Customer Reviews

Find a Victim: A Lew Archer Novel

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

 

 

Find a Victim is a classic example of California noir. While driving from L.A. to Sacramento, ace private eye Lew Archer stumbles upon a city known as Las Cruces where sordid secrets abound. Archer is a card carrying member of the hardboiled school of criminal investigation. He's a tough customer who can take a beating as well as render one if necessary.
Early in the narrative, a truck driver is murdered. As Archer seeks to solve this particular crime, he soon learns of a complex web of betrayal and deceit which binds together a number of Las Cruces' citizens.
This novel is about the seemier side of life. Illicit sex is a recurring theme, as are greed and jealousy.
MacDonald uses a highly descriptive type of prose, much of which is quite artfully written. And there are several distinct subplots which are all tied together at the story's dramatic conclusion. Though I found the narrative to be more convoluted than necessary, I have no trouble recommending Find a Victim to anyone who likes their mysteries hardboiled.

This book is regarded as one of MacDonald's lesser works as certain parts of the storyline appear contrived and a little in the pulp fiction territory of the day (eg the book starts off with Lew Archer driving along a highway and finding a man shot and needing help), I can understand this sentiment and in relation to MacDonald's other Archer books, this novel is weaker but it is still highly acceptable.

The Lew Archer series dealt with the sins of the past catching up on families and what could happen if people tried to eradicate those past sins.

It is not ultra-violent and there are no scenes in the books that make you wish you hadn't read them (unlike some crime books today). It is simply the best detective fiction ever written.

"He was the ghastliest hitchhiker who ever thumbed me." This is the opening sentence of Ross MacDonald's Find a Victim. The victim is the driver of a truck load of alcohol which has been hijacked, he doesn't make it to hospital and Lew Archer is off on another mission. Find a client, find a crook, seek justice. These goals and being beaten up are central to the normal Lew Archer mission. There is no shortage of damsels in distress. As things move along we begin to see that things are more complex than they seem, and Ross MacDonald generously lest us spot the real villains a bit before Lew works it out. 215 action packed pages. Will Lew find true love?

If you are not a ross macdonald fan to begin with this is as good an entry as ever to get acquainted with one of the early masters of the detective/crime novel formula. But even those who know him will not be disappointed with this particular book for, as always, anyone can find or be a victim in the California underworld.

I found this "typical" novel to be a refreshing read. If you enjoy Crime novels, then you'll enjoy "Find A Victim."

I enjoyed this book, as "typical" as it maybe, I think it's well worth a read.

This is a typical private detective book from the post-WWII era. In it, as usual, the hero (Lew Archer) is accidentally involved in a case, and then decides to pursue the case, even though DANGER is everywhere. There is the requisite amount of hero-being-beat-up stuff, combined with hero-beating-others-up. There are the "bad" girls, and the who-knows-what-they-are girls (or 'gals', perhaps). There are the seedy denizens of the seedy town doing seedy things. And those are just the cops! There is also the seedy motel owner and his dissatisfied wife. Also on hand is the young criminal (just graduated from the juvenile delinquent ranks) and the wise old man who has seen much heartache.
I suspect this book was pretty hot when it came out, but it's almost a parody of the genre today, sad to say. I can stand about one Ross MacDonald a year, just to give me some perspective on this part of the mystery/suspense scene, and Find a Victim is it for this year.