Discount Price: $18.95
Price fluctuation possible.
How soon does it ship: Normal ship time within one day
Shipping? Absolutely FREE if you qualify for Super Saver Shipping.
Type of bind: Paperback
EAN num: 9780595434763
ISBN number: 0595434762
Label: iUniverse, Ltd.
Manufacturer: iUniverse, Ltd.
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 300
Printing Date: August 30, 2007
Publishing house: iUniverse, Ltd.
Release Date: August 30, 2007
Sale Popularity Level: 1793117
Studio: iUniverse, Ltd.
Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
Jack Duncan likes women—even married ones. An amateur actor in 1960s Omaha, Nebraska, he’s started a steamy affair with his married costar, Louise Thompson. But when her husband discovers them in flagrante dilecto, Robert Thompson takes a peculiar revenge on Duncan, giving him his prized recording of Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings.
While listening to the record, Duncan is disconcerted by a scream he hears embedded in the climactic chord. And when he discovers the bodies of Louise and Robert, he knows instantly that their murders and the eerie recording must somehow be connected.
Duncan is suspected of killing the couple and becomes both the pursued and pursuer as he flees to New York City, beginning a hellish four-year mission to discover the source of the scream. He hides among derelicts near Shea Stadium, prowls Carnegie Hall where the Adagio was recorded, and learns of a strange, reclusive man who once lived in Carnegie’s tower. Hunted by the law and his own past, Duncan has one chance to prove his innocence—if only he can stop the scream from echoing in his brain.
Lush with the language and attitude of the 1960s and 1970s, The Adagio is a gritty, hardboiled detective novel that will haunt you long after the last page is turned.
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers 
-
Alan K. Austin has created a masterpiece. "The Adagio" is a well-written piece that takes the reader for a ride of a lifetime. A simple tale of a record containing a single misplaced note, a scream, weaves into an astonishing story of a man determined to prove his innocence.
Jack Duncan begins a casual affair with no clue of the drama that would result from it. With murder victims falling all around him, he must prove his innocence to the authorities and to his self.
This is a story that you will remember long after reading. It starts out with a bang. You may find yourself drifting off slightly in the middle, but hang in there because the ending brings everything together in a nice tidy bow, leaving you satisfied. This is an entertaining piece and I look forward to seeing more work from this talented writer.
Rated by buyers -
This is an extremely well-written and taut mystery, detective story and thriller all rolled up in one package. It begins with the protagonist having an affair with a married woman and being discovered by her husband. Very soon the body count begins rising, and everything appears to be related to a mysterious scream heard (or not heard) at the end of a classical recording. The action moves from Nebraska to Iowa to New York City, and back and forth. There is a trial, an escape, and many pages about living the homeles and moneyless life on the streets and back spaces of New York and its surrounding area. The author keeps a few balls in the air at all times, but he doesn't drop any of them at all. This is a real page-turner, and I look forward to more books by this talented writer!
Rated by buyers -
Reviewed by Olivera Baumgartner-Jackson for Reader Views (1/08)
Alan K. Austin's "The Adagio" has everything a mystery lover could desire. The writing is incredibly smooth and the story draws you in with surprising intensity. The characters are believable and oh-so-human in all their strengths and weaknesses. The plot is unusual enough that it keeps you guessing and speculating. And the resolution is quirky enough to make this a very satisfying read.
Jack Duncan, an amateur actor, gets entangled in a brief affair with his co-star, Louise Thompson. Her husband, Robert, catches them and reacts very strangely - inviting Jack to dinner and playing a bunch of records, among which a haunting recording of Barber's Adagio. He also loans that particular record to Jack, who hears a terrifying scream towards the end of it when he listens to it at home. Jack tries to solve the mystery of the scream, but then gets deeply enmeshed in his own mystery, being accused of murdering Louise and Robert.
Jack's flight from the law enforcement as well as his stint in jail, time spent among the derelicts in New York and fate of several other people who are even indirectly involved with the past events at the famous Carnegie Hall make for a fast-paced, very engaging story. Alan K. Austin draws a number of rich characters, each with their own set of strengths and weaknesses and as such extremely believable and in most cases quite likeable. While the characters of the derelicts at the Shea Stadium "camp" might not be exactly charming, they are undoubtedly compelling and convincing. One can practically smell them.
There is enough action in "The Adagio" to satisfy, enough romance to soften the story and definitely enough intrigue to keep you busy for a few hours. I highly recommend this to any lover of intelligent mystery - and just as an aside, "in flagrante dilecto" is not misspelled... Check it out, it might provide a nice chuckle.
Rated by buyers 
-
The Adagio is less a detective novel than a string of fascinating anecdotes. From Omaha to the streets of New York City and everywhere in between, hero Jack Duncan seems always to be on a wild, low-budget roadtrip rather than on the run from the law. Due to these diversions, the pacing is unusually slack for a crime novel. Suspense is not constant and the plot meanders into side trips that, though entertaining, often add very little to the plot.
For a novel with such a high-tension premise, this is a problem. Jack Duncan, hero and erstwile DJ, is an expert of bad timing and lucky getaways. After apparently racking up a body count which rivals that of some serial killers, he escapes from detainment during a trial...and becomes a freelance news reporter in New York. Admittedly, an interesting development, but not very relevant or realistic, and not good reading for mystery fans who expect the police to be hot on Duncan's heels.
But Adagio's quirky vignettes were also its great strength. Even when these went nowhere, (storywise,) They tended to be more solid and more engaging than the plot itself. Descriptions of Duncan's broadcasting work, his homemade street documentaries and his intense bonding with his cellmate in a medium-security prison all demonstrate the author's great skill with realism.
Rather than introduce a disguised culprit early, as so many mysteries do, Austin chose to bring in a villain late in the book. This was a disappointing move. Babcock was a fascinating bad guy, by far one of the most interesting characters in the entire book. He certainly deserved more attention, especially in his direct social interactions with the other characters. Even a good, long look at his art would have made him more hatable than he was - abruptly appearing in the plot as a stranger, he was a confusing introduction in the hectic crescendo of the great showdown.
The mystery itself is fractured, presenting the deaths of Louise Thomson and her husband as the immediate puzzle but highlighting the death of a woman who had been killed years before. The only real lead, a scream hidden in a unque recording of the Adagio, quickly becomes overloaded with significance and with the main character's obsession. The use of this device as clue, impetus and Deus Ex Machina begins to wear out about halfway through the book. The effect is only worsened by the fact that, for most of the book, no empirical evidence can be found to support the existence of this scream. Helpful characters seem very gullible on the whole; despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, most feel that Duncan must be innocent of the murders of his lover and her husband simply because his story is too outrageous to be false. When characters flock to Duncan's aid, their eagerness would be more convincing if they actually have a reason to aid and protect a convict and probable murderer. In short, Adagio needs more clues and more concrete clues to be a convincing mystery.
But Adagio is enjoyable for its miniature stories-within, and overlooking its flaws is easy. Austin has a great gift for realism. Parts of Adagio have a distinct ring of experience. The writing is quick and watertight, engaging to the very last word.
Austin writes with obvious experience, evoking unusual situations with great verve. The weaknesses in the plot of Adagio are severe but forgivable, and though parts are slow, this mystery qualifies as a fun read.
Find other books like this one:
