Customer Reviews

The Left-handed Dollar (An Amos Walker Novels)

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

 

 

OK, I have read the 2 reviews here (so far). Harriet Klausner is the woman who reads 10 million books a year. I actually read this one and her "review" sounds like it is based on one of her cohort's quick reading of some press material about the book. Then there's the guy who just gave it zero stars. He hated the book and advises us to read Vince Flynn instead. That pretty much says it all. He likes Vince Flynn, a very popular, and patriotic writer who doesn't employ the sort of wit and sarcasm that this author does. So the zero star rating is more of a rating of that reviewer's inability to "get" what he is trying to read. Oh well.

With that being said, this book is exactly what it is: a tribute in a way to the wise-cracking noir detective novels that inspire this entire genre. Our private detective is driving around in his junker Detroit product. The one that looks like crap but is so highly tuned up and ready to instantly accelerate that the police tails he leaves behind must be stunned whenever he does it. There's a couple of great Chinese characters here. The aunt. a former heroin supplier, and her niece, a physical therapist who could cripple you with one quick move.

I'm not giving anything away here. It is what it is; amusing, well written, but not a classic. This is pure mind candy for lovers of detective novels. The author is a pro. He ain't Vince Flynn. Thank heaven for that!

I have read all Amos Walker detective stories so you know what platform I am standing on. I have also read all other Loren D Estleman books except his western stories. "Peeper" is by far the most funny book I can remember reading. I still recall almost falling out of my bed and my wife asking me to stop reading because I was waking up the children.

Amos Walker must be close to 60 years old by know. He is a veteran from the Vietnam war. He does not have a lot to show up as result of these hard years except a nasty drinking and smoking habit. Amos has always been a very hard boiled classic private eye. A gun (or two), alcohol, cigarettes, a old but fast car, no money, few friends and no love live. Getting close to 60 nothing has changed and that makes it a little less plausible. No one goes through this hard life without damages that will slow you down.

In this book Amos is showing a development that makes the book harder to read and like. He is starting to talk more and more in riddles. Like Lucille says "It's just that you can't say anything in one word when ten will do just well". Amos is trying very hard to make every sentence into some "hard boiled" wisecrack. It is getting so hard to decipher that the reading slows down and the flow of the story suffers. I had to reread several sentences and sometimes whole pages just to understand what it was all about. Sometimes I could not after reading about a meeting tell what kind of information was really exchanged. This is not the fault of Amos but of course of Mr Estleman. The dialogue is simply like a prime steak more than well done. It is getting close to charcoal. It is time to step in and let Amos talk like a normal person at least every second sentence. Or maybe meet people that talk like normal people and not like Amos. Just to get the flow of the story and the reading up to normal speed again.

Don't get me wrong. There are a lot of memorable sentences in the text I would like to keep (like "It wasn't a night for drinking Noel Coward style") but unfortunately even more that could have been deleted.

I will continue to read all Estleman books (except the Westerns) but I hope there will be a slight shift in Amos way of talking and maybe some adaption to who he really is. I do wish him a happy love life but why not with lady that is more than half his age?

Finally, now I have very late in life learned what a hang-over is good for. Thank you Mr Walker!

The car bombing left Detroit investigative journalist Barry Stackpole disfigured and still healing from his injuries. The police arrests mobster Joseph "Joey Ballistic" Ballista on charge of attempted murder as the bombing has his "DNA" trademark and a "witness" has stepped forward. A jury convicts Ballistic known for his rage and his pleasure in blowing up things.

Ballista's lawyer, Lucille "Lefty Lucy" Lettermore hires private investigative Amos Walker to find evidence that her client did not bomb Stackpole's car. Although he knows his only friend Stackpole will be livid, Walker takes the case as the attorney persuades him her client is innocent. Instead of tracking Ballista's steps right before the car bombing Walker interviews lying former wives and probes into what the informant who accused Ballistics of the crime was doing at the time of the explosion and what his or her motive is. His efforts do not prevent more murders from occurring; it probably is the catalyst.

The latest Walker hardboiled Motor City private investigative thriller (see American Detective) is a great entry that plays out on two interrelated levels. First there is the usual kick-butt Walker inquiry; and second is Stackpole's feeling betrayed. Fast-paced with several terrific twists, The Left-Handed Dollar is a great Michigan mystery.

Harriet Klausner

This is a decent Amos Walker book, but there are better ones. It was a little predictable and the plot just wasn't that interesting. But a bad Amos Walker book is better than most good ones.

My wife's been a big fan of Loren D. Estleman since before we were married, but I never read any of his novels. When the chance to read his latest book, The Left-Handed Dollar, came up, I jumped at the opportunity. I had to see what had kept her enthralled all of these years - and it was definitely worth it. Dive right in. The water's fine.

The Left-Handed Dollar is another in the long series of books about private detective and Detroit native Amos Walker. He's been hired by a crafty lawyer, Lucille Lattermore (known as "Lefty Lucy"), to clear the name of noted mobster Joey "Ballistic" Ballista. Unfortunately for Amos, the crime he's been asked to clear him of is the bombing (and maiming) of his best friend, investigative reporter Barry Stackpole. That could cause problems. So could the fact that former witnesses and potential snitches are dropping like flies around him.

Estleman's story fits like a well-worn glove, including all the comfortable tropes I hadn't realized were missing from some of the other mysteries I've read lately. Walker is the perfect example of the hard-boiled detective, slightly modernized. A private investigator who has an unstable relationship with the police. He's not swimming in money, and he's a loner at heart (though Amos was apparently married at one time). While he has recently become more familiar with wireless technology, he still doesn't like using computers.

