Wed 17 Nov 2010
Reviewed by Jeff Meyerson: MARK SADLER – Circle of Fire.
Posted by Steve under Bibliographies, Lists & Checklists , Characters , Reviews[3] Comments
MARK SADLER – Circle of Fire. Random House, 1973. Berkley, paperback, 1989.
Mark Sadler is a pseudonym of the prolific Dennis Lynds, who also writes as Michael Colllins (about Dan Fortune) , William Arden, and John Crowe. As Sadler he writes about private eye Paul Shaw. Circle of Fire is the fourth in the series, a complex book that is readable without being outstanding.
Paul Shaw is called in to investigate when Dick Delaney, his California partner, is shot and seriously wounded while working on a case. Local politician Russell Dobson was blown up in a car with Lilian Marsak, whom he apparently had just picked up.
Shaw must determine whether the killer had a personal or political motive for getting Dobson out of the way, and eventually must decide if he was the intended victim after all.
What did Delaney find out that got him shot? The book is very complicated and somewhat confusing, and Shaw is a little slow in recognizing one of the major possibilities in the case. It’s competent enough, I guess, but it has all been done before, and better (including the author’s own Dan Fortune series).
One switch: for once the out-of-town investigator is not continually hassled by the local police.
The Paul Shaw series —
The Falling Man. Random House, 1970.
Here to Die. Random House, 1971.
Mirror Image. Random House, 1972.
Circle of Fire. Random House, 1973.
Touch of Death. Raven House, 1981.
Deadly Innocents. Walker, 1986.
November 17th, 2010 at 11:34 pm
I had the same reaction to the Paul Shaw series as Jeff. My memory of them is capable, but nothing special, almost by rote.
Of course rote by Lynds was better than many other writers best effort, but he did much better as Collins, Crowe, and Arden.
And let us not forget the great Belmont Shadow series he wrote (all but the first one), which was my introduction to the character in print.
Dan Fortune, however, is his greatest creation, and in my own personal pantheon one of the great private eye creations. Lynds never wrote badly, but he always seemed to put something extra into the Fortune titles. I’ve reread one or two in the last year or so, and they not only hold up, they are exceptionally well written.
November 18th, 2010 at 12:39 am
No doubt about it, Lynds saved his best stuff for the Dan Fortune series.
I say this even though I’ve not yet read any of the Paul Shaw books, which I should have, but on the other hand, none of the reviews I’ve read of them are any more favorable than Jeff’s.
Very much readable, in other words, but not particularly memorable.
November 18th, 2010 at 9:14 am
It’s funny reading this review again as I have no real memory of Paul Shaw or the book, while Dan Fortune stands out to this day.