Sunday, November 7, 2010

THE GENTLEMEN'S HOUR by Don Winslow

The Gentlemen's Hour is Winslow's second novel featuring surfer/PI Boone Daniels. The first book in the series --- The Dawn patrol --- came out in 2008 and introduced the cast of recurring characters we encounter again in Gentlemen's Hour. They are the Dawn Patrol, a crew of hardcore surfers centered around Daniels, all with individual lives that sometimes intersect out of the water, but it is their daily early-morning gatherings on the surf that truly bonds them.
The writing is scalpel-sharp, the chapters come bullet-quick, and the action is relentless. San Diego and vicinity, especially Pacific Beach and (in this book) the Rockpile break at La Jolla, are the settings. Winslow paints these backdrops and the people who pass through them vividly. The plot is intricate and contains a number of surprises. The characters are multi-dimensional and their motives are never quite what t hey appear to be.
Plenty of good stuff here for the PI mystery fan, and a whole different slant on the California PI than most of what we've seen before.
For more details about this book check out my full review on Amazon.

Persevere --- WD

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