Jim Hammertson read and liked Jas N's review of About the Author: A Novel:

"Execellent execution of an interesting premise. It was clever and fast paced. I enjoyed it start to finish. Great book. Especially in the context of A Million Little Pieces, et al. "

Jim Hammertson read and liked Jas N's review of Vixen Shamus:

"I had NO IDEA what I was getting into when I picked this one up. Sure there was the requisite hot chick on the cover and the over-the-top noir style that you would expect for the time. The story about a private detective's struggle to come to grips w...more I had NO IDEA what I was getting into when I picked this one up. Sure there was the requisite hot chick on the cover and the over-the-top noir style that you would expect for the time. The story about a private detective's struggle to come to grips with his homosexual feelings for a rival investigator was pretty out there, but then the big reveal completely blew me away! The aftermath of that scene is truly emotionally staggering. A must read. The context of it seems controversial now, I cannot imagine what it was like at the time. Of course the ending makes everything better when the lead detective cracks the case and he and his woman are together shooting up the bad guys. But it's the last couple lines, where the detective is in the bathroom and talking about his new life and then he looks in the mirror and he's wearing his gal's dress! That took my breath away! I mean wow! Vixen Shamus, indeed!(less) "

Jim Hammertson read and liked Victor's review of Vixen Shamus:

"
I think what I like best about LaSalle's work (and which is plenty evident in Vixen Shamus) is that he has a keen awareness of genre conventions but steadfastly refuses to be ruled by them. If they serve his purpose fine, but if he wants to go...more
I think what I like best about LaSalle's work (and which is plenty evident in Vixen Shamus) is that he has a keen awareness of genre conventions but steadfastly refuses to be ruled by them. If they serve his purpose fine, but if he wants to go of the dep end, then damn the torpedoes. I also appreciate LaSalle's willingness to give his readers the middle finger. Fo example, he'll invent a character, force the reader to invest time and emotion into the character, only to kill the character abruptly as if you say, "Screw your new friend. He's gone now." In Vixen Shamus, the best example of this is the undertaker character. We're given a half-chapter of details about this character, made to feel sympathy for him, and then -- just when he's about to reveal a vital clue -- he's trampled by an escaped circus elephant. The effect is to make the reader feel trampled and blind-sided as well. Very effective. By the time you reach the end of a LaSalle novel, you feel like you been roughed up, kicked in the ass, shoved into a sack and dropped off a bridge.(less) "