve problems. He allows them to emerge"
-Friedrich Durrenmatt
4 comments:
I remember that time well. I was working on an index for a scholar who wrote a book about the subject. I hear his new one, Gas City, is terrific. The guy is so prolific.
I checked out his website and was blown away by how much he's written over the years. This was the first story of his I'd read. I'll certainly be looking for more.
I remember that time as well, only my remembrance is here in PA. It was a strange and comforting feeling to read the same thoughts I'd had at that time coming from Amos Walker's mouth.
Loren D. Estleman is an amazing writer and always a highlight in Alfred Hitchcock and Ellery Queen each month.
I liked the quote, very fitting.
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