tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8040961017436764140.post6645389113972849545..comments2024-03-06T18:43:14.817+05:00Comments on Endless Falls Up: The Dead BeatRay Garratyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00771800826581349483noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8040961017436764140.post-54397016327082638652014-05-04T23:45:03.835+06:002014-05-04T23:45:03.835+06:00Doug sure is talented, but his three latest novels...Doug sure is talented, but his three latest novels in quality ranges from plain bad to mildly good. He wrote one truly good novel though, Smokeheads. The strength of that novel is that the events of the book are isolated from everyday life. You don't need believability when your characters are placed in unbelievable situation. It was pulpish and dark-humoured, but the plot itself didn't require any seriousness. Ray Garratyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00771800826581349483noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8040961017436764140.post-54340219032585591872014-05-04T18:16:43.082+06:002014-05-04T18:16:43.082+06:00See, this is an actual review. One could read th...See, this is an actual review. One could read this, and use it to make a decision as to whether to get this book. I should do one of those sometime. ;)<br /><br />Edinburgh is a potentially great setting for a mystery novel. From what you say, sounds like the author wanted to really create an atmosphere, a background for the story, and succeeded in that--but actually writing a good mystery is HARD. We've all been to interesting places, met a variety of people--we can draw on that if we choose to write fiction. But most of us have never been involved in a murder--at least not the kind you write mystery books about. So you're combining something very real from your own life with something very artificial you've just read about in books and seen in movies, and it's hard to meld the two together--you can see the joins. I'm sure every writer who has ever written a story in this genre has struggled with that--unless he or she had a law enforcement or criminal background, which is the case with a fair few mystery writers, including Dashiell Hammett. <br /><br />Although this is not a positive review overall, I do think you indicated this is a writer to watch--maybe the next one will be better. <br /><br />Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00271250698430923736noreply@blogger.com