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James Crumley is one of the most revered practitioners of post-Chandler crime fiction, praised by the likes of Dennis Lehane and Michael Connelly as a major influence. C. W. Sughrue is Crumley's most indelible creation. Now Sughrue is back, in a searing thrill ride of a novel that has the seen-it-all Montana private eye trying to find out which of a small-town shrink's bizarre patients has made off with some highly confidential files. Fast-paced, brutal, melancholy, and ruefully funny, The Right Madness is Crumley at his uncompromising best.
I can't say that I have disliked a book as much as I disliked this one, and it's not because it's a badly written book. Crumley does an excellent job of conveying the madness in his characters, and it nearly made me go mad. I hated that he skipped over huge chunks of facts and then threw them in when it suited his purposes, rather than tell the story in a straightforward way that might make the book easier to follow. He created madness by creating such a confusing mess of a story that only got bleaker as it went along. Perhaps he achieved what he wanted, the right madness, but it was more of a nasty scheme than a novel.
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Posted September 6, 2008
I was intrigued by the critics calling The Right Madness in the tone of Raymond Chandler works, which I love. For me, The Right Madness missed the mark. Yes, there was a lot of drinking and bar scenes, but I don't think the West lends itself to that gritty atmosphere. And even more importantly, the story missed its mark. The ending was less that satisfactory. I didn't care about the characters, and those FBI agents, nope! The plot was just too weak, and sometimes silly, to sustain even a brief 289 pages. Get it as a bargain book and try it for yourself or skip it and read many other superior novels, IMHO.
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Overview
James Crumley is one of the most revered practitioners of post-Chandler crime fiction, praised by the likes of Dennis Lehane and Michael Connelly as a major influence. C. W. Sughrue is Crumley's most indelible creation. Now Sughrue is back, in a searing thrill ride of a novel that has the seen-it-all Montana private eye trying to find out which of a small-town shrink's bizarre patients has made off with some highly confidential files. Fast-paced, brutal, melancholy, and ruefully funny, The Right Madness is Crumley at his uncompromising best.