<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="2.0" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/" xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/" > <channel> <title>Hardboiled Monday – Howard Andrew Jones</title> <atom:link href="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/category/hardboiled-noir/hardboiled-monday/feed" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" /> <link>http://www.howardandrewjones.com</link> <description></description> <lastBuildDate>Wed, 11 Mar 2020 15:13:13 +0000</lastBuildDate> <language>en-US</language> <sy:updatePeriod> hourly </sy:updatePeriod> <sy:updateFrequency> 1 </sy:updateFrequency> <generator>https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.2</generator> <image> <url>http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/cropped-fkk-32x32.jpeg</url> <title>Hardboiled Monday – Howard Andrew Jones</title> <link>http://www.howardandrewjones.com</link> <width>32</width> <height>32</height> </image> <item> <title>Hardboiled Monday: The Glories of Wade Miller</title> <link>http://www.howardandrewjones.com/hardboiled-noir/hardboiled-monday-the-glories-of-wade-miller</link> <comments>http://www.howardandrewjones.com/hardboiled-noir/hardboiled-monday-the-glories-of-wade-miller#comments</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Howard]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Mon, 09 Mar 2020 15:09:37 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Hardboiled & Noir]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Hardboiled Monday]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.howardandrewjones.com/?p=12745</guid> <description><![CDATA[Writing as a team, usually under their Wade Miller pseudonym, Bob Wade and Bill Miller drafted some engaging thrillers and mysteries for Fawcett Gold Medal and other publishers all through the 1950s and into the early 1960s, before Miller’s untimely early death. Their writing was tight and spare, yet immersive, and they knew how to […]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/devil-may-care-1.jpeg"><img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" class="alignright size-full wp-image-5573" src="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/devil-may-care-1.jpeg" alt="" width="173" height="291" /></a>Writing as a team, usually under their Wade Miller pseudonym, Bob Wade and Bill Miller drafted some engaging thrillers and mysteries for Fawcett Gold Medal and other publishers all through the 1950s and into the early 1960s, before Miller’s untimely early death. Their writing was tight and spare, yet immersive, and they knew how to quickly hook readers into propulsive plots. Their settings sprang vividly to life, and they were capable of subtle and even nuanced character development and dialogue. Ten years ago I’d never heard of them; now I consider them among my very favorite writers.</p> <p>On my own highlights reel are a number of standalones and the entire Max Thursday series. That’s not to say that each of the hardboiled private eye’s adventures is equally good, but each Max Thursday book is a strong novel and every one of them is different from the others, both in tone and subject matter. They usually fall on the gritty side of things, and are intricately plotted, so don’t go reading online discussions that tend to spoil the whodunnit. Unlike other hardboiled novels from the same era, the Thursday books are best read in order. Thursday starts out the series fighting alcoholism, and his relationships with secondary characters change in succeeding books. In order the Max Thursday novels are: <em>Guilty Bystander</em>, <em>Fatal Step</em>, <em>Uneasy Street</em>, <em>Calamity Fair</em>, <em>Murder Charge</em>, and <em>Shoot to Kill</em>. Here’s a <a href="http://www.thrillingdetective.com/thursday.html">wonderful article </a>over at Thrilling Detective that discusses more details WITHOUT revealing the endings. I can’t guarantee that other discussions will do that.</p> <p><span id="more-12745"></span><a href="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/devil-may-care-2.jpeg"><img decoding="async" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-5577" src="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/devil-may-care-2.jpeg" alt="" width="225" height="225" srcset="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/devil-may-care-2.jpeg 225w, http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/devil-may-care-2-150x150.jpeg 150w" sizes="(max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px" /></a>As for those standalones, right at the top is <em>Devil May Care</em>, about a brutal but oddly likable mercenary, Biggo Venn, heading down to Mexico for some easy cash. He’s simple and honorable in his way, although no one would mistake any of his attitudes for modern political correctness. This is a great ‘50s adventure/thriller with some wonderful character arcs and subtle writing. It’s also a little more purple than the Thursday books, but it sure goes down smooth. I was exchanging a note with Chris Hocking the other day and he relayed that there’s a moment near the end when he realized he was reading something with a “kind of greatness” and I concurred. At a key scene, everything else in the book clicks suddenly into place and you’re hit with a sense of appreciation and wonder that it was building to this point all along. Wade and Miller commanded subtle mastery of their stories.</p> <p><a href="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/nightmare-cruise.jpeg"><img decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-12749 alignright" src="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/nightmare-cruise.jpeg" alt="" width="181" height="278" /></a>My other standalone favorites are the thriller <em>Stolen Woman</em>, about a piano player south of the border blackmailed into delivering a dangerous package, <em>Nightmare Cruise</em>, a somewhat lighter nautical thriller/murder mystery set in the Sargasso Sea with a coolly capable female yacht captain, and <em>The Girl From Midnight</em>, featuring a veterinarian who gets embroiled in a murder. And then there are <em>Sinner Take All</em> and <em>Devil on Two Sticks</em>, which beat slightly different paths down the trail of badmen tempted to leave their profession – one’s an assassin and the other a highly placed mob figure. Just a little lower on the list there’s <em>Branded Woman</em>, in print from Hard Case Crime, and <em>Dead Fall</em>, another mystery under their Dale Wilmer pseudonym. There’s also <em>South of the Sun</em>, which I actually like better than some of these others at the bottom of the list, although as it isn’t a thriller or adventure tale (or even a mystery) it’s a slightly different animal. Certainly the writing caught me up the same way: it follows the lives of a number of interlocking characters over a few days in Acapulco. Depending on the day you might be able to talk me into including <em>Mad Baxter</em>, their semi-comic adventure novel set in Sardinia after World War II, or <em>The Killer</em> (printed in a single volume with <em>Devil on Two Sticks </em>by Stark House) or one of their police procedurals, <em>A Cry in the Night</em>. Others would name <em>Badge of Evil</em> or <em>The Tiger’s Wife</em>, or <em>Kiss Her Goodbye</em>, but I didn’t get as wrapped up in them. That’s not saying that you wouldn’t, just that Wade and Miller were capable of different kinds of writing, and some of their books might appeal to you more than others.</p> <p><a href="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/uneasy-street.jpeg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-12753" src="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/uneasy-street.jpeg" alt="" width="176" height="286" /></a>A final note: one subtle strength of Wade and Miller is too often overlooked. While never a special focus of their fiction, the women of Wade and Miller tend to be more fully realized people than we find in the work of their contemporaries. In few other 1950s thriller/adventure authors have I so consistently seen so many women with complex lives and motivations existing apart from living to assist or please the story’s men. The books are written for their market and time, so people expecting completely “modern” attitudes will be frustrated, but these complex characters stand out, whether it be the capable and determined reporter who recurs in several Max Thursday novels, or a brilliant con woman/thief, or a daring sea captain, or others, like the woman trapped by circumstance and misunderstood and threatened in <em>Devil May Care</em>. It’s almost as though Wade and Miller looked at women as (gasp) humans who could be just as motivated and driven as men. The only reason I don’t rate <em>Dead Fall</em> higher is that the female lead, near the end of the book, suddenly becomes an emotional stereotype typical of her era rather than remaining a more realistic woman the two authors more regularly feature in their work.</p> <p>The Max Thursday novels can be found as ludicrously inexpensive <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Wade-Miller/e/B001HD2X8Q/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1">e-books here</a>.</p> <p>For a thorough discussion of their lives and work, as well as a complete bibliography, you can visit the <a href="http://www.thrillingdetective.com/trivia/wade_miller.html">Thrilling Detective web site</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://www.howardandrewjones.com/hardboiled-noir/hardboiled-monday-the-glories-of-wade-miller/feed</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>9</slash:comments> </item> <item> <title>Hardboiled Monday: The Mammoth Book of Private Eye Stories</title> <link>http://www.howardandrewjones.com/hardboiled-noir/hardboiled-monday-the-mammoth-book-of-private-eye-stories</link> <comments>http://www.howardandrewjones.com/hardboiled-noir/hardboiled-monday-the-mammoth-book-of-private-eye-stories#comments</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Howard]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Mon, 22 May 2017 14:28:39 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Hardboiled & Noir]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Hardboiled Monday]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.howardandrewjones.com/?p=7569</guid> <description><![CDATA[When Chris Hocking and I set out to talk hardboiled fiction every Monday it turned out we (or maybe it was just me) were a little too ambitious. It was hard to keep up the steam, and to keep reading NOTHING but hardboiled for months and months. But we’re returning to discuss great hardboiled fiction […]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p class="p1"><a href="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/mammoth-book-private-eye.jpeg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-full wp-image-7481" src="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/mammoth-book-private-eye.jpeg" alt="mammoth book private eye" width="182" height="277" /></a>When Chris Hocking and I set out to talk hardboiled fiction every Monday it turned out we (or maybe it was just me) were a little too ambitious. It was hard to keep up the steam, and to keep reading NOTHING but hardboiled for months and months. But we’re returning to discuss great hardboiled fiction as an occasional feature of this web site.