First, let me say this is an exquisitely written crime novel. I've followed William Bayer's writing for some time (including his incarnation under the pen name "David Hunt.") I'd place this book among his very best, up there with "Switch," "Wallflower" and "Peregrine." The plot is intricate and keeps you guessing. The characters(including the minor ones) are beautifully drawn. The documents imbedded in the text are fascinating, especially an unfinished psycho-analytic case history of one of the murder victims. In a sense I think this book could be subtitled "A Portrait Of A Lady", since one of the victims, a beautiful socialite, is illuminated in all her sexual complexity. I won't dwell on the story in this review, will rather leave that to the reader to discover for him/herself. But consider this premise: a pair of lovers, a beautiful socialite and an impoverished teacher at a private country day school, are gunned down in a sleazy motel on the outskirts of a Mid-Western city. Twenty-five years pass. The murders are never solved. Then a troubled forensic artist comes to town, who attended the school, was a classmate of the murdered woman's son, knew the teacher and whose father was the murdered woman's shrink. He has been haunted by the case all his life...and now he is determined to solve it. Bayer, as always, makes you care. Highly recommended!

Being a longtime William Bayer fan, I eagerly await each new novel. The wait for "The Dream of the Broken Horses" was a long one -- but definitely well worth it. The book is beautifully written (as always), well crafted (as always), and keeps you intrigued to the very last page. Just when you think you've figured out who did it, how, and why, Mr. Bayer again proves why he's the writer and we're the readers!

For any fan of erotic suspense or psycological crime, or for someone just looking for a great read, don't miss this book. We can only hope Mr Bayer won't make us wait so long for the next one.

Buy it & read it...now!

William Bayer as a mytery writer is rather unique, in that his characters for the most part are more involved with an internal psychological mystery than they are with the solution of any particular case. There is plenty of action to be found in his books, his dialogue is sharp and clever and his plots are sophisticated, but beneath the flow of events, there is usually a hidden quest that is far more intriguing. The obsession of David with an ancient murder stems from obscure elements in his own psyche. The use of photography in Bayer's novels is telling, as it signifies the character of one who is consumed with human nature and yet who is compelled on some fundamental level to place the barrier of an artificial lens between himself and life. David, by exploring the history of a woman murdered long ago, forces her to strip and uncover all of her secrets. At the same time, in pursuing the mystery of her death, he exposes his own soul and deepest desires to himself and to the reader. All photographers are voyeurs to some extent; Bayer's character, however, is a voyeur of the deepest recesses and impulses of human nature. Needless to say, given the author's love of and affinity with film noir, those impulses and desires tend to be the darker ones, and the inevitable exposure of such impulses and acts usually does not occur as a willing
strip-tease.

One seldom finds really good cops in either fact or fiction. If you are interested in reading about what a good cop looks like then this novel is for you. One has to wonder why Bayer wrote only three novels in the Janek lexicon. But you can at least enjoy the ones we have.

This murder mystery does more than track a killer; instead it leads the reader through the personal growth of a police dective as he explores the mind of the killer. The plot twists are highly developed and expressive. This is one that I could not put down.

I loved it ! Multiple layers gracefully crafted - A gripping mind teasing murder plot; beautiful haunting prose; a story of love and redemption.

This was the first Leonard novel I've read, and I was disappointed. Maybe it's his reputation as being such a great crime writer, but the plot seemed familiar (i.e. the movie "Ruthless People" and others) and it ran out of steam at the end. I liked some of the characterization and some specific scenes, but it wasn't a great book.

For anyone who saw "Jackie Brown" or read the Leonard novel on which it's based, "Rum Punch," try to get your hands on this far superior first-appearance of the loveable criminal trio, Ordell Robbie, Luis Gaza, and "that fine big woman," Melanie.

This simple story of a loveless marriage whose seams truly start showing when the docile, country club wife, Mickey is kidnapped by Ordell and Luis is good, solid, 70's era Leonard. Mickey's marriage is many ways a mirror image of the married couple at the center of Leonard's previous "marital troubles cum crim" novel, "52 Pickup." Her husband is a brute who flies to the Bahamas to dally with his street savvy mistress, Melanie, a day before he serves Mickey a divorce summons.

The husband's refusal to pay ransom becomes the epiphany for the mouselike Mickey's transformation into the smart, independent woman--in some ways, she is the chrystalis for a whole series of strong female Leonard heroines who appear in later novels.

If the story sounds like the movie "Ruthless People," you can bet that the movie was probably based in part on this novel. In fact, in the vastly inferior sequel, "Rum Punch," the characters allude to the movie when recalling the events that happened in "The Switch." Frankly, the criminal trio is much more appealing here than they were in "Punch," when they became more violent, more hardened, and more cliched.

While not the best of his classic 70's novels, "The Switch" is definitely top-drawer Leonard, filled with the same sharp dialogue that has been his stock in trade for more than forty years. If you like "The Switch," I recommend you seek out "52 Pickup" and compare the ways Leonard explores the "criminal" aspects of infidelity.

than Leonard's usual. But of course, that's still high praise, given that he's far and away the best crime writer of this or any other generation. The first two-thirds of the way through I was captivated, enthralled, wondering why this one, like so many others, hadn't already spawned a blockbuster movie. As the remaining pages grew thinner and thinner, though, I had my answer: an anticlimactic ending in which Leonard just seemed to run out of gas. Nonetheless, if you've read the others you should certainly read this--a 4-star effort from Elmore Leonard still beats the best that anyone else working in the genre today can muster.

