Customer Reviews

Slow Burn

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

 

 

Even though I figured out "who-dunnit" and why long before the ending of this book, it was still time well spent. I don't believe that I have ever read a book with a such a funny and vivid ending. I woke my husband up at 1:30am laughing while trying to finish this story (hubby, however, did not find it amusing to be woken up by a kackling wife armed with an itty-bitty-booklight :o).

G.M. Ford has won over this reader with all of his Leo Waterman books. He paints Seattle's downtown life with humor, stinging wit and a big heart. Keep them coming!

Mr. Ford's excellent "Fury" led me to purchase this book, my introduction to Leo Waterman. It was a disappointment. Leo seems like a pale imitation of James Crumley's Milo Milodragovitch with a little of Robert Parker's Spencer thrown in for good measure.

The plot is confusing and depends too much on visuals; nice in a movie but a strain in a book. Leo is hired to protect the good name of the La Cuisine International who are holding their first non-European convention in a five-star Seattle hotel. Employer Sir Geoffrey Miles feels some of the member/participants are in "mortal danger." Two competing magnates of chain steak houses are briskly skirmishing in the courts, a food critic of enormous influence is playing a ruthless game of "who gets the five-stars." Except for the fact that all the characters in "danger" seem uniformly disagreeable, it is difficult to see a compelling reason to kill them. Leo employs his Army of the Homeless for surveillance purposes, much chasing around ensues, great efforts are made to keep one of the steak house owners from having a giant barbeque in downtown Seattle and the food critic is knocked off. The reader solves the mystery about 100 pages ahead of Leo leaving not much but a series of anti-climaxes.

There are some bright spots: Sir Geoffrey Miles is deftly characterized as a Nero Wolfe par excellence and is amusing and entertaining. Mr. Ford does Seattle very well, as I noted in "Fury." He makes it sound so attractive I have to keep repeating to myself "Remember the Rain, remember the rain!" The homeless characters and their lifestyles are interesting and handled with sensitivity.

Perhaps Mr. Ford just had a bad outing. I will try another book, probably without Leo, and hope it rekindles my enthusiasm for Mr. Ford's books. Give "Slow Burn" a pass.

Leo Waterman is a P.I. with independent means who employs an odd assortment of associates. He discovered that the best people to use on a stakeout are the street people who are a normal part of the cityscape. He also gets help from his relatives scattered throughout the city's civil service thanks to the nepotism of his late father.

Leo is hired to defuse a situation between two rival steakhouse chains whose actions might disrupt an international convention at one of Seattle's leading hotels. A side issue is saving Bunky (a prize bull) from being turned into pit roasted beef for the opening of a new steakhouse. Events start to explode when a food critic caught between the rivals gets a bullet in the head.

The action is confined to about one week as events rapidly develop. Along the way, you will obtain some sidelights on Seattle and an overview of the homeless who live their own lifestyle. I won't reveal the ending, but it could only happen in Seattle. It would make a wild motion picture.

The author is correct about the afternoon traffic jam developing at 2:30, as this reviewer discovered to his dismay during a recent visit. It extends from around Everett on the northside to Tacoma on the southern edge. Driving was easier before they built the freeways.

I've always regarded Some Buried Caesar as one of the best Nero Wolfe novels but this homage/parody of it may actually be even better. Ford takes the basic idea of Some Buried Caasar - a controversy erupts when a champion bull is scheduled to be the main attraction at a barbeque - but updates the story with animal rights activists and a crazy helicoptor delivery sequence that is nothing short of howlingly funny. There are just enough references to Stout's characters to entertain readers familar with the Wolfe books but since the details of the crime and its resolution are completely different readers familiar with both won't be bored.

I was told that this book was a disappointment. I have to agree and disagree. It is a good book - it really does approach the level of being a great farce of a detective novel. The client is outrageous and the people he investigates are larger than life throughout the story. At times, Waterman is the only sane man in the room. It makes it a fun ride - but I finished the book pleased but quite sure that it could have been even more if Ford had pushed a bit more. I would have liked for him to have met other bizarre personages that were attending the food show, but the climactic scene at the steakhouse with the helicopter and the barbecue was certainly odd and funny enough in its own right.

