Jonathan Arnold reviewed The fourth Durango by Ross Thomas
Review of 'The fourth Durango' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
Wow, what a fun book! The Fourth Durango can be found in California, where the mayor and police chief run a nice little racket of offering refuge for those on the run. A disgraced judge and his disbarred lawyer son-in-law try to convince them to take them in and hide them from mysterious forces who seem to want them both dead.
A twisted little plot with plenty of great writing. I didn't take Sara Paretsky's warning in the new introduction to heart and so I didn't pay close enough attention to all the asides and "minor" characters and their stories, so the finale crept up on me and smacked me upside the head, with no warning and a barely understood plan. I did exactly like she warned me not to do - treat it like a page turner, absolutely glued to the pages to see what Thomas would give us …
Wow, what a fun book! The Fourth Durango can be found in California, where the mayor and police chief run a nice little racket of offering refuge for those on the run. A disgraced judge and his disbarred lawyer son-in-law try to convince them to take them in and hide them from mysterious forces who seem to want them both dead.
A twisted little plot with plenty of great writing. I didn't take Sara Paretsky's warning in the new introduction to heart and so I didn't pay close enough attention to all the asides and "minor" characters and their stories, so the finale crept up on me and smacked me upside the head, with no warning and a barely understood plan. I did exactly like she warned me not to do - treat it like a page turner, absolutely glued to the pages to see what Thomas would give us next, but not paying close enough attention to the stories being told while they were being told.
I read this in about 3 days and thought about it while I wasn't reading it, which is always a good sign. Fascinating characters and a twisted plan that I am willing to believe would completely hang together if I were to reread it. It's simply amazing to think of how Thomas ever pieced this together. You can be damned sure he isn't one of those that plots on the fly. This is too tightly knit for that!
But the characters were fun. I particularly enjoyed how the reader doesn't really know what is going on, but I could also be sure the characters didn't really either. Sometimes, an author will keep the reader confused by not having the characters tell us what they are thinking, but in this case, the characters are as confused as we are and that is all just part of the fun. Fantastic! And I can't wait to dive back into his oeuvre!