Okay, so THE NAME OF THE GAME IS DEATH is seven words. That
first chapter detailing the robbery is classic. Dan Marlowe
must have been possessed as he typed out these immortal
opening words:
"From the back seat of the Olds I could see the kid's cotton
gloves flash white on the steering wheel as he swung off Van
Buren onto Central Avenue."
In one sentence you know this is a broad daylight robbery
(the driver's wearing gloves, those gloves are "flashing
white" from the sun) and the narrator's point of view tells
you he's part of it. Masterful.
This scene reminds me very much of the daylight bank robbery
in Don Siegel's CHARLEY VARRICK. Siegel was a pulp/noir
aficionado; I suspect he had Marlowe's robbery in his head
when he shot and edited the sequence.
George Pelecanos
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