Customer Reviews

The Last Manly Man: A Robin Hudson Mystery (Robin Hudson Mysteries)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Don't let the faint damns (as in, praised with) scare you off: this is Hayter's best novel yet. True, her style has shifted a bit from the determined absurdity of her earlier tales. It's still funny, but it isn't *just* funny; her characters are rounder, her darks are darker, and her wackiness is more pointed as she (and her heroine) come to grips with the complexities of gender politics. This is a book with something to say, and as you'd expect from Hayter, it's something fresh, offbeat and individualistic. A little more than a comic mystery, a little less (thank heaven!) than a post-modern extravaganza, _The Last Manly Man_ is satisfying, thought-provoking, literary and wicked. What more do they want from a working woman?

Have found this series to be fun and inventive but had trouble getting into this book. Stay, with it though, because the second half is a romp and a half and fastly paced. Robin Hudson's neverending analysis of her boyfriends - right or wrong - are captivating and carry the ring of truth for all of us no longer in our 30s and thoroughly involved in combining the memories of our youth with the realities of our 40s. Her calm acceptance of Murphy's Law as the most powerful force in her life gives us all hope as we trudge along in our own lives.

Robin Hudson is back on track after her introspective period in the previous book (Revenge of the Cootie Girls). Finding out why her crazy neighbor always hated her and that she has a body double was perfect. And the story was seemingly so "out there," yet science is starting to keep up with science fiction, so maybe it's not so far fetched. It was also a little sad reflecting on her relationships. Robin seems to be listening to her biological clock, but this book is very fun to read and should be read by anyone who has a sense of humor and likes mysteries.

My first experience of this series gave me everything I could hope for: suspense, excitement, laughter, and nourishment for my curiosity. It's a convincing thrill ride through the parts of Manhattan life that aren't usually shown in magazines (and I have reason to know). It's an intriguing look at how an underground movement might covertly operate. There's insight into politics at a big network (which the author has reason to know).

What I found most fascinating, though, was the interworkings of coincidence, and the heroine's ability to pull together seemingly diverse happenings, until a pattern emerges-the focus on the things you can find out if you just Pay Attention. The heroine is intelligent, courageous, and thinks like a woman-with both halves of her brain.

There is a satisfying, life-like feel to this book that really made me feel that I had been along for the adventure, and the exploration of the possibly diabolical uses of modern technology is timely and chilling.

Robin Hudson, newswoman, seems headed down the path to glory when she's sidetracked by a wandering amnesiac who hands her a hat. And down the rabbit hole she goes.

It's one zany scene after the other, full of witty dialogue and off-the-wall humor. When you're not laughing, you realize your faithful heroine is up to her lipstick in trouble.

Hayter puts together a fun tale of mystery and intrique with imagination and flair. Her protagonist is smart, the plot fanciful and fun. And besides, there's a cat in the book, and who can go wrong with a cat?

The downside is that the action was a bit hard to follow, and the clues and red herrings were so plentiful that I gave up trying to guess the outcome. But if you like your mysteries spiced with fun and frivolity; if you like your heroine just as spicy, then "The Last Manly Man" is for you.

Will success spoil Robin Hudson? Robin is rapidly climbing to the top ever since she spent a night of drinking with the CEO of All News Network. Now, Robin is a crack reporter who heads the special reports unit of ANN.

Instead of resting on her laurels, Robin continues to be an investigative reporter as she chases down a new street drug, Adam 1, which has a weird effect on the genders. It turns males into testosterone, chest beating Tarzan, while making women into docile servants. Before long, Robin finds herself abducted and taken to a nearby facility where illegal chemical research is being performed on chimps and now Laurel. Still, it remains for ANN's top reporter to find a way to stop a master villain from releasing Adam 1 into the air conditioning vents at a feminists' convention.

As with her previous Hudson stories, Sparkle Hayter scribes a witty satire that mixes a bit of speculative fiction with a wonderful mystery. The story line is a fast paced romp and Robin is a brilliant character. However, it is Ms. Hayter's ability to strip the genders that turns THE LAST MANLY MAN into a rousing, ironic battle between the sexes.

Harriet Klausner

The four Robin Hudson books has prompted me to think of Sparkle Hayter as one of my favourite authors. Still, 'The Last Manly Man' didn't seem quite as entertaining as the previous books.

I guessed where Hayter was going before she got there in most cases, and a good number of jokes just didn't do it for me. Robin herself remained in true form, but the supporting cast seemed a bit off... although I did enjoy learning that her neighbour wasn't quite as crazy as she has seemed in previous books.

Still, I will be on the look-out for the next Robin Hudson mystery, feeling confident that Hayter will come back around to where she was with "What's a Girl Gotta Do" and "Revenge of the Cootie Girls."

