Customer Reviews

Dangerous Games: A Jack Liffey Mystery (Jack Liffey Mysteries)

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When we last saw Jack Liffey, he had found the perpetrator of various crimes of vengeance arising from the racist history of Terminal Island, been dumped by his new girlfriend, survived a collapsed lung and renewed his relationship with his teenage daughter, Maeve. Liffey also fell for a police officer named Gloria Ramirez, a Native American who was raised by Latino parents who taught her to hate her own heritage. "Dangerous Games" begins with Liffey living in East L.A. with Ramirez; his moody daughter is delighted with Ramirez and hopes her father won't mess this one up. But Liffey's relationship leads inexorably to a new search for a lost child: Ramirez's beautiful 18-year-old niece has disappeared from her tiny reservation in the Owens Valley leaving enough clues to make everyone suspect that she's been swallowed up by L.A.'s porn scene. Liffey feels up to the task.

If it were left at that, our hero would have more than enough to occupy him. But during one clear day while Liffey waters his girlfriend's lawn and Maeve lounges alongside chatting with her father, a gangbanger loses control and shoots indiscriminately in Liffey's direction leaving Maeve severely wounded. As Maeve recuperates, Liffey adds a new mission to his list: revenge. His subsequent confrontation of the perpetrator and eventual solution is one of the most surprising and fulfilling aspects of the narrative.

But there is still a lost child to find. And this is where things get ugly as we're thrown into the world of phone sex, porn films, dangerous reality videos, AIDS and very violent men who truly believe that women are meant to be controlled and used in any way imaginable. Throughout, we're treated to Shannon's smart dialogue, complex characters and a thrill ride of action. The denouement takes place in the Malibu Hills, set ablaze by reality "filmmakers" as their ultimate get-rich-quick venture. As Liffey and others try to outrun the flames, Liffey muses on all the failures in his life and wonders about the meaning of it all. There are wonderful things in life to be certain: the love of both his girlfriend and his resilient, brilliant daughter. But all the mistakes are there too: failed relationships, a battle with alcohol, physical scars too many to count. In Shannon's sure hands, we see the world through the eyes of a man who struggles to reconcile life's joy and pain shaped in large part by Los Angeles itself. Shannon offers more questions than answers. But that's okay. Finely-crafted novels do that. And this is certainly one of Shannon's best.

[The full version of this review first appeared in The Elegant Variation.]

Okay, Shannon is a great writer ...BUT...his Jack Liffey character has become unreal. So politically correct that he is only overshadowed by his daughter who makes Shirley Temple look like the wicked witch from the west. For every stone unturned to reveal a snake this duo finds a butterfly waiting to be set free -by kindness and most of all - understanding. Apparently there is no evil, only non-understanding types (ie white, Christian and usually male). I got lost in DANGEROUS GAMES when Liffey meets up with the gang banger who shot his daughter and ends up wanting to teach him how to write an essay! All in the same few paragraphs. One can overcome plot problems if the writing keeps you entertained but when the characters become so unreal that you start laughing at them, then it's time to put the book aside. Sorry.

It startd out as just another run-away investigation. A pretty Paiute girl, sick of her life on the reservation, heads to Hollywood hoping to make it rich in the sex trade. Private detective Jack Lifey won't make her go home to the abuse she faced there, but he does want to talk to her, make sure she's following her own plans.

The invetigation is only one of Jack's problems. His daughter is shot in a drive-by shooting, his girlfriend police detective Gloria Ramirez is havin problems with their relationship and Jack can't seem to get away with his impossible wish to save everyone, even if they don't want to be saved.

Author John Shannon writes a moving tale that goes far beyond a simple mystery. Jack Lifey is a perfect everyman, but also a man who maintains his hope no matter what. The Los Angeles setting comes to life, whether Jack is patrolling the lowest sewers of the porn business or visiting the homes of the elite in Malibu or nearby Rancho Mirage. Fans of Jack Lifey will want to grab DANGEROUS GAME fast. If you're new to John Shannon, you're in for a treat

Whether you're someone who has followed Jack Liffey from his first appearance in print, or a lucky reader who just found this mystery series, you are sure to become a lasting fan. John Shannon brings this character to life with creative writing excellence. Readers are not only caught up in the life and loves of Jack Liffey and his daughter, Maeve, but are colorfully transported in each John Shannon novel through the historic streets of the greater Los Angeles area. This latest John Shannon thriller, "Dangerous Games," keeps the reader emotionally involved from the first chapter through to the exciting end of the read. Don't miss this book. It is John Shannon's best, so far.

