Thursday, November 08, 2007
 
Book Report: One of Us Is Wrong by Samuel Holt (1986)
I wanted to say that it's been twenty years since I read the second book in this series, but I'd be misstating my own longevity as well as warping the former Clinton presidency into a longer period than it was. I only read it the book I Know a Trick Worth Two of That probably in 1990 or 1991; I suspect I picked up the copy I had of that at a paperback exchange in Milwaukee the summer before I began college. I don't know why I remember it that way.

So I recognized the naming scheme/"author" when I found this book probably earlier this year, and the memory was such that I bought the book. And you know what? Worthwhile endeavor.

This book sets the tone for the series: a former policeman/basketball player/television show star Samuel Holt has to deal with his celebrity but also finds himself in a situation where a crime has been committed and where he, the man who played PACKARD, must find out who or what is going on.

It's a light read from the 1980s featuring Arabic terrorists plotting an attack on American soil. Really, though, that's secondary to the voice navigating the LA scene suffering from the cancellation of the television series that made him a household name and identifiable celebrity. The Samuel Holt character drives the book, and the missteps, mistakes, and typographical errors are forgiven. After all, Donald Westlake, who wrote this book and the four-book series under the pseudonym of the main character (a la Ellery Queen), churned out a pile in the 1980s.

Friends and readers (and by "Readers," I mean "Deb, CG, and Gimlet"), I'll look for the remaining two books in this series. So if you're into light mysteries, you might want to check these out, quirky as they might be.

Books mentioned in this review:


- posted by Brian J. @ 11:17 PM
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