Eureka [Import] [Paperback]

William Diehl (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Arrow Books Ltd; New Ed edition (2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0099439980
• ISBN-13: 978-0099439981
• Product Dimensions: 4.4 x 1.3 x 7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (45 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,053,624 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Diehl redeems himself, March 9, 2002

By 

John Daley (Attica, MI United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Eureka (Hardcover)

Wlliam Diehl redeems himself with Eureka. Every book he's written has been great, until his last one Reign In Hell. And lets just say it was terrible. With Eureka, he's back in top form. It's a mystery set in the early part of the twentieth century. A woman dies accidently in her bathtub. The hero, LA homicide cop, Zeke Bannon finds evidence that points to the woman being murdered. Bannon follows a trail of evidence back to a small town called Eureka. The town is run by Sheriff Brodie Culhane, a war hero, who is beginning a campaign for govenor.
The characters are very real and likeable. Even the bad guys
Nothing is as it appears in this great story, and you'll be racing to finish it and then sorry that you did.
If you've never read Diehl before this is an excellant book to start with. And if you were put off by his last book, don't worry about it he is back at the top of his game.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A FINELY ARTICULATED READING, March 6, 2002

By 

Gail Cooke (TX, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Eureka (Audio Cassette)

"Eureka," according to Webster's, signifies the discovery of something that brings joy or satisfaction. Thus, it is an appropriate title for the latest from William Diehl, a master of storytelling and suspense. Broadway, film and television actor Cotter Smith offers a finely articulated reading of this multi-generational tale.

When Zeke Bannon was sent to fight in World War II some unfinished business is left behind - the mysterious death of one Verna Wilensky who was electrocuted in her bathtub. Almost as puzzling as her demise is her hefty bank account, fattened by anonymous cashier's checks from a bank in San Pietro, a Southern California town once known as Eureka.

A few years and one Silver Star later Zeke is recuperating in an L.A. hospital when he is visited by his ex LAPD partner who has been investigating the Wilensky case. As Zeke digs into old files readers are transported to the Eureka of 1900, a hotbed of graft and prostitution. It is also a place where many secrets were buried.

Jump start to today and popular Sherif Thomas Culhane, who seems certain to become California's next governor until his bid for office is jeopardized by stunning revelations.

Diehl seamlessly weaves past and present to craft a story that keeps readers spellbound until the last.

- Gail Cooke

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Back to the future., January 5, 2003

By 

Larry Scantlebury (Ypsilanti, MI United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Eureka (Hardcover)

This is one of the top three books I read this year.

Whoops. It's January 5th. OK. If I had finished this book 6 days ago, I would have put it alongside of John LeCarre's "The Constant Gardner" and Lehane's "Mystic River." Forget any naysayers. "Eureka" is a eureka, a great mystery with wonderful conversations that smack of times gone by. An excellent novel.

Growing up on the East Coast, I remember old guys who had fought in WWI. One fellow lived into his late 80's with one lung gone, having given the first one up to mustard gas at Belleau Wood. So there's a 'reaching' aspect of Eureka that transcends a number of years. And we really don't feel it. Diehl is able to interrupt conversations in the past, flash forward, come back chapters later to finish them. Very tricky; very well done.

Diehl captures the chronology swiftly and smoothly. Sometimes he's writing of events a 100 years ago, sometimes 60, sometimes in between. "The bohunk got ironed out in a hit and run." The dialogue is crisp and seemingly accurate. Very timely. Great conversations.

Everyone who reads the reviews knows the plot by now. Honest cop, diamond in the rough, investigating the accidental electrocution of a widow in a 1940 bath tub, with only two things out of order: no will and "100 large in the bank."

A tough WWI veteran about to run for Governor, unanswered questions about the past igniting the future with a 40 year fuse. The quote from Gatsby, 'boats against the current,' is as prescient now as it was then.

Some romance that might be too much but everybody finds someone sometime.

The best dialogue is found in Elmore Leonard. Diehl gives him a run for his money in Eureka. Strongly recommended.