I've gotten only a little further with my novel but the process of deconstructing someone else's novel was very interesting and instructive. I was able to gain some insight into how Mr. Crais put together his novel, how he created tension and suspense, basically the whole nine yards of novel construction. I believe that I've gained so much insight into the writing process that I'm now deconstructing James Lee Burke's Black Cherry Blues and will do the same with Robert B. Parker's early Spenser novel Looking for Rachel Wallace after I finish with Mr. Burke's book.
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I've included two links to reviews for Henning Mankell's The Man from Beijing. The New York Times review is lukewarm; the Washington Post review is more positive. I am reading the novel, a mystery in which a mass-murder has occured in the fictional Swedish town of Hesjovallen. The Man from Beijing is not Mankell's best work but I'm enjoying it none the less.
The New York Times Review:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/28/books/review/Peed-t.html
The Washington Post Review:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/09/AR2010040904973.html
Below I've also included a review, from the Los Angeles Times, of Robert Crais' The First Rule.
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jan/11/entertainment/la-et-book11-2010jan11
