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Title: Sweet and Sour
Review: I bought this book because of its reported resemblance to the Parker novels of Richard Stark. In reality Vachss' hero, Burke [those acquainted with Cockney rhyming slang will prefer the spelling Berk] is a million miles from the formidable, self-sufficient Parker. He is entirely dependent on an unbelievably politically correct group of people who display a dog-like devotion to the egregious hero. Members of the ethnic minorities thus patronised will be irritated by this device. As far as I know there is not yet a collective noun for such a group so let me suggest the coinage "luvvies" which is current in London for disgusting media folk.The author misses his target which is the excellent hardboiled American detective style by such a wide margin as to have his book sink in a morass of glutinous sentimentality.
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