The writing is usually efficient but flavorless. Occasionally--in the deadly combination of authorial haste and editorial sloppiness typical these days of books considered to have a ready-made readership--it descends into clunky archaism ("Klayman had proved his mettle on more than one occasion, facing down dangerous situations with steely resolve and audacious fearlessness"), clumsy genre references ("The strange case of the murdering midget. Sounds like a Holmes novel"), ponderous banality ("Sunday, as everyone knows, is a day of rest, except for those in jobs demanding their presence"), and faulty syntax ("Seemingly social brunches offer both eggs Benedict as well as the scrambled eggs of negotiation").