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Bad Things Happen – Bargain Price

Author: Visit Amazon's Harry Dolan Page | Language: English | ISBN: B0043RT8B8 | Format: PDF

Bad Things Happen – Bargain Price Description

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Dolan's highly praised debut has shades of Elmore Leonard in its realistic dialogue that is at once over-the-top but true to form. The story takes place in Ann Arbor, Mich., where David Loogan has just accepted a position at Gray Streets mystery magazine—and embarked on an affair with his new boss's wife. It's not long before bodies begin turning up left and right, and a young investigator is involved. Abby Erik Davies delivers a performance so raw and exposed that listening becomes less a choice and more a compulsion. It's brilliant on every level. A Putnam hardcover (Reviews, May 25). (July)
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--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Bookmarks Magazine

Compared to works by Raymond Chandler, Agatha Christie, and Patricia Highsmith, Bad Things Happen rated as a "brilliant first novel" (Chicago Tribune) and "the best first novel [of the] year" (Washington Post) among most critics. They praised Dolan's crisp, minimalist prose and well-developed, flesh-and-blood protagonists. Dolan's intricate plot, full of surprising twists and turns, eschews showdowns and shootouts in favor of droll dialogue and a noirish, Chandleresque tone. Though the San Francisco Chronicle deplored the glut of subplots and secondary characters, most reviewers agreed that Dolan's debut effort is stylish, sharp-edged, and suspenseful. "It's probably too clever to be blockbuster material," lamented the Washington Post, but readers in search of a literate mystery are in for a treat.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details
Table of Contents
Reviews

Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: Berkley Trade; Reprint edition (June 16, 2010)
Language: English
ASIN: B0043RT8B8
Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 1 inches
Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)

Some books are delicious. BAD THINGS HAPPEN is black caviar on 'wry' toast with an extra twist of lemon. Even the plot twists have twists. Mystery fans are in for a treat -- reading this book is like having a glass with a fizzy drink and knocking it down and realizing -gulp- that it was premium champagne!

The first sentence perfectly illustrates the author's deadpan style: "The shovel has to meet certain requirements." By page four, the reader knows for sure that the man calling himself David Loogan wants the shovel to dig a grave. By that time, it's too late to have any thoughts of doing anything else other than to keep reading; one is hooked, line and sinker. No point in fighting, just let yourself be reeled in by this sophisticated noirish mystery set in Ann Arbor, centering on a literary magazine that prints mystery stories. Part of the pleasure is the contrast between the lurid tales the magazine prints with the complicated puzzle that the author sets the reader.

There are layers upon layers of mystery. What is in David Loogan's past? Who is the dead man he helps his friend bury? Who killed the man?

David Loogan is a man of mystery who just wants to lead a quiet life. Tom Kristoll, editor of Gray Streets, discovers that David has a flair for editing. In addition to hiring him to improve the sometimes dreadful stories submitted to his publication, Tom befriends the reclusive stranger. But there are shattering secrets in the literary circle clustered around Tom. Success, disappointment and betrayal can all be motives for murder. And since the suspects are all mystery writers most of the deaths are staged to look like suicide!

In Harry Dolan's "Bad Things Happen," David Loogan is trying to stay under the radar because of something that happened in the past. He rents a house in Ann Arbor and takes a job as an editor for "Gray Streets," a mystery magazine. We do not know much about Loogan, except that he is nervous, afraid of the dark, and has a habit of looking over his shoulder. One day, a colleague asks him to commit a shocking crime and, for some reason, he complies. The plot thickens when the murdered bodies of people connected with "Gray Streets" start to pile up, and Loogan, among others, is a suspect. Yet, he goes ahead and makes another questionable decision--to solve the crimes himself, rather than rely on the police to identify the guilty party.

"Bad Things Happen" is at its best when Dolan goes for laughs. For instance, Tom Kristoll, the publisher of "Gray Streets," wryly states, "No one sets out to be an editor. It's something that happens to you, like jaundice or falling down a well." A woman named Bridget makes fun of the contrivances that writers rely on to move their stories along: "It's a cliché...a murder staged to look like a suicide. Every mystery writer uses it sooner or later. I used it in my second book." More of this tongue-in-cheek bantering would have been invigorating.

The author presents a baffling series of events that leave us almost completely in the dark. A sharp detective named Elizabeth Waishkey attempts to find out who committed the aforementioned murders. Liz empathizes with David but is extremely irritated when he starts his own investigation, putting himself at risk and interfering with her efforts. David's personality is not well delineated; his behavior runs the gamut from shrewd to incredibly stupid.

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