</p> <p class="p1">Originally we were discussing <a href="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/reviews/hardboiled-and-noir-list">all books from this list</a> in order. From here on out we’ll be skipping around. We’ll be trying to cover one subject a month, and I’ll also be trying to provide advanced notice. If you want to see our previous hardboiled discussions, you can access <a href="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/category/hardboiled-noir/hardboiled-monday">the master list here</a>. Today we’re discussing the well-named <em>Mammoth Book of Private Eye Stories</em>.<span id="more-7569"></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><strong><a href="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/mammoth-2.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-7593" src="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/mammoth-2-192x300.jpg" alt="mammoth 2" width="192" height="300" srcset="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/mammoth-2-192x300.jpg 192w, http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/mammoth-2.jpg 351w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 192px) 100vw, 192px" /></a>Howard</strong>: I had no idea when you recommended this anthology just how good it would be. I mean, you said it was a landmark collection, but I’d read enough anthologies over the years I thought I knew what that meant. </span><span class="s1"> </span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">I didn’t, though. This one is stuffed full of the terrific. And those few stories that aren’t terrific are still really good. In fact, there are really only two out of twenty-six stories in here I didn’t like — and one of those is by one of my favorite authors (Chandler, who’s represented here by “The Wrong Pigeon” probably because it was short and rarely anthologized — don’t use it to judge Chandler if you’ve never read him before). </span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1"><strong>Chris</strong>: Yeah, <em>The Mammoth Book of Private Eye Stories</em> is a broad but well-balanced survey of detective fiction that does a good job of both tracing the genre from its pulp origins up until when the anthology was published (1988), and showcasing a number of rarely seen and excellent examples of the form. </span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">Perhaps because of when it was published, there is a greater emphasis on authors of the ‘70s and ‘80s than is seen in most private eye collections. While I might wish for a bit more pulp, this offers a basically unparalleled opportunity to sample the work of several excellent authors whose work, despite being of relatively recent vintage, has become increasingly difficult to find. </span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1"><strong><a href="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/fabulous-clipjoint.jpeg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-full wp-image-7597" src="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/fabulous-clipjoint.jpeg" alt="fabulous clipjoint" width="176" height="259" /></a>Howard</strong>: It’s an impressive collection. It may be the single-best multi-author anthology I’ve ever read. And that’s saying something, folks.</span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1">The first tale that really stood out was Frederic Brown’s “Before She Kills,” about a man who’s fairly certain that his wife wants to kill him and hires the detective team of Ed and Am Hunter to protect him. Of course, there’s much more involved in the tale, and to detail it would spoil all the surprises, a real problem, I’m discovering, as I try writing about any of these short stories. Suffice to say that I liked this one well enough that I immediately broke out Frederic Brown’s first novel of Ed and Am Hunter, <em>The Fabulous Clipjoint</em>, and quite enjoyed it.</span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1">One of the things that this particular anthology does is put you on the trail of reading more by the writers you really like.</span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"><strong>Chris</strong>: Yeah, it’s a great portal into the work of a lot of fine authors. Some of them unjustly forgotten. </span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"><strong><a href="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/ashes2.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-3195" src="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/ashes2-193x300.jpg" alt="ashes2" width="193" height="300" srcset="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/ashes2-193x300.jpg 193w, http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/ashes2.jpg 450w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 193px) 100vw, 193px" /></a>Howard</strong>: Right after Brown, of course, comes Browne, Howard Browne, and if I wasn’t already a huge fan of his Paul Pine detective work, after reading “So Dark for April” I’d have immediately sought out more by him. He turns up the Chandler vibe and pulls it off completely without ever sounding like a pale imitation. Great mystery, well told, with beautiful prose.</span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"><strong>Chris</strong>: This one has been anthologized a number of times and stands up to multiple re-readings. This is the author’s only short story about his detective character and it’s as good as you would hope. Seems a shame he didn’t write more short stories, but since he gave us </span><em><span class="s2">A Taste of Ashes</span></em><span class="s1"> I don’t feel like I can complain about anything the guy might, or might not, have written. </span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"><strong>Howard</strong>: Absolutely. Browne to Chandler is a little like a Beatles cover band that wrote a song at least as good as “Hey Jude” or some other classic, but that no one ever listened to…</span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1">I could discuss nearly every story in this book with glowing terms. As I said, even the few weaker ones have moments of excellence, but most are good. But I’m keeping to the really great ones, and the next one that really stood out for me was Joseph Hansen’s “Surf.”</span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"><strong><a href="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/hansen-early_graves_lg.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-7601" src="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/hansen-early_graves_lg-199x300.jpg" alt="hansen-early_graves_lg" width="199" height="300" srcset="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/hansen-early_graves_lg-199x300.jpg 199w, http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/hansen-early_graves_lg.jpg 403w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 199px) 100vw, 199px" /></a>Chris</strong>: You don’t hear much about Hansen anymore. Seems as if he gets mentioned it’s as the guy who wrote about a gay private eye/insurance investigator well before that was a common, or even widely accepted, possibility. Seems a shame, as the protagonist’s queer nature is an honest, but generally casual, aspect of the work and his stories are intense, well-characterized and righteous. </span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"><strong>Howard</strong>: It’s a fine mystery, and on finishing it I immediately looked Hansen up and discovered it’s possible to order complete e-collections of all his novel work. I anticipate doing that in the coming year.</span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1">Following on that was Edward Hoch’s “The Other Eye,” so well-wrought and so surprising that I really want to read more of his work. I hear he’s famous for “locked room” mysteries, although that broadly means mysteries that seem impossible to solve but have a perfectly rational explanation once it all works out. Like the one in this collection. I’m very interested in seeing how some of his other mysteries DO work out.</span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"><strong>Chris</strong>: Hoch is an author I know primarily by reputation, which is that of the wizard of a thousand tight little mystery plots. He has a few series characters and one, Simon Ark, sounds irresistible.</span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"><strong>Howard</strong>: Your mention of Simon Ark was so tantalizing that I just went and looked up an entry about the character – now I want to read some of those stories!</span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"><a href="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/eight-million.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-7605" src="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/eight-million-185x300.jpg" alt="eight million" width="185" height="300" srcset="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/eight-million-185x300.jpg 185w, http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/eight-million.jpg 293w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 185px) 100vw, 185px" /></a>My next discovery was Lawrence Block’s “Out of the Window.” At first I was missing the settings of the previous private eye stories — the ‘30s and so on — but the mystery was so good and the writing so masterful that I got swept along anyway. I’d already been meaning to read more of Block after enjoying <a href="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/hardboiled-noir/hardboiled-monday-such-men-are-dangerous"><em>Such Men Are Dangerous</em></a>, but now I’ve got to read the novels of the character featured in this story, Matt Scudder.</span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"><strong>Chris</strong>: This is one of my favorites in the collection. The plot is so easily and casually presented that it doesn’t even feel like a plot. You look back on the story and it’s a fine mechanism, but you have to stop and look to see it. Masterful. </span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">I’ve been working my way through the Scudder novels over the past few years, and they are distinctive and powerful. Eight</span><em><span class="s2"> Million Ways to Die</span></em><span class="s1"> is one of the best detective novels I’ve read in years, coupling a dizzying mystery with the hero’s desperate battle with alcoholism in a fashion that left me almost physically exhausted at the book’s close.</span></p> <p class="p4"><span class="s1"><strong><a href="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/alibi.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-7609" src="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/alibi-188x300.jpg" alt="alibi" width="188" height="300" srcset="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/alibi-188x300.jpg 188w, http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/alibi.jpg 312w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 188px) 100vw, 188px" /></a>Howard</strong>: Sue Grafton’s “She Didn’t Come Home” was a real surprise for me, and a further reminder never to trust a book by its cover. I was really fond of the narrator and the story was impressively delivered — great mystery, tight prose. I definitely wanted to read more by the writer and preferably about the character, and then discovered that the author’s the creator of those books I always rolled my eyes at when I saw them in the bookstores. I thought of them as the alphabet mysteries. A is for Alibi, etc. If only I hadn’t been so judgmental I might have been reading some great fiction years earlier. Live and learn…</span></p> <p class="p5"><span class="s1">Stephen Greenleaf’s “Iris” was a powerful story and a haunting one. I’m tempted to read more by Greenleaf but wow, I’d be afraid that they’d all be along these lines, in which case I might have to be counseled for depression after reading them…</span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1"><strong>Chris</strong>: Greenleaf is another author whose work I need to explore. I picked up a handful of his books back when I first discovered detective/hardboiled fiction and they have sat patiently on my shelves awaiting my attention for years.</span></p> <p class="p5"><span class="s1"><strong><a href="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/nameless.jpeg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-7613" src="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/nameless.jpeg" alt="nameless" width="158" height="256" /></a>Howard</strong>: Bill Pronzini’s “Skeleton Rattle your Mouldy Leg” impressed me so much that I sought out some by him immediately — although that shouldn’t be taken to mean that I chose him over some of these others, because I read stories out of order and got to Pronzini first. He has a slew of collections featuring the nameless detective who narrates his stories, and many novels as well.</span></p> <p class="p5"><span class="s1"><strong>Chris</strong>: I love Pronzini’s Nameless Detective series. Solid, well-conceived mysteries with a protagonist who, after a few books, becomes like an old friend. I know some who find the books a bit too low key, but the emotional, honest character of the narrator (who collects and draws inspiration from classic detective pulp magazines) is unique and companionable. </span></p> <p class="p5"><span class="s1"><strong>Howard</strong>: Arthur Lyons’ “Trouble in Paradise” surprised me a lot and was a pleasant change from some of the darker tales I’d been reading in the back half of this collection. Not that it wasn’t dark in some ways, but it wasn’t steeped in bleakness. I definitely plan on seeking out more by him.</span></p> <p class="p5"><span class="s1"><strong>Chris</strong>: Like Greenleaf, I have a few of this author’s books, but have only read a couple. Need to get back to them.</span></p> <p class="p5"><span class="s1"><strong><a href="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/glass-highway.jpeg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-full wp-image-7617" src="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/glass-highway.jpeg" alt="glass highway" width="186" height="271" /></a>Howard</strong>: Loren Estleman’s “Greektown” was well composed, atmospheric, surprising, moving, and short as well, a fine capper to the collection.</span></p> <p class="p5"><span class="s1"><strong>Chris</strong>: I can hardly say enough good things about Loren Estleman, whose Amos Walker series channels the classic flavor of the Chandleresque detective story better than anyone working today. <em>The Glass Highway</em> in particular is a fine novel. He turned in great work for Detroit Noir, giving us the memorable short story, “Kill the Cat,” which was up for a Shamus Award.</span></p> <p class="p5"><span class="s1"><strong>Howard</strong>: Well, I definitely plan to read more by him, and more by all of the writers in this discussion, and probably some that didn’t make it onto my “best of” list from what’s really a “best of” collection. It’s just a wonderful anthology, and if you have even a faint interest in private eye stories, you owe it to yourself to pick up a copy.</span></p> <p class="p5">Next time up we’ll be discussing Wade Miller, and after that, Talmage Powell. See you in about a month!</p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://www.howardandrewjones.com/hardboiled-noir/hardboiled-monday-the-mammoth-book-of-private-eye-stories/feed</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>11</slash:comments> </item> <item> <title>Hard-Boiled Monday Returns</title> <link>http://www.howardandrewjones.com/hardboiled-noir/hard-boiled-monday-returns</link> <comments>http://www.howardandrewjones.com/hardboiled-noir/hard-boiled-monday-returns#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Howard]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 28 Apr 2017 14:44:03 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Hardboiled & Noir]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Hardboiled Monday]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.howardandrewjones.com/?p=7473</guid> <description><![CDATA[Sort of an ironic thing to post on a Friday, isn’t it? I’ve had numerous requests for the return of the ongoing column, and I’ve spoken with Chris Hocking, my Hard Boiled Monday pal, and we’ll be getting back to it in a little while. I’ve given up trying to read stories in the order of […]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/mammoth-book-private-eye.jpeg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-7481" src="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/mammoth-book-private-eye.jpeg" alt="mammoth book private eye" width="182" height="277" /></a>Sort of an ironic thing to post on a Friday, isn’t it?</p> <p>I’ve had numerous requests for the return of the ongoing column, and I’ve spoken with Chris Hocking, my Hard Boiled Monday pal, and we’ll be getting back to it in a little while. I’ve given up trying to read stories in the order of the original list, though, and it may not be EVERY Monday. I’ll get a schedule up in a little while.</p> <p>For now, I wanted to tell anyone who wanted to read along that the first book we’ll be discussing is an exceptionally fine anthology titled <em>The Mammoth Book of Private Eye Stories</em>. It’s considered a landmark volume and now that I’m most of the way through it I definitely see why. Arr, there be great fiction in here, matey’s! Said the pirate…. Who apparently reads hard boiled detective novels. Who are you to stereotype?!</p> <p>Anyway, not this coming Monday, but Monday May 8th I hope to start discussing the very best out of this greatest hits anthology. If you like (or at least are curious about) private eye stories, this is an excellent place to go. If you’re looking for a copy, try <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-mammoth-book-of-private-eye-stories-bill-pronzini/1103234877?ean=9780881844306">here for paperbacks</a>, or go to the other usual places. For once, copies seem plentiful, though I have no idea why. I can’t imagine why someone would want to part with this volume, because I definitely plan on reading from it again. It’s a great introduction to the work authors I’ve already started exploring.</p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://www.howardandrewjones.com/hardboiled-noir/hard-boiled-monday-returns/feed</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> <item> <title>Strange Juxtapositions</title> <link>http://www.howardandrewjones.com/reviews/strange-juxtapositions</link> <comments>http://www.howardandrewjones.com/reviews/strange-juxtapositions#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Howard]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Tue, 31 May 2016 14:41:43 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Hardboiled & Noir]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Hardboiled Monday]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.howardandrewjones.com/?p=5525</guid> <description><![CDATA[Upon reflection I find that I’ve been poised between the old and the new a lot in the last few days. For instance, while a passenger on the way to the Tennessee Renaissance Festival, I was reading Nicholas Nickleby. Immediately after finishing Nicholas Nickleby I started reading some hard boiled detective short stories from several […]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/nickleby.jpeg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-5529" src="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/nickleby.jpeg" alt="nickleby" width="267" height="189" /></a>Upon reflection I find that I’ve been poised between the old and the new a lot in the last few days. For instance, while a passenger on the way to the Tennessee Renaissance Festival, I was reading <em>Nicholas</em> <em>Nickleby</em>. Immediately after finishing <em>Nicholas</em> <em>Nickleby</em> I started reading some hard boiled detective short stories from several omnibuses I’ve acquired.</p> <p>And, of course, I just finished the rough draft of one novel and am getting ready to start work on the slightly less new one I finished a draft of a few months back.</p> <p>Maybe I could find this kind of old and new parallel every week if I tried, but it struck me as curious. I mean, I guess any Dickens is pretty old, but not as old as the Reniassance, and that the short stories I was reading were at least 50 years old, but not as old as <em>Nicholas Nickelby</em>, so maybe the problem is I’m reading nothing new.</p> <p><span id="more-5525"></span><a href="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/girls-number.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-full wp-image-3248" src="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/girls-number.jpg" alt="girls number" width="188" height="268" /></a>Or maybe there isn’t a problem at all. Most curious, of course, was the pronounced difference in style between <em>Nicholas Nickleby</em> and the hardboiled stuff I tore through over the long weekend. That was deliberate. I love me some Dickens, but those novels are weighty and wandering, two qualities that hardboiled fiction studiously avoids</p> <p>Much like the last 1/4 of <em>David Copperfield</em>, the last 1/4 of <em>Nicholas Nickelby</em> wasn’t as entertaining as what had come before. It took its time wrapping up, which could be wearying. I also tired of the helpless, rather characterless women — Dicken’s ideal mate for hearth and home, apparently.