When he learns his old flame has been murdered by her husband, Los Angeles private investigator Aaron Gunner traverses the city only to capture an innocent man, while a psychotic killer from a previous case stalks his footsteps.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
Haywood returns to his slick black detective character Aaron Gunner for the first time since You Can Die Trying, and it's good to be back cruising the streets of Los Angeles in Gunner's bright red Cobra. Gunner himself is fueled largely by anger, and this story of abused women and the people who make a living from their troubles gives him ample reason for rage.
From Publishers Weekly
Aaron Gunner, one of a growing number of notable fictional black sleuths including Easy Rawlins, Marti MacAlister and Blanche White, drives the meanest streets of South-Central L.A. in a bright red Cobra. The fourth Gunner mystery, and the first since 1993's You Can Die Trying, finds the PI trying to cope with the murder of a former girlfriend caught in an abusive relationship while he does a bit of skip-tracing for Best Way Electronics owner Roman Goody. Finding the skip suspect brings more trouble and pain than he?or his client?bargained for. And searching for Nina Pearson's killer leads him to a sequence of victims' stories that are as ugly as the title promises. He finds these stories at Sisterhood House, a shelter where Nina stayed; at the law firm that fired her; at the studio of a photographer documenting the lives of abused women. Giving Gunner a searing anger at those who show disrespect for and mistreat others, Haywood surrounds his detective with a vibrant cast of minor characters, all of whom leave strong impressions.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
The mean streets of South Central L.A.,
By A Customer
This review is from: It's Not a Pretty Sight (Aaron Gunner Mysteries) (Hardcover)
Gar Anthony Haywood's It's Not a Pretty Sight is a gritty story that takes place on the streets of South Central Los Angeles. They are, indeed, not a pretty sight. In addition to the mystery, Haywood portrays the tragedy of life, sometimes the hopelessness and certainly the pain. But he also reveals the good that can survive amidst evil and death and pain, the roses that grow among the most robust of weeds. Aaron Gunner, p.i., seeker after the truth, learns that Nina Hillman has been killed and the police are looking for her estranged husband, Michael Pearson. Gunner's reaction is dictated by the past. He has never been able to forget an abused woman he chose not to help who was found dead the next day, killed by her abuser. Gunner blamed himself for her death. Also ten years ago, Gunner had been planning to marry Nina, but broke it off just three months before the wedding. Again he blames himself a little for her death. So he determines that he will avenge her death and, when Michael Pearson attacks him, he fires back and gravely wounds him. But Pearson insists that he did not kill Nina and gives Gunner his alibi. Gunner, alone of everyone who knew Nina, began to doubt Pearson's guilt. So he initiated a one-man crusade to discover who was guilty. On his quest he learns about abuse, why men hit on women and why women often do not leave these men. He also discovers relationships which sometimes fester and turn sour. One by one all the people who had reason to hate Nina are exposed and then cleared. The loner continues to search for justice and truth until he finds them. Gunner is a complex and somewhat enigmatic man who does seem to be first cousin to Shane and all the other cowboys who rode into town at high noon. The bit players are well developed and memorable as well. The setting is authentic, from the barber shop where Gunner has his "office" to the bar where he drinks when he is depressed. The only quarrel I had with this book was the solution to the murder; I felt Haywood reached a bit to select the murderer. However, I did not catch the clues that he had dropped so lightly and so delicately. I went back and looked; they were all there. If you enjoy tough p.i.'s and mean streets and straight-forward stories, this is a book you will savor. I found the character of Gunner redeeming and ethical, a man who supersedes his environment and typifies all the virtues and vices by which the human animal survives
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