The Cracked Earth: A Jack Liffey Mystery [Paperback]

John Shannon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2007

"Philip Marlowe would have been proud of his contemporary heir."-Michael Connelly

"Shannon has written an intelligent, surprising book, found the heart of his working-class characters, and delivered a first-rate thriller in the bargain."-George Pelecanos

"The hands-down winner in the long-running Where is the Next Raymond Chandler Coming From?' sweepstakes-this honor belongs to The Cracked Earth."-Dick Adler, Chicago Tribune
John Shannon is the author of the Jack Liffey mystery series, which has produced a number of national best-selling novels. The Cracked Earth is the second novel in the series. Shannon lives in Los Angeles.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Shannon may be one of the best L.A. mystery writers you've never heard of. -- Josh Getlin, Los Angeles Times --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

John Shannon grew up in San Pedro, L.A.'s harbor area. He has worked in newspapers, in television, and taught in the Peace Corps in Africa. He published four novels before starting the Jack Liffey mystery series, which Library Journal calls "a fabulous hard-boiled series." The Dark Streets is the ninth Liffey novel. John lives in Los Angeles.

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Pegasus Books (August 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 193364852X
• ISBN-13: 978-1933648521
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,348,058 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Not enough darling-cide, March 11, 2009

By 

James Tetreault (North Grafton, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cracked Earth (Jack Liffey Mysteries) (Paperback)

The line from Faulkner, about writing was that you have to "kill all your darlings". I thought of it after reading this book. It wasn't bad. I read all the way through. Parts were interesting. The character of Lee Borowsky, the girl that Jack Liffey's trying to find for most of the book, is very memorable. But there's just a bit too much implicit cheering for everyone the author likes. There's a bit of political correctness at times and the plot stretches credulity at times such as a huge japanese corporation going after a computer graphics company with a guy who firebombs them. Then the computer graphics company hacks the corporation's computers and takes $12 million of their money and gives it away to charities. But we're supposed to believe that the corporation just says, 'Aw shucks, you guys are so tough. We give up.' I suspect things would get rougher and/or litigation to bankrupt the computer graphics company would quickly ensue.

The writing is fine just not good enough to make up for the slightly insular feeling world created with it.