Friday, November 30, 2007

Proof of Purchase (Jack Grant) by Richard B. Schwartz

Richard B. Schwartz is an English professor and that shows. The phrasing is excellent and you can see a lot of thinking went on in every line on the page. It’s like this guy is just channeling Raymond Chandler on every page. Kind of like early Robert B. Parker.
The plot is pretty straightforward, though I hesitate to call it thin, because that could be seen as a negative remark. That would be unfair, because I really found the ‘simple’ plot a refreshing read after reading too convoluted plots that in the end had an unsatisfying payoff.
About the plot… PI Jack Grant is hired to track down his ex-lover, a beautiful lawyer. At the start of the novel she’s already found dead and mutilated. Of course he sets out to find the killer. Aiding him is a shapely, tough female cop. Together they manage to solve the case and of course get in bed, stabbed and shot along the way. The ending, which would make Mike Hammer proud, was pretty satisfying and I enjoyed the ride to it.

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