Death Trap

Death Trap
by John D. MacDonald

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Book Summary Information

Author: John D. MacDonald
Edition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1985-09-12
ISBN: 0449130177
Publisher: Fawcett

Book Reviews of Death Trap

Book Review: Small-town thriller, one of JDM's best
Summary: 5 Stars

Death Trap, originally published in 1957, is one of John D. MacDonald's best stand-alone thrillers.

Hugh, a globe-trotting construction bum, spots that an ex-girlfriend's younger brother is about to be executed for murder. He is drawn back to a small Anytown in the hopes of helping his ex-girlfriend, Vicky, through the trauma - and also to ease his own troubled conscience.

Hugh invariably gets tangled up in detective work. Initially, he makes a haphazard effort to placate Vicky, but soon discovers that this small Midwestern town has a seedy underbelly. It also, in the best JDM tradition, has a violent deputy and a politically-minded sheriff, neither of which encourage Hugh's amateur investigations.

Hugh's efforts lead him into the depressing swamp of small-town juvenile delinquency and the frighteningly rigid adult system that created it. Hugh's interactions with the town's sordid teen populate - and its deliberately-blind authority figures - are the highlights of the book. With his outsider's point of view, Hugh can see that the town is built on lies, desperately painting over the corruption to preserve the status quo.

The main criticism with the book is the deus ex machina in the conclusion. After doing some satisfying leg-work for the majority of the book, Hugh hands the case over to the Gods of Fiction to solve the case using the wizardry of modern pseudo-science. Again, to the author's credit, this is still managed well and in a suspenseful way. The dramatic climax and confrontation with the killer is an exceptionally well-told scene, and MacDonald proves again that he mastered the art of the thriller.

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