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Evan Shively (Perseus271)

Edgar Colt

Vitor Miguel

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Playback (Philip Marlowe, #7), Raymond Chandler Playback is a novel by Raymond Chandler, featuring the private detective Philip Marlowe. It was first published in Britain in July 1958; the US edition followed in October that year. Chandler died the following year; Playback is his last completed novel. At the beginning of 1952 (some 18 months after the parting of Marlowe and Linda Loring in The Long Goodbye). Marlowe is faced with the choice of turning against his client and taking up the cause of the subject he was hired to investigate, an attractive woman on the run with whom he eventually becomes emotionally entangled. Through intermediaries, an anonymous client hires Marlowe to find Betty Mayfield, who is traveling under the name Eleanor King. Marlowe trails Mayfield to the small coastal resort town of Esmeralda, California. ...تاریخ نخستین خوانش: روز پانزدهم ماه نوامبر سال 2008 میلادیعنوان: حق السکوت؛ نویسنده: ریموند چندلر؛ مترجم: احسان نوروزی؛ تهران، مروارید، 1385، در 220 ص؛ چاپ دوم 1386؛ شابک 9789648838381؛ موضوع: داستانهای پلیسی از نویسندگان امریکایی - ماجراهای فلیپ مارلو - کتاب 7 - سده 20 مرمان حق السکوت نوشته ریموند چندلر، آخرین رمان این پلیسی نویس بزرگ امریکایی است. خوانشگرانی که با فضای داستانهای این نویسنده و دغدغه ها و حرکتهای کارآگاه مشهورش «فلیپ مارلو» آشنا هستند، نیک میدانند که این کلیتها چندلر را به یکی از جریانهای مهم ادبیات پلیسی در سده ی بیستم میلادی تبدیل کرده است. رمان «حق السکوت» ماجرای دلنشین و پرهیجانی ست که باز هم کارآگاه پرآوازه چندلر یعنی فلیپ مارلو در مرکز آن قرار دارد. مارلو که از قضا در این رمان، خسته و کمی کسل به نظر میرسد، برای تعقیب یک زن ناشناس استخدام میشود و در جریان همین تعقیب است که میفهمد با پرونده و آدمهای پیچیده ای روبرو است. ...؛ ا. شربیانی

Contains Chandler's essay on the art of detective stories and a collection of 8 classic Chandler mysteries.

A wealthy Pasadena widow with a mean streak, a missing daughter-in-law with a past, and a gold coin worth a small fortune—the elements don't quite add up until Marlowe discovers evidence of murder, rape, blackmail, and the worst kind of human exploitation.

A couple of missing wives—one a rich man's and one a poor man's—become the objects of Marlowe's investigation. One of them may have gotten a Mexican divorce and married a gigolo and the other may be dead. Marlowe's not sure he cares about either one, but he's not paid to care.

Linda’s the real thing, and you know why? Her songs evoke an emotional response that triggers a memory.Elaine stared at him. “Where’d you get that?”“My mentor, Hy Gordon.”Strengths are characters and dialogue. Weakness is the plot.The movie adaptation is more of a comedy, maybe because some of the cast got better parts, while the book may have a higher body count. Elliot comes across as smarter than he looks, not dumber. And, Elaine, I’m not sure if she even made it into the movie.

Detroit businessman Harry Mitchell is a self-made man, happily married for over twenty-two years and a pillar of the community. But then he slips--he meets a young "model" and begins an affair. One night he arrives at his girlfriend's apartment and finds more than he bargained for. Two masked men have caught his misdemeanors on camera and now they want a cool hundred grand. But they've picked the wrong man, because Harry Mitchell doesn't get mad--he gets even.

Fresh out of jail after the events of Swag, Ernest Stickley tries to go legit and winds up back in the thick of things once again. While lying low as a chaffeur, can Stick stay alive long enough to collect the $5,000 he's owed?Stick is a by the numbers, run of the mill Elmore Leonard book. I can't imagine it's anyone's favorite Leonard. However, it is enjoyable in the same way all of Leonard's books are enjoyable. It contains all the Leonard hallmarks: lowlifes, broads with loose morals, slick dialogue and more double crossing than you can shake a stick it at.Stick is the return engagement of Ernest Stickley, one of the loveable lowlifes from Swag. While Stick is a pretty slick character in the mold of most Elmore Leonard protagonists, he wasn't as interesting as Swag's other lead, Frank Ryan. Too bad Ryan died in prison from drinking moonshine.The plot is pretty simple. Stick's supposed to help deliver some money, get's double crossed, and then spends a lot of his time looking over his shoulder and trying to get even. The supporting cast is a mixed bag, from Chucky, the man with the womanly hips, to Nestor, the Cuban drug dealer who practices Santeria, to Kyle McLaren, the lady financial wizard that Stick has his eye on.Leonard's dialogue is the star of the show, as it normally is. I guess my main grip with Stick is that I felt like I've read it a few times before. It's was good but didn't stand out at all compared to the other Leonard's I've read. It's still a three star read though.

