E. Richard Johnson's MONGO'S BACK IN TOWN
I believe this is one of Mario Taboda's favorites. Picked it
up for a few bucks in one of those "Bargain Book" catalogs
and yeah, it's pretty good. Hitman comes back home to settle
scores, but other people have other ideas. Notable for having
a decided lack of likable characters (there's a couple of
good guy FBI agents, but they're fairly ineffective) and for
an unrelenting, gritty atmosphere. Sort of reminds me of a
prime Seventies-era Bronson movie -- indeed, it would've been
interesting to see the DEATH WISH/MECHANIC-era Bronson tackle
this.
The plot relies on a hoary mystery cliche, but Johnson keeps
everything moving so quickly that you barely notice it. The
prose is mostly tight: Johnson only loses control in spots
where he's trying for a kind of hardboiled poetic feeling
that I don't think really works. In short, not one of my
favorites but still damn good and worth recommending.
Anyone have any opinions on Johnson's other works? And is he
still alive?
doug
===== Doug Bassett
dj_bassett@yahoo.com
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