PAST TENSE: A John Marshall Tanner Novel (John Marshall Tanner Mysteries) [Hardcover]

Stephen Greenleaf (Author)

Book Description

Series: John Marshall Tanner Mysteries | Publication Date: April 14, 1997

Tanner's relationship with Charley Sleet of the San Francisco Police Department has both personal and professional dimensions and has long been of vital importance to both men. Nothing could be more out of character than for Sleet to stand up in a civil courtroom and gun down a total stranger. Tanner's search for answers takes him deep into the heated controversy over claims of recovered memories of sexual abuse, into the darkly violent corridors of police corruption, and, most painfully of all, into the fearsome new contours of his best friend's mind.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Unlike some series writers who hit their peak early and then coast on past triumphs for the next dozen books, Stephen Greenleaf goes from strength to strength, stretching the boundaries of the genre without giving up its traditional values. His detective, Marsh Tanner, grows and changes with each outing, keeping our interest alive. In his latest, Tanner has to deal with a nasty mixture of sexual abuse and the controversy surrounding recovered memory. Greenleaf brings it all home in a scene where Tanner is playing with his baby daughter. "I was having a wonderful time until it occurred to me that at some point it would become wrong. At some point putting her on my lap, or letting her flop on my belly, or tickling her ribs and itching her nose and playing piggy with her toes will be inappropriate and even harmful, at least in the view of some. How was I supposed to know when that time had come?" Past Tanners available in paperback include Beyond Blame, False Conception and Flesh Wounds.

From Library Journal

The 12th John Marshall Tanner novel lives up to the tradition of excellence found in Greenleaf's recent Flesh Wounds (Scribner, 1996). San Francisco-based investigator Tanner tries to discover why his best friend, Charley Sleet?a police officer who is one of the best men he's ever known?shoots the defendant in a sexual abuse case involving incest, killing him in an open courtroom. As Tanner trails Sleet, trying to understand his shocking and dramatic change of character, he links him to subsequent murders. Living people populate this book. Tanner himself?moody, witty, and appealing?reveals his own dramas, ruminating and extemporizing on life's issues as he seeks out the mysteries of the human heart in a quest to save his friend from himself. Moving and full of valuable insights, this book belongs in all general collections.?Michelle Foyt, Berlin-Peck Memorial Lib., Kensington, Ct.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Scribner; 1ST edition (April 14, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684832496
• ISBN-13: 978-0684832494
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,357,632 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Greenleaf does it again!, May 15, 2000

By 

Jennifer Reed - See all my reviews

This review is from: PAST TENSE (John Marshall Tanner Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

I just discovered this P.I. series last month and love it! The writing is all-pro, the action is fast and fun, and the hero is truly likeable. There's no recovering alcoholic (thank God), no coincidences, no sterotypes. I was worried that this might be the last in the series as this, the last one so far, was written in 1997, but I see a new installment is due in July, 2000. Pick this book up! You'll be happy you did, and I bet you'll finish it in one day!

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Fairly Dark P.I. Novel, April 3, 2001

By 

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

This review is from: PAST TENSE (John Marshall Tanner Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

"Past Tense" was the first book that I have read in Stephen Greenleaf's John Marshall Tanner P.I. series. I read a lot of P.I. novels, and my usual rule is; the darker, the better. And that is why I found "Past Tense" to be a very engaging novel. Greenleaf is not a master of metaphor like Raymond Chandler with Phillip Marlowe or Loren Estleman with Amos Walker. And his Marsh Tanner is not a man battling personal demons like Lawrence Block's Matthew Scudder or Andrew Vachss' Burke. But the story here is worthy of any of those other anti-heros. One of Tanner's best friends, an honest cop, has suddenly gone on a revenge killing rampage. In the process, he has cut himself off from everyone who cares about him. Tanner investigates at first to find an answer to his baffling behavior, and then to try and save his life. The plot line is a bit convoluted and Greenleaf ends up relying on the old police corruption cliche, but it all leads to one of the more shocking endings I've seen in a P.I. novel.

Greenleaf may not be a writer whose style is equal to the masters of the genre. But with "Past Tense," he has delivered one quite memorable novel.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Here comes John Tanner again., October 19, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: PAST TENSE: A John Marshall Tanner Novel (John Marshall Tanner Mysteries) (Hardcover)

Another book from one of my favorite authors, and one of my favorite private detectives, John Marshall Tanner - from my area, San Francisco. Effortless, fast-paced, interesting sidebar on recovered memories.