Shaft's Carnival of Killers [Mass Market Paperback]

Ernest Tidyman (Author)

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback
• Publisher: Bantam (1974)
• ASIN: B000I901WA
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 0.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,098,531 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars It's okay, but not brillant..., November 28, 2009

By 

Joel B. Kirk (Bay Area, CA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shaft's Carnival of Killers (Mass Market Paperback)

Shaft is taking a vacation in Jamaica--specifically on the beach enjoying the sun--until he comes across a beautiful girl who is being chased by two men. Stopping the two men, Shaft is taken in by Jamaican police who inform Shaft the men are also police.

Shaft is then drafted to look over the Jamaican Prime Minister who has had attempts on his life; questions arise on whether or not it is the girl Shaft helped, or the Prime Minister's mistress, or someone else?

The book has a good pace, and tells a story that is easy to follow.

Some nitpicks that bring down the score:

Sometimes Shaft acts like a jerk. We know him to be a cool dude, but the novel doesn't paint Shaft in a positive light...or as a person who handles things with class.Moreover, there are some bits of language that I--as a black-American and as a male--don't find appropriate for Shaft to be saying...i.e. a term directed towards women, and the usage of the 'n' word.

Again, Shaft is supposed to be a bit more classy than that.

The ending is not very clear as well: Is the girl Marita Dawes really holding a bomb on the plane, or is she a figment of Shaft's imagination...or...?

Since there are a couple more books in the Shaft novel series after this one, we gather Shaft is still with us.

This book was interesting, and I see myself reading this book again; I do hope to see an author bring Shaft to the 21st century where he is depicted as the classy, cool gentleman he is supposed to be.