The Moving Target cover art

The Moving Target

A Lew Archer Novel

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About this listen

 Like many Southern California millionaires, Ralph Sampson keeps odd company. There's the sun-worshiping holy man whom Sampson once gave his very own mountain, and the fading actress with sidelines in astrology and S&M. Now, one of Sampson's friends may have arranged his kidnapping.

As private eye Lew Archer follows the clues from the canyon sanctuaries of the megarich to jazz joints where you can get beaten up between sets, The Moving Target blends sex, greed, misdirected love, and family hatred into an explosive crime novel.

©1977 John Ross Macdonald (P)2001 Blackstone Audio, Inc. Crime Thrillers Fiction Hard-Boiled Mystery Private Investigators Suspense Thriller Thriller & Suspense Crime Detective
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Let me start by saying that this was by no means a bad novel. In fact, I quite enjoyed my time listening to it, but one must realize that the story is an almost cut and paste of Raymond Chandler's The Big Sleep, albeit with the few alterations to the original story and characters (to the point where Bogart's wife, Lauren Bacall, played the General Sternwood-esque character in the film adaptation of this novel). It really is quite evident that Macdonald was a fan of Chandler's and wished to honor the author in his own writings. It's really Macdonald's flair for integrating philosophy and a layer of psychology that really makes it stand out from it's copy cat brethren.

If you're like me and have tackled every entry in Chandler's library, but are still stuck craving more of the same, I'd highly suggest giving this one a go. It by no means surpasses the novel/author upon which it tries to emulate, but it does fit well enough in its shadow to be a time worthy listen

The Big Sleep... Again

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Love Ross Macdonald stories and the narrator is superb.
Will track them all down in time!

The Moving Target

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This book compares favorably with Chandler/Hammett efforts but is set in a slightly more modern timeframe. Ross Macdonald clearly reveres those early hardboiled P.I. Mysteries and writes in that mode. 'Lew Archer' is a fairly standard OG Private Dick (one could easily picture the character delivering the occasional Bogartesque "Schweetheart"), but is original enough to warrant the reader/listener's attention.
Macdonald writes interesting characters, a descriptive setting, realistic dialogue, and an immersive plot. His imagery and similes/metaphors are a little heavy-handed, but the prose is otherwise creditable.

Tom Parker's narration fits the text nicely, if unspectacularly. His voice-acting, diction, and cadence are commendable - but he has an oddly nasal timbre, seems mildly disinterested, and reads too quickly (listening at 1.15X is recommended for the optimal experience).

In toto, this is a distracting classic mid-20th Century detective story performed decently. I rate 'The Moving Target' a solid 6 stars out of 10. I got it for free as part of the 'Plus' catalogue and am very happy that I was given the option.. this recording might actually rate a Credit for fans of 'The Big Sleep' or 'The Maltese Falcon'.

Fun Mystery in the Old-School Tradition

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