Very Bad Men [Hardcover]

David Loogan lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan, with his girlfriend, Detective Elizabeth Waishkey and her sixteen-year-old daughter, Sarah. Loogan edits a mystery magazine, and he has made the mental leap from writing and critiquing stories about crime to tracking down villains in real life. In Harry Dolan's latest novel, "Very Bad Men," David tells us a story that will explain "the motives people have for killing one another." As we will see, the reasons for taking someone's life can vary from a matter of convenience to a thirst for revenge. Loogan, who is a witty first person narrator, gets embroiled in his latest adventure when someone drops an unsolicited manuscript at his office, in which the anonymous writer confesses to committing murder and even provides the name of his next victim.

An emotionally disturbed individual has targeted particular men whom he believes must die; if he has to dispatch others who are not on the list, so be it. When Elizabeth and David become familiar with the case, they discover that it is far more complex than it at first appears. "Very Bad Men" involves a seventeen-year-old bank robbery, corrupt public officials, an aspiring senatorial candidate, and an ambitious young newspaper reporter who stirs things up.

Harry Dolan has created a large cast of characters, each of whom plays a role in what will turn out to be a Greek tragedy, Michigan style. The author is good with details: how to kill someone who is locked up in prison; what it is like to live with excruciating migraine headaches; a fine description of the landscape and inhabitants of Michigan's Upper Peninsula; and the tricks that tenacious journalists use to get their stories. Although the plot is ridiculously convoluted and not particularly believable, "Very Bad Man" is entertaining enough to hold our interest. As bodies pile up and events occur that shed new light on what is happening, David and Elizabeth decide to dig deeper into the past. They suspect that the slaughter will not stop until secrets that have been hidden for many years are finally revealed.

This is the second novel featuring David Loogan and his live-in partner Elizabeth Waishkey. David is the editor and publisher of mystery stories for a magazine called "Gray Streets". Elizabeth is a detective for the city of Ann Arbor, Michigan. In a very unlikely scenario, David becomes involved in a whodunit when he discovers an envelope propped against the door of his office. Inside that envelope is a message and a confession from someone who claims to have killed a recent murder victim. Who left this confession and why? This is the first of several apparent executions. The victims are all connected to a failed heist - the Great Lakes Bank Robbery, that occurred many years previously. In addition to David bumbling along in the investigation, there is also a young tabloid reporter named Lucy Navarro hot on the case. The chapters skip around and focus on different characters and move back and forth in time. This is a story that has a large cast of good guys and bad guys and a lot of background information is provided that moves the narrative forward.

I didn't find this novel to be particularly suspenseful or very thrilling. Also found it to be very slow moving with way too many completely unrealistic, and frankly sort of uninteresting, plot points. The story was very predictable with its characters all running around playing amateur sleuth a la Nancy Drew. It seemed as if the author was trying to imitate other writers with his dialog; the back cover compares his writing to Elmore Leonard. The way that David and Lucy insert themselves into the hunt for the killer and involve themselves in the case seemed completely unbelievable -- and what detective would allow her boyfriend and daughter to actually skulk around town carrying out this clandestine investigation? I had a hard time suspending disbelief. After all, these are supposed to be VERY BAD MEN.

The resolution was OK but quite drawn out. The real purpose of the tale was explained in the first chapter -- it's "about the motives people have for killing one another."

I did not read the first book in this series, Bad Things Happen, and it will be unlikely that I'd read the third. Despite raves from the publisher ensuring that it will "keep your mind racing and your hand eagerly turning pages," I simply did not find this mystery very compelling or interesting.

When I read "Bad Things Happen", the first David Loogan book, I was immediately hooked. Dolan gives out tiny, crazy details about Loogan, which in effect leaves him a blank but gives the reader enough that they're dying to know what the back story is. The tradition continues in the second book and, the whole time I read, I found myself wondering if Loogan is a hero or an anti-hero.

This time around, Loogan is drawn into a seventeen-year-old mystery when a manuscript shows up outside the door of his office at Gray Streets. The manuscript is the confession of a murder, and Loogan immediately hands it over to his lover Elizabeth Waishkey of the Ann Arbor police. Of course, being Loogan, he can't resist digging into the mystery himself using his own methods--which aren't always in line with those of the police.

Dolan is good at exploring the darker side of human nature. Each of his characters seems to operate within a strict moral code, but that's not to say that each of his characters is good. Instead, I think this lends his characters a particular sort of authenticity. They are true to what they believe in--whatever it may be that they believe in. I think what draws the others to Loogan is that he accepts this knowledge about human nature and uses it as an effective means of interacting with others. This isn't to say that he's above this very human behavior. In fact, Loogan's own code blinds him, affecting his ability to see clearly what's happening before him.

I thought the mystery was well written, with a good many twists and turns. Just when you think you've got it figured out, Dolan springs another surprise on you. I also felt that the action in the book unfolds in unexpected ways. There were moments of grace that I couldn't see coming, but that felt very real when they arrived, and other moments where I felt let down by some of the characters. As I found out along with Loogan, sometimes people aren't as married to their ideals as previously believed.

The real pleasure of reading this book and the previous one is watching how Loogan interacts with the other characters. What I find refreshing about Loogan is that, while he appears on the whole to be rather moral, there is just enough of an edge to him to give the reader a jolt. When he makes threats against other characters, you know he isn't fooling around. This hints at a past that was either unsavory or dangerous or both, but Dolan is cagey with the details. I think he's very good at keeping the reader on the edge, and I suspect that he could keep this momentum with this character up for a good number of books yet to come. I know I'll keep on reading.