Most helpful customer reviews
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5.0 out of 5 stars
EXCELLENT!!!, April 3 2004
By A Customer
I could not put this book down. What a fantastic writer... takes the mystery genre and turns it into high art. Kudos.
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3.0 out of 5 stars
Not quite, Nov 13 2003
Well, Harrison can write. Perhaps too much. One major problem for the novel: Sex. A little in this department goes a long way. I've read plenty of sex scenes in novels, going back to Sonny Corleone shaking the door in the Godfather during the wedding. Good writers seem to know how to place such scenes within the larger context of the novel. Especially so in crime novels. With Harrison however, there seems to be a pornographic line crossed. (Suggestion and mystery - forget it.) Or perhaps it's meant to be a commentary on America and voyeurism. Indeed, not far below the surface of Manhattan Nocturne are all kinds of commentaries - on sex, on celebrity, on film, on materialism and the power of money. All are worthy topics, but any novel that tries to tackle them all is bound to fail. Bound up in all these ruminations is the search for Truth, as Harrison reminds us through the mouths of several characters. I suppose that's why the character Porter Wren can offer up such clear eyed but intimate details on his lovemaking with his wife. (He's a journalist after all.) But other than revealing there is a mystery in her desires that has much to do with her, and little to do with him (other than fulfilling a big time male fantasy), it still doesn't reveal much about her other than suburban kinkiness. (And of course, she's a good mother.) The fact that Harrison returns to such bedroom scenes should be some sort of writing sin. On the good side, Harrison does create some memorable characters (Caroline is a good femme fatale). In fact, Caroline's story within the story was more memorable than the actual story itself.. Dialogue sounds right. And the plot's not bad either, though twisty as hell, with something of a whimper ending. On the bad: continuous name dropping (Tarantino, Dan Quayle, Mayor Giuliani, etc.). Manhattan Nocturne is simply an attempt to write a Big Important Novel (much like Tom Wolfe's attempts). That never works. A smaller, more focused one would of been a better approach.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Really three and a half stars..., Jun 20 2001
I have to agree with much of what Mr. Brenner said in his review of this novel. Yes, it does start out very well, and continues to hold interest, but the end sort of peters out, almost as if Mr. Harrison was either rushed or just got bored with what he was writing. The end of a mystery should be the most intense part, in my opinion, and the beginning and middle seemed to hold more intensity than the conclusion.But, there are a great many things I enjoyed about this book. The "devil may care" attitude of narration was one of them. Porter seems to know he's not a "good" person in others eyes, but it doesn't seem to affect his storytelling. He doesn't apologize to the reader, but is trying to work things out for himself. I also enjoyed the character of Caroline. Her personality wasn't immediately shown as the typical girl of noir novels who comes into the detective's (in this case journalist's) office with a hat pulled over one eye, wanting him to find out who killed her late husband. She subtley changes as the relationship between her and Porter becomes more familiar. Even in the end, although much is revealed, she remains not quite mysterious, just not understood. This isn't a bad read, but it is disappointing. I'd like to see Harrison avoid the realm of mystery and perhaps try something more general. The writing is good, even though the story is somewhat lacking.
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