“Hilarious….Strange and risky….A right-on, pitch perfect novel, with wide social scope, comic genius, page-burning storytelling magic, and juicy characters who wrench your heart and gut.” —Washington Post Book World A character so outrageous he could only have come from the ingenious imagination of Elmore Leonard, lewd, lecherous, law-bending Florida jurist Judge Robert “Maximum Bob” Gibbs has been judged guilty by a grudge-bearing malefactor and sentenced to death—by alligator, if necessary. Maximum Bob is a delightfully dark classic thriller from “the greatest crime writer of our time, perhaps ever” (New York Times Book Review), and any reader who loved getting gleefully lost in criminal mayhem of Get Shorty, Rum Punch, Out of Sight, The Hot Kid, or any number of the inimitable Leonard’s numerous crime fiction masterworks will get maximum enjoyment out of this one.

Dangerously eccentric characters, razor-sharp black humor, brilliant dialog, and suspense all rolled into one tight package—that’s The Switch, Elmore Leonard’s classic tale of a kidnapping gone wrong…or terribly right, depending on how you look at it. The Grand Master whom the New York Times Book Review calls, “the greatest crime writer of our time, perhaps ever,” has written a wry and twisting tale that any of the other all-time greats—Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, John D. MacDonald, James M. Cain, Robert Parker…every noir author who ever walked a detective, cop, or criminal into a shadowy alley—would be thrilled to call their own. Leonard, the man who has given us U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens (currently starring in TV’s Justified) is at his storytelling best, as a spurned wife decides to take a rightful—and profitable—revenge on her deceiving hubby by teaming up with the two thugs he hired to abduct her.

“[Leonard has] written so many first-rate crime stories that it would be fatuous to say Killshot is his best, but it probably is anyway.”—NewsweekThe New York Times bestselling author the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette once called, “the Alexander the Great of crime fiction,” Elmore Leonard is responsible for creating some of the sharpest dialogue, most compelling characters (including U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens of TV’s Justified fame), and, quite simply, some of the very best suspense novels written over the past century. Killshot is prime Leonard—a riveting story of a husband and wife caught in the crossfire when they foil a criminal act and are forced to defend themselves when the legal system fails them from the murderous wrath of a pair of vengeful killers. When it comes to cops and criminals stories, Killshot and Leonard are as good as it gets—further proof why “the King Daddy of crime writers” (Seattle Times) deserves his current place among John D. MacDonald, Dashiell Hammett, James M. Cain, and the other legendary greats of the noir fiction genre.

This reads like an '80s action movie starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.A big tough ex-military guy drifts into a small town and is sucked into uncovering a vast criminal conspiracy through completely unbelievable coincidences. - Check.Hero has a cool, manly sounding name: Jack Reacher. - CheckHero is quickly given a personal grudge against the villains. - CheckBad dialogue. - Check.Stereotypical villains including corrupt businessmen and politicians. - Check.Hero finds a few trustworthy allies, but is betrayed at some point. -CheckHero shacks up with hottest girl in town within two days of meeting her. - CheckHot girl gets kidnapped by bad guys at some point. - Check.Stuff blows up real good at the end. - Check.I know this is a really popular series these days, but unless it gets a lot better in later books, I just don't get it. I've read far better action scenes from guys like John Sandford who actually write thrillers that have plots that hang together and don't trot out every action movie cliche in the process. Plus, there are massive gaps in logic. A murder victim turns out to be a federal agent who is working on a super-secret case that is so important that it literally threatens the United States. Yet, after he's killed and it's reported, nobody else from the government even shows up to check it out. WTF? I can gloss over unrealistic procedural stuff in the interest of a good story, but since this isn't a good story, the plot loopholes are too horrible to ignore.Another problem is that Child couldn't make up his mind if he wanted to write just an action novel or a detective story, and he tried to split the difference. Not good. Reacher is the worst fictional detective I've ever read. Giant clues are put in front of him that anyone who has ever read a book or seen an episode of television since 1962 would instantly recognize, but he misses them. Yet, when called for, he can make ludicrous leaps of intuition that would make Sherlock Holmes scratch his head at the sheer implausibility of them. This might have been a better book if Reacher was just a revenge driven killing machine mowing through the bad guys without the pretense of playing detective.This would have been 1 star, but I gave it an extra star because the main piece of the criminal plot is actually kind of clever and not something I'd read before. Unfortunately, it's the only original thing in this book.** Update 4/10/16 - I recently read another crime novel that used an identical idea of (view spoiler)[ bleaching $1 bills to use for counterfeiting purposes (hide spoiler)]

