Bear Hug

A welcome sequel. Bethany is a Travis McGee for the 90s. -- Publishers WeeklyDoolittle fills Bear Hug with sure strokes of local color that fast-freeze sharp images of urban and rural America and nail down indigenous characters in a single sentence. A folksy Texas professor with a barnyard LBJ lexicon 'had thin legs and no butt to speak of, so that he looked like a fat person joined at the belt to a skinny one. . .' Doolittle's mysteries go down as smoothly as anything in the genre. -- Boston GlobeDoolittle writes an extremely entertaining tale about a national outrage, with plenty of action and suspense, and even more righteous anger . . . Jerome Doolittle writes with the misanthropic passion of someone who, despite everything, cares deeply about people - regular working Janes and Joes anyway. -- NewsdayDoolittle's political angers more strongly recall the mini-essays John D. MacDonald used to plant in his Travis McGee stories. Who but Doolittle might cite Albert Jay Nock (1873-1945) and his 'Memoirs of a Superfluous Man?' 'As against a Jesus,' Nock wrote, 'the historic choice of the mass-man goes regularly to some Barrabas.' Nock thought about doing a humorous essay on how to recognize the Dark Ages when you're in them. 'You're in them,' Tom Bethany answers to himself, 'when your country is hip-deep in yellow ribbons and the only sensible voices left come from Russell Baker and Doonesbury and Saturday Night Live.' -- Los Angeles TimesI like Bethany. A recovering alcoholic (or so near to one as makes no difference) and an ex-college wrestler deprived of his Olympics shot by Carter's boycott, he has dropped out of society's data banks and makes his living as an unofficial investigator. He's credible and likable, as is his lady lawyer lover who is married to a homosexual and lives in Washington. Doolittle's writing is excellent, particularly strong in dialogue and characterization, and in his handling of violence. . . While Bethany won't make you forget Travis McGee, he won't make you gag when the comparisons are made, either. -- Mystery NewsThis breezy novel is filled with information about investment schemes, colorful characters and macho action. -- Chicago TribuneTom Bethany is one of the most politically partisan characters in detective fiction - what used to be called a fighting liberal. . . Bear Hug is an exciting, tense tale, and Doolittle uses his flair for dialogue to let his supporting players paint pithy self-portraits. Doolittle has given hero Bethany plenty of extra dimension: He's a disillusioned veteran of the CIA's Air America operation in Laos, simultaneously drawn to and repelled by politics, a man with a bleeding heart and an iron hand. -- Albany Times Union