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tristanpej's review
5.0
There's a lot I'd like to say on this short novel.
J Daniel Sawyer is great for his wit, characters, and really doing his homework. This book's action sequences shows that Sawyer's knowledge of guns, computer systems, and cars are beyond the typical action writer, and that realism really makes the action compelling.
It is also a Private eye mystery novel set in the 21st century, with all the technology and techniques of the period. This makes for an interesting spin on a genre I still have conceived as stuck in the 1940s. There's a little bit of taking the piss out of us millennials, but I know it's in good humour.
And Then She Was Gone is a great mystery novel, and I really recommend it to anyone who is compelled by a really great mystery and adventure. Perfect for a flight or train ride.
J Daniel Sawyer is great for his wit, characters, and really doing his homework. This book's action sequences shows that Sawyer's knowledge of guns, computer systems, and cars are beyond the typical action writer, and that realism really makes the action compelling.
It is also a Private eye mystery novel set in the 21st century, with all the technology and techniques of the period. This makes for an interesting spin on a genre I still have conceived as stuck in the 1940s. There's a little bit of taking the piss out of us millennials, but I know it's in good humour.
And Then She Was Gone is a great mystery novel, and I really recommend it to anyone who is compelled by a really great mystery and adventure. Perfect for a flight or train ride.
kateofmind's review
4.0
I came into reading this book without knowing anything about it except that the author is a hell of a nice guy and sings like an angel and likes to wear natty hats. The hats more than anything else were a clue as to what I was getting, but only a small clue.
And Then She Was Gone reads most of the way through like the influences it wears on its sleeve -- great old hard-boiled detective fiction the likes of Hammett and Chandler -- with just hints that there's something much stranger than a kidnapping/murder/20th century-style crime polot going on, until wow, bang, surprise, there's a dash of techno-thriller thrown in, like a dash of tabasco on a nice helping of perfectly scrambled eggs.
In Clarke Lantham, Sawyer has created the perfect 21st century counterpart to Sam Spade et al: an ex-cop, clasically trained in the detective arts but technically savvy to the hilt. From GPS tracking to data mining, Clarke is a stranger to no tool that could be used to solve his cases. Far from perfect, though, he has to roll with a lot of punches taken and live with a lot of mistakes made.
The language, too, fits right in the good old San Fran crime tradition, taut and witty and occasionally extraordinarily funny ("all shorts and no scrotum" "Coincidence is a hemorrhoid on the ass of reality"). Lantham is the kind of guy you want to knock back a few good strong drinks with, but you might end up snorting some scotch up your nose while you listen to him spin his yarns.
I look forward to more of them!
And Then She Was Gone reads most of the way through like the influences it wears on its sleeve -- great old hard-boiled detective fiction the likes of Hammett and Chandler -- with just hints that there's something much stranger than a kidnapping/murder/20th century-style crime polot going on, until wow, bang, surprise, there's a dash of techno-thriller thrown in, like a dash of tabasco on a nice helping of perfectly scrambled eggs.
In Clarke Lantham, Sawyer has created the perfect 21st century counterpart to Sam Spade et al: an ex-cop, clasically trained in the detective arts but technically savvy to the hilt. From GPS tracking to data mining, Clarke is a stranger to no tool that could be used to solve his cases. Far from perfect, though, he has to roll with a lot of punches taken and live with a lot of mistakes made.
The language, too, fits right in the good old San Fran crime tradition, taut and witty and occasionally extraordinarily funny ("all shorts and no scrotum" "Coincidence is a hemorrhoid on the ass of reality"). Lantham is the kind of guy you want to knock back a few good strong drinks with, but you might end up snorting some scotch up your nose while you listen to him spin his yarns.
I look forward to more of them!
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