Estleman's characters bring The Left-Handed Dollar to life with crackling dialogue and a couple of femmes fatales. Walker's cynicism is on display, his intelligence and quick wit, too. The others involved in the investigation are given enough depth that the reader doesn't have a clue who the culprit is.

The city of Detroit almost qualifies as a character itself. Estleman illustrates the class differences in the variety of Detroit suburbs, the corruption that has been part of the city's history, even the at-times strange weather. For a rather short book, he spends a lot of time describing Walker's surroundings and some of the historical and social aspects of the area he's driving around in. It's interesting this time around, though if that's a regular feature of Estleman's novels, it could get tedious.

The best thing about the book, however, is the wonderful detective atmosphere that Estleman provides. You can tell he's been writing this character for thirty years. Despite some of the modern conveniences, Walker is an old-school detective, the very definition of "hard-boiled." No amount of updating can remove that attitude. I can almost picture him in a trench coat and hat.

While no novel is ever perfect, any faults in The Left-Handed Dollar are so insignificant that they don't detract from any enjoyment the novel brings. If you don't like hard-boiled detective novels, there is nothing for you here. But if you're a fan of the genre and haven't checked Estleman out, this is as good a place to start as any.

Originally published on Curled Up With A Good Book © Dave Roy, 2011

Having read a number of Loren Estleman's works, primarily his Amos Walker detective series, I feel entitled to comment on this latest installment. On the plus side, The Left-Handed Dollar delivers the essential ingredients of the usual witty Walker whodunit. I did, however, notice a few rough patches along the way. None of the characters struck me as particularly sympathetic or involving, the hometown Detroit references seemed a little snarkier this time around, the author drops more unnecessary "f-bombs" than I remember from his past books, and the wisecracking repartee gets a little excessive. It seems that every conversation with Walker is an exchange of one-liners. I realize that cagey dialog is an essential staple of the genre, and Estleman is especially good at it, but in this volume it becomes sometimes irritatingly unrealistic. And then I got to the end. (WARNING! SPOILER ALERT!) It rarely if ever makes sense for the murderer to be the client who hired the detective. Why bring in a snoop, especially a capable one, to dig into one's evil-doings? I read the passage explaining the murderer's motives twice and I'm still not sure if I get it exactly. This latest Amos Walker novel is solid enough, but not among his best. For anyone interested, I'd recommend "Retro," "American Detective," "Lady Yesterday," "Sweet Women Lie," "The Smile On The Face Of The Tiger," or (going way back) "Motor City Blue."

This is only the third Amos Walker that I've read, but I can make a couple of observations. Walker is a heavier, seedier version of Philip Marlowe. He is also not adverse to breaking the law to solve his cases. He owns a set of lock picks for instance which carries a jail term if caught with them. Otherwise there's nothing much unique about him.

In this episode, Walker takes a case working for Lucille Lettermore (Think Kathy Bates on "Harry's Law") otherwise known as "Lefty Lucy," known to take cases other lawyers wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole. Think Manson; think Kevorkian. Lettermore wants to prove that mafiosa Joey Ballista, alias Joey Ballistic, had nothing to do with the dynamiting of an investigative journalist friend of Amos's Barry Stackpole, who barely survived the attack. Stackpole is Amos's one and only friend. Stackpole is not happy about what he considers a betrayal.

The action is set in Detroit but most of it occurs on the outskirts, which gives Estleman a chance to show off his descriptive chops. At least he puts the description in the right place, between action scenes, something you can't say about certain alphabetic mystery writers.

Amos sets out to find out who tipped the investigating officer that Joey Ballistic was involved in the dynamiting. He interviews Joey's ex-wife and her British partner who now run a design firm; he also pursues an ex-hooker who turns up dead, and a former partner of Joey's, heroin trafficker Lee Tan and her protective daughter.

You won't be able to pick out the culprit who seems bent on killing off anyone who had anything to do with the dynamiting. Estleman hides him/her too well, but that's about the only compliment I can come up with. Joey Ballistic is an unsympathetic character. Who cares if Walker exonerates him of the dynamiting. The only other character who is remotely interesting is Barry Stackpole who walks around with a plate in his head from the dynamiting and seems to lead a lonely existence. If you've read all twenty of the Amos Walker episodes, you probably know Barry pretty well, but I could've used some more back story. "Lefty Lucy" is also intriguing but Walker doesn't do a whole lot with her.

Elmore Leonard provides a blurb on the cover: "No one does it better." I can think of a few people: Raymond Chandler himself, Travis McGee creator John D. MacDonald, and even Leonard himself, although he's been going down hill himself lately.

I tried.I tried.I tried! The one review that's on Amazon,at the time I write this, must have been written by the author. This book is one bit of verbal "slap-stick" after another and another and so on and so forth. Every page is full of comedic want-a-be verbal garbage. From the review I read prior to downloading, I thought I'd enjoy it especially since the story takes place in motown- where I live. Plus the review of 4+ stars convinced me to download. I managed to stay half focused through a quarter of the book and just couldn't go on. I'm an avid reader and when it comes to a good mystery I simply devour them- not this one though. I could be proven wrong only time will tell how this book does.

My recommendation : don't waste your money- go read a Vince Flynn novel-you won't be able to put it down!


TB