Rating: 
Summary: Probably Chandler's Weakest Effort
Review: Raymond Chandler didn't complete many novels, and even on a bad day he could write circles around most authors in the "noir" or detective genre. I love his crisp style, his sharp dialogue, and his vivid picture of Los Angeles in the 1940's and 50's. In fact, The Long Goodbye may be one of the best novels I have read in the past few years, and my favorite Chandler book.
With that said, Playback, Chandler's final completed novel from 1958, falls quite a bit short by comparison. As in all Chandler novels, the protagonist is Philip Marlowe, a tough-talking but overall decent guy trying to make a living as a private eye in Los Angeles. In Playback, you sense Marlowe is a little more tired, and maybe off his game a little, like the author who died the year after it was written. Marlowe is awoken with a phone call from the sharp-tongued assistant to a local lawyer, and retained to tail a redhead arriving on a train.
Marlowe spots her easily enough, and when she continues on her voyage to San Diego (after a lengthy stop at the train station), Marlowe follows her, without really knowing why or who he is working for. He ultimately disdains working any further for his lawyer client, and decides to try and help the lady, who goes by the name Betty Mayfield. However in keeping with most Chandler novels, the characters don't reveal much of the truth to poor Marlowe, and so he is faced with mysterious murders, disappearing bodies, and a sinister fellow private dick who is also tailing the same woman.
The setting is not what we have come to expect, since most of the action takes place in a small coastal town near San Diego, and the plot moves slower than other Chandler novels. I still liked it and looked forward to coming home to it at night, but after The Big Sleep, The Long Goodbye, The Lady in the Lake and Farewell, My Lovely, we know Chandler could do so much better. I wish he had started writing earlier in life, or that he had lived longer, since Chandler (like his contemporary Dashiell Hammett) left us too few books. I give Playback a luke-warm recommendation, but if you haven't read his other books start with them, and read this one to finish out the collection.
Rating: 
Summary: Chandler's Last--And His Least
Review: The setting--a coastal town called Esmerelda--is well-evoked. The observations are clever and occasionally poignant. And the mystery surrounding Miss Betty Mayfield shows real promise. However, this time out the characters are familiar and too genteel, the revelations are unconvincing, and the whole thing feels tired, as if Chandler were simply going through the motions. A flat note on which to end a career.
Rating: 
Summary: Nice detective story.
Review: This was Chandler's first book that I read and I really enjoyed it. Philip Marlowe's in this book is like in the other's a great detective. The first character we see, the lawier is well created and represents well his sort of people. The secretary, Miss Vermylia is really a sexy woman. We can devellop through the book a good idea about the girl Marlowe follows in southern California. In this book we can imagine well the California of these times, and reading this book is just like seeing a nice movie. And of course the mistery is preserved till the end, because we can not even guess who commited the crime till the last page. Marlowe meets a not very good detective who comes from Kansas City. It's a nice mistery book.
Rating:
Summary: Run of the mill Chandler
Review: Why do I love Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe novels so much? I love them for Marlowe's edgy, wisecracking comments that drive its recipients mad. I love the gorgeous, incendiary women who linger just a bit on this side of evil. I love the twisty and turny plots and Marlowe's dogged search for the truth. In a world full of liars and crooks one can always depend upon Philip Marlowe's steely honesty and integrity. He is never in it for the money."Playback" has all of these elements but, unfortunately, in far lesser quantities than in Chandler's other Philip Marlowe books. In "Playback" Marlowe is assigned to follow this woman without knowing why and to report back on what he finds out about her. All the typical plot devices are there, but the results are far less than scintillating and are sometimes rather dull. If I were to pick out, however, my favorite part of the book it would be Marlowe's conversation with an elderly and infirm man who is staying at a hotel where Marlowe is holed up. Their discussion about the belief in God is incredibly sharp and extremely relevant to a man of Marlowe's profession. All in all, despite its shortcomings, "Playback," while not top Chandler, is still Philip Marlowe and that can never be bad.
Rating:
Summary: Run of the mill Chandler
Review: Why do I love Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe novels so much? I love them for Marlowe's edgy, wisecracking comments that drive its recipients mad. I love the gorgeous, incendiary women who linger just a bit on this side of evil. I love the twisty and turny plots and Marlowe's dogged search for the truth. In a world full of liars and crooks one can always depend upon Philip Marlowe's steely honesty and integrity. He is never in it for the money. "Playback" has all of these elements but, unfortunately, in far lesser quantities than in Chandler's other Philip Marlowe books. In "Playback" Marlowe is assigned to follow this woman without knowing why and to report back on what he finds out about her. All the typical plot devices are there, but the results are far less than scintillating and are sometimes rather dull. If I were to pick out, however, my favorite part of the book it would be Marlowe's conversation with an elderly and infirm man who is staying at a hotel where Marlowe is holed up. Their discussion about the belief in God is incredibly sharp and extremely relevant to a man of Marlowe's profession. All in all, despite its shortcomings, "Playback," while not top Chandler, is still Philip Marlowe and that can never be bad.
Rating:
Summary: Depending on how you read it.
Review: Yes, Playback is the last of Chandler's novels. No, it isn't the best of his novels-- not by a long shot. Yes, it is still worth the time that it takes to read. Playback is an afterword to a great series. It's a little bit sadder, a little bit more cynical. Marlowe (like Chandler himself?) is going through the motions and none of what used to interest him is quite as compelling. He's seen a vision of how it all ends and can't stay quite as focused on the plot. In the book, Marlowe agrees to enjoy the charms of the lovely Miss Vermilyea, but not unless she agrees to go somewhere besides his apartment. He'd fallen in love with someone there, and isn't sure that her charms will live up to the comparison. He says: "I had a dream here once, a year and a half ago. There's still a shred of it left." As a reader, you may have the same feeling about this book. It's a lovely moment, but not to be compared to the real thing. But still, a lovely moment.
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