</p> <p>On the other hand, there are numerous strengths, first among them being Dickens’ great gift for language and satire, and eye for comedy, and his ability to depict the highs and lows of humanity with great accuracy. <em>Copperfield</em> definitely is a better book, being deeper, but I found myself less annoyed with the final quarter of <em>Nickelby</em> than I was the final quarter of <em>Copperfield</em>, with its great reliance upon the irritating Uriah Heep and the wearying Macawber. I’ve read some who say that the female characters in <em>Great Expectations</em> and <em>Our Mutual Friend</em> have a lot more depth, so I’ll try one or both of them next. Just not right away.</p> <p><a href="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/taste-of-ashes.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-2508" src="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/taste-of-ashes.jpg" alt="taste of ashes" width="180" height="280" /></a>As to that hard boiled fiction, man, reading some of that after Dickens is like taking a punch to the gut. My favorites were Leigh Brackett’s “So Pale, So Cold, So Fair,” Howard Browne’s “So Dark for April,” and Talmage Powell’s “Her Dagger Before Me.” I always love Brackett, but I liked Browne’s short story better than hers, which put me in mind of the <a href="http://www.haffnerpress.com/book/halo-for-hire-the-paul-pine-mysteries/">Browne omnibus</a> I pre-ordered from Haffner press some year and a half ago. Every few weeks I check to see if it’s been released yet, but it still hasn’t, alas. I know that the cover artist died and that another has been hired, which I sympathize about.</p> <p>But I do look forward to reading more of Browne’s mystery work, because I’ve been extremely impressed by him so far, as Chris <a href="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/hardboiled-noir/hardboiled-monday-howard-browne">Hocking and I discussed</a> a while back.</p> <p>Talmage Powell doesn’t have a collection so far as I know, either in print or conception, and it’s a shame. I hope to cover him in depth when Hocking and I return to talking about Hardboiled Monday writers, because he was among my favorites. “Her Dagger Before Me” had the same background setting as his wonderful novels about Tampa private eye Ed Rivers, and in some ways felt like a dry run at the character and setting from those books, the first three of which I particularly recommend: <em>The Killer is Mine</em>, <em>The Girl’s Number Doesn’t Answer</em>, and <em>With a Madman Behind Me</em>.</p> <p>Hocking’s a fan of the unsung private eye, and I look forward to having him tell you someday in our hardboiled reviews about just why you ought to read him.</p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://www.howardandrewjones.com/reviews/strange-juxtapositions/feed</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> <item> <title>Hard Boiled Monday: You Play the Black and the Red Comes Up</title> <link>http://www.howardandrewjones.com/hardboiled-noir/hard-boiled-monday-you-play-the-black-and-the-red-comes-up</link> <comments>http://www.howardandrewjones.com/hardboiled-noir/hard-boiled-monday-you-play-the-black-and-the-red-comes-up#comments</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Howard]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Tue, 03 Mar 2015 01:51:09 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Hardboiled & Noir]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Hardboiled Monday]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.howardandrewjones.com/?p=3573</guid> <description><![CDATA[As with preceding Hardboiled Mondays, Chris Hocking and I are working our way down the master list in alphabetical order. Details and the list are here. And earlier discussions are here. Today Chris and I are looking at a remarkable novel by Richard Hallas writing under the pseudonym Eric Knight titled You Play the Black & the Red […]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><span style="color: #666666;"><a href="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/red-and-black.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-3574" src="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/red-and-black-203x300.jpg" alt="red and black" width="203" height="300" srcset="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/red-and-black-203x300.jpg 203w, http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/red-and-black.jpg 234w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 203px) 100vw, 203px" /></a>As with preceding Hardboiled Mondays, Chris Hocking and I are working our way down the master list in alphabetical order. </span><a style="font-style: inherit; color: #000000;" href="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/reviews/hardboiled-and-noir-list">Details and the list are here</a><span style="color: #666666;">. And earlier discussions </span><a style="font-style: inherit; color: #000000;" href="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/category/hardboiled-noir/hardboiled-monday">are here</a><span style="color: #666666;">.</span></p> <p>Today Chris and I are looking at a remarkable novel by Richard Hallas writing under the pseudonym Eric Knight titled <em>You Play the Black & the Red Comes Up</em>.</p> <p><span id="more-3573"></span><a href="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/red-and-black-2.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-3576" src="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/red-and-black-2-188x300.jpg" alt="red and black 2" width="188" height="300" srcset="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/red-and-black-2-188x300.jpg 188w, http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/red-and-black-2.jpg 360w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 188px) 100vw, 188px" /></a><strong>Chris</strong>: Repeated readings have deepened the often conflicting impressions this novel makes upon me. It was written under the Hallas pseudonym by Eric Knight, an Englishman who would pen the romantic bestseller, <span style="text-decoration: underline;">This Above All</span> and the kid’s classic <span style="text-decoration: underline;">Lassie Come Home</span> before dying in a plane crash over Surinam during the Second World War.</p> <p>The book was apparently a minor bestseller in 1938, though after its initial hardcover appearance it had to wait until the 1950s to appear in paperback as a neat little Dell mapback. Then it waited thirty-odd more years for the noble, lamented Black Lizard Press to bring it briefly back into print. I’m pleased to say that it’s available today from Pharos Editions with an introduction by, of all people, Matt Groening.</p> <p><a href="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/red-and-black-3.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-3577" src="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/red-and-black-3-199x300.jpg" alt="red and black 3" width="199" height="300" srcset="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/red-and-black-3-199x300.jpg 199w, http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/red-and-black-3.jpg 243w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 199px) 100vw, 199px" /></a>It’s tough to make a solid evaluation of this book. It’s something of a pastiche of the American hardboiled novel of the ’20s and ’30s. It’s part James M. Cain, part Ernest Hemingway, part pulp crime novel, at times self-mocking farce and at others surreally sincere.</p> <p>Hallas mocks some of the characters he depicts, making them shallow, goofy, drunken, and self-absorbed. At times he seems to mock the terse, blunt prose style he affects. Sometimes this is funny, and sometimes it isn’t.</p> <p>This unevenness of tone may have been more or less apparent when the book was new, but I think the novel’s highlights, its virtues, must have been as obvious then as they are now.</p> <p>There is murder, duplicity and a searing look at Hollywood featuring what is probably the first mad movie director in fiction. There’s a frame and a trial and a sense of justice twisted beyond any recognition.</p> <p><a href="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/red-and-black-4.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-full wp-image-3578" src="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/red-and-black-4.jpg" alt="red and black 4" width="168" height="244" /></a>And then there’s the narrator, a tough, forthright young man whose essential simple-mindedness imposes no limit on the depth of his feelings, or on his need to understand. The bluntness of his style is at times played for laughs, but there are plenty of instances where his words have a compelling honesty and even a rough beauty. The dialogue is excellent and used to lift a number of scenes to heights beyond what most anyone would expect of the novel.</p> <p>There is a sequence in which the narrator is playfully urged by his lover to explain how he feels about her, to compare his love to other things he values. His determinedly relentless catalog of the things his love is like is both humorous and wrenching. Anyone who has ever groped for words when they were needed most will understand. There are a number of scenes which display the narrator’s emotions in a powerful, subdued fashion, the voice of one who speaks little, and has small faith in words.</p> <p>The conclusion is surreal , enigmatic, moving, and has generated some debate down the years. I’ll say no more about it except that it haunts me.</p> <p>It occurs to me that I’ve read this book at least four times and that I’ve picked it up to find and re-read specific scenes more times than I can tell. This is one of the very few books that I return to over and over, especially when life becomes difficult. I’m not entirely sure why, but I am sure that I would not be without it.</p> <p><strong>Howard</strong>: Chris describes the novel’s strengths, weaknesses, and overall tone so eloquently that there’s very little for me to add.</p> <p>This was a beautiful and moving book. If it didn’t touch me nearly as deeply as it has Chris, that’s probably because I’ve discovered while reading the entries on this list that I prefer hardboiled stories to noir. This novel is Bleak (note the capital) and powerful and haunting, but I’m not sure it’s one I’m eager to revisit.</p> <p>On the other hand, I’m keeping my copy of <em>You Play the Black and the Red Comes Up</em>, which is certainly a mark of respect. I don’t bother holding on to books I don’t plan to re-read any more.