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Faded Steel Heat | Rating | |
| B | |||
| Glen Cook | |||
| Series | Related Books | ||
| From the Files of Garrett, PI | Sweet Silver Blues, Bitter Gold Hearts, Cold Copper Tears, Old Tin Sorrows, Dread Brass Shadows, Red Iron Nights, Deadly Quicksilver Lies, Petty Pewter Gods, Faded Steel Heat, Angry Lead Skies, Whispering Nickel Idols | ||
Problem: Garrett has been invited to the local crime boss' birthday party, an invitation he cannot refuse despite the violence he and every other attendee fully expects to erupt.
Problem: He's been hired to protect said boss, despite how the man is in a coma and the Outfit is currently run by his beautiful but mildly psychopathic daughter. If he succeeds, he's repaid a favor,fulfilled a contract, and Done the Right Thing. He'll also have probably gained the daughter's emnity, which is not conductive to a long and happy life.
Problem: Meanwhile, people are dying, spontaneously erupting in flame that burns only their bodies. And there's a gang of heavies in hideous green pants that he's never seen before but nevertheless are intent on doing him in.
Problem: Garrett just wants to live his life free of work and worry, so he can concentrate on wine, women, and song — or, at least, beer, women, and sleep. But nobody's letting him.
Life is sure is tough for a confidential agent in TunFaire.
This isn't a story about solving a case so much as trying to figure out what the heck is going on. As such, it had a lot of running around but no real goal. The book ended up feeling kind of meaningless.
More, Garrett himself was reduced to the status of sidekick or underling for most of the novel, taking orders but rarely taking the initiative. For much of the story, the Dead Man runs things, instructing Garrett what needs doing, who to talk to, and what ruses need to be played out to gather information and allay suspicion. Several times the Dead man even sends someone else to do some task without telling Garrett, or otherwise keeping him in the dark. The Dead Man often uncovers clues or reaches some epiphany, and keeps them to himself. None of this is new — it's all perfectly within the Loghyr's character — but never before has it been done to such a degree. Garrett in the past has expressed some irritation at his boarder's tendancy for secrecy and doing little, but after readig this I must conclude it is at least better than secrecy and doing too much. By the time the book was wrapping up I was starting to wonder who was the investigator and who was the helper. It's all rather unsatisfying.
What saves this book, more than once, is Garrett's own personality. His wry sense of humor and general good nature prevends this one from sinking into the mire. And longtime readers of the series will be as interested as I was to find out just what is going on. I was just rather disapponted by how little Garrett actually does.
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