Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe returns in award-winning author John
Banville's Marlowe--originally published as The Black-Eyed Blonde
under the pen name Benjamin Black--the basis for the major motion
picture starring Liam Neeson as the iconic detective.
"Somewhere Raymond Chandler is smiling . . . I loved this book. It was
like having an old friend, one you assumed was dead, walk into the
room."
**--Stephen King
**
"It was one of those Tuesday afternoons in summer when you wonder
if the earth has stopped revolving."
The streets of Bay City, California, in the early 1950s are as mean as
they get. Marlowe is as restless and lonely as ever, and the private eye
business is a little slow. Then a new client is shown in: blond,
beautiful, and expensively dressed, she wants Marlowe to find her former
lover.
Almost immediately, Marlowe discovers that the man's disappearance is
merely the first in a series of bewildering events. Soon he is tangling
with one of Bay City's richest and most ruthless families--and
developing a singular appreciation for how far they will go to protect
their fortune.
"It's vintage L.A., toots: The hot summer, rain on the asphalt, the
woman with the lipstick, cigarette ash and alienation, V8 coupes, tough
guys, snub-nosed pistols, the ice melting in the bourbon . . . . The
results are Chandleresque, sure, but you can see Banville's sense of
fun."
--The Washington Post
