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Title: A World of Thieves : A Novel by James Carlos Blake ISBN: 0-06-051247-4 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 24 December, 2002 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.75 (4 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: Sadly, this one disappoints
Comment: I'm a big James Carlos Blake fan and it is painful to have to give A World of Thieves a mixed review. If this book had been written by another author and I had not read Red Grass River, I certainly would be singing the praises of this book. However, I know that Blake can do much better and really all he has done with this book is rewrite Red Grass River, moving the setting from the Everglades to Angola Prison in Louisianna and West Texas.
If you are new to Blake, do yourself a favor and read Red Grass River or In the Rogue Blood and wait until this one comes out in paperback. I think Blake does a tremendous job in recreating the underbelly of past American eras. His characters tend to be people living on the edge, pushed to violence by the forces of society. Rugged individualists. People who will kill savagely without missing a beat. But also people who have a tender heart towards their families and even complete strangers. One minute the protagonist is holding up a mom and pop grocery--the next he is helping an old man change a tire along the side of a hot dusty Texas highway.
There are no easy answers or platitudes in Blake's books. Violence usually begets violence. And if you need happy, conventional endings, look elsewhere. But if you like to turn over a rock and see what's crawling underneath, then I can highly recommend Blake's work.
Rating: 3
Summary: Pales
Comment: As a big fan of Blake I was surely disappointed that he's covering the same ground as in the past and covered it better in the past. The same relationships exist between the characters, their careers and their women as in Red Grass River. The action passages offer some bright spots (loved the prison break), but they appear between cliche scenes and his desire to show you he's done his homework on all things 1920's (the egg in the radiator, song titles, ginger jake etc.) but what bothers me most is this piece just doesn't seem to have any soul. Here's to hoping the next one has some.
Rating: 4
Summary: A novel that evokes Bonnie & Clyde
Comment: After the death of his parents, a young, naive Sonny LaSalle gives up his education and career potential to follow his uncles' life of armed robbery and ensuing violence. When a bank robbery goes awry, Sonny is sent to prison. Though he gets a second chance, he never considers a lawful existence. He embraces his uncles' criminal code of conduct without question. He attaches himself to an abused woman he meets by chance. Though a likable character, Sonny achieves his limited emotional fulfillment from sexuality and violence.
This is a well written novel, reminiscent of Bonnie & Clyde. It is a study in loyalty and morality (or lack thereof) in the wilds of Texas and Louisiana in the late 1920s. It was a solid read, albeit one that was at times a bit depressing. Blake doesn't celebrate the violence - he reports it in writing that is crisp and spare, and develops characters that live on, long after the book is closed.
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Title: Wildwood Boys : A Novel by James Carlos Blake ISBN: 0380805936 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 01 August, 2001 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: Under the Skin : A Novel by James Carlos Blake ISBN: 0380977516 Publisher: William Morrow Pub. Date: 21 January, 2003 List Price(USD): $25.95 |
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Title: Red Grass River : A Legend by James Carlos Blake ISBN: 0380792427 Publisher: Avon Pub. Date: 25 July, 2000 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: In the Rogue Blood by James Carlos Blake ISBN: 0380792419 Publisher: Avon Pub. Date: October, 1998 List Price(USD): $15.50 |
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Title: The Friends of Pancho Villa: A Novel by James Carlos Blake ISBN: 0425153045 Publisher: Berkley Publishing Group Pub. Date: August, 1996 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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