[.ca] Eureka (ISBN 0345411471)

From Amazon.com:
William Diehl clearly understands the three essentials of any bestselling 1940s-era crime thriller: gangsters, gunplay, and guilty secrets. But Eureka isn't just another noirish shoot-'em-up, as shallow and forgettable as a stoolie's grave. It's a combustible, epic-aspiring saga about long-ago violence and the limits of justice, about revenge and redemption and two rivalrous lawmen drawn together by common ideals. Most of the action centers around Zeke Bannon, a young L.A. cop whose probing into the murder of a mysterious widow--electrocuted in her own bathtub--leads him to the once-sinful town of Eureka, now called San Pietro. It's from there that she'd been receiving anonymous cashier's checks over the last two decades, money Bannon figures she earned by her silence. Was she helping to cover up the truth about a 1921 shootout that caused the death of Eureka's frontier-style sheriff? Nobody in modern San Pietro will talk, least of all Thomas "Brodie" Culhane, a World War I hero who cleaned up the town and is now running for governor of California. Torn between admiring Culhane and trying to link him to the widow's killing, Bannon ignites historical enmities that threaten to express both men to their graves. Although Diehl offers ample cinematic violence here, there's little true menace, and a romantic subplot involving Bannon with a gorgeous banker is neither credible nor effectively exploited. Still, Eureka is a polished work, full of careful character studies and drama, with a gasp-provoking solution that few readers will anticipate. --J. Kingston Pierce

Poor Editing:
First of all, let me recommend this as a great read. I would have given it 4.5 stars instead of 4, but it still is fast-paced and enthralling. I wish the editor had picked up Diehl's mistakes on the ages of Brodie Culhane and Ben Gorman at the beginning, having them go from 16 to 18 and back. And Hirshman's inexplicable metamorphosis into Morningdale in the last pages totally confused me. If not for sloppy correlation, the book would be a 10 (on my scale). CW

Fantastic!!:
Grabs you and doesn't let go till the very last page.. i couldn't put it down and my daughter just read it in two days.. i did it in one.. well worth buying.. rose mary colarusso

EUREKA IS A WINNER:
Diehl, who created the excellent Martin Vail series, has spun a truly epic novel in this well-written masterpiece. Not a fan of those "noirish" novels of the forties, I wasn't sure what to expect from Diehl in this one. However, it is a stunning work, filled with excellent characterizations, true plot twists, and some excellent scenarios. We start the novel out with Brodie Culhane, a young man given a new life by a wealthy landowner in turn of the century California. Brodie becomes our hero, ending up fighting in World War I, surviving and returning to his home to become the sheriff. Next, we have Zeke Bannon, another policeman in the 40's, who investigates a murder that leads him to the domain of Sheriff Culhane, who is now planning on running for governor. How could our hero from the first part of the book be such a corruptible character in the 40's. That's what makes this novel so complex and interesting. Bannon's involvement with Culhane and how they come about "cleaning up" this sordid region makes for one engrossing read. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Chinatown Revisted:
I really enjoyed Eureka and it come reminding me of the 1974 fllick " Chinatown" with Jack Nicholson. Without going into the plot too much it describes a 45 year old mystery and the bloody outcome that follows. Its a worthy comparison to James Elroys's early novels and I kept expecting Dudley Smith to appear in the LAPD sections of this novel. A book worthy of your time and money!

A REALLY GOOD DIEHL:
"Eureka," according to Webster's, signifies the discovery of something that brings joy or satisfaction. Thus, it is an appropriate title for a scenario from William Diehl, a master of storytelling and suspense. When Zeke Bannon was sent to fight in World War II some unfinished business is left behind - the mysterious death of one Verna Wilensky who was electrocuted in her bathtub. Almost as puzzling as her demise is her hefty bank account, fattened by anonymous cashier's checks from a bank in San Pietro, a Southern California town once known as Eureka. A few years and one Silver Star later Zeke is recuperating in an L.A. hospital when he is visited by his ex LAPD partner who has been investigating the Wilensky case. As Zeke digs into old files readers are transported to the Eureka of 1900, a hotbed of graft and prostitution. It is also a place where many secrets were buried. Jump start to today and popular Sherif Thomas Culhane, who seems certain to become California's next governor until his bid for office is jeopardized by stunning revelations. Diehl seamlessly weaves past and present to craft a story that keeps readers spellbound until the last.