Palos Verdes Blue

by John Shannon

Book Overview

In the latest Jack Liffey novel, L.A.'s most famous child-finder finds himself enmeshed in a race-fueled crime wave on Palos Verdes. Barely recovered after nearly loosing his daughter to religious... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1605980374
• ISBN13: 9781605980379
• Release Date: April 2009
• Publisher: Pegasus Crime
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.9" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Best Liffey Yet

This is definitely the best Jack Liffey yet. Shannon displays his unique ability to capture in words how it looks and feels to be in Los Angeles, this time particularly in a rain storm. And, as always, Shannon uses Liffey and the other characters to shed light on the chasms between classes, ethnicities and communities. But this is neither a meteorological nor a sociological tome. It's a page-turning detective story well told and filled with humor, snappy repartee and musings, and spinning together all the narrative threads into a cinematic finish. As much as I wanted to speed up and see how the book came out, I forced myself to slow down to make it last.

True Blue

Jack Liffey is the nitty-gritty. As John Shannon leads him around Southern California, we face revelations about the multi-ethnicity of our environment that terrorize and tantalize. And when Jack is out of the picture, his daughter Maeve will drag you places Jack wouldn't dare to go. It would be better if you read all the Liffey novels before you got to this one, but if you only read one, Palos Verdes Blue will do.

Existential detective

Jack Liffey is the kind of detective whose observations and reflections about the world are as nuanced and complicated as the cases he's called on to solve. He's a detective for the messy, multicultural and hybrid world of contemporary California, the Ellis Island of the 21st century where all the tensions and contradictions of our global society play out in daily life. Each Liffey book portrays a different subculture of southern California, and there are enough of them to keep Jack Liffey busy solving cases for a lifetime. This is compelling and relevant fiction for our times.

Palos Verdes Blue

I was already a fan of Jack Liffey and his creator -- John Shannon. The Jack Liffey mysteries, in my opinion, have it all: an interesting detective who evolves over time, fascinating stories within the different subcultures of Southern California, excellent writing. Palos Verdes Blue is in keeping with this winning recipe...I loved it and recommend it to mystery fans.

P.I. Jack Liffey

Shannon, John. "Palos Verdes Blue", Pegasus, 2009. P.I. Jack Liffey Amos Lassen John Shannon created P.I. Jack Liffey eleven books ago. He is a crusader, an advocate for the little guy, a Vietnam veteran with a tremendous sense of decency, a complex guy who can help others but who cannot keep his personal life straight. More than anything else, Liffey is a thinking man. He is called upon often to find lost children and each time he begins a case, he does so with a sense of confidence and uncertainty. When Liffey's ex-wife asks him to find Blaine "Blue" Hostetler, her best friend's missing daughter, he takes the case. Blue had been involved in preserving the habitat of Palos Verdes Blue, an endangered butterfly. She had also been involved in helping illegal immigrants. As Jack begins his investigation, he finds himself in areas where the very rich congregate, in Lunada Bay and in Tijuana and migrant camps. Jack's daughter, Maeve, works with her dad and puts herself into a dangerous situation. Liffey discovers that there is a war going on among the rich and that cars are being vandalized and outsiders are being terrorized by a gang of rich teen surfers, the Bayboys. They also have been terrorizing Mexican day workers who camp near the estates of the rich. Jack learns that Blue has been bringing food and supplies to the immigrants. Things get really violent when a Mexican boy decides he wants to surf in Lunada Bay. Shannon is a master of beautiful prose and unforgettable characters as well as powerful description. We also get a great sense of author Shannon's love of humanity.