Wasted Years (A Charlie Resnick Mystery) [Paperback]

John Harvey (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1994 | Series: A Charlie Resnick Mystery

An uncannily familiar series of crimes in England's Midlands sends police detective Charlie Resnick back to his past, to a time when his marriage and his city fell apart, and when he confronted a similar crime spree. Reprint.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Harvey writes better crime novels than anyone in the world. His books transcend genre." -- The Denver Post

"In Wasted Years, Harvey deftly weaves past and present, blending the strands of character and story to form the kind of rich tapestry that lifts the police procedural into the realm of the mainstream novel." -- Sue Grafton

"Like Thelonius Monk and other jazz greats who make the mood music in his books,John Harvey likes to play with form. In Wasted Years, the fifth police procedural in a haunting series set in the industrial wasteland of Nottingham, the British novelist switches time frames like song keys to tell a story about the cold hopes and lost chances that breed crime in the red-brick provinces." -- The New York Times Book Review

"The prose is pared down and tersely elliptical-Wasted Years wastes littlelanguage. But, as always with Harvey, less is bountifully more." -- The Philadelphia Inquirer --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

John Harvey is the author of the richly-praised sequence of ten Charlie Resnick novels, the first of which, Lonely Hearts, was named by The Times as one of the ‘100 Best Crime Novels of the Century.’ In 2004, William Heinemann published Flesh and Blood, the first novel featuring retired Detective Inspector Frank Elder. He is also a poet, dramatist and occasional broadcaster. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Avon Books (Mm) (November 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0380721821
• ISBN-13: 978-0380721825
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,315,953 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best of the Series, August 24, 1999

By 

A. Ross (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Wasted Years (Paperback)

The fifth and strongest entry in Harvey's Charlie Resnick series is less sensational on the procedural side than previous outings, focusing on two separate sets of armed robberies. One set does a good job of portraying a bullying wayward youth and his aimless follower, while the other very high-end, hitting banks and armored cars, and is rooted in Resnick's past. Harvey effectively cuts back and forth between the present and 1981 in order to show the past events and characters. As usual, the private lives of the police squad is further developed.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Better than 99% of the genre, but not perfect, September 10, 1999

By 

Andrew Sherman (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Wasted Years (Paperback)

This book is so much better written than 99% of the genre that it seems a pity to criticize it. However... there is a problem. The author uses characters' consumer choices as little labels. One person eats a Linda McCartney meal, another listens to Lionel Ritchie. You can't help but feel that he is laughing at them. Not so Resnick who has impeccable taste. Near the end a bad character hops into bed with a Jeffrey Archer novel. It is then you realize that he is damned.