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White Rabbit
The Sixties -- San Francisco, Haight-Ashbury, the Summer of Love. It’s a wistful memory for some, and it brings envious sighs for those too late to experience it. David Daniel vividly recreates that world and its legends in White Rabbit - and then injects a harsh dissonance into the flower children’s songs of peace, love, sex, and marijuana. It is easy to see that the collection of young people who gathered in San Francisco in those few summers could be tempting prey for a murderous sociopath. They discarded their real names, had no set address, hid from their families, were often stoned. And they took one another at face value, asking no questions.
The search for the killer leads to an unusual collaboration. Can a no-frills police officer, grieving for his dead wife, stepped down from homicide detective to vice cop, have anything in common with a young hippie woman who writes for an alternative newspaper and whose lover is determined to turn a demonstration for peace in Vietnam into a violent revolution? Both seek the killer, working from opposite ends of 60’s society, and mistrusting each other. Sparrow has his enemies in the SFPD; Amy has doubts about her lover’s plans for violent action. Both are aware that cooperation between them and the sharing of their special knowledge is their only option. By the breathtaking climax, where Amy herself becomes the target, it is clear to Sparrow that he must confront the killer and his own demons as well in order to save her, his city -- and himself. Daniel has wonderfully captured the joys and frenzies of the Haight-Ashbury streets in those spirited days. For all of us who missed the Summer of Love, for whatever reason, White Rabbit is a fascinating trip, serial killer and all.
The search for the killer leads to an unusual collaboration. Can a no-frills police officer, grieving for his dead wife, stepped down from homicide detective to vice cop, have anything in common with a young hippie woman who writes for an alternative newspaper and whose lover is determined to turn a demonstration for peace in Vietnam into a violent revolution? Both seek the killer, working from opposite ends of 60’s society, and mistrusting each other. Sparrow has his enemies in the SFPD; Amy has doubts about her lover’s plans for violent action. Both are aware that cooperation between them and the sharing of their special knowledge is their only option. By the breathtaking climax, where Amy herself becomes the target, it is clear to Sparrow that he must confront the killer and his own demons as well in order to save her, his city -- and himself. Daniel has wonderfully captured the joys and frenzies of the Haight-Ashbury streets in those spirited days. For all of us who missed the Summer of Love, for whatever reason, White Rabbit is a fascinating trip, serial killer and all.
368 pages, Hardcover
First published March 5, 2003
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About the author
David Daniel
14 books5 followersDavid Daniel's stories have appeared in magazines and anthologies alongside work by Ray Bradbury and Richard Matheson. He is author of more than a dozen books, including entries in the St. Martin’s Press prize-winning Alex Rasmussen mystery series: The Heaven Stone, The Skelly Man, Goofy Foot, and The Marble Kite. Other novels include White Rabbit, a novel of the 1960, and the bestselling political thriller The Tuesday Man.
His newest book, Beach Town, a collection of short stories, is a bittersweet look at the loves and losses of characters, young and old, living in a coastal town.
Born in Boston, Daniel has traveled widely and has been a teacher, surfer, tennis coach, clam digger, and brain slicer in the neuropathology lab at Harvard Medical School.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 3, 2012
A thoroughly engaging book and suspenseful historical mystery. Daniel must have done extensive research (or been an ex-hippie) when writing this book because I felt I was in San Francisco in 1967....the authenticity and accuracy was that good. It was atmospheric and edgy, with great characters, great music, a good plot, and of course lots of doobage being smoked and LSD being dropped. The killer was deranged and the friction between the cops and hippies and the more radical left, kept the tension high.
I recommend this book to anyone who likes mysteries and/or those who like books about the counterculture and the 60s. Just a great read. A keeper for me!!
I recommend this book to anyone who likes mysteries and/or those who like books about the counterculture and the 60s. Just a great read. A keeper for me!!
April 16, 2011
Interesting book, but didn't really keep my interest. I finished it, but only because I wanted to see how it turned out. It took me forever to read just because I wasn't into it.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews