Re Bill's comments below:
"Helm is tough, there's no denying that, and he cracks wise
and is
good with banter. He's also popular with the ladies and
manages to
always meeet attractive ones. These alone don't make a
story
hardboiled."
Actually, I think those alone *are* what makes a book
hardboiled. A
hardboiled suspense novel is a suspense novel with a tough,
colloquial
attitude. The Helm books have that. Ergo, they are
hardboiled.
Moreover, the Helm books, to indirectly quote Anthony
Boucher, are
written in a tight style reminiscent of Hammett. It could be
said
that Helm is to counter-intelligence what the Op is to PI
work. The
Helm books also tend to feature corrupt backgrounds and a
protagonist
who has to overcome his cynicism to get the job done, but
that's
incidental. If a character is tough and colloquial, he (or
she) is
hard-boiled. Period. - Jim Doherty
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