Sleeping Beauty cover art

Sleeping Beauty

A Lew Archer novel

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Sleeping Beauty

By: Ross Macdonald
Narrated by: Tom Parker
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About this listen

 Sleeping Beauty plunges detective Lew Archer into a fascinating and intricate case connected to a disastrous oil spill on the Southern California coast. Ross Macdonald's masterful tale leads his investigator into a load of trouble involving ransom, a lethal dose of Nembutal, the death of a stranger found floating off shore, and three generations of the imposing Lennox family, whose offshore oil platform caused the spill.

The young Lennox heiress - glimpsed for a haunting moment on the beach, clutching an oil-drenched sea bird in her arms - has disappeared, and while on her trail, Archer finds himself journeying into the hidden lives of a family twisted by money, power, and a compulsive instinct for infidelity.

©1973 Ross Macdonald (P)1997 Blackstone Audio, Inc. Crime Fiction Modern Detectives Mystery Suspense Thriller & Suspense
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Great narrator, captures the weary and corrupt world Lew Archer finds himself in once again.

The storyline is perhaps a tad cliched, a beautiful woman in deep trouble and lots of money at stake. But this is Ross MacDonald’s oeuvre and he brings it out of the 50’s and into the more eco conscious 70’s.

There are sentences and phrases that are so perfect you will be tempted to capture them for posterity.

For me, this is a perfect expression of updated noir written by a master.

Moments of Brillance

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Good and effortless narrative, using th E hardboiled framework to depict broken dreams and lives of characters without control. even the protagonist is not fully empowered. Not predictable at all with its various twists and revelations

Solid prose from Chandler and Hammett's succesor

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