Hmmm. Okay, some very fine writing here and there, but the whole thing smacks a lot more of Mike Hammer than of Philip Marlowe to me. I prefer Philip Marlowe, and here's why...

"Underneath the wisecracking, hard drinking, tough private eye, Marlowe is quietly contemplative and philosophical. He enjoys chess and poetry. While he is not afraid to risk physical harm, he does not dish out violence merely to settle scores. Morally upright, he is not bamboozled by the genre's usual femmes fatales, like Carmen Sternwood in The Big Sleep. As Chandler wrote about his detective ideal in general, "I think he might seduce a duchess, and I am quite sure he would not spoil a virgin."

Chandler's treatment of the detective novel exhibits a continuing effort to develop the art form. His first full length book, The Big Sleep, was published when Chandler was 51; his last, Playback, when he was 70. All seven novels were produced in the last two decades of his life. All maintain the integrity of Philip Marlowe's character, but each novel has unique qualities of narrative tone, depth and focus that set it apart from the others."

Philip Marlowe is a man I can respect. Mike Hammer is a low class jerk with a talent for survival.

The other thing is, MAN does it ever get frustrating when a whole bunch of people are posting all kinds of crazy stuff at random and buggering up the story beyond recognition and dragging it in 5 different directions. Sheesh. That's the main problem with story threads.