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The Barbarous Coast
Ross MacDonald Book Review

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Plot Summary of The Barbarous Coast
"THE BARBAROUS COAST is a novel published in 1956 by american writer Ross MacDonald. Lew Archer is a private eye asked to find Hester Campbell, a young blonde girl who has disappeared from The Channel Club, a very select club of the Los Angeles area where she was employed as a swimming teacher.

Everybody, apart from Lew Archer, seems interested in this strange disappearance : George Wall, her canadian husband who just received a desperate call from Hester, the wealthy members of the Club and local bad boys who would have preferred that Lew Harper stays out of this business.

But when Lew Harper learns that a murder took place 18 months ago in the same place and that the police didn't find the murderer, he will be more than interested in the case, he will be involved.

Good book of the Lew Archer serie."

Daniel Staebler, Resident Scholar



Review Analysis of The Barbarous Coast
Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Tone of story - very upbeat
How difficult to spot villain? - Difficult, but some clues given
Time/era of story: - 1930's-1950's
Spying/Terrorism Thriller Yes
What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - nearly 100%
Special suspect? - chronically deranged person
Murder of certain profession? - criminals
Misc. Murder Plotlets - character killed during/after sexing
Kind of investigator - hard boiled/private eye
Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Crime Thriller Yes
Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes
General Crime (including known murderer) Yes
Who's the criminal enemy here? - finding a known killer

Main Character
Gender - Male
Profession/status: - private investigator
Age: - 40's-50's
How much violence does he/she use? - a little
How sensitive is this character? - middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - average physique

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Age: - 60's-90's
Profession/status: - business executive
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a little/some
Motive of antagonist - money/treasure
How sensitive is this character? - hard edged
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Average intelligence
Physique - average physique

Setting
United States Yes
The US: - California
Misc setting - resort/hotel

Style
Person - mostly 1st
Accounts of torture and death? - very gorey descriptions deaths/dead bodies
How many deaths? - 5-7
Unusual forms of death - dropped from large heights - flamed - perforation--bullets - perforation--swords/knives
Unusual form of death? Yes
Amount of dialog - significantly more dialog than descript
Most similar books to The Barbarous Coast
The Big Kill by Mickey Spillane
Fast One by Paul Cain
The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
The Case of the Stuttering Bishop by Erle Stanley Gardner
Brown's Requiem by James Ellroy


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