Customer Reviews

Big Town

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is great, even better when you consider it is the author's 1st published work. Like my title states, fans of Carl Hiassen will probably like this book. Further proof is that Hiaasen himself compliments the book on the front cover.

"Big Town" shares Hiaasen trademarks: eccentric but believable characters, a brisk pace, snappy dialogue, and more twists than a pretzel factory. To my astonishment, I may even like this Swanson book BETTER than most of Hiaasen's work for one main reason: ambiguity. In most Hiaasen books, the good guys and bad guys are pretty clear cut while in Big Town I did not know literally until the last page who was zooming who.

It is a real shame Swanson's earlier books are out of print. As I have discovered, they are definitely worth seeking out.

Meet Jack, the kind of detective character you'll enjoy coming back to time and time again. Jack is real, the setting is real and the plot if wholly believable. Nothing plastic, or insincere. If you like the genre, you'll really like Jack.

There's a laid-back mood that characterises this book and courtesy Swanson's unique style ,it's quite infectious.

Although it was a tad bit exaggerated, I absolutely loved the character of Teddy Deuce.But this book never hit the heights of being "thoroughly enjoyable" or absorbing and it was dissapointingly easy to put it down to do something else whenever I felt like it.

It also ended a bit abruptly- i'm not quite sure whether or not that was the idea- and that didn't rub off right on me.

Ultimately it was better than mediocre but WAY off excellent.

I met the author at a local library in Dallas and gave his book a try.

It's a fast-paced book that I finished in one sitting. The characters are somewhat well defined, and the language is good. The book is enjoyable.

The big hole in this book is locale. The title, the cover and the cover-notes make a big deal about the story being based in Dallas. In my opinion, as someone living in Dallas, there is nothing in the story that precludes it from being placed in any city, or even any small town. Sure, there are a few Dallas references thrown around, but one doesn't get a feel for the city. The author doesn't linger on anything. No descriptions of places, or of people living in this city. No local issues talked about. Its a book without local flavor. Another peeve.. the chapters are too short.