5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
DELIVER US FROM EVELYN really delivers, July 24, 2006
This review is from: Deliver Us from Evelyn (Paperback)
This was a real treat! Nobody writes like Chris Well, his style is fun and quirky, fast paced and intelligent.
Like its prequel, FORGIVING SOLOMON LONG, DELIVER US FROM EVELYN is set in Kansas City, Mo. Detective Tom Griggs and his partner, Charlie, have the never ending job of taking out the city's trash. But as soon as they bring down one organized crime king-pin, three new ones emerge.
The snooty media mogul, Evelyn Blake's, husband is missing, but she doesn't seem to care. A mysterious employee is spilling the goods on their blog and she's livid. Add to the mix a con-artist with all the luck of Wylee Coyote and you have a recipe for a whole lot of fun.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An entertaining read, July 20, 2006
This review is from: Deliver Us from Evelyn (Paperback)
I enjoyed Deliver Us from Evelyn -- it's a pretty snappy story, with some good plot twists. I really enjoy seeing how some of the characters from Forgiving Solomon Long are developing. Well does a good job of making Charlie Pasch and and Tom Griggs distinctive characters that engage the reader's interest. What's more, most of the secondary characters come to life, especially "failed thug Nelson Pistek," and the religious con man with the ever-evolving set of aliases. And the end of the book gives a promise of more to come. I think I would have enjoyed one less subplot to keep track of, but that's a small criticism. I have to recommend this book to anyone who enjoys crime fiction. There's a lot of truth here, but it's never preachy.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
OMIGOSH, WHAT A FUN READ! Darkly funny with a subplot sure to delight comics fans!, May 18, 2006
This review is from: Deliver Us from Evelyn (Paperback)
While FORGIVING SOLOMON LONG was a fine read, and I recommend it, this follow-up goes a few steps beyond. It's smoother, I think, in structure. It's got a big funny bone around its criminally dark heart.
I like Chris' style. He uses fragments well and plays around with conventional POV for good effect. His chapters are brisk and short and move things along nicely. He must have taken note of complaints about loose ends in FSL--I wasn't complaining, btw, and I was satisfied with the conclusion-- cause this baby has multiple epilogues, from the touching to the outright hilarious. I suspect the whole tv cables things is some kind of wry metaphor . . .
Chekov would be proud of Well's use of a particular "prop". Comic and film fans will enjoy references to some faves, including philosophical dialoging on the subject of comics and their readership. The spiritual content is pertinent; forgiveness and repentance are key issues, as they were in FSL.
While one doesn't need to read FSL to follow the plot and characters of and enjoy DELIVER US FROM EVELYN, it sure is nice to catch-up with the detectives and see things change for them in certain ways.
Others have provided a synopsis of the plot, but just so you know:
Billionaire Warren Blake is missing. An anonymous blogger is writing about it--and her special relationshihp to the man--and she's also dropping hints that it's foul play. Mobsters of various factions are involved, making things a bit complicated. And Blake's egocentric, volatile, flighty, power-mad whackjob of a wife is looking mighty suspicious, even as she goads the political powers to put pressure on the police force to find her husband or solve the mystery of his disappearance. So, here come the good guys of the KCPD--the emotionally troubled Griggs, the pop-culture enthusiast Pasch, etc. Add in some weird goings on at a comics book store, and an inept and cowardly wiseguy who bungles every plan he makes, and you've cooked up a pretty cool bit of crime fiction.
The pace is fast, the tension is delicious, and the humor gives it that extra pizzazz that makes this a keep-me-up-til-the-wee-hours read.
I suggest you just buy it, enjoy it!
Mir
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