</p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://www.howardandrewjones.com/hardboiled-noir/hard-boiled-monday-you-play-the-black-and-the-red-comes-up/feed</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>4</slash:comments> </item> <item> <title>Hardboiled Monday: Mike Dime and Stickman</title> <link>http://www.howardandrewjones.com/uncategorized/hardboiled-monday-mike-dime-and-stickman</link> <comments>http://www.howardandrewjones.com/uncategorized/hardboiled-monday-mike-dime-and-stickman#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Howard]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Mon, 15 Dec 2014 12:58:20 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Hardboiled & Noir]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Hardboiled Monday]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.howardandrewjones.com/?p=3440</guid> <description><![CDATA[As with preceding Hardboiled Mondays, Chris Hocking and I are working our way down the master list in alphabetical order. Details and the list are here. And earlier discussions are here. Today Chris and I are looking at two excellent, little-known, and hard-to-find private eye novels by Barry Fantoni, Mike Dime and Stickman. Chris: Barry Fantoni worked on […]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><span style="color: #666666;"><a href="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/mike-dime.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-3450" src="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/mike-dime-186x300.jpg" alt="mike dime" width="186" height="300" srcset="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/mike-dime-186x300.jpg 186w, http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/mike-dime.jpg 295w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 186px) 100vw, 186px" /></a>As with preceding Hardboiled Mondays, Chris Hocking and I are working our way down the master list in alphabetical order. </span><a style="font-style: inherit; color: #000000;" href="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/reviews/hardboiled-and-noir-list">Details and the list are here</a><span style="color: #666666;">. And earlier discussions </span><a style="font-style: inherit; color: #000000;" href="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/category/hardboiled-noir/hardboiled-monday">are here</a><span style="color: #666666;">.</span></p> <p>Today Chris and I are looking at two excellent, little-known, and hard-to-find private eye novels by Barry Fantoni, <em>Mike Dime</em> and <em>Stickman</em>.<span id="more-3440"></span></p> <p><strong>Chris</strong>: Barry Fantoni worked on the British satire magazine <em>Private Eye</em> from 1963 to 2010. I understand that in addition to being an author, he’s both a poet and a jazz musician. Stateside the guy seems to be little known, but he’s the author of two memorable detective novels that are purest Chandler homage. These two books, <em>Mike Dime</em> and <em>Stickman</em>, were last produced by the UK publisher Sphere back in 1982, and are rarely seen in the USA. I blundered into <em>Mike Dime</em> in a closet-sized used bookstore in Nice, and found (triumphantly) its even rarer sequel <em>Stickman</em>, in a mystery bookshop in Toronto.</p> <p><a href="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/stickman.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-3451" src="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/stickman-225x300.jpg" alt="stickman" width="225" height="300" srcset="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/stickman-225x300.jpg 225w, http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/stickman.jpg 260w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px" /></a>The point is that there are probably a lot of American mystery readers, detective fiction fans, and admirers of Chandleresque writing who have never heard of Fantoni and his creation. And that is just wrong.</p> <p><strong>Howard</strong>: These two are a skilled and loving tribute to the private eye genre, and bring Philadelphia in the post-war years to life as successfully as Chandler presented southern California. You get the sense that you’re moving through a real time and place, which is the more impressive because Fantoni was writing historical fiction rather than contemporary drama.</p> <p>They’re clearly inspired by Chandler, but Mike Dime doesn’t feel like a Marlowe clone and Fantoni doesn’t quite pull off a pitch-perfect Chandler Sytle wise, like Paul Pine. I think that’s intentional.</p> <p><strong>Chris</strong>: With an easy verve for the amusing Chandler-inspired turn of phrase, Fantoni’s books walk a line that veers close to parody. There’s plenty of wise commentary…</p> <p><strong><span style="color: #008000;">Then Uglo did something with his mouth that looked like a smile. But I wouldn’t have known about that. It wasn’t something I had seen a policeman do before.</span></strong></p> <p>And broad similes…</p> <p><strong><span style="color: #008000;">He was no taller than the Empire State and no wider than the Grand Canyon.</span></strong></p> <p>This wry tone is so steady that it’s a bit of a shock that not only does it not grow tiresome, it actually provides consistent amusement. Fantoni exaggerates the Chandler style, but does so with skill.</p> <p>While his style and intent is in no way similar to that of Norbert Davis, Fantoni has in common with Davis the ability to switch gears from light and bantering to dead serious and frightening at the drop of a fedora.</p> <div id="attachment_3452" style="width: 160px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/fantoni.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3452" class="wp-image-3452 size-thumbnail" src="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/fantoni-150x150.jpg" alt="fantoni" width="150" height="150" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-3452" class="wp-caption-text">Writer, artist, and editor Barry Fantoni.</p></div> <p>At times the jaunty tone of the narrative falters and the melancholy side of the hardboiled detective genre gleams through with rare poignancy. The detective tries to do right, find the truth, right the wrongs, and when he finally does these things his reward is often no reward at all. He learns things he wishes he never knew, and sees his success eclipsed by both the damage it leaves in its wake and by the greater, unassailable wrongs in the world at large. There is a scene in <em>Stickman</em> which captures this chill melancholy as well as anything I’ve read in the genre. A scene of sorrow so honest, yet so unrecognized, that it comes across as darkly comic.</p> <p>There are some genre-standard thugs, and at least one show-stopping, old-school, no-apologies femme fatale who seems to have escaped from a Mickey Spillane novel, but these familiar elements don’t detract from the enjoyment derived from reading what is basically a heartfelt, skillfully wrought love letter to Raymond Chandler and the fictional detectives he inspired.</p> <p><strong>Howard</strong>: I liked them quite a lot, and I fully plan to re-read them. They were well structured and they transported me into another time and place. The mysteries were top notch — suspenseful, with good twists and turns. I couldn’t see where they were going but it all made sense when the ends came around. Stylistically <em>Stickman</em> is probably just a little stronger. I remember enjoying them equally well, but moments from the first one stick out more clearly for some reason.</p> <p>In any case, I thoroughly endorse tracking these down. I’m sort of surprised that Fantoni didn’t write any more of them, but he seems to have been busy in other fields, and it may be that the work didn’t receive the appreciation it deserved.</p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://www.howardandrewjones.com/uncategorized/hardboiled-monday-mike-dime-and-stickman/feed</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> <item> <title>Hardboiled Monday: The Mouse in the Mountain</title> <link>http://www.howardandrewjones.com/hardboiled-noir/hardboiled-monday-the-mouse-in-the-mountain</link> <comments>http://www.howardandrewjones.com/hardboiled-noir/hardboiled-monday-the-mouse-in-the-mountain#comments</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Howard]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Mon, 01 Dec 2014 13:13:18 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Hardboiled & Noir]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Hardboiled Monday]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.howardandrewjones.com/?p=3410</guid> <description><![CDATA[As with preceding Hardboiled Mondays, Chris Hocking and I are working our way down the master list in alphabetical order. Details and the list are here. And earlier discussions are here. Today we’re looking at Norbert Davis’ The Mouse in the Mountain. Chris: Davis is widely regarded as one of the few authors able to mix straightforward humor […]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><span style="color: #666666;">As with preceding Hardboiled Mondays, Chris Hocking and I are working our way down the master list in alphabetical order. </span><a style="font-style: inherit; color: #000000;" href="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/reviews/hardboiled-and-noir-list">Details and the list are here</a><span style="color: #666666;">. And earlier discussions </span><a style="font-style: inherit; color: #000000;" href="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/category/hardboiled-noir/hardboiled-monday">are here</a><span style="color: #666666;">.</span></p> <p>Today we’re looking at Norbert Davis’ <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Mouse-Mountain-Norbert-Davis-ebook/dp/B004GKM1KM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1417403478&sr=8-1&keywords=mouse+in+the+mountain"><em>The Mouse in the Mountain</em></a>.<span id="more-3410"></span></p> <p><strong><a href="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/mouse-in-the-mountain.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-3418" src="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/mouse-in-the-mountain-198x300.jpg" alt="mouse in the mountain" width="198" height="300" srcset="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/mouse-in-the-mountain-198x300.jpg 198w, http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/mouse-in-the-mountain.jpg 229w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 198px) 100vw, 198px" /></a>Chris</strong>: Davis is widely regarded as one of the few authors able to mix straightforward humor into hardboiled fiction.</p> <p>With a style that was sharp, lucid and wry, Davis could draw surprisingly effective humor from relaying a realistic conversation or describing a simple situation. The oddities and simple difficulties of human communication seem to have fascinated him.</p> <p>Here’s an exchange from his short story, “Something for the Sweeper.”</p> <p><strong><span style="color: #008000;">“Hi,” said Jones, stopping and standing on his left foot.