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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
powerful crime thriller, December 27, 2005
This review is from: Rain Dogs (Mass Market Paperback)
His daughter would have turned five yesterday if she had not died. Former Chicago reporter Tom Coleman celebrated the day by getting drunk in a cheap motel room. His marriage ended with their child's death so no one will care except perhaps the lawyers at Tyler & Tyler in the "Heart City" Valentine, Nebraska. They expected him three days ago to discuss the will of his late grandfather Parker, who he had only seen a few times as the man had turned into a cantankerous hermit since his wife died.
Tom mulls over what to do with the canoe business on the Niobrara River his grandfather left him. He figures he has nothing else so why not make a go at it though he is not so certain about the pot using employee Duane Foster he also inherited. Tom also hopes to hook up with his college girlfriend widow Abby though he is not as certain about her unruly teenage stepson Scott. The DEA scrutinize Tom when a methyl-amphetamine lab blows up near his property. Unable to stop his journalist genes, Tom, over the warning from the local and federal law enforcement, investigates drug trafficking in the heartland.
The key to this powerful crime thriller is Tom who holds the exciting story line together with his shaky relationships with his family, his ex, and his new acquaintances. In many ways his only friend is the bottle though he tries to score with Abby even as he cannot stand the moody Scott. The drug investigation is cleverly devised so that the reader obtains a strong mystery, but the RAIN DOGS belong to Tom terrific, who drinks to hide his loneliness and fear that he is just like his grouchy grandfather.
Harriet Klausner
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Doolittle's Plains Elegy, February 27, 2006
This review is from: Rain Dogs (Mass Market Paperback)
If you like your mystery anchored by a rock-solid plot, enhanced by sharply-drawn characters who act like real people, and speak believable dialogue, topped off by a setting so starkly and vividly and gorgeously described, that (like a John Ford landscape), it is nearly another character itself, then Sean Doolittle's "Rain Dogs" is for you.
A native Nebraskan himself, Doolittle places his story among the sand dunes and prairie grass of the northwestern part of that state. In language reminiscent of the best of Hemingway, he sets his scene: "It felt like nothing but sky here. No buildings, hardly a tree- just a kingdom of grass in all directions, a world of sky meeting the low horizon all around."
Against this backdrop, Doolittle paints a shifting mirage of a story, a tale the truth of which shifts with the narrative. For the pigments in this painting, the author uses unforgettable characters to move his story along: characters such as Tom Coleman, the brooding, haunted narrator, attempting to anesthetize the pain of an unspeakable tragedy with alcohol and isolation. Joining Coleman in this endeavor is an unforgettable supporting cast, including a practically homeless burn-out who is more than he appears to be, an angry fifteen-year-old who is (in all but one way) exactly what he appears to be, a former lover who appears by turns to be both Tom's past and his future, and a wildlife journalist who is anything but what he appears to be.
Doolittle is not a thriller writer, and is willing to take the time to let his story unfold. The fact that he is able to do so while keeping the pace steady and holding the reader's interest, speaks to the power of Doolittle's writing, and his facility for building the tension in his narrative by slow degrees. From the first page till the haymaker of a conclusion, Doolittle's narrative never falters.
And the payoff is well worth the effort. Doolittle's language will stick with you long after you've finished one of his books. This writer is a comer.
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Realistic Characters, April 21, 2006
This review is from: Rain Dogs (Mass Market Paperback)
Don't read this book for the mystery, it is not very good, but that doesn't matter. This book is terrific for the characters.
The characters in the book are realistic. From the depressed main character who has quit his big city reporter job to run his late grandfather's canoe and camping gropund, to the local sheriff and deputies to the punk kids messing with drugs, the personalities all run true.
The reporter returns to his father's hometown and gets mixed up in drug deals when he would rather drink himself into oblivion over the loss of his daughter. There is no heroism here nor good feeling endings, just realism.
The writing is good. Mr. Doolittle has a stark and economical style that matches the tone of the book and keeps it moving. The plot leaves something to be desired, but it is more a vehicle to showcase the personalities and tribulations of the characters than the be all of the book.
As depressing as all this sounds - drinking, depression, etc., the book is not tear-jerker. It is the account of people, men and women, working through life's vicissitudes. Some do it successfully, others do not. Highly recommended. I will go on to other books by Mr. Doolittle.
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