The Final Country

James Crumley is the best mystery writer at work today, and at times he even conjures the ghost of the great John D. MacDonald. But Crumley's best writing is wrapped up in his love of Montana, and "Final COuntry" is set in Texas. Not to mention all the other disagreeable associations Texas has for us New Yorkers... Milo never seems quite at home there, and it shows. But Crumley doesn't fail to deliver a tight plot, lots of ultraviolence and a raft of double-dealing hotties. Even marooned down south, Crumley's still head and shoulders above the rest.

Ask most of the young crime writers in America who they revere and the name Crumley will fall off almost every tongue. In a genre that rewards the fast and the dirty, where publishers throw money at sloppy writing and half-assed plotting, Crumley is a beacon of quality and thoughtfulness. The man cares about the language. What a radical notion for a writer of detective novels. In The Final Country, as in any of his books, you'll find sentences both sleek and rangy, but always beautiful, thought out, worked on. And those sentences come together to form a Voice as consistent and engrossing as any on the contemporary scene - inside or outside the genre. But wait, as the pitchmen say, there's more. You also get a plot as ingeniously assembled as Lamborghini Diablo. A red one. That runs on nitroglycerin. And this books moves as fast as the Diablo. But don't worry, Milo's got his arm around you the whole way, rapping up a coke-fueled storm that, should you listen, will give you a few gem about how an ethical man lives in a foul world. Listen: as long as James Crumley can draw breath and pick up a pen, TV just doesn't stand a chance.

Here we have a story of bottom dwellers looking into the affairs of folks somehow even lower that they are. Not a pretty sight! But, what an enjoyable one. Crumly manages to potray men and women who find themselves in a world of chaos and filth, tainted with sex, booze, drugs and violence. Milo, Betty and friends are the closest to heros you will find lurking in these shadowy pages, but, you wont be able to resist them. I wonder if it is as much fun to write this stuff as it is to read it. If you are a die hard fan of hard boiled PIs, this is definitely your type of book.You will probably feel a lot better about your life after spending a little time with Milo and gang.

James Crumley always delivers and this is no exception. Falling somewhere between Jim Thompson and James Ellroy, Crumley creates a dark descent into a chaotic hell. Not for the squeamish, but hard-edged, life-weary readers will not be disappointed in this or any James Crumley novel.

Crumley is back (finally!)with another magnificently intricate tale featuring Milo Milodragovich, the crusty, humorous, cynical, superbly violent, but now aging, P.I. from Montana who migrated to the mythical Gatlin County, TX (suburb of Austin)in the "Bordersnakes" (1996) novel. Milo (now wealthy)is still all-cattle-and-no-hat as he sorts out a Texas size imbroglio of murder, lust, greed and betrayal."Final Country" is another Crumley treasure. You'll find there the lyrical quality to rival Chandler, the grit to rival Hammett, violence beyond Stark or Lansdale, and the unique Crumley philosophy of individualism and virtue. Crumley is one of the very few authors working in the P.I. genre who produces literary works with the quality of detail that will pleasure the reader not only on the first reading, but also on re-reading or even re-re-reading.