Review of The Left-Handed Dollar

The Left-handed Dollar by Loren D. Estleman




I finally finished reading it! No fault of the book--just not much time to read novels. I have followed Amos Walker through all twenty of his adventures. This is not one of the best, but it's still way better than the best of most other hard-boiled mystery writers. No matter what anybody tells you, believe me that Estleman is the TRUE heir to Raymond Chandler. He's a wonderful writer. Even when the story is hard to follow, which it often is in this series, I have to keep reading for the great dialogue and turns of phrase. A random example from late in the book:

[Walker, in his car, is having a cellphone conversation with someone he doesn't wish to coverse with at this time] "I'm--" I tuned into my favorite all-static station on the radio, held the phone to the speaker, thumped it a couple of times on the dash for good measure, then snapped it shut and turned it off. I could kick myself for all the years I'd wasted resisting wireless technology.

If you're already a fan, get "The Left-Handed Dollar." If you haven't yet had the very great pleasure of reading the Amos Walker books, get something earlier in the series and prepare to become hooked.



View all my reviews