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It appears that I must give a dissenting view to the previous two reviews of BURNING DOWN THE HOUSE. I've always had respect for both Andi's and Mary Elizabeth's views of various books, but it appears that I have a different take on Lev's latest in the Nick Hoffman series. And, to be perfectly honest, satire and irony are my favorite forms of humor. The only kind of humor I avoid is slapstick and the obvious "I'm so hilarious" drivel of a certain best selling "mystery?" author. BURNING DOWN THE HOUSE is Raphael's best Nick Hoffman book. Unlike the previous Nick books, which were termed mysteries, the cover states that this is a "Nick Hoffman novel." This is, I believe, indicative of the direction in which the series is going. There is no murder, but there is attempted murder. The tone is darker than the others in the series as Nick continues in his sexual fascination with the formidable Juno Dromgoole. This both intrigues and fascinates Nick who has been in a long term relationship with Stefan. Things on the SUM campus, especially in his department are becoming more and more bizarre with the launch of a campaign for "whiteness studies" and the diversity tree. These reactionary measures give the author some great targets for his literate humor. To complicate matters, Juno has decided she is going to run for the chairmanship of their department (EAR) and asks for Nick's help. This decision is not popular with many other. At least two attempts are made on Juno's life and Nick is attacked on campus. As with life, there is no neat ending, but rather more self awareness on Nick part about how he is capable of reacting. It certainly leaves me eagerly awaiting the next book. I might say anxiously as well since Lev was one of the fine mystery authors caught in Walker's decision to drop mystery novels from their list. The humor is here, but it is more biting and certainly less tolerant of the fools that Nick encounters in academic life. One gets the very real feeling that the campus (and the world) would be a better place without some of these bloomin' idiots. I've been becoming more than a little concerned that so many books, movies, tv shows, etc. are using only allusions to popular culture, doing away with those to classical literature, mythology, art, et al. Lev manages to bring both into his writing and that makes it much richer. I would highly recommend BURNING DOWN THE HOUSE, but would suggest that you read the Nick Hoffman series in order. (I would also recommend Lev's literary novel WINTER EYES, as well as his essays and short stories.) If I made a list of my top ten mystery reads for the year, BURNING DOWN THE HOUSE would have made the cut.
Reviewed by Doris Ann Norris, October 2002
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