First and foremost, Shannon's "Dangerous Games" is a good story well told. The relationships among the ongoing cast of characters continue to unfold around a plot that accelerates to a satisfying conclusion.

Equally importantly, Shannon captures the complexity and contradictions of Los Angeles in a way few writers have. He sees what an ugly and shallow place it can be, and yet still clearly loves it. He recognizes what a magnet it is to the rootless, yet is grounded in its history. He understands what a sprawling megalopolis this place is, yet knows that most of us live in neighborhoods, each with its own character. And, he understands the effects the climate and topography have on our lives. The final scenes, for example, are set in the middle of a Santa Ana condition, so that the edgy danger of the winds and even the color and light in the sky almost become characters themselves.

A good story with a strong sense of place. If you're in L.A. read it before October, when the Santa Anas kick in.

John Shannon has given us a wonderful new book! He writes about Los Angeles, where I live, & does it better than anyone else I can think of. He's a very literary writer, with an interest in social issues & the great variety of groups that struggle to live together in our city, with its complexities, paradoxes, diversity & inescapable allure. In this 8th book in the series, DANGEROUS GAMES (my favorite, so far), Jack searches for the young Native American niece of his new girlfriend, who is caught up in the LA porn scene. There are lots of other quirky LA characters & sub plots including the serious wounding of Maeve, unscrupulous film makers video taping the homeless in deranged stunts (the Dangerous Games), & even a scary fire in the hills of Malibu . Great dialogue & characters - I loved every page of it!

This has to be the best book I have read in years. the dialogue is so real you would think you were standing on the corner of Soto and Brooklyn talking to the people that hang out there. I started this and could not put it down until I finished. Shannon is getting better and better.

It's too bad authors you like can only write so fast. John Shannon's Jack Liffey character is one of those engaging, scruffy, financially insolvent detectives with LA street smarts--a tough veneer, but vulnerable with a heart of gold. His specialty is finding lost children, and in his newest and darkest Liffey book, Dangerous Games, a missing teenage girl is enmeshed in the intersection of some of the seamiest fringes of LA: porn and reality videotaping. Liffey himself is having a hard time dealing with the driveby shooting of his daughter Maeve. All these strands careen toward a potentially fatal conclusion. Besides flat-out, drop-dead good writing a la Raymond Chandler (as many reviewers have pointed out), Shannon specializes in a kind of quirky recognition of the peculiarities of life in LA, including the humorous incongruities Liffey and Maeve make a game of noticing. Not to be missed by those who appreciate the genre.

This is the best mystery I've read this summer! It has the usual terrific cast of regular characters, plus some interesting new ones, an engaging plot, and fine Los Angeles settings. Shannon is a wonderful writer and Dangerous Games is almost impossible to put down. It's his best one so far.

Lots of writers specialize in mysteries and thrillers set in Southern
California, but John Shannon has a unique vision of those parts of the area
and its residents that nobody else seems to notice. From Terminal Island to
Orange County, he has a way of catching glimpses which light up the
landscape.
Living in the East Los Angeles neighborhood of Boyle Heights with his new
ladyfriend, LAPD Sgt. Gloria Ramirez, visits the Owens Valley, where Gloria's niece has gone missing from a Paiute rancheria and has set off to be a star of
the Los Angeles porn industry.
The divorced Liffey also has a personal crisis to resolve. His 17-year-old
Daughter Maeve, visiting he and Gloria, becomes the accidental victim of a drive-by
shooting, brilliantly described, which results in serious injury. Jack gets
part of the license plate number and a good look at the shooter, but instead
of telling the cops he sets off on a private vendetta.
Without giving too much away, it's safe to say that neither the niece's
search for a better life nor Jack's journey of revenge turn out in any way
you might expect.