Night Marcher

Rating:
Summary: night marcher
Review: Great book. This is the latest and perhaps the best Ben McMillen Hawaiian mystery. The pace is fast, making it a hard book to put down. This is a remarkable series that only gets better with each installment. The plot is not predictable and it has it's fair share of surprises. As usual you also get a Hawaiian history lesson along with the mystery but that only makes it a more interesting read. This is a great book in a great series and I look forward to each of the coming books.

Rating:
Summary: OVERALL SCORE: (C+/B-)
Review: Mark Brown captures much of the feel of Hawaii, the sights, sounds, and the feel of this tropical paradise. This is a somewhat better book than his last one, the plot is more tightly written, and the characters and action feels more natural.

While I enjoy the Polynesian/Hawaii culture and history very much [their rich and vibrant history is an essential part of the seduction of Hawaii], Mr. Brown seems to have developed a sycophantic attraction to the indigenous people here.

The worst thing about these books are that, Mr. Brown's (from Michigan) preaches a very pro-indigenous view point in his books, he is extremely one sided in his arguments, he finds only the most laudable traits about the Polynesian people of Hawaii. He misses the fact that they were EXTREAMLY warlike, they practiced the most extreme form of aristocratic class domination, had human sacrifice, and put people to death for VERY minor crimes, and treated women as property.

Mr. Brown does not seem to understand that the "Polynesian people of Hawaii" have nearly died out, many who claim to be "Hawaiian", are mostly something else, but are looking for political power [money] at the expense of the rest of the people living in Hawaii.

Also there is archeological speculation that the "Polynesian people of Hawaii" may not have be the first people here, a smaller people may have been genocided by the Polynesians, this is where the stories about the "Menahune" might come from.

A disturbing aspect of these books is that Mr. Brown does not seem know that "Haole" is a racial insult aimed at white people, just as the "N" word is for African Americans, and the "G" word is for Asians!

Leave off on the political preaching and these books would be a much more enjoyable read!

Also his use of Hawaiian terms constantly throughout the book gets a bit much, even for a Kama'aina.

OVERALL SCORE: (C+/B-)
READABILITY: (B-), PLOT: (B-), CHARATERS: (B-), DIALOGUE: (C-), SETTING: (A+), ACTION/COMBAT: (C), ANTAGONISTS: (B-), ROMANCE: (B-),AGE LEVEL: ...

Rating:
Summary: Night Marcher
Review: This fourth book in the series is the best to date. In each novel the author, Mark Brown, has succeded in a further development of his style and the development of the central character, Ben McMillen. The action sequences are truly riviting and the inner reflections of Ben are extremely insightful to the character. The reader finds the history an essential part of the story without realizing that it is a history lesson. A mystery is not a mystery without plot twists and surprises and these novels provide some very interesting mechanics in giving the reader his fill. The continuity of all four novels is smooth yet each would stand on its own. In my humble opinion this novel and its companions rival those of better know authors. I look forward to more books from Mark Brown and highly recommend his efforts. Read one and you will be hooked. I am.