A little bit too much.I have now read two Amos Walker books, this one and a collection of short stories, and I have yet to make up my mind about whether I truely like this character/writer or not.I like the tough streets of Detroit stuff and I think the setting, the industrial decay of the upper midwest is the perfect backdrop for a series of hardboiled detective stories. The problem is the term "hardboiled" is a bit of cliche and so is Amos Walker.It's a little too much like Chandler, and a little too tough, too cynical and too much wise-cracking dialog. Too many chapters that open with vivid prose about rust, decay, decline and failure and then later end summed up by a single, telling wise-crack.But again, it's a little too much, not way too much, and this is the first book in a long series. For me, there was enough to like here; to want to have another go and see how this writer matures over time. And ..I'm sure I will.
It'd been a while since I'd read anything campy and noir-ish, so I was definitely in the mood for this book. It helped immensely that the book was also quite good. While it very easily could have gone overboard and wandered into the realm of pastiche, Estleman instead managed to balance right at the edge and draw you into the word world he's woven. You can practically smell the sweat and the stench of booze wafting off of the characters wandering around the snow slogged city he thrusts his poor players into.Not the most riveting or suspenseful mystery I've ever read, but the language and prose definitely made up for anything else the story may have been lacking. Well worth the read if you dig on this particular writing style.
What do You think about Motor City Blue (1986)?
PROTAGONIST: Amos Walker, PISETTING: DetroitSERIES: #1 of 25RATING: 3.25WHY: PI Amos Walker is hired by retired mobster Ben Morningstar to find his missing ward, Marla Bernstein. She left her finishing school with some man and hasn't been seen since. A photo indicates that she may be selling herself. The plot is complicated, but Walker manages to uncover the ugly truth. I found the book somewhat difficult to read, as Estlemean is fond of dense paragraphs consisting of very long descriptive sentences and strange metaphors, as well as too much explication. However, the twists and turns of the plot were very well done.
—Maddy
This is the book that started the Amos Walker series. Loren Estleman was a beginning writer when he wrote Motor City Blue, and his debt to Raymond Chandler was never clearer than before he developed the serious writing chops of his more mature years. As Chandler's The Big Sleep, a knight-errant type of detective is hired by a rich and disabled man to solve a problem involving his daughter. That daughter's veniality is made evident by her reverting to a snake-like hiss when she is angered--just like Carmen in The Big Sleep. Otherwise there are clear signs of the originality and drive that characterize all the Amos Walker books. A must read for fans of the genre and people who just like reading about a place in Michigan.
—Catherine Meza
