Customer Reviews

McNally's Chance (Windsor Selection)

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

 

 

Vincent Lardo's Archy McNally is feeling more and more comfortable to me. It's tough to take over for a writer as loved as Lawrence Sanders, but Mr. Lardo is up to the challenge.

This time Archy's parents are away on a cruise and his female love interest is barely seen. That certainly keeps those characters fresh for future Mcnally exploits, and seems a good ploy to me.

Even his crony in the Palm Beach Police Department has a lower than usual profile this time. Archy's pal Binky has the biggest part among the usual recurring characters, so we get to share his misadventures.

It's the usual lighthearted romp among the rich and infamous on the island of Palm Beach. Lots of setup and many a red herring along the way, punctuated with a fair share of laughs.

If you are looking for a deep and complicated hardboiled noirish mystery, look elsewhere...but if a little tongue in cheek and mystery-lite sounds like a good change of pace, then "McNally's Chance" is for you.

It is fast read and an enjoyable book from start to finish.

Enjoy this one.

Surely y'all know by now that Lawrence Sanders has been dead a couple of years at least, and yet out keep rolling the McNally series. From tiny fine print on the first, to his name on the cover of this one (the third), Vincent Lardo has to me done a very credible job carrying on our leading man for Sanders' estate. (I know one fan insists Lardo was ghost writing the series even earlier -- could be true for all I know...)

We have here the familiar trappings: Archie's three mile swims, cocktail hours, journal writing, almost more than we can take of his wardrobe analysis. But a decent enough plot with first one, then two, then three real villains kept me guessing til almost the end. And with his father out of town, and girlfriend Connie at bay for a change, we didn't get quite the heavy dose of sameness that would make the series boring.

I'm up for several more. And by the way, how come Robert Goldsborough, similarly "selected" by Rex Stout's estate, hasn't written any more Nero Wolfe's ?!?! Vincent, you game ??

Bought the book and read it cover to cover in one sitting! I had mixed feelings that the Archie McNally series was taking a turn for the worse after reading the last Vincent Lardo book but he's getting more into the character. I can't give it five stars but four is hi praise from this avid series admirer.

I, for one, am very thankful that Mr. Lardo has continued the McNally series. I love the characters and while this was not my favorite McNally book it was still McNally and still a fun read. With a few more twists than normal this book requires a little more attention than others in the series. A fun summertime book.

I had loved the McNALLY books when their creator, Lawrence Sanders, died. Vincent Lardo, who took over this series at the behest of the Sanders' estate, has done the impossible. He has inhabited another author's characters without a missed beat.

The new, Lardo-penned McNALLY books are every bit as good as the Sanders originals, and that's saying a lot.

McNALLY'S CHANCE is another face-paced, gripping romp, set in Palm Beach among the beau monde. Reading it is as good as week's vacation in Florida.

This one is probably the best read in the entire McNally series to date. The ending is a bit weak in one or two places, Archie is a little too taken by Bianca Courtney, and I doubt we will hear much more about Henry Peavy, but the book is still a great read. Read, enjoy and savor.

In Florida, popular romance writer Sabrina Wright hires Palm Beachs private investigator Arch McNally to find her missing husband. The experienced Arch figures this to be a relatively easy case until he uncovers Sabrinas real agenda. Apparently her daughter Gillian recently learned that her mothers husband is not her biological father. Gillian seeks her real dad.

When the news leaks out among the rich and richer, three males try to hire Arch to keep a lid on the story. Sabrina had affairs with all three at about the time she became pregnant and each one has since been paying under the table child support to keep the author quiet. Now that the story is becoming public, someone kills Archs client. This leaves the sleuth to wonder how far an individual would go to keep a lid on the secret and will that include potentially murdering a detective who is close to figuring out the full truth.

McNALLYS CHANCE is much more complicated than the above two paragraphs reveals or the confusing title that has Lawrence Sanders name in big print while crediting Vincent Lardo in much smaller type. The story line is exciting due to Archs demeanor as the convoluted case keeps him bewildered yet making progress even after the homicide of his client. Mr. Lardo provides a strong tale that would have pleased the late great Mr. Sanders, creator of Arch.