Like all of the Waterman novels, it may behoove the reader to jot down some notes as you go along because the author does little to remind the reader who the characters are as the story progresses. The murder victim is introduced and not mentioned again until he is killed about 100 pages later. I had to think hard about who this guy was and why it was important to the story that he was dead.

I would recommend reading the other Waterman books (Who In Hell is Wanda Fuca?, Cast in Stone, The Bum's Rush) before reading this one.

I give this book a "4 stars" - fun but I'm struck by the unrealized potential.

Seattle's Olympic Star Hotel is hosting the internationally renowned culinary convention. One of the attendees is Jack Del Fuego, whose steak houses are nearly bankrupt. Desperate, he decides to barbecue an extremely valuable steer at the convention in an effort to gain some needed publicity to save his steak house. Specifically, he hopes to gain five thumbs up from Mason Reese, an extremely influential food critic. Jack's plan upsets the culinary committee because they fear adverse public reaction to the slaughter of Bunky. They hire private investigator Leo Waterman to keep the peace and to thwart Jack's plan.

However, instead of a steer being butchered, the food critic is killed. The police think Leo is the killer. Instead of sitting around waiting for to be served up as the culprit, Leo, with the help of the "boys", investigates the murder. Suspects are as plentiful as the various gourmet delights.

Though the Waterman series usually requires a bit of a stretch, the novels are all wonderful reading experiences. Leo is an interesting sleuth, his support team (the drunken old-timers) are unique even if their presence in certain environments seem impossible, and Seattle has never been presented better. In SLOW BURN, all of those charming elements come together in an entertaining but weird who-done-it. This novel and the previous three Waterman books are worth reading by anyone who enjoys a different type of tale.

Harriet Klausner

It isn't my usual fare. I like them dark and gritty. Leo does have moments like that. Harry Bosch, the "newer" Elvis Cole, Charlie Parker and their close relations in the book field are part of my usual fare along with a lot of even darker authors.

Leo is a bit of that with a lot of Archie McNally and several other good 'laugh' series thrown in. Look close at the reality and it hurts. He comes across as someone who knows this and laugh is better than crying when faced with something that can hurt. Ford succeeds. The inherent gritty is what kept me reading along with the laughter. Other authors such Evanovich just doesn't take me there. Plum doesn't have that touch for me.

Leo is having what I called one of those days [years or lifetimes] starting with the first line setting the stage for the entire book. Do good just doesn't get the reward but does in the end. "If I don't laugh, I'll cry and if I cry I am done for." was my mantra a lot of the time when I worked in law enforcement. The ending with good being rewarded seemed bittersweet because you get the feeling Leo knew it was the exception to the rule and indications of that is in the book.

It isn't the usual funny detective fare, it isn't the usual gritty fare or bleakness but it all hangs in there. I bought it as a 'cheap when I get to it I'll read it for something to do' book and now I am looking for the rest of the series.

If you want a serious hard reality book. Don't look here. If you want a once in a while it works and a laugh, it is worth the price. I woke the Other Half, the cats and my cockatiels at 2 am howling because I wanted to find out what happened next.

Author Ford had me as a devoted fan and I read all of his other books with admiration and envy. But this book just had a lousey, contrived plot and way too much talk with too little action. The book had its amusing moments to be sure, but those are (or should be) sidelights in this genre. The plot and characters have to have some life and meaning; but not in this novel. No one is perfect every time out, though I was beginning to believe that this author was. He convinced me to the contrary. Read all his other books; skip this one.

This was my favorite Waterman novel. It had a little bit of everything. A good whodunit, as well as great characters and incredible confrontations........you will really like this novel........his best yet

This comic takeoff on the Nero Wolfe mysteries is the best Leo Waterman yet, and the climax with the bull has to be read to be appreciated.