The Doomsters

By Ross Macdonald

Hired by Carl Hallman, the desperate-eyed junkie scion of an obscenely wealthy political dynasty, detective Lew Archer investigates the suspicious deaths of his parents, Senator Hallman and his wife Alicia. Arriving in the sleepy town of Purissima, Archer discovers that orange groves may be where the Hallmans made their mint, but they’ve has been investing heavily in political intimidation and police brutality to shore up their rancid wealth. However, after years of dastardly double-crossing and low down dirty-dealing, the family seem to be on the receiving end of a karmic death-blow. With two dead already and another consigned to the nuthouse, Archer races to crack the secret before another Hallman lands on the slab.Murder, madness and greed grace The Doomsters, where a tony façade masks the rot and corruption within.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Mar 23, 2011
• ISBN: 9780307772893

Ross Macdonald

Ross MacDonald is an illustrator whose work has appeared in international publications. He lives in Connecticut.

Reviews for The Doomsters

[leslie398 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Good twist to the plot near the end but for some reason, I found Lew Archer less likeable in this one.

[john.cooper · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Most of The Doomsters is one of those whodunnits that follows a family so dysfunctional that any one of them could be guilty of the multiple murders and assorted nastiness our hero finds himself in the middle of. I’m not much of a mystery-solver, so I need interesting characters and situations to keep me interested instead of frustrated, and fortunately, these are abundant. I will say that the mystery becomes so convoluted, and takes place in such a short time frame, that this book is best enjoyed in as few sittings as possible. Otherwise, you might find that what was three days ago for you was only last night in the novel, which is a bit disorienting.The ending features a surprising, almost shocking twist, but not of the plot. Instead, Archer, who we’ve come to know in seven books as our moral guide through the ugly side of Southern California, starts to question the unspoken bedrock of the crime thriller: the idea that right and wrong are easy to identify, and that the only thing needed for goodness to triumph is to see to it that the evil can do nothing.“I didn't want to be stuck for the rest of my life with the old black-and-white picture, the idea that there were just good people and bad people, and everything would be hunky-dory if the good people looked up the bad ones or wiped them out with small personalized nuclear weapons,” says Archer, thinking aloud as the narrator. “For years I'd been fighting fire with fire and violence with violence, running on fool's errands while the people died: a slightly earthbound Tarzan in a slightly paranoid jungle. It was time I traded the picture in on one that included a few of the finer shades.”And a sympathetic character, a hospital nurse, says: “Since I've been doing hospital work, I've pretty well got over thinking in terms of good and bad. Those categories often do more harm than—well, good. We use them to torment ourselves, and hate ourselves because we can't live up to them. Before we know it, we're turning our hatred against other people, especially the unlucky ones, the weak ones who can't fight back. We think we have to punish somebody for the human mess were in, so we single out the scapegoats and call them evil. And Christian love and virtue go down the drain."A blurb from The Atlantic Monthly says “Most mystery writers merely write about crime. Ross Macdonald writes about sin.” If you broaden the concept of “sin” from its religious context to include moral right and wrong, the realm of the conscience, this is exactly right. I can’t imagine Archer’s ruminations sat too well with many fans who read thrillers for the satisfying pleasure of seeing the guilty get their comeuppance. Macdonald is explicitly making the case here that it’s not that simple. And I salute him for it.

[matthew.ducmanas · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A darker, more morally ambiguous addition to Macdonald's hardboiled detective series. Archer is finally becoming more of a distinct character and the reader is offered more insight into his internal struggles and questioning. Often touted as a shift in the author's approach, The Doomsters certainly makes me look forward further entries in the series.

[bibleblaster · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Between Hammett and Chandler, MacDonald is my choice. Archer's broody, moral, reflective and self-critical stance is a refreshing addition to the genre. A little bit of Faulkner on the mean streets. Not a great book, but a welcome reminder of reading MacDonald from the Cedar Rapids Public Library long, long ago.

[bontley · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Good entry, not one of the best.

[rdhawk6886 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

All of MacDonald's stuff is brilliant,but this one is brilliant even for MacDonald. It's personal to Archer, a taut and compelling thriller and richly insightful as to the human condition.