Kent Anderson (1) (1945–)

I am so glad I didn't start reading Kent Anderson when he published his first novel, the incomparable Sympathy for the Devil, in 1987. I would have had to wait 9 years for Night Dogs and 22 years for this third book in the trilogy. Instead, I got to read them all in a month or two. And they are all worth re-reading. Sympathy for the Devil is the most disturbing war novel you will ever read, and if you have only read Night Dogs and/or Green Sun, you're missing out on Hanson's war experience, show more only a bit of which is covered in the latter two novels' flashbacks, but which is absolutely essential for understanding this highly intelligent but tortured character. Reviewers, who don't know better, seem to like to compare Anderson to James Lee Burke, but a better comparison would be John Steinbeck of the Grapes of Wrath. Sometimes Anderson puts together sentences and paragraphs that are just beyond description. Burke is a good writer, but Anderson is a thousand times better. In fact, Anderson is probably as good as anyone who has ever written--and I don't mean just war and crime fiction. Here, Hanson (like his author) has become an Oakland policeman, in a budget-starved department that is very different from his experience in Portland (where Anderson was also a police officer). Hanson, like Raymond Chandler's definition of a noir hero, lives by a code, but he is also infused with PTSD and a serious alcohol problem. Nevertheless, he forges relationship in this book that we can hope are lasting. Hanson deserves his rest. And his author deserves a lot more readers than he has. There isn't a trilogy in or out of print better than this one, nor one that is so far-ranging in taking its character from the jungles of Vietnam to the streets of Oakland--and beyond. PLEASE READ THESE BOOKS!! If you have Hoopla, they're all available free from your library as ebooks. show less

I would give this 25 stars if I could. It is one of the best-written books I have ever read. Nothing I have ever read has pulled me into the horror, absurdity, and exhiliaration--yes, that's right--of war more than this book. And it's not just that the author writes great action scenes; he also surprises you with turns of phrase and psychological insights that have you shaking your head in wonder. I read this because George Pelecanos recommended the follow-up book in this series as one of show more the best police novels he had ever read, but the lead character starts out here, in the midst of Vietnam in the months around the end of the Johnson presidency and the beginning of Nixon. There's no real plot here, except wondering who will come out alive. But the episodes pile one on top of the other, with no wasted words and no wrong ones, until the effect is awe-inspiring. This novel won't make you love war, unless perhaps you do already, but it will make you sympathize with characters who feel like the worst that can happen is you die--and then all your worries are over. Besides the war itself, this book also provides the most memorable description of how the protagonist, a Green Beret, feels completely out of place when he returns home after his tour of duty. This is a book you must read. show less

I had to order a used copy of this out-of-print collection of Anderson's work outside of his three novels. It was well worth the investment. There are some "outtakes" from Sympathy for the Devil and Night Dogs. Given the episodic nature of both novels, the outtakes stand perfectly well on their own. In some cases, I can see why they were left out, not because of any lack of quality in the writing, but because they are a bit at odds with what did end up in the book, such as how Hanson spent show more his time back from Vietnam before reenlisting. In other cases, these episodes could easily fit within the published novels. It was a pleasure to read all of these "outtakes". The first part of the book is a series of non-fiction pieces, about the author's newfound love for horses, about survivalists, a cockfight, etc. The key piece here is the one on the biker rally in Sturgis, SD, since it informs the longest part of the book, Anderson's screenplay "Shank". I wish this had been made. It's certainly not as deep as his novels, but it would have made a highly entertaining although violent and brutal 90-minute movie, and one can imagine the casting. Apparently, it is only one of nine biker screenplays Anderson wrote, and in fact, if you check IMDB there are a couple of films he helped write, at least one of which is about a motorcycle gang.

Don't read this first, obviously, but you could read it between Night Dogs and Green Sun. But by all means, track it down and read it. If you have read Anderson's three novels, I know you want more. I'd even read his grocery lists. show less

Raw, angry, powerful novel set in the dying days of the Vietnam War. Hanson is ex-Special Forces, a veteran of the war who has become a cop on the streets of Portland, Oregon. Revelling in the squalor, the violence and the adrenaline, Hanson waxes cynical about the world, but struggles with an inner conflict between his addiction to the power of violence and his soldier's certainty that it's the only way to get anything done, and his own soft, liberal heart, to paraphrase the late James show more Crumley's introduction. Encounters with pimps and whore, drug dealers and winos, psychotic lunatics and enemies on his own side of the law are punctuated with acts of random, brutal violence and occasional flashes of human warmth. More of a novel than a straightforward thriller, with a novel's structure and concerns, this is a portrait of a damaged man in a damaged world. Highly recommended. show less