Preview
  • The Underground Man

  • A Lew Archer Novel
  • By: Ross Macdonald
  • Narrated by: Tom Parker
  • Length: 7 hrs and 32 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (301 ratings)

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The Underground Man

By: Ross Macdonald
Narrated by: Tom Parker
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Publisher's summary

As a mysterious fire rages through the hills above a privileged town in Southern California, Lew Archer tracks a missing child who may be the pawn in a marital struggle or the victim of a bizarre kidnapping. What he uncovers amid the ashes is murder - and a trail of motives as combustible as gasoline.

The Underground Man is a detective novel of merciless suspense and tragic depth, with an unfaltering insight into the moral ambiguities at the heart of California's version of the American dream.

More mayhem? Try our other Lew Archer mysteries.

©1998 Norman J Colavincenzo (P)2008 Blackstone Audio, Inc.
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What listeners say about The Underground Man

Average customer ratings
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Macdonalds best

My favorite of his books, red excellently by Gardener. Excellent classic hard-boiled stuff. Even better than the Blue Hammer.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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love this series

I feel like I'm getting a bit of Americana mixed with a bit of the old style wisecracking private dick. I wish there were a dozen more!

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Long Dead

Another great Archer mystery. The kidnapping of a child leads to the discovery of multiple murders done to cover-up one that happened 15 years before. Lots of possible killers, but the one that did it is the one no one suspected.

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1 person found this helpful

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Great Story but…

Great story but Tom Parker was putting me to sleep. I’m sure Mr Parker is a fine speaker. But just not for this type of genre.

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Another great story!

Ross MacDonald stories are just best detective stories. I just love the way he describes people and places. some are so funny that I actually laugh at them. Tom Parker's narration really makes the stories come alive! To me his voice is the voice the hard broiled detective! I've chosen number of titles to listen because he was the narrator.

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My Unconscious Suspension of Disbelief

Evelyn Waugh considered P. G. Wodehouse to be one of the finest craftsmen of the English language in the 20th Century. Which, of course, makes “mentally negligible” Bertie Wooster, who narrates many of Wodehouse’s best books, one of those craftsmen.

Similarly, in his descriptions of seascapes, landscapes, faces, atmospheres, intuitions – in fact, everything – Lew Archer is very little short of a poet. It’s a tribute to Ross Macdonald’s skill that we (ok, I) revel in his finely rendered observations, never wondering how a hard-bitten (but not hard-hearted) private detective ever came up with them. But I don’t. I just enjoy the stories, especially this one. As usual, Tom Parker (aka Grover Gardner) performs Macdonald’s prose perfectly.

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Hard-boiled classic

One of Ross McDonald's best, this tightly plotted mystery takes place during a wildfire that is both integral to the plot and essential to the mood. Think of the ally pervading smoky fog of Dickens' Bleak House ... Classic hard-boiled thriller, a la Raymond Chandler or Hammet.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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I enjoy the Archer series

I’ve enjoyed all of the books I’ve listened to from the Archer series. The narrator is fantastic and really adds to the hard boiled detective aesthetic.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Ross Macdonald in Top Form

Anyone who thinks the degeneration of the American family is something new will get an eye-opener in this story of twisted family values and a web of lies covering murders spanning three decades.

Even hardboiled Lew Archer, the classic auditor detective, was surprised and saddened when he finally solved this murder myster.

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One of his best

Great plot with excellent but logical twists. Also he finally got his style under control. Highly recommended and the reader has just the right voice for noir.

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2 people found this helpful