</span></strong></p> <p><strong><span style="color: #008000;"> The man made another dab with his broom, inspected the result, and then looked up at Jones. He was an old man, small and shrunken and wiry, with white, smooth hair that was combed straight back from his softly plastic face. He nodded silently at Jones, solemn and wordless.</span></strong></p> <p><strong><span style="color: #008000;"> “Hendrick Boone live here?” Jones asked.</span></strong></p> <p><strong><span style="color: #008000;"> The old man sniffed and rubbed his nose. “Who?”</span></strong></p> <p><strong><span style="color: #008000;">“Hendrick Boone.”</span></strong></p> <p><strong><span style="color: #008000;">The old man considered for a moment. “Live where?”</span></strong></p> <p><strong><span style="color: #008000;">“Here,” said Jones.</span></strong></p> <p><strong><span style="color: #008000;">“Yes, “ said the old man.</span></strong></p> <p><strong><span style="color: #008000;">Jones stared at him sourly. “Thanks a lot,” he said at last.</span></strong></p> <p><a href="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Davis-Sally.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-full wp-image-3419" src="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Davis-Sally.jpg" alt="Davis-Sally" width="164" height="242" /></a>So you have this calm transcription of a realistic, yet pretty silly, conversation, and a page or two later you get sharply described danger and violence, with sentences like…</p> <p><strong><span style="color: #008000;">The knife was a flat hissing glitter coming at Jones. </span></strong></p> <p>You have to wonder how the author was able to balance these polarities as well as he did. He does an especially fine job of this in his novel, <em>The Mouse in the Mountain</em>.</p> <p><strong>Howard</strong>: Possibly because of the abrupt shift in tone between this and other entries on the list I didn’t take to this book as quickly as I had some of the others. I was amused by the dry, understated wit in the dialogue of the opening scenes, but it took me two tries to really get involved. It proved entertaining, with a good mystery and engaging characters. I wasn’t compelled to immediately seek out the further adventures of Doan and Carstairs, although I was sufficiently impressed with author Davis to pick up a collection of his short stories about the detective Max Latin. I may eventually try out <em>Sally in the Alley</em>, and I can see myself re-reading sections of <em>Mouse</em>, if not the entire book.</p> <p><strong>Chris</strong>: In this novel Doan, a physically unimpressive detective, travels to Mexico with his dog, a very physically impressive Great Dane named Carstairs. There is a hunt for a fugitive from the USA, a Mexican bandit, three murders and a memorably described earthquake. The overall effect is a pleasingly breezy, fast-paced read broken by swift jolts of suspense and danger that somehow seem all the more intense against the light background.</p> <p><strong>Howard</strong>: I’d completely forgotten about the earthquake, a fine example of Davis bringing a moment to life with incredibly precise prose. You’re absolutely right in your description of the overall effect — not every hardboiled detective needs to read like an homage to Hammett or Chandler. Davis succeeds very well in carving a place for himself. His delivery is droll and sometimes made me smile, but I think what I liked about him best were the succinct flourishes he used to describe a moment or a person or an action sequence.</p> <p><a href="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/max-latin.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-3420" src="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/max-latin-199x300.jpg" alt="max latin" width="199" height="300" srcset="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/max-latin-199x300.jpg 199w, http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/max-latin.jpg 230w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 199px) 100vw, 199px" /></a>I enjoyed him, and I think with further study I can learn from him. My guess is that I’ll enjoy his shorter stories so I can take the comedy in smaller doses.</p> <p><strong>Chris</strong>: I put Norbert Davis on the list because I thought his work showed how the world of classic hardboiled fiction was more diverse than might be expected, because I thought it was a great deal of fun, and because I don’t believe there is another author in any genre quite like him.</p> <p><strong>Howard</strong>: Humor’s a tricky thing and it may be that I’m a hard man to please. I recall that when my friends were laughing roundly and passing around <em>A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy</em> I found it occasionally amusing, not hilarious. Your own mileage may vary with <em>The Mouse in the Mountain, </em>but Chris is right in that Davis can infuse noir with humor, certainly no easy trick.</p> <p><strong>Chris</strong>: I’m compelled to offer an odd aside. When I worked in a big bookstore in a college town philosophy students came in now and again looking for books by Norbert Davis, all of which were out of print at the time. It turns out that philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein was a fan of Davis and especially of <em>The Mouse in the Mountain</em>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://www.howardandrewjones.com/hardboiled-noir/hardboiled-monday-the-mouse-in-the-mountain/feed</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>2</slash:comments> </item> <item> <title>Hardboiled Monday: The Last Good Kiss</title> <link>http://www.howardandrewjones.com/hardboiled-noir/hardboiled-monday-the-last-good-kiss</link> <comments>http://www.howardandrewjones.com/hardboiled-noir/hardboiled-monday-the-last-good-kiss#comments</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Howard]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Mon, 17 Nov 2014 15:30:17 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Hardboiled & Noir]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Hardboiled Monday]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.howardandrewjones.com/?p=3378</guid> <description><![CDATA[As with preceding Hardboiled Mondays, Chris Hocking and I are working our way down the master list in alphabetical order. Details and the list are here. And earlier discussions are here. Today we’re looking at James Crumley’s The Last Good Kiss. Chris: Back when I worked in a bookstore James Crumley was hard to shelve. The author’s first […]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/last-good-kiss.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-3388" src="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/last-good-kiss.jpg" alt="last good kiss" width="180" height="280" /></a><span style="color: #666666;">As with preceding Hardboiled Mondays, Chris Hocking and I are working our way down the master list in alphabetical order. </span><a style="font-style: inherit; color: #000000;" href="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/reviews/hardboiled-and-noir-list">Details and the list are here</a><span style="color: #666666;">. And earlier discussions </span><a style="font-style: inherit; color: #000000;" href="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/category/hardboiled-noir/hardboiled-monday">are here</a><span style="color: #666666;">.</span></p> <p>Today we’re looking at James Crumley’s <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Last-Good-Kiss-James-Crumley/dp/0394759893/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1416236881&sr=1-1&keywords=the+last+good+kiss"><em>The Last Good Kiss</em></a>.</p> <p><span id="more-3378"></span></p> <p><strong>Chris</strong>: Back when I worked in a bookstore James Crumley was hard to shelve. The author’s first book, <em>One to Count Cadence</em>, came out in 1969 and was a critically acclaimed novel about US servicemen in Vietnam and the Philippines. At that time it was a Vintage Contemporary paperback and shared that influential line of modern fiction’s packaging and cover design with, for example, Jay McInerney’s <em>Bright Lights, Big City</em> and Cormac McCarthy’s <em>Suttree</em>. Had to shelve those, and <em>One to Count Cadence</em>, in Fiction, but Crumley’s other work, <em>The Wrong Case</em>, <em>The Last Good Kiss</em> and others, were pretty clearly Mystery.</p> <p><a href="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/last-good-kiss-2.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-3390" src="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/last-good-kiss-2-184x300.jpg" alt="last good kiss 2" width="184" height="300" srcset="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/last-good-kiss-2-184x300.jpg 184w, http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/last-good-kiss-2-628x1024.jpg 628w, http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/last-good-kiss-2.jpg 663w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 184px) 100vw, 184px" /></a>In a big bookstore you have to try to shelve books where a customer will think to look for them, so we split Crumley’s work between Fiction and Mystery, having copies in both places whenever we had enough books.</p> <p>These days <em>The Last Good Kiss</em> is packaged as nothing but a mystery, and it fits the genre as well as a you could ask. It has the classic hardboiled sense of characters trying to find the truth, trying to determine the right thing to do and then do it, but this is made even more challenging than usual by a fog of Vietnam era disillusion and a desperate dependence on alcohol.</p> <p><strong>Howard:</strong> It’s appropriate you should mention alcohol, because I think it turns up more here than in any other book on the list except Latimer’s <em>The Lady in the Morgue</em> (or in some Hammet, who may not have been aware that liquor’s prevalence <em>had</em> a statement)<em>. </em>Most of Crumley’s characters are constantly drinking, are preparing a drink, or on their way to get a drink. Their dependance upon alcohol is just one of the most obvious symptoms of their underlying issues.</p> <p>I’ve been wondering what I’d say about this one for a long time. It’s hauntingly beautiful. It’s darkly tragic, seeded with moments of comedy. I’m not sure I’m yet willing to call it a masterpiece — if it lingers in my memory (in a good way — not in a “<em>Batman Forever</em> was so bad I can never erase certain moments” way) over the next few years perhaps then I will go that far.</p> <p>That said, I do not feel compelled to re-read the book, as I do with key works of both Chandler and Richard Stark. I’m not entirely sure why except that its darkness is deeply affecting, and knowing now how the mystery all comes out it would be all the more painful than experiencing it as the story unfolded. Maybe I’m still too much of a softie for real noir.