The Glass Highway (SIGNED) [Hardcover]

Loren D. Estleman (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Bantam (1990)
• ASIN: B001J7MR72
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)

More About the Author

Since the appearance of his first novel in 1976, Loren D. Estleman has written more than 65 books and hundreds of short stories and articles. Alone (Dec 2009, Forge Books) is the second in a new series about L.A. film detective Valentino, and features Greta Garbo.

To kick off the new decade, Estleman's The Book of Murdock (eighth in the U.S. Deputy Marshal Page Murdock series) will appear in March and, to celebrate the 30 year anniversary of Private Detective Amos Walker, The Left-Handed Dollar will publish in December. It's the 20th novel in the award-winning series.

An authority on both criminal history and the American West, Estleman has been called the most critically acclaimed author of his generation. He has been nominated for the National Book Award and the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Allan Poe Award.

He has received seventeen national writing awards: four Shamuses from the Private Eye Writers of America, five Spurs from the Western Writers of America, two American Mystery Awards from Mystery Scene Magazine, two Outstanding Mystery Writer of the Year awards from Popular Fiction Monthly, two Stirrup Awards for outstanding articles in the Western Writers of America magazine, The Roundup, and three Western Heritage Awards from the National Cowboy Hall of Fame. In 1987, the Michigan Foundation of the Arts presented him with its award for literature. In 1997, the Michigan Library Association named him the recipient of the Michigan Author's Award. In 2007, Nicotine Kiss was named a Notable Book by the Library of Michigan.

Estleman graduated from Eastern Michigan University in 1974 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature and Journalism. On April 27, 2002, EMU presented him with an honorary doctorate in letters. He left the job market in 1980 to write full time. He lives in Michigan and is married to writer Deborah Morgan. For more information, please visit his website: www.lorenestleman.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Walker at his darkest, and best, March 9, 2001

By 

Brian D. Rubendall (Oakton, VA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Glass Highway (The Amos Walker Series #4) (Paperback)

Amos Walker has one heck of a rollercoaster ride in the third installment of Loren D. Estleman's suberb P.I. series. Its Christmas in Detroit and our hero gets seduced, beaten up, arrested, threatened; your usual yuletide activities. Along the way he encouters crooked cops, media hungry politicians, spoiled rich kids and ham-handed Federal agents. I'd rate "The Glass Highway" a notch above the first two novels in the series ("Motor City Blue" and "Angel Eyes") because its plot is tighter and more plausible. Nevertheless, there seems to be no such thing as a bad Amos Walker mystery.

As a bonus, this I-Books edition features an afterword from the author regarding his inspirations for the novel. It also contains an Amos Walker short story, "Cigarette Stop" as the dessert to a very fine meal.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Where Hardboiled Lives, October 16, 2004

By 

John P Bernat (Kingsport, TN USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Glass Highway (The Amos Walker Series #4) (Paperback)

Methaphor, descriptives, grit - Loren Estleman delivers it straight. No gratuitous violence, clear lines of right and wrong.

"When a man's partner is killed, he's supposed to do something about it." Amos would, except he's the kind of guy who would never want a partner. In a world of compromise, moral shades of gray and groupthink, Amos Walker stands out as a model of clarity and purpose.

Then there's Detroit. No one captures the flat grayness of the city like Estleman, and, now that they no longer make Oldsmobiles, I don't know what he'll have Amos driving next.

For pure escape into a bad world made better by the shine of one man, it's hard to beat this series. Within the series, though, this installment is not one of the steongest.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Strong Hardboiled Thriller, June 30, 2004

By 

Untouchable (Sydney, NSW Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Glass Highway (The Amos Walker Series #4) (Hardcover)

Loren Estleman's Detroit private investigator, Amos Walker, returns in the 4th instalment of what has become one of the most dependable private eye series of modern times. Displaying sharp humour, taut plotting and crackling dialogue, THE GLASS HIGHWAY is the archetypical hardboiled mystery.

The storyline of THE GLASS HIGHWAY follows the well worn traditional formula of many private investigator books that have come before it or have followed. It's a missing person investigation that is solved very quickly, but in solving it many more questions are raised revealing a darker, more sordid mystery underneath. It's Estleman's ability to keep the pace high while the atmosphere borders on bleak that sets the story apart from others.

The missing person that Walker is hired to find is Bud Broderick, the estranged son of local newsreader Sandy Broderick. Rather than showing concern for his son's safety, he wants him found because he is worried that Bud may be into drugs, a possibility that may adversely affect his broadcasting career. It doesn't take long for Walker to find Bud, but he also finds Paula Royce, the girl he has been staying with. It's Paula Royce who sends the investigation spinning off on a right hand turn.

Soon after supposedly solving his missing person investigation, a murder takes place. Although Walker is, at best, a fringe participant, the police jump all over him, taking him in for questioning and locking him away for a couple of days. In quick succession, another couple of bodies are discovered by Walker, both somehow linked to Paula Royce, who has now gone into hiding, but who is still obviously the key to everything. It's up to Walker to piece the mystery together, save his own skin and keep his private investigator's licence.

This is a gritty mystery combining clever, light humoured dialogue with Walker's darker more introspective moments. Walker displays a keen tenacity as well as an intuitive detective's brain in this very enjoyable hardboiled mystery.