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An Infinite Number of Monkeys
An Infinite Number of Monkeys
Author: Les Roberts
Late night phone calls are never good news, and hearing his secretary's scared voice on the line, Saxon figured he was in for a case with too many favors and no hard cash. But the L.A. actor-turned sleuth was only half right, because whoever took a shot at his secretary's husband was really aiming for big bucks - that is, Buck Weldon, one of Ame...  more »
ISBN-13: 9781930916302
ISBN-10: 1930916302
Publication Date: 4/30/2002
Pages: 213
Rating:
  • Currently 3/5 Stars.
 1

3 stars, based on 1 rating
Publisher: New Age World Publishing
Book Type: Paperback
Other Versions: Hardcover
Members Wishing: 0
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algernon99 avatar reviewed An Infinite Number of Monkeys on + 418 more book reviews
This one won the St. Martin's prize for Best First Private Eye Novel--or something like that. It is a good story, but...

Les Roberts got off to a good start with this story, and he went on to write several more in the series, but he didn't really hit his stride until he started the Milan Jacovich series, set in Cleveland. If you want his GOOD stuff, read those, starting with Pepper Pike.

Now, about this book. While I enjoyed it, I had some real complaints. There's one sex scene, for instance, which is way over the top for me. I am also a bit put off by Saxon's (he's the main character, an out-of-work actor making a living as a PI) immediate adolescent worship of a girl he meets. It's more than love at first sight; it's adoration, worship, teen-age wet dream stuff. Ugh.

Another cavil is the physical violence--poor Saxon gets beat up unmercifully several times with too much detail. He recovers fairly quickly, of course, and soldiers on. It's rather like Mr. Roberts knew the formula for a hard-boiled PI book and made sure he got the beatings and the hot, hot sex scene in, whether they were needed or not. In his later work, everything that happens is for a reason other than the requirements of the formula for a PI novel.

The plot itself is pretty clever, and I enjoyed the unfolding of the layers of clues.

So, it's interesting. If you're looking for cleverly disguised hot sex stuff (although it's only two pages), if you like hard-boiled PI stuff no matter what, and if you're interested in seeing the maturation and development of a good writer from his earliest work, get this book.


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