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Title: perhaps the worst novel by one of today's best writers
Review: Many of the people purchasing this book at this stage in its cycle are fans of Dooling's previous novels, and like myself, would probably buy the book regardless of what reviews they might read. Until Bet Your Life, I couldn't imagine myself being disappointed by a Richard Dooling book.Dooling's carefully-calibrated nastiness is there (albeit all too infrequently), but the plot limps along, and the characters - with one notable exception that I pray points to a spin-off - tend to merge into one not particularly interesting entity. There just don't seem to be enough ideas to sustain the book as a novel of this length.For anyone not already acquainted with Dooling: "Critical Care" and "White Man's Grave" are two books that are difficult to top.
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