The Black Eyed Blonde: A Philip Marlowe Novel
-
-
3.0 • 3 Ratings
-
-
- $9.99
-
- $9.99
Publisher Description
"Maybe it was time I forgot about Nico Peterson, and his sister, and the Cahuilla Club, and Clare Cavendish. Clare? The rest would be easy to put out of my mind, but not the black-eyed blonde ..."
It is the early 1950s. In Los Angeles, Private Detective Philip Marlowe is as restless and lonely as ever, and business is a little slow. Then a new client arrives: young, beautiful, and expensively dressed, Clare Cavendish wants Marlowe to find her former lover, a man named Nico Peterson. Soon Marlowe will find himself not only under the spell of the Black-Eyed Blonde; but tangling with one of Bay City's richest families - and developing a singular appreciation for how far they will go to protect their fortune ...
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Black (the pseudonym that John Banville uses for his crime fiction) isn't the first to tackle the daunting challenge of recreating the distinctive narrative voice of Raymond Chandler's world-weary, mean streets walking L.A. private eye, Philip Marlowe. Despite Robert B. Parker's lengthy experience in the PI genre, his sequel to The Big Sleep, Perchance to Dream, pales in comparison with Black's pitch-perfect recreation of the character and his time and place. As for the language, Black nails Chandler's creative and memorable similes and metaphors. When Marlowe shakes hands with someone, "It was like being given a sleek, cool-skinned animal to hold for a moment or two." The title character, Clare Cavendish, wanders into Marlowe's office to ask him to trace her lover, Nico Peterson, who disappeared two months earlier. The case appears to wrap up quickly after Marlowe learns that Peterson was the victim of a hit-and-run, but Cavendish has some major revelations in store. While the mystery is well plotted, Black elevates it beyond mere thoughtful homage with a plausible injection of emotion in his wounded lead. Author tour.