THE GREAT MOVIES is a large format book which is broken down into twelve categories of five movies each. Any categorization such as this is somewhat arbitrary and, I'm sure, any reader could say that he or she could have done a better job. This is particularly true when some of one's personal favorites have not made the list.

I think that Bayer has managed to include a great number of the better movies produced before 1973, the publication date of the book being reviewed. That's easy for me to say since he's included a large proportion of my personal favorites.

Each movie is discussed from the standpoint of plot, director, leading performers, historical context, and awards won. The book is also heavily illustrated, and the reader comes away from each discussion feeling that he has learned something new. I know that I was further enlightened by every discussion.

One movie that I was particularly glad to see included was Jean Renoir's 1937 "La Grande Illusion." The Nazis attempted to destroy all copies of this film but one relatiuvely undamaged print was found and reissued after the war. This is an anti-war movie that Bayer included in his "War" category. It was particuularly distasteful to the Nazis for its message that people who are natural enemies due to class and social distinctions can, through getting to know one another, overcome these prejudices. The fact that one of the four main characters was Jewish added fuel to the Nazi hatred of the film. As an aside, Bayer tells us that there are, and always have been, questions as to the nature of the grand illusion of the title. Several possible interpretations are offered but no answer is given.

To find out what the other 59 films are, and if they are on your list, I would suggest that you find and read a copy of THE GREAT MOVIES. This is one more out of print book that could probably find a large readership if someone chose to republish it today.

I grew up on this book; it was one of a few movie books from the 70's and 80's that my dad had. Being a young movie buff, "The Great Movies" gave me the opportunity to learn about Bunuel, Bresson, and Welles while still in grade school. When I was little, I mostly just looked at the great text; around the time the AFI list came out I rediscovered this book and have read it cover-to-cover a few times. The breadth of the movies selected here, and Bayer's obvious enthusiasm for the subject give this book a fantastic energy that keeps bringing me back. Now I'm a film student and I highly recommend this book if you can get your hands on it. Of course, I have personal reasons for doing so--I practically grew up with this one.

Geoffrey Barnett, an ex-photojournalist, has the inability to photograph faces due to a traumatic event in his life. He now makes a living by selling photographic prints and at night he likes to prowl the streets of New York to find great shots. One evening he meets a young beautiful woman named Kim who helps him overcome his photographer's "block" and who also ultimately becomes his lover. His mundane life suddenly takes an adventurous turn when he becomes involved with her. Several of her friends are murdered; she skips town; and after tracking her to Key West he learns of her blackmailing scheme. The cops are suspicious of him and the blackmailee harasses him. Overall, the book was an easy read but I found Geoffrey to be a bit naive considering his worldliness.

Over the years I've been a fan of William Bayer's books and particularly his Janek mysteries. However, Mirror Maze is definitey a book to skip. The plot was much too disjointed, the characters (even Janek in thsi book) were mostly uninteresting and not very credible, and the action was too sporadic to make me care much about what was going to happen next. I felt like I was in a maze reading this book and all I wanted to do was get out of it so I can move on to my next book. Finally, I took the easy way out and gave up on the book about 2/3s of the way through it.

It is too bad the Janek novels are hard to find these days. In spite of their falts they are excellent reads. Janek is a pragmatice cop who doesn't loose sight of his humanity. He represents a lot of what todays cop should be like. You will enjoy this novel in spite of its rather somber seting.

Possibly the worst book I have ever read. Certainly one of the top 10 worst books I have ever read. The author fell over himself to fill the pages with words. The characters were unbelievable and the story line ridiculous. Do not waste your time.

I think this is one of the better police thrilers of the time period. He defiantly has a good one here also. He just produces wonderful character driven stories that when they work (and this one does), they really grab you. The tension is there though out the full book. The story is very developed so much so that you see the crime sceens. Another thing about his books is that they do not play to the lowest common denominator for action books; he gives the reader some respect and expects an IQ over 70. A good book that is worth the time.

I don't normally read police procedurals but this one is an exception. "Wallflower" is by far the best of the Janek novels. It also has the least amount of sex in it of the three. If Bayer had left the better part of the sex to the reader's imagination in all three novels he would have done even better. This is a great read, especially for those who would profer to avoid Ed McBain and/or Joseph Wambaugh but would still like some balance in their mystery reading. If you enjoy the Janek novels as I have you will also enjoy the seven movies based on these books.

I read this book in 1979 and have since spent over 20 years in the movie business seeing if the information is true. It is. But no one wants to confront it because they think the playing field is level or that they will be the chosen one, or, or, or ad nausium. For more details read "The Feature Film Distribution Deal" by John W. Cones, Esq. You will come to see the film business for what it is and learn ways to correct it, before it completely polutes, or destroys, Western culture.