Barre, Richard 1943-

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BARRE, Richard 1943-

PERSONAL: Born March 10, 1943, in Los Angeles, CA; son of Ruth (Groves) Barre; married Susan E. Dwan (a word processor and editor), August 19, 1967. Education: California State University—Sacramento, B.A., 1966.

ADDRESSES: Home—6156 Coloma Dr., Santa Barbara, CA 93117. Agent—Philip Spitzer, 50 Talmage Farm Ln., East Hampton, NY 11937.

CAREER: Barre Advertising, Santa Barbara, CA, owner, 1975-90. Military service: U.S. Coast Guard, 1967-70; became lieutenant.

AWARDS, HONORS: Shamus Award, 1995, for The Innocents.

WRITINGS:

MYSTERY NOVELS

The Innocents, Walker and Co. (New York, NY), 1995. Bearing Secrets, Walker and Co. (New York, NY), 1996.

The Ghosts of Morning, Berkley (New York, NY), 1998.

Blackheart Highway, Berkley Prime Crime (New York, NY), 1999.

Bethany, Capra Press (Santa Barbara, CA), 2003.

Burning Moon, Capra Press (Santa Barbara, CA), 2003.

OTHER

The Star, Capra Press (Santa Barbara, CA), 2002.

SIDELIGHTS: Richard Barre's mystery novels feature a hard-drinking, motorcycle-riding California surfer named Wil Hardesty. The psychic scars from a tour of duty in Vietnam and the death of his child have left Hardesty ridden with angst, and he has taken his business and his marriage to the brink. The dark tone in these stories led a reviewer for Rapport to compare them to the detective stories of Raymond Chandler. In his first appearance, Hardesty investigates the death of several children whose long-dead bodies are unearthed after a flash flood in the desert. "Barre writes with great passion, giving his characters a depth of feeling that draws us in at once," declared the Rapport writer. "He is also a skilled storyteller." Los Angeles Times Book Review critic Charles Champlin criticized the book for "improbabilities" in the plot, but credited the author with generating "a narrative drive that, as sometimes happens, is stronger than the originating premise."

In Bearing Secrets, Hardesty is hired to look into the alleged suicide of a 1960s radical. Dick Lochte, a contributor to Los Angeles Times Book Review, praised Barre's creation of "a sensitive, introspective private eye," and called the author a man of "obvious skill and sensitivity." A Library Journal reviewer also approved of Bearing Secrets, stating: "Good narrative, inventive plot, striking characters, and psychological depth make this a keeper."

In his third novel, The Ghosts of Morning, Hardesty confronts more demons from his past when he is hired to search for his childhood friend Danny, who was apparently killed in Vietnam years before. The soldier's dying mother has begun receiving notes offering to tell her where the man is—for a price. The case also summons up an old love affair between Hardesty and Danny's sister. A Publishers Weekly reviewer faulted the story for depending too much on overworked plot elements, but noted that "Barre's language strikes eloquent chords of pain and regret, and he writes as well about surfing as anyone since Kem Nunn. . . . It adds up to a steamy, evocative stew, although many of the items in the pot have seen better days."

Blackheart Highway is the fourth book in the series, and shows Hardesty on a quest to clear the reputation of a dead man. Doc Whitney was jailed for twenty years after the brutal murders of his wife and children. Released on parole, he returns to his hometown of Bakersfield, California, where he begins to harass the DiVilbiss family. Luke DiVilbiss, an influential local attorney, hired Hardesty to investigate Whitney's motivation. Yet Hardesty's sleuthing reveals that Whitney may actually have been framed for the murders, and that DiVilbiss and the local authorities may have conspired to make the false charges stick. Whitney is then killed, but Hardesty continues to pursue the case, even when his own life appears to be in danger because of it. With the past as a "lonely backdrop," Hardesty "works his lone-wolf magic," advised Wes Lukowsky in Booklist. Lukowsky found Blackheart Highway to be "somber" in tone like the previous books, but he also noted that as the series progresses, it is beginning to show more touches of "very welcome humor."

Burning Moon finds Hardesty involved in the dangerous world of Asian gang warfare. A Vietnamese fisherman is lost at sea, an apparent accidental death; yet the man's father is convinced that there was foul play involved, related to the dead man's link to a crime boss. Seeking to uncover the truth, Wil finds his way frequently blocked by the customs and mores of a radically different culture from his own. His past in Vietnam, as well as his experience as a parent who has lost a child, serve him well in this case. The plot is full of action, but at the same time, the Hardesty character is very well-developed, according to Fred M. Gervat in Library Journal, who added, "One sometimes stops to reread and savor a sentence from a writer who can really write." Lukowsky, reviewing the novel for Booklist, characterized Hardesty as a world-weary person who pushes on despite his own personal demons, and concluded that Burning Moon is "a lyrical, melancholy glimpse into the soul of a man who attempts to solve others' burdens even as he succumbs to his own."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Armchair Detective, fall, 1995, p. 413.

Booklist, May 1, 1995, p. 1554; June 1, 1996, p. 1678; April 15, 1998; May 15, 1999, Wes Lukowsky, review of Blackheart Highway, p. 1672; May 1, 2003, Wes Lukowsky, review of Burning Moon, p. 1531.

Library Journal, May 1, 1995, p. 134; May 1, 1996, Rex E. Klett, review of Bearing Secrets, p. 137; June 1, 2003, Fred M. Gervat, review of Burning Moon, p. 174.

Los Angeles Times Book Review, May 14, 1995, p. 11; June 23, 1996, p. 10.

Publishers Weekly, April 3, 1995, p. 49; April 15, 1996, review of Bearing Secrets, p. 53; March 30, 1998, review of The Ghosts of Morning, p. 72.

Rapport, January, 1995, p. 33. Wilson Library Bulletin, April, 1995, Gail Pool, review of The Innocents, p. 96.