Shotgun Alley
Klavan, Andrew (Author)
ISBN: 0765307863
Forge
Published 2004-10
Hardcover, $24.95 (304p)
Mystery & Detective - Series
Reviewed 2004-09-27

Scott Weiss is a middle-aged PI based in San Francisco, an ex-cop with a basset hound's face, a romantic's soul and an empath's ability to read others. Jim Bishop is a young, handsome live wire with a taste for violence, drugs and loose women. Bishop works for Weiss, and the interplay between them is only one reason of many to read this memorable thriller from Klavan (Hunting Down Amanda , etc.). Last (and first) seen in last year's Dynamite Road , Weiss and Bishop here tackle separate cases, with Bishop taking the foreground as he is hired by a millionaire with political ambitions to retrieve the man's teenage daughter, Holly. She has shucked daddy for Cobra, head of a homicidal outlaw biker gang--and the only way to retrieve her is to seduce her. Meanwhile, Weiss takes on the case of an arch-feminist professor at Berkeley who hires him to track down the anonymous man who, she says, has been harassing her with erotic e-mails. Both cases hold major surprises that spin the narrative around. That narrative itself is a surprise, because although most of it is in the third person, Klavan breaks into it from time to time in his own first person, claiming in a foreword that the story is true and based on his early years working for a PI firm. In any case, the story is emotionally true: Klavan's understanding of the human heart and how it can be torn or salved by eros is uncanny. There's sharp action throughout and the interplay between Bishop's wildness and Weiss's moral gravity is a wonder. The book's only flaws are the jarring first-person intrusions, but they're bumps in a joy ride that's as exciting and real as any this year in thrillerdom. Agent, Robert Gottlieb at Trident Media. (Oct.)

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PRAISE FOR ANDREW KLAVAN’S DYNAMITE ROAD, FROM TOR/FORGE.

Starred Review: “The author of True Crime and Don’t Say A Word again pushes our buttons with unnerring finesse… a lengthy cast of villains that would do Raymond Chandler proud…. Klavan’s riveting blend of mystery, wiseass attitude and old-fashioned moralizing makes for a wild ride.” —Publisher’s Weekly

“Klavan, who likes to try new things, wanders over into Jim Thompson territory in this tough-talking, sexy thriller. Even the title suggests a Thompson novel: explosive, violent. But this is no pale imitation of someone else's work; it's flashy, exciting, and altogether original… Filled with characters straight out of a 1950s potboiler, this rip-roarin' story is tailor-made for hard-boiled fans with a soft spot for the pulp masters--Thompson, of course, but Cornell Woolrich and David Goodis, too.” —Booklist

“I’ve been an Andrew Klavan fan since the beginning, and Dynamite Road, as expected, is a fast-paced, entertaining thrill-ride of a book. Klavan does tough-guy heroes and sexual tension better than anyone writing today.”—Janet Evanovich

“Klavan winds his tale tighter and tighter until the reader is hopelessly spellbound. Superb suspense by a master storyteller.”—Clive Cussler

“Andrew Klavan knows every twist, turn, and pothole in the road to hell. And all the travelers you will meet along the way.”—Stephen Coonts

“Andrew Klavan’s Dynamite Road reads like a collaboration between Dashiel Hammett and James M. Cain. Private Eye Noir at its best. Tough, original, terrific!”—John Farris

“The characters go far beyond the usual detective story in their complexity and humanity. The makings of a memorable series, with people that will grow and change with every book.”—Thomas Fleming

“Dynamite Road is a dynamite read. It moves like a racecar burning up the highway.”—Barbara D’Amato