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Dream Town (Private Investigator Archer Book 3)

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I plunged right into Baldacci's PI series featuring Aloysius Archer, WWII vet, set in Hollywood in the 50s. In fact, David Baldacci seems to be writing a whole slew of characters of late that I’m finding absolutely compelling, and I’m loving it. They make a plan to meet the next day, but later in the evening Archer decides to check on Lamb's safety and discovers a dead body in her house and Lamb missing.

For those unfamiliar with this series, it is a masterful historic crime thriller, full of action and the usual masterful Baldacci storytelling.Archer's case highlights the misogyny of the time and in Hollywood, where little is as it appears to be, as he uncovers lies, secrets, blackmail, and deceptions, and mixes with Hollywood royalty, like the actress Samantha Lourdes. Although he is still based in the fictitious Bay City, California and working for Willie Dash's detective agency, the case in Dream Town takes Archer into full-blown Chandler / Marlowe territory in Los Angeles and Hollywood. The Aloysius Archer series continues as a strong PI series made even more enjoyable by the fact that it maintains its authentic look and feel. The narration by Edoardo Ballerini (all male voices) and Brittany Pressley (all female voices) was excellent.

I was fascinated by the 1950s setting and the fantastic detailed descriptions - with all the allure and mystique of that decade. Michaelides seems also to be dipping into the world of Edgar Allan Poe, offering an unreliable narrator who feels more like a literary exercise. Set seven decades i nthe past, there will always be interesting characters with which to contend and Baldacci finds ways of keeping them interesting until the very end. He discovers that there’s far more to be worried about than be impressed with in this lifestyle as he uncovers a brutal world of drugs, sex and blackmail. Sure there is more to the story, Archer reluctantly agrees to poke around, making plans to come by her home the following day.

My other complaint relates to a specific writing style habit, which was something that really annoyed the heck out of me, and it got worse throughout the book. Later that night, he goes to her house to check on her only to discover a dead body there and Lamb nowhere to be found. Indeed, the novel does double duty as a survival manual, packed full of good advice—for instance, try not to get wounded, for “injury turns you from a giver to a taker.

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