Sparkle Hayter has penned an exhilarating, rousing romp through NYC, full of zany adventures and loony characters. I loved the novel's rollicking pace. The dialogue, specifically the witty comments made by Robin Hudson separate this from any other novel of this genre I have read. I couldn't wait to read what Robin would say next.

This is an outstanding satire on modern relationships and issues or just life in general. Literacy aside, what makes the novel are so many off-beat characters and frantic plot twists. You never know what's around the next corner on this playful ride.

Everything seems to be going well in Robin Hudson's life ... especially since that night she spent drinking and verbalizing with ANN's billionaire owner, Jack Jackson. Her career as head of Special Reports Unit for the All News Network is taking off with her Man of the Future series, and she has two men of the present vying for her attentions. So why does she get involved with the man with the hat? Why is she down at the morgue looking at floaters? And why is she cancelling romantic evenings with a hunk to spend it with the underground animal liberation league? It becomes increasingly obvious that one of the millionaires she is interviewing for her Man of the Future series is behind the abduction of the bonobo chimps and the manufacture of Adam 1, a chemical compound which enhances a male's chest pounding and causes women to behave subserviently. After several narrow escapes, Robin is finally abducted, transported to an island research facility off Long Island, and subjected to chemical research. Freed with the libidious chimps in a night raid carried off by her fellow newsmen and the animal rights liberationists, she bribes Indian taxi cab drivers to get her and her chimps to the convention center in Manhattan before the master villain releases Adam 1 into the air conditioning vents at an international convention of feminists. With wit, satire, and a crystal ball, Hayter deals with the perennial fight for women's rights. As Robin Hudson says, why should women defer to the people who commit the most crimes, cause the most pollution, and start the most wars?

WHERE ROBIN HUDSON goes, dead men follow. In "The Last Manly Man," the fourth installment in Sparkle Hayter's mystery series, TV journalist Hudson's chance run-in with a mysterious death leads her to a brewing conspiracy ag ainst nothing less than man- and womankind. Unable to turn her back on her globa l responsibilities - and desperate for a story big enough to save her embattle d Special Reports unit at the station - Robin puts her life and romance(s) on hold to chase after bad guys and save some libidinous primates. The result is a clever, careening romp through New York City streets and the backbiting, bureauc racy-ridden world of corporate media, interspersed with callow eco-terrorists. Mystery fans won't be disappointed to find that Hayter once again meets the g enre's demands: fast-paced plotting, witty dialogue, fleshed-out characters and enough red herrings to distract from the real villains and maintain suspense. Bu t even readers who don't particularly take to whodunits are likely to enjoy the misanthropic Robin Hudson, "born after Sputnik and before color TV transmis sion." She fails as often as she succeeds, but manages to crack wise in eit her situation. For instance, at the brink of the story's climax, the bad guy s capture Robin and administer sodium pentothal, truth serum. She tries to resis t divulging critical information by concentrating on speaking whatever comes to her mind (which, very shortly, raises the question of who's torturing whom): "I just farted. I really do like Hanson. . . . My nose is itchy. I'm not a ver y good reporter. I screen my phone calls. My favorite Monkee was Davy Jones. My second favorite Monkee was Mike Nesmith . . ." This confessional banter builds no bonds between Robin and her captors, but there are those who find a c ertain charm in her wacky embrace of life. These fans include her downstairs nei ghbor, Sally, who runs a psychic hotline and monitors Hudson's aura, and the Ted Turner-esque Jack Jackson, Robin's boss ! at the fictitious ANN network, who calls her up to ask such questions as how exa ctly Robin pees standing up (a talent she claimed during a drunken tete-a-tete). One of our heroine's most endearing qualities is that she doesn't alwa ys get it right. She's messed up on the job enough times that she's punished wit h a staff that consists of everyone else's rejects: a litigious associate produc er, a production assistant with a stultifying case of low self-esteem, a hypocho ndriacal tape editor and interns dumped by the other news teams. Nor does Robin have it together in the romance department, ready and willing to blow off her tw o paramours even when they're desperate to talk to her, desperately unhappy or d esperately ready for the horizontal cha-cha for which Robin repeatedly proclaims great affection. "The Last Manly Man" makes for perfect reading ov er a beach weekend or a transcontinental flight. Hayter mixes welcome escapism a nd current affairs (still-timely topics such as White House interns, Rudy Giulia ni's "quality of life" campaign and news media gossip all make cameo a ppearances). The author's own biography might explain her adept balance between frolic and social commentary: A former TV journalist who covered the Afghan War, she has also logged time as a stand-up comic. Who knew the two vocations could find such a perfect fit?

By Lise Funderburg. Lise Funderburg is the author of "Black, White, Other: Biracial Americans Talk About Race and Identity." ;

Copyright 1998, Newsday Inc. Copyright 1998, Newsday Inc