Here’s a hard-boiled detective story with a convoluted plot featuring
a philosophical sleuth who is at the end of his tether. You gotta luvit.

Billy McGrath struggles with temptation; he has a reputation as the
cleanest, cleverest homicide detective in LA., but his wife has left him
and she is taking their daughter with her to live in Seattle. McGrath is
frustrated because he knows that Hollywood movie star Charlie Cororan killed
his wife, but it looks like his millions will buy him a defense that let
him escape justice. He is ready to take the law into his own hands and
solve his financial problems all at the same time by cutting a deal with
Rickie Lee Richards, a powerful figure in the underworld of crime, who
wants vengeance for his mother’s recent murder.

If you are like me, you’ll find yourself reading paragraphs aloud in
full Raymond Chandler style. If you are the sort that likes to work out
whodunit, maybe you will do lots of guessing and then achieve vindication
or frustration as the truth eventually unfurls. For myself, I just let
myself be carried along by the fast paced story. What I liked most were
the moments that hinted at McGrath’s true desperation and his carelessness
with his own life, ready to risk death not because of bravery but because
he would welcome an end to his misery. The quotations thrown in from philosophers
add some style to the story, although they don’t really add up to any great
insights about the human condition.

Rayner goes a great job keeping within the genre without being utterly
derivative. McGrath is an interesting and complex character, who of course
narrates the story. The other characters lack the same depth, but it’s
still a gripping read. There are dark and stormy nights, car chases, romantic
encounters and moments suggesting that McGrath is capable of saving himself
from his internal demons.

© 2001 Christian Perring. First Serial Rights.

Christian Perring,
Ph.D., is Chair of the Philosophy Department at Dowling College,
Long Island. He is editor of Metapsychology Online Review.
His main research is on philosophical issues in psychiatry.
He is especially interested in exploring how philosophers can
play a greater role in public life. He is available to give talks
on many philosophical or controversial issues in mental health.

Categories: Fiction