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.
