The Drowner, one of many classic novels from crime writer John D. MacDonald, the beloved author of Cape Fear and the Travis McGee series, is now available as an eBook. Lucille Hanson left her rich husband, a man who lived casually and loved carelessly. She found a new man, one who appeared to treat her right. Lucille was putting together the pieces of her life, determined not to make the old mistakes, the foolish ones that had almost wrecked her the first time around . . . until all of her hopes came to rest at the bottom of the lake where her body is found. It must have been an accident, most people say. It might have been suicide, others think. But among her mourners, just one person refuses to believe it was anything other than murder. Features a new Introduction by Dean Koontz Praise for John D. MacDonald “The great entertainer of our age, and a mesmerizing storyteller.”—Stephen King “My favorite novelist of all time.”—Dean Koontz “To diggers a thousand years from now, the works of John D. MacDonald would be a treasure on the order of the tomb of Tutankhamen.”—Kurt Vonnegut “A master storyteller, a masterful suspense writer . . . John D. MacDonald is a shining example for all of us in the field. Talk about the best.”—Mary Higgins Clark
Reviews with the most likes.
This was my first book of this author, John MacDonald, who is known for writing hard boiled crime fiction. Some classify him as writing “pulp” fiction, though I don't see why, since he won a National Book Award and is recognized as a hero of the genre. In fact, this book was much better written than many of the hard boiled classics I have read, and considerably less graphic. I thought the writing in this book was extremely well-crafted, and the characters well fleshed out.
Also, for a hard boiled novel, I thought it was considerably less misogynistic than others I've read—seeing as the genre contains the problematic “femme fatale” trope and often objectifies women. In fact, while other reviewers called it sexist, I thought this book brought some good concepts to light, like the importance of having a balanced moral view of sex and the importance of consent. The women characters were not just there as sex objects, but as complex human beings with strengths and failings. In fact, you get to read several different points of view on the topic of sex, many of which are from women, and that gave it a balanced feel as opposed to the author shoving one ideology in your face. The only thing I would have put in the sexist category was the over-description of women's bodies and the amount of nudity. To be fair, he is descriptive about men's bodies too but not in a sexualized way like the women he describes.
Overall, I was impressed by this one and would definitely read more of this novels.
