I think the Brit noir discussion is current - at any rate,
I've just read GBH by Ted Lewis. I've read GET CARTER(aka
JACK'S RETURN HOME) previously & I like it almost as much
as the great movie version with Michael Caine. JACK CARTER'S
LAW was fairly disposable although it had some minor interest
as a prequel to GET CARTER. GBH is a return to form, IMO. The
style is more literary than GET CARTER which,IIRC, was
written in a more no frills, hb (in a UK stylee) language.
Story wise, it's very similar territory to the earlier
novels. It also reminded me of one or two Peter Rabe novels
such as KILL THE BOSS GOODBY that deal with the emotional
& psychic disintegration of modern businessmen/gangsters
during the downward trajectory of their careers - although
more brutal than anything you could get away with publishing
at Gold Medal in the 1950's. I found it a little slow going
at first but by the time I'd finished it I was engrossed. I
liked this one a lot - not as much, perhaps as the best Rabe
novels, but more so than Rabe's AGREEMENT TO KILL, which
isn't a bad one but not top-drawer Rabe, IMO. Anyone out
there able to comment on some of Ted Lewis' other criminous
fiction such as JACK CARTER & THE MAFIA PIGEON?
Rene
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