</p> <p><strong>Chris</strong>: I was going to suggest that Crumley’s fine prose combine with his often intoxicated characters to create a sense of Raymond Chandler filtered through Hunter Thompson, but poking around on the web I see that combination has been used to describe Crumley’s work more than once. I don’t want to make too much of that rather flip assessment, but there is something to it. Here is beautifully polished, melancholy prose depicting the world as seen by characters intent on distorting their apprehension of it, with little thought of their health, their future, or any of the many problems such a lifestyle engenders.</p> <p><a href="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/last-good-kiss3.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft wp-image-3391 size-medium" src="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/last-good-kiss3-193x300.jpg" alt="last-good-kiss3" width="193" height="300" srcset="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/last-good-kiss3-193x300.jpg 193w, http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/last-good-kiss3.jpg 306w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 193px) 100vw, 193px" /></a>C.W. Sughrue, the hard-drinking thirty-something vet narrator of <em>The Last Good Kiss</em>, takes a job chasing an author on a prolonged binge and finds himself hired to find a girl missing for ten years. This seemingly impossible task grows steadily more alluring the longer Sughrue works at it. The more he learns about her, and the almost pathological effect she’s had on most everyone she spent time with, the more he wants to know, until he is as obsessed with his version of her memory as those he finds who actually knew her.</p> <p>It is in the creation of this lost woman and those who remember her that <em>The Last Good Kiss</em> reaches greatness. Lost individuals, lost love and haunted pasts are common in hardboiled fiction, but these elements attain a strange depth and luster here. Betty Sue Flowers, gone missing in ’60s Haight-Ashbury a decade past, can be seen as something of a human mirror. Everyone Sughrue meets wanted her love, but also something more that differs from person to person. Those who come to know her are drawn by her beauty, her skill, her strange charisma, and in her they seem to see what they want most, their best potential fulfilled. When she is gone she leaves behind a sense of dreams betrayed. This is not her fault, and a terrible burden to bear.</p> <p><strong>Howard</strong>: That’s beautifully said. I don’t know that I can add much to that, Chris, except that part of the tragedy is that no one really knows Betty Sue for who she really is, even if they think they do.</p> <p><strong>Chris</strong>: There are several passages in <em>The Last Good Kiss</em> good enough that you might get that rare urge to read them aloud to a friend, even if you have to call that friend long distance to do it. Although very much a novel of detection, with clues, a mystery, and a final harrowing twist, the book is more concerned with character, and its failure, than anything else. It’s a strange, beautiful, and quite uncomfortable novel.</p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://www.howardandrewjones.com/hardboiled-noir/hardboiled-monday-the-last-good-kiss/feed</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>3</slash:comments> </item> <item> <title>Hardboiled Monday: Quarry</title> <link>http://www.howardandrewjones.com/hardboiled-noir/hardboiled-monday-quarry</link> <comments>http://www.howardandrewjones.com/hardboiled-noir/hardboiled-monday-quarry#comments</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Howard]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Mon, 03 Nov 2014 14:36:56 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Hardboiled & Noir]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Hardboiled Monday]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.howardandrewjones.com/?p=3340</guid> <description><![CDATA[As with preceding Hardboiled Mondays, Chris Hocking and I are working our way down the master list in alphabetical order. Details and the list are here. And earlier discussions are here. Today we’re looking at one of the book series by famed mystery and suspense writer Max Allan Collins, Quarry. Chris: Although Collins once wrote me that the […]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p style="color: #666666;"><a href="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/quarry.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-3344" src="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/quarry-202x300.jpg" alt="quarry" width="202" height="300" srcset="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/quarry-202x300.jpg 202w, http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/quarry.jpg 250w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 202px) 100vw, 202px" /></a>As with preceding Hardboiled Mondays, Chris Hocking and I are working our way down the master list in alphabetical order. <a style="font-style: inherit; color: #000000;" href="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/reviews/hardboiled-and-noir-list">Details and the list are here</a>. And earlier discussions <a style="font-style: inherit; color: #000000;" href="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/category/hardboiled-noir/hardboiled-monday">are here</a>.</p> <p style="color: #666666;">Today we’re looking at one of the book series by famed mystery and suspense writer <a href="http://www.maxallancollins.com/blog/">Max Allan Collins</a>, <a href="http://www.thrillingdetective.com/quarry.html">Quarry</a>.<span id="more-3340"></span></p> <p><strong>Chris:</strong> Although Collins once wrote me that the Nate Heller series was his most significant work, I still prefer Quarry. The early novels about this dark protagonist translated the day-to-day reality of the 1970s into lucid, matter-of-fact prose in the same fashion that Gold Medal Originals often did for the 1950s.</p> <p><a href="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/quarrys-choice.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-3345" src="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/quarrys-choice-300x300.jpg" alt="quarry's choice" width="300" height="300" srcset="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/quarrys-choice.jpg 300w, http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/quarrys-choice-150x150.jpg 150w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></a>More to the point, Quarry is a top drawer anti-hero, a remorseless hitman who often finds himself pitting his lethal skills against characters more reprehensible, if ultimately not quite as dangerous, as he is. Leavened with plentiful black humor, casual sexuality, and sharp blasts of abrupt violence, these novels read with great speed and often feature endings with an extra wicked twist.</p> <p>I confess a peculiar fondness for stories in which the protagonist is a dangerous, scurvy bastard pitted against characters who are even worse. Maybe it’s because my Dad took me to see <em>Fistful of Dollars</em> when I was seven. In any case I was pleased when Collins began producing new Quarry novels in 2006 (the first four appeared in 1976 and ’77). The eleventh Quarry novel, <em>Quarry’s Choice</em>, is set to appear in January, 2015, from Hard Case Crime. I predict that I will buy it (as usual), vow to save and savor it (as usual) then read it as quickly as possible at the very first opportunity (as usual).</p> <p style="color: #666666;"><strong><a href="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/quarrys-cut.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-3346" src="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/quarrys-cut.jpg" alt="quarry's cut" width="184" height="273" /></a>Howard</strong>: Technically my interest in Quarry pre-dates the creation of the list. Like the Westlake/Stark Parker books, if I wasn’t already reading them, Chris would have slipped them into the master list because they’re top notch. They’re actually the second set of hardboiled books I read. I’d finally gotten around to trying the Parker series, devouring it while I was laid up after a knee surgery, and I called Hocking to ask if there was anything with the same tone and of similar quality.</p> <p style="color: #666666;">“Well,” he said, “there is one thing that’s like it in a way…” He was right. When I first started reading Collins <a href="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/writing/more-on-noir">I wrote</a> that he was: “impressing me more and more, sort of the way Donald Westlake/Richard Stark did, in that the more I read of his work the more I come to appreciate how finely tuned the engines are in what seem, upon first glance, pretty simple vehicles. They’re not really simple at all, no more than a still life by a master painter is simply a snapshot of a bowl of fruit.”</p> <p style="color: #666666;"><a href="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/quarrs-ex.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-3347" src="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/quarrs-ex-187x300.jpg" alt="quarr's ex" width="187" height="300" srcset="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/quarrs-ex-187x300.jpg 187w, http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/quarrs-ex-639x1024.jpg 639w, http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/quarrs-ex.jpg 700w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 187px) 100vw, 187px" /></a>The overt sexuality and the first person narration — which allows you a good look into the mind of Collins’ protagonist — makes Quarry novels different from the Parker books, as does Quarry’s profession, but the skillful variation on the theme and the capable, compelling way that Collins interests you in what happens to a character you probably shouldn’t be rooting for has a lot in common with what Stark did with Parker.</p> <p style="color: #666666;">Odd as it may seem, despite the fact that Quarry is a hired killer you find yourself liking the guy. He tips well and sympathizes for the plight of the working man. He likes good genre books (like Leonard’s <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Valdez-Is-Coming-A-Novel/dp/0062227858"><em>Valdez is Coming</em></a>). In a lot of ways he’s an opened-minded guy and is quite relatable. Except for, you know, brutally eliminating humans without remorse. He questions sometimes, sure, but he feels no remorse.</p> <p><strong>Chris</strong>: It did occur to me that some readers might find the Quarry novels were not to their taste. Their unreconstructed, old school manly narrator may rub some the wrong way, as might the relaxed 1970s style sexuality, or Quarry’s equally matter-of-fact willingness to kill people.</p> <p>The books first made their appearance in the era of “Men’s Action Adventure” novels, and sat on shelves not far from The Executioner, The Death Merchant and umpteen other lethal, masculine heroes. But while Quarry may share some of the basic attributes of these characters, his adventures bring something more to the reader, something richer and somewhat paradoxical.The best Quarry novels have a powerful noir surge.