In my earlier post on the Cleve F.Adams' novels published as
by John Spain, I said there were two. Actually, there were
three under that name: DIG ME A GRAVE (1942), DEATH IS LIKE
THAT (1943), and THE EVIL STAR (1944). I forgot about Evil
Star which I have a digest reprint of but so far it remains
unread.
Adams seemed to delight in creating lead characters who were
knuckle-dragging A-holes with limited intelligence. For
example, in the novel he wrote with Robert Leslie Bellem
under the name Franklin Charles (THE VICE CZAR MURDERS,
Wilfred Funk 1941) the lead character is a detective named
Rock. Halfway through the novel, Rock is trying to make sense
of what had happened thus far.
"Rock dodged the blank wall at the end of this train of
thought and tackled something else." After getting slugged
for the umpteenth time: "...he was more or less greateful to
the guy for kicking him on the chin. He didn't think the top
of his head could have stood any more."
There usually are just enough of these to keep me bemused as
I follow the dunderhead detective to the conclusion. One last
quote from VICE CZAR (some of which may belong to Bellam): "I
know which ball comes after the seven," Rock said. "Even
looking at it from behind."
On my to read stack(s) is the final Rex McBride novel SHADY
LADY published by Ace in 1955 (six years after Adams' death.
Francis M. Nevins said it was
"his last and best novel...rich in character sketches and
powerfully understated scenes which suggest that, had he
lived longer, he might have grown into a writer rivaling
Chandler."
I don't know that I agree with that last speculation because
Adams' heroes were (to use Mike Nevins' words) "...a royal
ass and a cosmic oaf. In Adams's cynical world there is no
hero, and the detective is as rotten as everyone else, just
tougher and luckier."
McBride is an interesting counterpoint to the Chandler knight
going out into the mean streets but there are limits to how
much time I want to spend in the company of a fascist, racist
and in all ways brutal character capable of saying "An
American Gestapo is goddam well what we need."
Richard Moore
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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