Book Review(s): Damage Control, Postponed Murder & the Green-Eyed Sister
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| Damage Control |
Robert Dugoni's Damage Control explores how a self-centered egomaniac's inordinate quest for power and success results in disastrous consequences - for him, his family, and the novel's determined protagonist Dana Hill, who, with detective Mike Logan's help, must rise above her personal circumstances to expose him and show him for what he is. I must admit it's quite riveting a start, with the mysterious murders and all, but the central story involving a pair of earrings is too far-fetched to hold water, resulting in the political thriller taking a spiritualistic turn. The characters too are mostly the garden-variety type and fail to evoke any interest, and I wish the author had explored a bit more on Dana's battle with breast cancer. A could-have-been-better mystery on the whole.
The Case of the Postponed Murder & The Case of the Green-Eyed Sister - Erle Stanley Gardner
Erle Stanley Gardner, I must say, is not one among the most eloquent crime writers out there. His narrative style is somewhat utilitarian, functional and predictable, sticking to the same template as Perry Mason, Della Street and Paul Drake set out to solve the mystery at hand. Yet there is something strangely comforting to be amidst all this. Perhaps it's a bit of a sentiment. A nostalgia of my own childhood when I picked up to read Gardner's The Case of the Glamorous Ghost when I was like 12 or 13. And also partly because the cases never cease to entertain me no matter how improbable they may seem. The Postponed Murder, while not the most thrilling, has sufficient curveballs to throw you off track and let the criminal defense lawyer hog the limelight in what's yet another stunning courtroom victory, while The Green-Eyed Sister is most definitely a fantastic whodunit and a real page-turner propped up by Mason's well-staged courtroom theatrics.
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