Harriet Klausner

In McNally's CHANCE Lardo definitely had Archy down and strutting with the same wit and charm which Sanders conjured in the pilot to this series, McNally's SECRET. I was instantly mesmerized by Lardo's opening detailing of The Character of a famous female romance novelist, Sabrina Wright; her evolving situation held my interest with no lulls allowed.

I was still noticing a slight edge of anger to Lardo's Archy (in this 3rd novel from Lardo, 10th in the series) which I hadn't felt with Sanders' version of the man, but the edgy persona continued to work well. I also noticed that some of the characters which Lardo seemed to warm least to, Connie and The Pater, were downplayed or absent through most of this plot.

With Prescott McNally on a cruise with his wife, Archy was set up to make his own decisions about to take or not to take on a client, and in all cases he resisted, through his own terms and qualms. In prior novels, especially those authored by Sanders, Archy's father usually assigned clients to his son (often after dinner, in the "Dickens" den). In this sense, I noticed again the control factor mentioned in my review of DILEMMA which had Archy more at the helm of his life, instead of flowing with it in a sort of Huckleberry Finn style, which Sanders' Archy seemed to do.

This being the third offering from Lardo, I've become adapted to the intenser masculinity in Lardo's Archy, so I was automatically able to flow easily with the mood in CHANCE. Interest in the plot, which successfully attempted a few unique twists and tangs from the norm in detective novels, was maintained steadily at a pleasantly satisfying level. As Sanders had done, Lardo toyed with female types and Archy's automatic responses to them, along with his failed efforts to resist their intrigues and remain faithful to Connie, an effort which was beginning to chafe ominously in CHANCE (if not before).

I was impressed that Archy didn't fall into Sabrina's feminine "spells." In fact, I found it surprisingly refreshing that he maintained a sort of sexual distance this novel. His libido was noticeably dormant during the first half of the story (but not in the last half, in which he didn't have the last laugh). I enjoyed Archy's warm exchanges with Binky, Al, Jamie, Ursi, and the Pettibones, along with the subplot tangles among these characters and the ones new to CHANCE.

However, the subtle, intriguing discontent I sensed in Archy here made me wonder if Lardo may have had a surge of feeling the drain of taking over another author's program, instead of flying on one of his own creations. I empathize with Lardo, as I also admire the skill and dedication with which he's handled this series so far. Selfishly, I'm thankful that I've been able to easily enjoy each novel in this series, and the transition to Lardo's "show" was not only easy, but gave fascinating opportunities to observe this type of take-over situation between two authors holding a paradox of distinctly different, yet somewhat similar personalities and writing styles.

I'm sure I'm not alone in hoping to see evidence soon that Vincent Lardo's almost finished with a new Archy McNally novel, which would be # 14 (Lardo's # 7). At least I have 3 more to go prior to any onset of panic prefacing a second grieving for Archy's demise. Luckily, this series is rich enough to be reread, with possibly more satisfaction than the first time around.

Linda Shelnutt

Outrageously entertaining! One of the best Mc'nally's I've read. Lardo keeps you grinning right from the gun... His analogies are remarkable to say the least. How clever, three lovers, one mommy and one thirty year old offspring trying to discover just who her papa is. Don't miss this one, I couldn't put it down.

I have very mixed feelings about this book. Although it was an enjoyable read, I think it very unfair to call this an Archy McNally book. So many of our favorite traps that create the mood were missing-- Archy rarely wrote in his diary; he never went for an ocean swim; he did not wear berets or tassled pink loafers; he did not settle down in the evening in a kimono for a marc and a recording of Ella Fitzgerald; he did not sing while he drove; the vivid descriptions of food and clothing were missing; the usual flirting between Archy and Mrs. Trelawny became snide insults; and I could go on and on. In the past women have always flocked to Archy, but here his pursuit of Bianca seemed lecherous. He was nasty to Binky, who in the past Archy has affectionately tolerated. Also I found it annoying the way Mr. Lardo felt it necessary to casually mention things from other books- Dr. Gussie Pearlberg, Hobo-- that had no place here, but show that Mr. Lardo has read the other books. The story was interesting, but the end was a cop out. I had to re-read the last 20 pages twice because it didn't make sense. This book is in no way an Archy McNally novel. I suggest Mr. Lardo re-read all the Lawrence Sanders' Archy novels in one sitting and then try again.