Customer Reviews

Red Iron Nights: A Garrett. P.I., Novel

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

 

 

Garrett and his partner the Dead Man go from famine to a plethora of cases in this novel. Garrett only has to follow one of the local soapbox conspiracy orators after he is released from prison, find a green butterfly belching serial killer and find the wayward daughter of the boss of the underworld. He accomplishes this in his usual way, and manages to rescue 3 damsels in distress along the way. Of course things do get a little interesting after the serial killer dies, and still keeps on killing. But that is almost par for the couse in TunFaire a real melting pot for all sorts from this fantasy world.

I enjoyed reading this even though at times, I felt that Cook was flat out telling the reader the solution prior to his character's enlightenment. This did not lessen the enjoyment any. And Cook still managed to get enough in to set up for his next book. I would definitely reccomend this one if you like Same Spade style mysteries and fantasy.

This is the 6th in Cook's Garrett series ("Sweet Silver Blues," "Bitter Gold Hearts," "Cold Copper Tears," "Old Tin Sorrows," "Dread Brass Shadows," "Red Iron Nights," "Deadly Quicksilver Lies," "Petty Pewter Gods," "Faded Steel Heat," "Angry Lead Skies," and "Whispering Nickel Idols"). It's a good book, but the pacing could use some work. Also, Cook introduces several minor plot elements and does very little with them until the end. One of them, having to do with Morley, he doesn't do anything with (like explain it) at all. Regarding recurring motifs in the series, in this book, Cook introduces Chodo's daughter and the Parrot. His introduction of the Parrot is disappointing considering its prevalance in later books (if you don't know to watch for it, you'd miss it entirely). But, still, overall, a very good book. I rate it at 4 stars out of 5.

BTW: At the time of this review, this book is long out of print. It's tough to find anywhere. As an alternative, look around for the SFBC's "Garrett, P.I.." This book is part of that collection.

Red Iron Nights is the sixth Garrett PI novel, and a new beginning for Garrett. Crime Lord Chodo Contague is (involuntarily) semi-retired, and it is no longer a constant worry to Garrett to be thought his employee. On the other hand, Crask and Sadler now appear to be running the underworld, and that's not necessarily for the better, either. But it turns out that Chodo has a beautiful, crazy daughter, who could really use a knight-in-shabby-armour to lend a hand.

This time around, Garrett is retained by the forces of law and order (as far as such things go in TunFaire) to investigate a Jack-the-Ripper like serial killer. As it turns out, the serial killer is more than he seems at first glance - there is an ancient curse involved, with magical glowing butterflies. There is also a mad street preacher, and things are beginning to change in TunFaire now. Maybe that's due to Garrett, indirectly.

So there is a killer to be caught, a mystery to solve, a pretty girl to rescue, and a pair of psychopathic killers to run out of town. That all sounds like a good day's work. As always, Garrett is on the case, and as always, TunFaire is a wonderfully set stage on which he can walk, stumble, trip, and fall. To top things off, the book ends with Morley Dotes thinking that Garrett could use a talking parrot as a new pet.

This volume is out of print - I had to borrow it. It's a real shame, as all the of Garrett novels really should be in print, and selling like hotcakes. Cross-genre hardboiled fantasy noir has never been so much fun.

This 6th volume of Garrett's novels is as interesting as the previous ones although less lively. The plot is kind of original and entirely different from the others. However, there are not as many fightings as on the 5th one making it less fun. Still a great book though, only for Cook's skill.

GOOD book for a rainy day. Has some plot twists that can only occur in a world with magic. Excellent characters. Glen Cook is my number one favorite author.

The whole Garrett series is fantastic and this is just another great example. A spectacular mix of Chandler-esque P.I. work and surrealistic fantasy.

Glen Cook has been a favorite of mine for years. I was saddened by his passing but thankful for what he contributed. This particular book continues to showcase the haphazard life of the eyebrow raising Garrett, P.I. Not quite as dark as the Black Company series, but still realistic and amusing. Oh, and thanks to Martin for introducing me to Cook. Hope you still like Australia!