The Rain

by Andrew Klavan and Keith Peterson

Book Overview

A dead source draws a newspaperman into a murder investigation Mayforth Kendrick III is an unlikely name for a small-time drug dealer. As the grandson of a millionaire and the son of a Broadway mogul,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0553276638
• Release Date: December 1988
• Publisher: Bantam
• Weight: 0.25 lbs.

Customer Reviews

The Rain Falls Mostly On the Unjust

If someone put a gun to your head and said your life depended on your ability to define a mystery or thriller, you'd probably walk away without breaking a sweat. But if the same assailant said, "Okay, wiseguy, tell me about hardboiled," you just might find a Niagara coursing down your neck. For every genre that pop culture canonizes, there are three left in the outer darkness, and hardboiled -- an unsentimental, rough-and-tumble cousin of noir -- falls into the latter category. That's a shame, because if it were more popular then perhaps Andrew Klavan's Edgar-winning novel The Rain would be widely available. As it stands, I had to wait for a British version to make its way over to me. But if life imitates this particular piece of art, the search is just part of the package. New York Star reporter John Wells is after a girl. No, no, not like that. You see, one of his less-seemly contacts offered him some snaps of a congressman Paul Abingdon caught in a -- shall we say -- comprising position, but Wells turned him down. Ensuring that the news doesn't cater to the lowest common denominator is a matter of principal to Wells. And did I mention that the photos were taken in a bedroom? Well, before you know it Wells' contact turns up drilled between the eyes with a .22, the rumor about the politician is out, and every reporter in town is on it like a rottweiler on raw hamburger. The Star's brass isn't happy that Wells lost the biggest story of a very slow, very hot August. He has a week to get a scoop or he's out on his ear. Wells sees only two options -- find the pictures (which have mysteriously disappeared) or the girl in them. Hardboiled is one of those rare genres where style is as important as substance, and Klavan (writing here under the pseudonym Keith Peterson) hits the proverbial nail on the head. The Rain's prose is tight, punchy and vivid, the dialogue winningly witty. An example? Sure. When Wells questions an NYPD detective about whether he has any leads, the detective quips, "No naked Abingdon pictures. No naked lady pictures. No naked Abingdon with a naked lady. Right now, as far as the New York City police department is concerned, you're a person who has sex fantasies about Senate candidates." The novel's no slouch in the thematic department either. Its ending serves as a piercing meditation on the nature of lust and personal corruption. The only place where it fizzles is in a portrayal of a misogynistic, Bible-thumping Pentecostal, a tired stereotype that ought to be permanently retired. Still, The Rain is refreshing -- even if you have to wait for it.