It was, of course, a moment fraught with opportunity for a cool and casual remark on my part. Then, of course, would come the whirling, the gaping, and the attempt to simultaneously fire and sound the alarm. All of which would be foiled by the hero's well-placed punch. Mike Hammer would have done it. James Bond would have done it. John Wayne would have done it.
The Owl just slugged the man down from behind.
Extraordinary private detective Alexander "The Owl" L'Hiboux, unable to sleep owing to a medical condition and living on the streets of Los Angeles, is called in when a successful businessman's daughter is brutally attacked. A modern-day hard-boiled detective story, we watch from L'Hiboux's perspective as he solves the case.
Forward has clearly put some effort into making his hero a believable
character. L'Hiboux is a survivor, but that's because he's protected by body
armour, a fibreglass hat, bulletproof sunglasses and a healthy paranoia —
and, as he says, Mercy's not one of my strong points
. It's entertaining
to see that L'Hiboux puts a lot of effort into constructing The Owl's
reputation: there's a great scene where he's reading in a university library,
arguing with himself over whether to head out into the rain to continue his
investigation (he does, of course).
Only a couple of minor complaints: so much effort's put into L'Hiboux's character that everyone else in the story feels somewhat flat in comparison, and some of the action's a bit darker than I'd like. That aside, this is an entertaining and well-written mystery with a very strong main character; recommended, and I'm looking forward to reading the sequel.
(The book's sadly out of print; my copy came second-hand via Amazon Marketplace.)
ISBN 0450515729.