This was no ordinary war. This was a war to make the world safe for democracy. And if democracy was made safe, then nothing else mattered - not the millions of dead bodies, nor the thousands of ruined lives... This is no ordinary novel. This is a novel that never takes the easy way out: it is shocking, violent, terrifying, horrible, uncompromising, brutal, remorseless and gruesome... but so is war. Winner of the National Book Award.

Raymond Chandler and Philip Marlowe , they are an iconic pair you cannot separate or wish to, the master writer and the fictional character more real than some bipeds. The flavor of Los Angeles in the 1940's you could almost taste, and bringing Hollywood into the mixture soaks the atmosphere in tinsel, cheap it may be yet L.A. wouldn't be the same without the glamour and the vulgar. Add a murder mystery and Chandler who knew the business that built the city, he worked in the studio system ( as a screenwriter) and disliked greatly. A young apparently innocent looking girl from Manhattan, Kansas Orfamay Quest has a job for Mr. Marlowe find her missing older brother Orrin involved in an illicit trade. Miss Quest is not what she appears to be, pretending runs in the family and she is the best one of them. Philip doesn't locate big brother in his seedy apartment but discovers dead bodies everywhere he looks and the Los Angeles police are not happy far from it, Lieutenant Christy French and partner Fred Beifus, they give the detective a rough reception at their downtown headquarters, ( the Bay City boys also hate him and participate in the festivities ) Orrin works for a criminal doctor Lagardie after losing his legitimate work in Bay City ( Santa Monica). The Hollywood actress and rising movie star Mavis Weld is the sister of both Orrin and Orfamay a very good friend of a gangster Steegrave trying to go strait but having difficulties, she is being blackmailed. Her studio has high hopes for her and will do anything to shield their investment. She is ambitious, has become corrupt in the system like many others and shows contempt for Marlowe which the gumshoe doesn't mind he likes the view . Minor star Dolores Gonzales also is in the plot and likes Mr. Marlowe a lot, she wants to protect Marvis, still the sleaze permeates all, the artificial climate takes a toll. Chandler gives this novel another jolt of entertainment, with a hard-boiled detective as only he could create, the words flow cynically, the killings abound yet this is his world which the writer knew intimately, drugs, prostitution, failures of the discarded actors that the film industry wishes to hide , however he lived in the muck and we benefit from his experiences.The fans will enjoy this and mystery aficionados too, there was only one Raymond Chandler and the public is grateful...

Review updated on 29.05.2017This is a collection of four short stories featuring Philip Marlowe, the cynical drinking PI who served a role model for all the PIs written after him - no exceptions.Trouble is my business. A rich man hired Marlowe to keep his good-for-nothing son from getting married to a woman whose sole interest in him was his money. This happens to be the first appearance of famous PI who is slightly rough around the edges and really likes to say the title phrase. Several dead bodies, corrupt policemen, organized crime bosses and their thugs keep things from getting slowing down.Finger man. Marlowe was the only witness to a murder committed by a henchman of a high-ranked politician; we all know such witnesses develop terminal illnesses really fast. Marlowe not only needed to stay alive, but also to protect a client who tried to cheat a mafia boss out of his money; the life expectancy of such people is even less than that of inconvenient witnesses. This relatively short story tightly packed with loads and loads of dead bodies. Goldfish. An old case of stolen pearls which had been never recovered suddenly made comeback with Marlowe being initially very skeptical about the whole deal, but the first dead body convinced him to follow the lead. This is probably the only Philip Marlowe story with a decent pay off (I mean monetary reward) at the end.Red Wind. Trouble followed Marlowe even when he sits in an empty bar drinking and minding his own business. A man who was looking for a woman got killed right in front of his eyes and now he once again needed to stay alive long enough to find the woman the dead man described in hope of getting some answers. I read this story several times, and it never failed to make me depressed and sad; it is depressing and sad, even by Raymond Chandler's standards. It also happened to be very good and memorable.Raymond Chandler wrote a foreword for this collection. He mentioned that he created these stories for publishing in crime journals, most notably in "Black Mask". As such, there were certain constraints he had to write them within - both in terms of plot development and style. He could rewrite them after he hit big as a writer, but it turned out to be impossible without completely destroying them. My opinion on this is that a real talent always shows even when the author does not have a complete freedom in writing. As such the collection deserves 4.5 stars with only 0.5 short of a perfect score. This is a must read for Philip Marlowe fans.

