Gary asked Doug:
<<
Is this the Puma Gault wrote about in SHAKEDOWN as
Roney Scott, or the later
version that appeared in the novel under his own
name?
>>
The Joe Puma in the Manhunt magazine stories is the same PI
featured in the late 50s and early 60s novels such as THE
HUNDRED-DOLLAR GIRL, SWEET WILD WENCH and NIGHT LADY. I
checked my memory with a dip into "The Unholy Three" in the
May 1956 Manhunt issue. Interestingly enough, the story opens
with a kid coming into Puma's office wanting to hire him.
This is the same concept he later used in the Brock (The
Rock) Callahan novel COUNTY KILL (1962).
The Puma short story opens: "I was trying to figure how to
pay seven hundred and forty dollars worth of bills with three
hundred and twelve dollars I had in the bank when he walked
into the office. It was almost dinner time and I was
hungry."
The Callahan novel opens: "It was a HOT October afternoon
when the kid walked into my office. I had finished a case
that morning and had seventeen hundred dollars in the
bank."
Although the Puma stories and novels never received the
attention of the Callahan novels, I enjoy them more and these
passages illustrate a key reason. Joe Puma was always
scrambling to make a living. Hungry. Callahan had a bit of
that feel in the very first novels but he moved from LA,
married, and finally, inherited a pile of money and the
character and the stories lost a lot of edge.
I really look forward to the new collection and let me add my
congratulations to Doug for all that he is doing.
Richard Moore
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