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Deborah (162 KP) rated The Roots of Betrayal (Clarenceux, #2) in Books

Dec 21, 2018

The Roots of Betrayal carries on where Forrester's first novel, Sacred Treason, left off. Really you need to have read the first book before this as it will make much more sense.

It is a real page turner, but on reflection, the plot itself is almost a sideline to the characters and scenes of fighting, torture, etc going on around them! Plenty of blood is spilled during the novel, so not one for the faint hearted!

Forrester homself, alias historian Ian Mortimer, may rail against the description of his novels as historically accurate, but there is certainly a good period feel in the novel, although I'm not sure I'd be hopping in the TARDIS just yet to pay a visit to William Harley if these novels are an example of an average day at the office for him!

Kudos

Kirk Bage (1775 KP) rated Detective Story (1951) in Movies

Mar 3, 2020

Detective Story (1951)

1951 | Classics, Drama, Mystery

8.0

(1 Ratings)

Movie Rating

Adapted from a stage play that he loved, Detective story typifies the kind of roles of a man under pressure that Douglas came to be indelibly identified with. This time it was his co-star Eleanor Parker who got the Academy Award nomination, but it was their chemistry that really drew the eye. The troubles of life, and the task of being a good man in the face of a bad world were the themes Douglas tackled here. The setting of crime fighting over one day in the 21st precinct is secondary to the personal fight of the “hard-nosed” Jim McLeod, who does his best but can never get ahead. There are shadows of such films as Miller’s Crossing, LA Confidential and even Blade Runner in here. Notable for some gorgeous film-noir photography, and the obligatory Douglas breakdown speech.