tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7589131949052086102.post4260170983023326432..comments2023-10-29T01:28:38.900-07:00Comments on Top Suspense Group: INSIDE TOP SUSPENSE: Your Favorite CharacterDave Zeltsermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04007736514118297783noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7589131949052086102.post-81318024651228549152011-09-07T06:13:03.866-07:002011-09-07T06:13:03.866-07:00I loved McGee but he doesn't hold up well, exc...I loved McGee but he doesn't hold up well, except as a reminder of that moment in history when everything changed for the American male. I found him alive and vibrant, if a tad redundant at times, since his character was a lone wolf, a knight in rusty armour devoted to his on code...and therefore not subject to change. His pensive mood in the last couple of novels saddened me, I can see some of the same things in James Lee Burke's writing now, an awareness of mortality and the futility of struggling to avoid it.Harryhttp://www.harryshannon.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7589131949052086102.post-10455605253618850782011-09-06T21:49:16.711-07:002011-09-06T21:49:16.711-07:00Stephen, my only problem with McGee was that he ne...Stephen, my only problem with McGee was that he never grew as a character. he didn't even seem to age until the last couple of books and he was the exact same guy in book one as the last one. He did seem to start getting a little more introspective towards the last couple of books, but other than that, he was just this perfect specimen, ideal kind of guy, tall, blond, ruthless if he felt like it. I was often left thinking Myer was a better rounded, fleshed out character.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07343193422030740142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7589131949052086102.post-67827195943565749012011-09-06T20:28:18.819-07:002011-09-06T20:28:18.819-07:00Raymond Chandler's Marlowe is too easy, and si...Raymond Chandler's Marlowe is too easy, and since I quote him incessantly, I'll pick a couple of others. I love Walter Mosley's EZ Rawlings. Rawlings is tough without being a brawler, he's smart and he is always ballancing personal problems (kids, neighbors, his love life and a real job) with the puzzle of any story. Additionally, EZ (with an assist from Mosely) seems to expose the inequality of race without ever getting preachy. In a dead heat with EZ Rawlings would be Lawrence Block 's Matthew Scudder and Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch. Both guys are vulnerable loners and quietly smart and as tenacious as bull dogs. And between them, they made me a dedicated crime fiction fan. I may have cut my teeth on Chandler and Hammett, Ed Lacy and Fredric Brown, but between Block and Connelly they concocted literary heroin.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07343193422030740142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7589131949052086102.post-78770482432840137322011-09-06T16:51:16.789-07:002011-09-06T16:51:16.789-07:00Anyone have an opinion on John D McDonald's Tr...Anyone have an opinion on John D McDonald's Travis McGee? I'm a sucker for the books but I'm always aware of the character as a calculated creation, a common male fantasy of the idealised self. I'm reminded of a line from a Burt Reynolds movie: "He's got everything! No wife, no kids, no mortgage..."Stephen Gallagherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05280419153030490653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7589131949052086102.post-49419586585768322072011-09-06T14:20:31.748-07:002011-09-06T14:20:31.748-07:00Barry, from Block I'd go with Scudder.
Contin...Barry, from Block I'd go with Scudder.<br /><br />Continental Op was my top choice, but close seconds were Richard Stark's Parker, Earl Drake (but only from The Name of the Game is Death--not from any of the Operation books), Karl Craven from Solomon's Vineyards, Lew Archer, and of course, Sam Spade.Dave Zeltsermanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04007736514118297783noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7589131949052086102.post-63272592697256332122011-09-06T13:50:34.494-07:002011-09-06T13:50:34.494-07:00I totally blanked on Bernie... BArry... good choic...I totally blanked on Bernie... BArry... good choice! Love him.Libby Hellmannhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14357982182362948869noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7589131949052086102.post-90429090246575630242011-09-06T13:41:35.448-07:002011-09-06T13:41:35.448-07:00Good suggestions all.Good suggestions all.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7589131949052086102.post-89725304869155263452011-09-06T10:23:09.227-07:002011-09-06T10:23:09.227-07:00i vote for the Preston-Child Pendergast series. I ...i vote for the Preston-Child Pendergast series. I try to end my reading for the day at the end of a chapter but often the ending is suspensive and i can't let go for the dayntroikenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7589131949052086102.post-30442300269091080702011-09-06T09:43:11.419-07:002011-09-06T09:43:11.419-07:00I vote with Stephen Gallagher for not only Lansdal...I vote with Stephen Gallagher for not only Lansdale's Hap and Leonard characters, but for just about every one of Lansdale's characters.Les Edgertonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17997858985904932554noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7589131949052086102.post-56826549082740210902011-09-06T07:11:18.191-07:002011-09-06T07:11:18.191-07:00Ever since I discovered Raymond Chandler when I wa...Ever since I discovered Raymond Chandler when I was a kid, Philip Marlowe has been my number one favorite fictional character. You've got to love someone who'll talk back to anyone, regardless of that person's position or social status. <br /><br />Others I've greatly enjoyed include Richard Prather's Shell Scott, Carter Brown's Mavis Seidlitz (remember her?), Stephen Greenleaf's John Marshall Tanner, Carter Dickson's Sir Henry Merrivale, George Chesbro's Dr. Robert Frederickson--a.k.a. Mongo the Magnificent, and Lawrence Block's Bernie Rhodenbarr.Barry Erganghttp://writetrack.yolasite.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7589131949052086102.post-28473874977919585452011-09-06T06:56:42.210-07:002011-09-06T06:56:42.210-07:00Of the non-living authors, I'd name Chandler&#...Of the non-living authors, I'd name Chandler's Marlowe as my top favorite, but Poirot, Mike Shayne, and the DKA gang - okay, not one character, but in the role of one - in Joe Gores' books. But can anyone top Holmes?<br /><br />Living authors? Cork O'Connor tops the list, but I really like Harry Stoner and Nameless.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7589131949052086102.post-40192680910210090722011-09-06T06:44:22.608-07:002011-09-06T06:44:22.608-07:00Absolutely. I adore those novels too, Stephen. Gre...Absolutely. I adore those novels too, Stephen. Great stuff.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7589131949052086102.post-7557335221906402792011-09-06T06:19:31.421-07:002011-09-06T06:19:31.421-07:00I want to put in a word for Joe R Lansdale's H...I want to put in a word for Joe R Lansdale's Hap and Leonard novels; Hap Collins and Leonard Pine, an unlikely pairing but an entirely believable friendship, usually engaged in some ill-fated crusade to do the right thing for someone who needs it, and probably heading for a beating in the course of the action. The stories can get very dark, but they're also funny. Joe writes the kind of prose that makes you laugh out loud in inappropriate settings.Stephen Gallagherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05280419153030490653noreply@blogger.com