Poodle Springs

Rating:
Summary: "CHANDLER LIVES ON THROUGH THE PEN OF ROBERT B. PARKER"
Review: For all you Chandler fans who can't seem to get enough of the adventures of Philip Marlowe, be sure to read Chandler'slast unfinished novel, "Poodle Springs," started in 1959 shortly before Chandler's death. Finished 30 years later by Robert B. Parker, Marlowe fans will be hard pressed to find where Chandler left off and Parker picks up. The storyline is one Chandler himself would have been proud of and Parker's story telling abilities will bring you back for a second and third reading. Parker has captured the true feel of Chandler's detective through dialog and scenes. Marlowe's character comes through in tact in the true spirit that Chandler had intended. Don't miss this supurb thriller. If you like this one, you'll also enjoy Robert B. Parker's sequel to Raymondler's "Big Sleep". It's called "Perchance To Dream" and is another great Philip Marlowe adventure.

Rating:
Summary: extremely tentative recommendation
Review: My apologies in advance, but this is an "on the one hand/on the other hand" review. On the one hand, for anyone who loves Raymond Chandler and Philip Marlowe, as I do, it is great to have a new story featuring the "Galahad of the Gutter", even if Chandler only wrote the first three chapters. And Robert B. Parker ( of Spenser fame) does a competent job of completing the story.

On the other hand, despite the exception of Dashiell Hammett's The Thin Man, I think that the modern trend of giving private eyes buddies and girlfriends has been a catastrophic development for the hard boiled novel. The very essence of these novels, epitomized in The Maltese Falcon, Ross MacDonald's Lew Archer series and the other Philip Marlowe stories, is the independence and accompanying vulnerability of the detectives. So this Marlowe story, which finds him married to a wealthy heiress and comfortably ensconced in Poodle Springs (a thinly veiled Pal Springs), is disappointing evidence that even a master of the genre was drifting in this direction when he died.

The mystery here is vintage Chandler, with blackmail, pornography, polygamy and the like and when the focus turns to Marlowe working on the case it is quite good. But the scenes between him and his wife, particularly the tensions between them as a result of his insistence on a return to detecting, bring the story to a screeching halt every time it builds up a head of steam.

The result is a very mixed bag and an extremely tentative recommendation--an airplane book.

GRADE: C

Rating:
Summary: Not the best Philip Marlowe, but a treat for Marlowe fans
Review: Poodle Springs is a Philip Marlowe mystery that starts with four chapters Raymond Chandler wrote before his death in 1959. Thirty years later Robert B. Parker finishes the work left by Chandler. Parker is an accomplished mystery author himself and breathes life back into Philip Marlowe so we can follow one more case.

Yet Parker is not Chandler and there are places in the book where I kept feeling that he wasn't getting Marlowe just right. Probably I was looking for these non-Chandleresque moments and they are actually intriguing. Marlowe fans can read the book with this additional level of interest: did Parker capture the essence of Philip Marlowe in this scene or not?

All that aside this is a well-paced and entertaining mystery. There is a side plot as the book opens right after Marlowe's marriage to an heiress. The tension is between the independent and honest detective and his pampered wife who can't understand each other. He gets along better with her house boy, and she can't understand why he won't sit back and let her daddy take care of them.

The main plot is pure Marlowe with a sleazy pornographer/blackmailer leading a double life and mixed up in a murder. Marlowe keeps discovering bodies which puts him in trouble with the cops. Yet he can't quite figure out who is the murderer until it is almost too late.

If you haven't read Raymond Chandler this is not the place to start. Although this is a minor addition to the Marlowe corpus, it will be a welcome addition to those who have read the other works and desire more Marlowe. It reads quickly and never lets you down.

Rating:
Summary: Good on its own merit
Review: This is Parker's book, as first four chapters, credited to Chandler, are a very small part of it. Thus this book can be evaluated on several tiers: (1) Is it a seamless continuation of the style and character development of Chandler's work? (2) Is it a valid representation of Chandler's characters, perhaps in the style of Parker? (3) Is it a good book on its own?

I haven't read Chandler, so I'll stick with (3). This book is a good read. The story, characters, and plot are sufficiently engaging that I found it hard to put down, which is rare for me. Parker really excels at detective fiction, and this ranks with his best.

One issue is that Marlowe as represented here is like Spenser's twin brother, so if you're tired of Spenser, you'll be only moderately refreshed by the new protagonist.

Another is that Parker's love for Boston and New England doesn't extend to LA, Hollywood, and "Poodle Springs" (Newberry Springs?). There's a shallowness in his description, which is perhaps partially justified. But Michael Connelly, for example, does a much better job of capturing a feel for life in the Los Angeles region.

But still I recommend this book. On it's own, it's a good, engaging detective novel.

Rating:
Summary: Best Book Ever Written!
Review: Well, there's not too much to say about Poodle Springs without giving it away, but these two authors are a dinamic duo, to say the least! Poodle Springs was the best book I've ever read in my entire life. I loved the story so much that I couldn't put it down. I read all 400 something pages in one night! Take that Harry Potter!

If you like suspence thrillers with just the right about of 50's mystery stories, complete with melodramatic love stories and dialog-over-action, then you'll love Poodle Springs. I definetly recomend it. Go out and buy one. Please.