Customer Reviews

The Rainy City (Anderson Price Promo)

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

 

 

Emerson's Thomas Black Mysteries are all great BUT, up until Thomas Black finally marries Kathy, he is overly obsessed with women (including Kathy). You know what I mean. Every time a woman (kathy included) appears (not just in her initial introduction but EVERY time she steps on the page) Emerson drools over how perfectly gorgeous, sexy etc. etc. her eyes are and her hair is and her legs are. Over and over. Hey I don't need to be told over and over the color of someones eyes, hair, skin. I mean what is this? Emerson trying to fill-up the pages or is he just a shallow sexist jerk. And naturally most all the women in his books are stunning beauties all hot to trot or they are sick pathetic gutter dogs. The men are usually ugly, potbellied freaks.

Out side of that, Emerson's Thomas Black Mysteries are superior to most of what's out there. Full of fun and wit. Interesting plots that have depth and breadth. Highly recommended.

Now, his Mac Fontana Mysteries are not very good. In fact it's hard to believe Emerson wrote them.

Thomas Black Mysteries: in order, first to last The Rainy City, Poverty Bay, Nervous Laughter, Fat Tuesday, Deviant Behavior Yellow Dog Party, The Portland Laugher, The Vanishing Smile, The Million-Dollar Tattoo, Catfish Café.

Mac Fontana Mysteries: in order, first to last Black Hearts and Slow Dancing, Help Wanted: Orphans Preferred, Morons and Madmen, Going Crazy in Public, The Dead Horse Paint Company

This is the first Thomas Black mystery I read. The book is well plotted and reads fast. The action scenes are hardboiled. I almost gave this four stars but I didn't really like any of the characters. Would it have killed the author to put in at least one normal character and some normal human emotions. Perhaps Seattle has an unusually high percentage of mentally ill and/or deranged people but I doubt it. On page 1 Black's dog is killed. Black doesn't shed a tear but rather he gives us a gardening tip--plant roses over a dog's grave--what's with that?

"The Rainy City" is the first novel in the Thomas Black series by Earl Emerson. It is set in Seattle, and the atmosphere is very realistic. Black and his friend, Kathy Birchfield (who is a clown, literally) are entertaining and totally believable. The plot is very good, and anyone contemplating reading the entire series should begin with this novel. The character development throughout the series (the last being "Catfish Cafe") is excellent and a lot of fun to watch. This is a fine debut novel for Earl Emerson.

A compelling mystery, set in the "rainy city". The setting and shops will be familiar to fans and residents of Seattle. It reminded me a bit of the cable TV show Medium, for those of you who are familiar.

The story is about a private detective, Thomas Black, who is hired by an intuitive/slightly mystical woman (Kathy). She is convinced that her friend has gone missing, but Thomas, the police, and everyone else just assume the missing woman is just another unhappy young wife who left her husband.

However, Thomas slowly begins to recognize that Kathy does indeed seem to have unusual abilities. With her help, they soon get ~too~ close to discovering the missing woman...and they both find themselves in danger.

"The Rainy City" by Earl Emerson is the first book in the Thomas Black mystery series. The series is set in Seattle, and the author's writing aptly evokes that city's locale and atmosphere. Naturally, the author introduces us to the characters in this book: Thomas Black, 30-something former cop who is now a private detective, and his basement tenet and friend Kathy, a law student who performs as a clown as her part-time work. Thomas left the police force after a self-defense shooting of a young man who was engaged in a criminal activity, and now he does not carry a gun unless he is willing to use it. Emerson creates Thomas as a clever-tongued and mostly nice-guy sort.

In this book, Kathy ropes Thomas into searching for her missing friend. Kathy has "intuitions" that make her fear her friend is in trouble. Black finds a complex marital situation, a dysfunctional family situation, some very creepy characters, and major business fraud as he delves into the case. Overall, the plot is an engrossing one, and the characters are generally worth spending time with.

Emerson's writing feels a little forced as one might expect from a first book. The relationship between Thomas and Kathy is also somewhat forced in that the dialogue is off at times and Kathy's pushiness is too much.