The Black-Eyed Blonde
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3.5 • 2 Ratings
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- $14.99
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe returns in The Black-Eyed Blonde—also published as Marlowe as by John Banville—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 summer Tuesday afternoons when you begin to 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
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Raymond Chandler’s legendary hardboiled detective Philip Marlowe gets new life in this fantastic, tightly potted noir revival. When the knockout Clare Cavendish hires Marlowe to find her missing lover, the case—and the reward—seems pretty straightforward. But when it turns out that Clare knew her beau was dead all along, the private investigator discovers he’s in over his head. Author Benjamin Black (a pseudonym for novelist John Banville) meticulously captures Chandler’s famously terse style and nails the menace and allure of ’50s California, complete with a wealthy, beguiling femme fatale. Narrator Dennis Boutsikaris’ wry delivery makes The Black-Eyed Blonde a gritty, retro delight.
