Monday, August 11, 2008

Duane Swierczynski: The Blonde


One of the books I read during my holiday was Duane Swierczynski's The Blonde. As you're probably aware (and you should be, especially if you're Finnish readers of this blog), Swierczynski's previous novel, the great The Wheelman, will soon be out in a paperback series of new hardboiled I edit, and if everything turns out okay, I believe The Blonde will also be. (Hmm.. is this a thing I'm able to mention or is it a business secret?)

You know the expression "non-stop action"? Well, most of the books or films on which that epithet is tacked on are not really non-stop action. But The Blonde is. Trust me. You can't put it down and the action starts from page one (well, okay, it starts from maybe page three or four). And there's lots of sex, while The Wheelman has almost none.

The book could be labeled as science fiction, but Swierczynski isn't really interested in exploring the science, which is fine by me. The Blonde is a perfect example of how a science fictional item can be used as a plot gimmick or even a MacGuffin. It slows the plot down none.

I have only one quibble: if the titular blonde is in the trouble she's in, just how can she act so cool? But there's always suspension of disbelief, and Swierczynski proves he's the master of it. And I just love how he links the previous book into this, even though they are totally separated.

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