Ready to discover another great book for this 2022? Take a look…
The Goodbye Coast by Joe Ide
Genre: Thriller
Publisher: W&N
Source: Compulsive Readers
Rating: 4/5
Amazon, Hive
About The Book
The seductive and relentless figure of Raymond Chandler’s detective, Philip Marlowe, is vividly re-imagined in present-day Los Angeles. Here is a city of scheming Malibu actresses, ruthless gang members, virulent inequality, and washed-out police. Acclaimed and award-winning novelist Joe Ide imagines a Marlowe very much of our time: he’s a quiet, lonely, and remarkably capable and confident private detective, though he lives beneath the shadow of his father, a once-decorated LAPD homicide detective, famous throughout the city, who’s given in to drink after the death of Marlowe’s mother.
Marlowe, against his better judgement, accepts two missing person cases, the first a daughter of a faded, tyrannical Hollywood starlet, and the second, a British child stolen from his mother by his father. At the center of COAST is Marlowe’s troubled and confounding relationship with his father, a son who despises yet respects his dad, and a dad who’s unable to hide his bitter disappointment with his grown boy. Together, they will realize that one of their clients may be responsible for murder of her own husband, a washed-up director in debt to Albanian and Russian gangsters, and that the client’s trouble-making daughter may not be what she seems.
My Thoughts
Any crime lover is aware of the iconic detective name “Philip Marlowe”, so, it was impossible to not want to read a new novel about him in the present time! I don’t think you have to read this book as a continuation of Raymond’s Chandler books, but as an adaptation of the character, the flair is there but too many years have passed between the classic stories and the present to hope it will have the same identity!
Having said that, this is a good mystery with a very interesting main character, some background will make you remember our beloved Marlowe, of course humour and troubles are there waiting for the reader to get glued to this story.
In this book we will see two missing persons, a young healthy woman and a mother searching for her child. As you can imagine neither of the cases will be easy, emotive and personal will become dangerous when gangs are involved.
This is a story full of characters, sometimes you get a little overwhelmed, but as the story progresses everything fits in their own place.
This fast paced story is quite impossible to not stop reading, wanting to get all the answers, and hoping everyone will be safe at the end of the book. Because, let’s be honest, when you have a missing person in a case, you never know if you’ll find them dead or alive…
I really hope this will not be the last modern Philip Marlowe book, he has too much to tell that I can’t wait to read a new case.
Are you ready for “The Goodbye Coast”?
About The Author
Joe Ide is of Japanese American descent. He grew up in South Central Los Angeles, an economically depressed area with a largely black population. Gangs and street crime were rampant. Like a lot of kids, Joe wanted to belong and his speech, style, musical tastes and attitudes reflected the neighborhood.
His favorite books were the Conan Doyle Sherlock Holmes stories. That a person could make his way in the world and vanquish his enemies with just his intelligence fascinated him.
Eventually, he went on to university and received a graduate degree in education. He worked as a school teacher, a college lecturer, a corporate middle manager and director of an NGO that offered paralegal services and emergency shelter to abused women and children. He went on to write screenplays for a number of major studios but none of the projects came to fruition.
It was then he decided to write his debut novel, IQ, about an unlicensed, underground detective; a character inspired by his early experiences and love of Sherlock Holmes.
Joe lives in Santa Monica, California, with his wife and Golden Retriever, Gusto.
Varietats 