Here is an author to watch; he is an extraordinary writer, with insight, wisdom, and great feeling for his characters.

It is the characters that make THE ORANGE CURTAIN stand out although certainly author John Shannon handles adventure well enough (with both physical and psychological challenges to Liffey). Both Liffey and insane Billy Gudger have their own challenges in dealing with others, rendering Liffey the one man who may be able to communicate effectively with Billy.

Shannon's touch for characters also applies to minor characters. Liffey's daughter Maeve, for example, is a delightful 13 going on 30.

THE ORANGE CURTAIN is less a mystery to be solved than it is a set of observations into human nature, the intermingled but distinct societies of Southern California, and the challenges a man must face to stand himself in the morning. Does that sound heavy? In this case, it isn't. The novel is a fast read with several great a-ha moments.

Highly Recommended.

As always, when Liffey ultimately makes contact with the young people he's been hired to find, there are deeply thoughtful exchanges. Never condescending, never patronizing, always self-deprecating, yet always sensitive to their struggles--whether real or imagined--Liffey enters into their lives offering his battered heart and body as support for their sorrows. No one I've read has such a profound grasp on the issues that are central to the lives of youngsters approaching the treacherous border of adulthood. Liffey is a good man whose empathy is a poultice for the injured young, drawing out their pain and taking it into himself--like the archetypal sin eater.

Then, gleefully, there are the apocalyptic views that are sprinkled throughout every Liffey adventure. This time out, sadly, there are no little rat-like dogs to be hated. But there is a billboard advertising Drive-Through Hi-Colonics. Relief Without Waiting. (Hilarious!) And there are a couple of bemasked individuals on the street, holding up a banner that says, "Open Up Area 51, Display the Alien Remains."

Finally, happily, Jack has connected with the redoubtable Miss Rebecca Plumkill. And there are bits of a shredded foam pillow littering the bedroom. Now how, we have to wonder with amusement, did that happen? And aren't we glad that some warm light has managed to filter through the gloom of Jack's sorrows!
My highest recommendation.

His search for film star Lori Bright's daughter has him crossing paths with some truly fascinating characters: the Jamaican, Terror, who has a use for ginger beer that I will remember every time I open a bottle for the rest of my life; the computer geeks, both abled and disabled, who snake through the bowels of cyberspace in a state of glee; and the everpresent Marlena whose love is a warm, swampy place where Liffey periodically seeks comfort.

The world of Los Angeles, according to Liffey, is in perpetual chaos. Each book in the series shows random acts of natural or human mayhem (a man painted purple being taken into custody); shocks and aftershocks heaving cars and their passengers into terror and states of diminishing reason. The metaphor, in Shannon's hands, is a powerful tool. His books are never merely sequential, connect-the-dots mysteries but are broader, larger comments on how people have come to accept the bizarre as the norm. Shannon is the philosopher king of the mystery forum. And long may he reign.

Former Hollywood star Lori Bright hires private investigator Jack Liffey to locate her missing fifteen year old daughter Lee Borowsky. Lori shows Jack a fax of a ransom note demanding $50,000 and no cops. Jack notices that Lori is not in the least bit concerned over her daughter's safety and in fact thinks Lee might have sent the note as a hoax.

Before he begins the investigation, two law enforcement officials follow Jack, who goes over to confront them. He learns little from them and continues his sleuthing at the Taunten School, attended by Lee. To his surprise, neither the students nor the faculty seem worried for Lee's health. Jack learns that Lee apparently is an expert synthesiac as she actually hears colors and sees sounds. As he gets closer to his prey, Jack finds himself trapped between the various layers of the underbelly of Los Angeles and if the money was not so good, he would walk out of this case.

The heir apparent to the Los Angeles scene of Raymond Chandler has finally arrived with the talent of John Shannon. His novels catch the beat of the city as he energizes his characters with a remarkable and gritty reality. The latest Jack Liffey novel is a great who-done-it because LA has rarely been seen in a more intriguing light. Anyone who tries THE CRACKED EARTH will relish the other works of Mr. Liffey, a rising star.

Harriet Klausner

This first of Shannon's Jack Liffey series is a work of lean, effective prose, spiced with startling dashes of outrageous humor (as was The Orange Curtain, my introduction to Shannon's work). Los Angeles, as portrayed through Liffey's eyes, is a series on ongoing atrocities and carnage that are so everyday as to be normal. Add to this mix a character with a tired, yet invincible, spirit who observes and accepts (but doesn't like) what he sees, and you have a hero unlike any other.

Liffy is the essential American of a certain age, (and a Viet Nam vet) possessed of heart and conscience, trying very hard to be honorable while he searches for missing children (in itself a profound metaphor for the lost innocence not only of the city, but of our entire society.)

It is a sad fact that talent is not its own reward; it does not guarantee success. But if anyone writing today deserves recognition on a large scale, it is John Shannon. His work is both insightful social commentary and an unflinching, wrenching look at the human heart. If you want to be entertained and informed, get this book! Go to out-of-print booksites if you must, or search your local library, but this is a writer who very much deserves to be widely read.

The last story, for example, tells of four boys in Suriname two of whom bragged that their respective fathers were the best traders in town. The third, however, smiled and said that his father had them beat and the fourth boy agreed: He had with one ear of corn purchased a cow, a horse and a donkey. The father had indeed started with one ear of corn, and had indeed purchased a cow, a horse and a donkey--but not all at once, as the other boys supposed. Rather, he had planted the corn ear, sold his crop, bought a cow, sold it and bought a horse and sold it and bought a donkey.

Similarly, another tale speaks of a poet named Mutanabbi who passed by Zubeida's house one day and decided to return that evening to propose that they be married. Halfway home, he encountered a handsome young man who was on his way to see Zubeida, "the most beautiful woman in the city," whom he also wanted to marry. Mutanabbi was afraid of losing his chance, so he told the young man that he had just moments ago seen Zubeida kissing a wealthy man. The young man left, feeling lost. After learning that Mutanabbi had married Zubeida, he accused the former of lying. After all, if Zubeida had really kissed a wealthy man, why would she have chosen Mutanabbi? Why, the wealthy man she kissed was her father, of course.

Another story features a Muslim holy man on the island of Celebes, who found a dark cave and crawled inside to escape from warring enemies. "If it hadn't been for the spider," he told his friends afterwards, "I surely would have been caught and killed." No one believed him, of course. But he had spoken the truth along with a lie. The spider had spun a web over the mouth of the cave, leading the holy man's enemies to believe that no one could possibly be inside. The man, however, had neglected to tell his friends was how the spider saved him.

(This particular tale reminds me of the Jewish tale of David, who as a boy had questioned why God made spiders. Unlike the Muslim tale, however, the Midrash explains that God gave even the smallest creature a purpose. When David was grown, King Saul became angry with David and tried to kill him. David fled and hid in a cave. A spider spun his web across the cave's mouth. That night, soldiers passed the save. King Saul reasoned that no man could hide there without tearing the web. And David thanked God for making spiders.)

From this book, children learn that different traditions are often similar. They also learn to carefully examine "facts." Things presented as truth may compose only part of the picture. Alyssa A. Lappen