The Last Good Kiss (C.W. Sughrue Book 1)

I had never heard of Mr. Crumley before reading this book; His style is vivid, intense, manic, brooding and magnificent!Montana private detective CW Shugrue is a Viet Nam vet who lives in, on, and around the fringes of society. A hard drinking, drug taking, good ol' boy with more guts than brains who has a knack for finding people, Shugrue is the perfect choice to track down author Abraham Trahearne on his lasted drunken bender. Once he finds the old reprobate (sitting in a bar with an alcoholic bulldog), Shugrue is persuaded - in exchange for eighty-seven dollars and a few free beers - to take on another case looking for a teenage runaway who hasn't been heard from in nearly ten years. The unrepentant author, the bulldog, and the detective set out together on the road trip to end all road trips... it twists... it turns... it ends... it begins again...The real joy in this book isn't so much the mystery, it's the journey that takes place while trying to bring the whole thing together. The story - gritty and often dark - is steeped heavily in past transgressions and unflinching accountability. It examines, to some extent, the reasons - sometimes known to them but more often unknown - that compels people to do the things they do.Author Crumley draws several comparisons to other writers; to Raymond Chandler for his lyrical, near poetic narrative, to Elmore Leonard for his ability to create oddball, eccentric characters that are too ridiculous to be real and too real to be entirely fictional, and (as another reviewer noted) to Hunter S. Thompson for the sheer madness of it all.Full of violence, sexual situations, strong language, and drug use, this book is NOT recommended for sensitive readers but if you're a fan of hard-boiled detective fiction (and don't mind a little suspension of disbelief) you'll probably like it.

I just finished John Gierach's marvelous book, "Fool's Paradise". He devotes one chapter to books he brings with him when going on a long-distance fishing trip---books that can help fill the time when stuck in the airport or at a motel when the weather precludes going outside. He mentioned reading books by James Crumley---an author I had not previously known. So, I grabbed this book, and thoroughly enjoyed it. The book has that hard-boiled, Raymmond Chandler tenor about it---alot of cursing and "tough talk", but the story was surprisingly (to me) and interestingly involved. It was a good read that kept me turning the pages at a rapid rate. I'll certainly pick up some more of Crumley's stuff. One note: Until I bought the book, I didn't realize that it was written in the late 70's, and you pick up on that as you proceed. But, I didn't find it distracting.

I've pretty much given up on trying new mystery writers, because I always wind up disappointed. There are three writers who I love -- Ross MacDonald, Raymond Chandler, and James Elroy. Everyone else I've tried is a distant fourth.I read about James Crumley's recent passing and decided to try The Last Good Kiss, and I'm glad I did. While not in MacDonald, Chandler, and Elroy's league, Crumley comes as close as anyone I've read. He's an exceptionally skilled writer, who draws his heavily flawed characters. In structure and tone, The Last Good Kiss reminded me of Chandler's The Long Goodbye or an early Lew Archer novel. (Don't expect the dense plotting of the later Archer novels or of Elroy's LA quartet. In fact, the central mystery seems to lie in the background much of the time.)I had just a couple quibbles. The inclusion of a violent pornography ring seemed like a forced way to inject some "drama" into the story. The Lew Archer novels quickly evolved beyond such plot devices, and were stronger for it. And I didn't always buy (or understand) the motivations of the characters. Sometimes it seemed that they did what they did simply because they lived in a noir world.But, still, a great read and worthy of five stars.

Sure, the writing is absolutely wonderful. However, the plot itself requires a great deal of suspension of disbelief. So much so that I felt quite exhausted by the end.

Crumley is a good writer, better than this kind of "Spillanesque" treatment deserves - closer to Chandler, but apparently seduced by the requirements of the genre for graphic violence and (mostly) casual, meaningless sex.My favorite pull out - not from this book, from 'Dancing Bear," - "Ignorance might not be bliss, but too often knowledege took the fun out of some parts of life." The two other Curmley books I've read, 'Dancing Bear" and "The Wrong Case," are both better than this one, but that said, this book is much better than the bulk of the genre.

Very well written

This is a good novel to read. But I wouldn't call it as a great thriller read. I picked this up with loads of expectations and I ended up a tad disappointed. The prose style is unique and it is worth a read.

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This isn't your typical predictable detective story. The novel begins with the protagonist, not so much a detective but a man who finds missing people for money, chasing an alcoholic writer across America. But where it ends is far above and beyond the story's humble beginnings. The book is filled with a substantailly satisfying set of intriguing characters and builds a brilliant journey through mystery, violence, and as the blurb puts so well some of America's sleaziest nightmares. I enjoyed the entirety of this novel, my only criticism is that the final event of the story feels quite abrupt and cheats the reader of the satisfaction they feel after the climax, although perhaps this is to make the reader feel the same as the protagonist, don't expect a happy ending (considering the genre that's a bit naive anyway), but know that it's a meaningful one.

My first Crumley and I expected a fast thriller. Not fast at all. A real pleasure to read this book. A few pages, many laughs and then a few beers. Later, or even another day again a few pages, many laughs and some drinks. And so on. Never, since John Steinbeck's "Tortilla Flat" or "Cannery Row" did I so much enjoy to read a book.