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A review by jrobles76
L.A. Outlaws by T. Jefferson Parker
4.0
After Robert B. Parker died, I took a year off of reading any books in the detective fiction genre & the mystery genre as a whole. The first book back I decided to read a book written by an author I'd never read, but recommended by Robert Crais, much like I'd read Robert Crais due to a comparison to Robert Parker. I was not disappointed.
T. Jefferson Parker is a name I recognized due to it's alpha proximity to Robert Parker. I knew he had a ton of books under his belt, but until I saw his interview with Robert Crais, I never considered reading his books. T. J. Parker wrote mostly stand alone novels, and L.A. Outlaws was his first in what would become a minor series.
This story is told in both the 3rd person limited and 1st person. What is most remarkable is that while this would eventually become a "Charlie Hood story", Hood's story is told in 3rd person, while Allison/Suzanne's is told in 1st person. Since this is the only T.J. Parker story I've read so far I'm not sure of his style. But I have to say that his use of two different methods of story telling is quite inventive and useful to the style of the story.
Each character is shaped by their past. Hood is influenced by his experiences in the War. Lupercio is influenced by the experiences with the gang he created. And, Suzanne is influenced by her genetic history of Jaoquin the outlaw. And what I love about Parker's storytelling is that Allison/Suzanne's storytelling, while 1st person, is the unreliable narrator - much as it would be in real life.
The stories we tell about ourselves contain more fictions, than those told about us. At times I felt that Allison had to have a 1st person account because she wouldn't allow Parker to tell her story in any other way.
As I said, each character is shaped by their past. The question Parker asks us to answer is whether we live by destiny or free will. Allison seemed to meet her destiny and Hood seemed to choose his, or did he? The question of free will seems to permeate this novel, even as we know that each character's destiny is chosen by the author. Is the idea of free will something we tell our selves, or is it real?
Like all good books it's something not answered, but something questioned. I look forward to future Parker novels. And hope to find that all his books open one to such philosophical thought as this one.
T. Jefferson Parker is a name I recognized due to it's alpha proximity to Robert Parker. I knew he had a ton of books under his belt, but until I saw his interview with Robert Crais, I never considered reading his books. T. J. Parker wrote mostly stand alone novels, and L.A. Outlaws was his first in what would become a minor series.
This story is told in both the 3rd person limited and 1st person. What is most remarkable is that while this would eventually become a "Charlie Hood story", Hood's story is told in 3rd person, while Allison/Suzanne's is told in 1st person. Since this is the only T.J. Parker story I've read so far I'm not sure of his style. But I have to say that his use of two different methods of story telling is quite inventive and useful to the style of the story.
Each character is shaped by their past. Hood is influenced by his experiences in the War. Lupercio is influenced by the experiences with the gang he created. And, Suzanne is influenced by her genetic history of Jaoquin the outlaw. And what I love about Parker's storytelling is that Allison/Suzanne's storytelling, while 1st person, is the unreliable narrator - much as it would be in real life.
The stories we tell about ourselves contain more fictions, than those told about us. At times I felt that Allison had to have a 1st person account because she wouldn't allow Parker to tell her story in any other way.
As I said, each character is shaped by their past. The question Parker asks us to answer is whether we live by destiny or free will. Allison seemed to meet her destiny and Hood seemed to choose his, or did he? The question of free will seems to permeate this novel, even as we know that each character's destiny is chosen by the author. Is the idea of free will something we tell our selves, or is it real?
Like all good books it's something not answered, but something questioned. I look forward to future Parker novels. And hope to find that all his books open one to such philosophical thought as this one.