Customer Reviews

Sideswipe

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

 

 

One of my favorite Willeford books. From start to finish, it never loses steam. The character of Stanley Sinkiewicz (Pop) is one of the funniest and most enjoyable characters in the crime novel genre. Troy Louden is a brilliantly structured psychopath. Troy and Pop create the most unlikely duo in crime, but you cannot get enough of them. Hoke's unsuccessful attempts at a very early retirement are hilarious as is his inept but somehow effective parenting of his two daughters. You can not go wrong with this one, folks!!

If you're wondering whether or not it is necessary to've read the first two Hoke Mosley books to appreciate Sideswipe...the answer is a resounding NO. This was my first Hoke book & I absolutely loved it. Willeford had an amazing gift. I never found myself wondering where the story was going. It didn't matter...his storytelling abilities are that good. If the book ever seems slow, it is because Willeford actually takes the time to let you become familiar with the characters. Sideswipe is, on occasion, ugly, but it is more often hilarious. Willeford has a way of making his heroes flawed enough to make them believable. I will read the other Hoke Mosley books, without trepidation, because of what I found in Sideswipe. The quirks of Hoke, Troy, Stanley & the other characters steal the show from the actual mystery. It's almost as if the criminal events were created as a stage to showcase these bizarre characters. The strength of Willeford lies not in the story itself, but more often in the telling of that story. I don't like to give away anything in my reviews, just enjoy a wonderful book.

This is it, the classic Florida crime novel. Hoke Moseley's no Travis McGee. In fact Hoke's a LOT like a real person. And poor Stanley, what a great character. This stuff is TRUE Florida, this is precisely what things are like here. Willeford's slow style is just to be enjoyed, he has so much compassion for these incredibly flawed people. One of the top ten ever Florida crime novels.

For Hoke Moseley, the simple life fantasy falls apart when the reality of Troy Louden intrudes. This is the best of the Hoke series. Off-beat, unstrained humor and a real psychopathic bad guy make this novel a must-read for police junkies. Adults only.

Charles Willeford has definitely improved with age. His earlier works were a mixed bag. Competent, but no humour. However since the 1980s Willeford has developed a sense of humour which matches his ability to crank out good crime stories, complete with memorable characters. 'Sideswipe' carries on in this tradition.

In 'Sideswipe' with have a violent ex-con, a disfigured ex-stripper, a retiree who just lost his wife, and a talentless artist caught up in some shenanigans. Solving the caper is Hoke Moseley, our quirky cop from the novel 'Miami Blues'. Actually most of 'Sideswipe' concentrates on Hoke and his odd family whereas the crime story itself is a relatively minor element to the book. But overall it works well. The overall effect is funny without being stupid.

Bottom line: competent and fun.

Charles Willeford's Hoke Moseley series is definitely different......

The lead character is a Miami policeman living with his two teenage daughters and sharing a house with his partner from work. He is no Miami Vice-type cop, he is struggling financially and not handling the pressures of work.

His answer is to have a nervous breakdown and take a month off work and manage his father's apartment complex. This way he hopes he can lead a simpler life.

Meanwhile we meet Stanley, a retired striper from a car factory in Detroit who is now retired and living in Miami with his wife. He is just living his life in limbo, not unhappy but not particularly happy either. Through an unfortunate set of circumstances, Stanley is arrested and sent to the local holding cell where he meets Troy, the self-confessed psychopath.

The book deals with Hoke's life jointly with the telling of Stanley's tale.

This book is not for everyone as it is not a massively complex James Ellroy-like crime novel and it isn't in the same vein as a Michael Connelly or James Lee Burke, but it is sufficiently quirky to be a good read.

I read it first in the mid-1990's and LOVED it then, re-reading it today, I am still impressed by the normality of the people in the story and how this can get shaken up by a series of events.

Recommended.

This was my first Charles Willeford novel. I was very eager to read a Hoke Moseley mystery. There is no doubt that Willeford can write and he deals out endless character development. My complaint is that until the flurry of excitement at the end, things just move to slow. I don't always sympathize or identify with Hoke Mosely either. I have a copy of "The way we die now" and will give Willeford and Hoke another shot. "Sideswipe" wasn't a bad book entirely, but at times it was a boring book.