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Read Black Maps (2003)

Black Maps (2003)

Online Book

Genre
Series
Rating
3.58 of 5 Votes: 3
Your rating
ISBN
1400040752 (ISBN13: 9781400040759)
Language
English
Publisher
knopf

Black Maps (2003) - Plot & Excerpts

This is the first book in the John March series. While I can't say I enjoyed it as much as books 2 & 3 ( Death's Little Helpers & Red Cat), I do have to say it had me interested enough to pick up the others. John March is an ex-cop turned PI. He's investigating a blackmail scheme against his client, Rick Pierro, an investor?? Wall Street guy?? ..I'm not really sure what he did because I can't remember but I know he's uber rich. Anyway.. there's a lot of financial jargon that I could've done without. It reminded me of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo & Mikael's financial journalism bs that took up way to much time in the beginning of the book. I mean, give me the basics & leave it at that. I don't think making my eyes cross is actually necessary. I'm sure it made a lot more sense to someone not quite as obtuse as myself, but what can I say ?? I felt this book was extremely drawn out and had a hard time really getting into it. If it weren't for the fact that I found March so interesting & wanted to learn more about him & the other characters I would have shelved it a long time ago. My recommendation would be to get through this book & pick up the other 2.... it's a very interesting detective/mystery series that left me anxious for the next in line.

This needs 3 1/2 stars. It was good, kept my interest, had very few annoying cliches, although it did have some, being a mystery with a private eye as the hero. I sometimes felt it could move along just a little faster, but Spiegelman took his time and tied up a lot of loose ends in a way that didn't seem contrived. I figured out something before it was revealed, and I thought I was going to be irritated that I was right, but even that made sense once he delivered some of the secrets. His language is "gritty," meaning "vulgar" at times, and that is a problem. But there were many opportunities to be offensive with the plot line, and he didn't take them, so I still recommend the book. If he had not waited quite so long to get to the action, I'd have given this 4 stars.

What do You think about Black Maps (2003)?

You get what you expect here. Spiegelman prefers the introverted, conflicted anti-hero to the skull crushing bravado of say Spillane's Mike Hammer, but at its heart it's still a gumshoe detective novel. It flowed well and I enjoyed the muted style of the violence and the romance through much of it. It's the second book I've read by Spiegelman and while I'm not in a rush to go out and buy his others, they do make for good travel reading. A solid 3.5 stars that I rounded up out of thankfulness for keeping me going on long car rides this summer.
—Jacob

#1 of the John March series. I very much enjoyed Spiegelman's depiction of investigator John March's efforts. No computer specialist who can track a phone call in seconds or instaneously match DNA evidence, rather this novel features intelligent following of available clues. This is not to say that March is everyman; he is obviously a superior physical and mental speciman without extending into the range of superhero. A much recommended read.John March, a sheriff's investigator for seven years in upstate New York, gained fame for solving a serial killer case that had baffled locals and the FBI. He lost his wife to this killer, went into a tailspin of alcohol abuse, then emerged as a private eye in Manhattan. Now working for a lawyer friend, he must find out who is blackmailing a self-made millionaire in danger of losing it all. A mysterious financier, missing for three years, seems to be the key, while both a sociopathic ex-employee of the financier and the FBI threaten March. Recorded.
—Ed

A good standard mystery novel that I polished off in a weekend while recovering from a cold.It occurred to me while reading this book that women who wish to understand men might profitably read this novel, as the hero is a modern variation on a standard male fantasy figure, the Last Moral Man in a Corrupt World, a familiar figure in mystery novels from Raymond Chandler onwards. This hero is especially beloved by those of us who have failed to cut a very successful figure in life. In this case, the Last Moral Man is born into enviable privilege (a problem that few of us, sadly, have to deal with), rejects it, finds and loses great happiness, shoulders crushing despair, passes through a dark night of the soul, and emerges at the other end physically fit, impossibly disciplined, and with a clearer moral vision. If reading about such a character is your idea of a good time, this is a book for you. If not, not.
—David

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