I recently read the Hard Case reissue of NIGHT WALKER, by
Donald Hamilton. A little stunner of a book, it manages to
play new notes on the old "two men exchange places" set up.
It's hard to talk about the book without giving away its
surprises, but I was very impressed with the directions
Hamilton took the plot, as well as the characterizations.
(One of the nominally "bad" characters is a lot more
sympathetic than one of the nominally "good" ones, for
instance.) Hamilton was a tremendously sophisticated writer
in a lot of ways; there's a lot going on under the surface
here. Suffers a bit from a formulaic ending, but still, check
it out.
I've also liked Willeford's WILD WIVES (PI on the road to
ruin goes to hell quickly; pretty formulaic but Willeford's
bland sociopaths remain fascinating) and Lawrence Sanders's
THE FIRST DEADLY SIN (not really hb, more a standard police
procedural entry swelled up to bestseller size.
Intermittantly successful, but when it's on it's terrific: I
wonder if Thomas Harris knew this book before writing RED
DRAGON.)
doug
--- Paul Farrell <
pmf_nz@yahoo.co.nz> wrote:
> The Hard Case Crime books aren't easily available
in
> stores here in New
> Zealand, aside from Lawrence Block's GRIFTER'S
GAME
> and the Stephen
> King book, both of which are stocked at
Borders,
> where they're
> obviously only going for the most famous authors
in
> the series.
>
> Just recently, though, two of the other books
have
> shown up at an indie
> bookstore, so I picked them up:
>
> Peter Pavia - DUTCH UNCLE. A decent
Florida-set
> story with obvious
> influence from Elmore Leonard. A guy who's been
out
> of prison for only
> a few days gets a job as a drug courier, and
comes
> across a dead body
> his first night on the job. He has to go on the
run
> to avoid the cops
> and fellow criminals. I could see a series
coming
> out of this one,
> focused on the cop characters.
>
> Max Phillips - FADE TO BLONDE. If the
publication
> date didn't say
> 2004, I'd swear this was from the late
50s/early
> 60s. The rescue
> operation at the whorehouse is a
particular
> highlight, and even though
> I guessed the general direction the ending
was
> heading for, there was
> still a surprise left. On the strength of
this
> book, I've got
> Phillips' previous novel, THE ARTIST'S WIFE,
from
> the library.
>
> Paul
>
>
>
>
> Send instant messages to your online
friends
> http://au.messenger.yahoo.com
>
Doug Bassett
dj_bassett@yahoo.com
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