Negative Positive
Title: Dragovitch sways and swaggers
Review: Detective Milo Dragovitch sways and swaggers through James Crumley's "Dancing Bear" bracing himself with snorts of coke and shots of peppermint schnapps. When the good guy is this dysfunctional and abrasive, it's hard to get much perspective on the rest of the characters who seem to be glaring foils and stereotypes.The story itself is violent and dark, a multilayered mystery without a lucid or ultimately satisfying solution. It's up to the reader to make a number of leaps of faith to keep things moving. For instance, Milo seems to know instinctively when he is being tailed but how me knows is never quite clear. He is being manipulated but one is never quite sure why or sure how he escapes the consequences of renegade justice.I read "Dancing Bear" to pass a rainy weekend but am not inclined to recommend the book.
Is the review positive or negative? 