</p> <p><a href="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/quarrys-list.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-3348" src="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/quarrys-list-202x300.jpg" alt="quarry's list" width="202" height="300" srcset="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/quarrys-list-202x300.jpg 202w, http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/quarrys-list-692x1024.jpg 692w, http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/quarrys-list.jpg 1014w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 202px) 100vw, 202px" /></a>The second book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Quarrys-List-Max-Allan-Collins-ebook/dp/B0065QWFTC/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1415017622&sr=1-1&keywords=quarry%27s+list"><em>Quarry’s List</em></a>, may not be the finest in the series, but it ends with a dizzyingly dark twist in which the narrator performs what I can only describe as a cruelly violent act of mercy and kindness.</p> <p>Given this noir element it’s striking that the books consistently feature a steady stream of black humor. Sometimes the humor is understated, sometimes in-your-face, but it gives the series a wry, self-aware sensibility.</p> <p>This combination of grim noir and black humor suffuses fast-moving plots awash with violent action, sex, mystery, intrigue, and double-dealing, creating some pretty distinctive entertainment. Not for everybody, sure. But I’ll take all Collins will write.</p> <p><strong>Howard</strong>: I’m right there with you, and I’ll definitely be trying out some of his other work now as well. You mentioned earlier that the Quarry novels read with great speed and I have to concur. Collins has the ability to relentlessly pull you forward. I’ve read every one of these and I’m still trying to figure out exactly how he does it… Once you start they’re nearly impossible to put down.</p> <p>In any case, for all of the reasons Chris and I cited above, I’m awarding Quarry a star, just as I’ve awarded my very favorite books/authors/series from the list. If you like this kind of noir, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=quarry+max+allan+collins">Quarry</a> is a must-read.</p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://www.howardandrewjones.com/hardboiled-noir/hardboiled-monday-quarry/feed</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>3</slash:comments> </item> <item> <title>Hardboiled Monday: Raymond Chandler</title> <link>http://www.howardandrewjones.com/hardboiled-noir/hardboiled-monday-raymond-chandler</link> <comments>http://www.howardandrewjones.com/hardboiled-noir/hardboiled-monday-raymond-chandler#comments</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Howard]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Mon, 27 Oct 2014 13:10:35 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Hardboiled & Noir]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Hardboiled Monday]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.howardandrewjones.com/?p=3296</guid> <description><![CDATA[As with preceding Hardboiled Mondays, Chris Hocking and I are working our way down the master list in alphabetical order. Details and the list are here. And earlier discussions are here. Today we’re looking at the works of one of the great masters of the genre, Raymond Chandler.   After having read every single Chandler novel — and […]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/farewell.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-3299" src="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/farewell-194x300.jpg" alt="farewell" width="194" height="300" srcset="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/farewell-194x300.jpg 194w, http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/farewell.jpg 324w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 194px) 100vw, 194px" /></a>As with preceding Hardboiled Mondays, Chris Hocking and I are working our way down the master list in alphabetical order. <a href="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/reviews/hardboiled-and-noir-list">Details and the list are here</a>. And earlier discussions <a href="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/category/hardboiled-noir/hardboiled-monday">are here</a>.</p> <p>Today we’re looking at the works of one of the great masters of the genre, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Raymond-Chandler/e/B000AQ4ZNW/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1414161297&sr=8-2-ent">Raymond Chandler</a>.</p> <p> </p> <p><span id="more-3296"></span><a href="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/chandlerearly.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-3300" src="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/chandlerearly-190x300.jpg" alt="chandlerearly" width="174" height="275" srcset="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/chandlerearly-190x300.jpg 190w, http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/chandlerearly.jpg 220w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 174px) 100vw, 174px" /></a>After having read every single Chandler novel — and I did spread them out so I could savor them — I understand why so many have declared him a master writer. It’s not just the cleverness and the quips and the wonderful metaphors, it’s the sense of place and the pace and the world-weary hero and, in most of them at least, the mystery itself. I have a handful of his short stories left to read, and I’ll be doing so slowly.</p> <p>Chandler’s another author to whom I awarded a star. I know I’ll be re-reading a number of these books, probably more than once. I believe my favorite is the second, <em>Farewell, My Lovely</em>, but I think that <em>The High Window</em> and <em>The Lady in the Lake</em> aren’t too far behind it. I suppose I’d then rank his first, <em>The Big Sleep</em>, then <em>The Long Goodbye</em>, <em>The Little Sister</em>, and <em>Playback</em>. I didn’t find <em>Playback</em> as much of a letdown as I’d been led to believe, although it’s not a highlight. On the other hand, I wasn’t completely blown away by <em>The Long Goodbye</em>, either, which probably means I’ll be tarred and feathered because it’s supposed to be transcendent. <em>Little Sister</em> may actually be my least favorite because the end gets pretty convoluted.</p> <p><a href="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/chandler.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-3302" src="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/chandler.jpg" alt="chandler" width="190" height="235" /></a>I think in the later books Chandler grew less focused on the plot (and he sometimes tended to be a little loose on plot in any case — note the famous “who really killed the chauffeur” question from <em>The Big Sleep)</em> and more melancholy and, let us be fair, self-indulgent. He was going through some rough times, so it’s to be expected, but I’m not sure it makes for great reading. Perhaps all that turmoil in his life and melancholy in his prose means that <em>The Long Goodbye</em> is great literature, or perhaps some people thought so because Chandler directly deals with complaints about American society. Perhaps, though, readers just weren’t paying attention, because Chandler seems to be making social commentary during his mystery adventure stories from the very beginning. It’s not really as though any of these novels are superficial, although you CAN just read them as mysteries if you want.</p> <p><strong><a href="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Highwin.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-3304" src="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Highwin-198x300.jpg" alt="Highwin" width="198" height="300" srcset="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Highwin-198x300.jpg 198w, http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Highwin.jpg 200w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 198px) 100vw, 198px" /></a>Chris</strong>: Enough has been written about Chandler that I don’t feel I can add anything worthy of note. I do notice that, as is the case with Hammett (and especially <em>The Maltese Falcon</em>) Chandler’s work has become so blurred into modern entertainment, so thoroughly disseminated, absorbed and reproduced, so often imitated, parodied, and pastiched in everything from fiction to film to TV to comics to cartoons to commercials, that it has become strangely easy for modern readers to discount it. Chandler’s simile-laced style and his view of the detective as tarnished knight errant have so completely infiltrated every corner of pop culture that it seems many simply take the original work for granted.</p> <p>So many others are standing on his shoulders that you can lose sight of the guy. Reading the original stuff will fix that. Even those who have read and appreciate the novels may find that the fresh intensity of Chandler’s short stories will sharpen their appreciation anew.</p> <p><strong><a href="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/ladyinlake.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-3306" src="http://www.howardandrewjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/ladyinlake.jpg" alt="ladyinlake" width="181" height="278" /></a>Howard</strong>: You’re absolutely right about Chandler. He’s been so often discussed and parodied that one wonders what to say that’s new. Certainly I have nothing more to say, critique wise.</p> <p>But I WILL say I didn’t realize how much of an influence he had over Roger Zelazny’s <em>The Chronicles of Amber</em>, my favorite series growing up. Zelazny’s narrator, Corwin, is pretty Marlowe-esque, and there’s even a scene in <em>Farewell, My Lovely</em> that feels to me like if must have inspired the opening of the first book of the chronicles, <em>Nine Princes in Amber.</em></p> <p>I suppose the most important thing I can say is that this writer should be <em>read</em>. A lot of times when a writer creates a classic (or classic<em>s</em>, in Chandler’s case) it turns out the book is a slog (and usually means, as my kids say, that it has to be 50 years old and somebody dies at the end). But Chandler’s best work is truly astounding. You can read the books just as adventures/mysteries as you want, but they’re loaded with wonderful prose and observations upon the nature of humanity. I can’t believe I hadn’t read him until now, and I sternly urge other doubtful types to jump in with both feet and pick up these books. The short stories, as Chris says, are just as fine.</p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://www.howardandrewjones.com/hardboiled-noir/hardboiled-monday-raymond-chandler/feed</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>8</slash:comments> </item> </channel> </rss>