Mickey Haller has spent all his professional life afraid that he wouldn’t recognize innocence if it stood right in front of him. But what he should have been on the watch for was evil.Haller is a Lincoln Lawyer, a criminal defense attorney who operates out of the back seat of his Lincoln Town Car, traveling between the far-flung courthouses of Los Angeles to defend clients of every kind. Bikers, con artists, drunk drivers, drug dealers — they’re all on Mickey Haller’s client list. For him, the law is rarely about guilt or innocence — it’s about negotiation and manipulation. Sometimes it’s even about justice.A Beverly Hills playboy arrested for attacking a woman he picked up in a bar chooses Haller to defend him, and Mickey has his first high-paying client in years. It is a defense attorney’s dream, what they call a franchise case. And as the evidence stacks up, Haller comes to believe this may be the easiest case of his career.Then someone close to him is murdered and Haller discovers that his search for innocence has brought him face-to-face with evil as pure as a flame. To escape without being burned, he must deploy every tactic, feint, and instinct in his arsenal — this time to save his own life.

Marlowe's about to give up on a completely routine case when he finds himself in the wrong place at the right time to get caught up in a murder that leads to a ring of jewel thieves, another murder, a fortune-teller, a couple more murders, and more corruption than your average graveyard.

Christmas 1951, Los Angeles: a city where the police are as corrupt as the criminals. Six prisoners are beaten senseless in their cells by cops crazed on alcohol. For the three LAPD detectives involved, it will expose the guilty secrets on which they have built their corrupt and violent careers. The novel takes these cops on a sprawling epic of brutal violence and the murderous seedy side of Hollywood. One of the best crime novels ever written, it is the heart of Ellroy's four-novel masterpiece, the LA Quartet, and an example of crime writing at its most powerful.

Down-and-out drunk Terry Lennox has a problem: his millionaire wife is dead and he needs to get out of LA fast. So he turns to the only friend he can trust: private investigator Philip Marlowe. Marlowe is willing to help a man down on his luck, but later Lennox commits suicide in Mexico and things start to turn nasty. Marlowe is drawn into a sordid crowd of adulterers and alcoholics in LA's Idle Valley, where the rich are suffering one big suntanned hangover. Marlowe is sure Lennox didn't kill his wife, but how many stiffs will turn up before he gets to the truth?

Sam Spade is hired by the fragrant Miss Wonderley to track down her sister, who has eloped with a louse called Floyd Thursby. But Miss Wonderley is in fact the beautiful and treacherous Brigid O'Shaughnessy, and when Spade's partner Miles Archer is shot while on Thursby's trail, Spade finds himself both hunter and hunted: can he track down the jewel-encrusted bird, a treasure worth killing for, before the Fat Man finds him?

Ailing barrister Sir Wilfrid Robarts is thrust back into the courtroom in what becomes one of the most unusual and eventful murder case of the lawyer's career when he finds himself defending Leonard Vole, a man being tried for the murder of a wealthy woman. With Robarts choosing to represent him, the two find themselves up against Leonard's cold-hearted wife, Christine - who, in a surprising turn of events, chooses to appear in court against her husband.

1957 American film directed by Billy Wilder

An out of work pulp fiction novelist, Holly Martins, arrives in a post war Vienna divided into sectors by the victorious allies, and where a shortage of supplies has led to a flourishing black market. He arrives at the invitation of an ex-school friend, Harry Lime, who has offered him a job, only to discover that Lime has recently died in a peculiar traffic accident. From talking to Lime's friends and associates Martins soon notices that some of the stories are inconsistent, and determines to discover what really happened to Harry Lime.

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