Norbert Davis: This was a fun tale, a nice change of pace.
Reminded me
slightly of a "Dan Turner, Hollywood Detective" story, except
that it
INTENDS to be funny.
John D. MacDonald: Very good. I like John D.'s Travis McGee
books, but
some are definitely better than others. He seemed to have a
good handle
on writing short stories.
Benjamin Appel: The first story I've read by this writer. A
little long,
but not bad. Felt like it was written with the movies in
mind.
Elmore Leonard: I enjoyed _Get_Shorty_, but I love his
western stuff. It
feels more convincing than most of the crime stories I've
read by him.
This tale is better than its movie version. Lots of tension
in a short
space.
Johathan Craig: Alright, but didn't set my socks on fire. Saw
the ending
coming. (I'm running out of puns.)
David Goodis: Not bad. I was actually surprised by the way
the character
handled the resolution of the former wife/former partner
situation. A
little over-written in spots.
Ross MacDonald: I like MacDonald and Archer a lot. This story
picks up
all the elements of an Archer novel in fewer pages, displays
Archer's
low-key personality and his inquisitive character, as well as
his
excellent detective skills. A nice story.
David Alexander: I'd never heard of this writer, so I
appreciated the
intro info. Not a bad story, but certainly not the best in
this
collection. These sort of sociopath stories are more common
(and
usually more cliched and boring) now than at the time this
was written,
so it seems to have some historical worth. A reasonably good
use of the
twist ending.
Mickey Spillane: I enjoyed the Mike Hammer books back when I
was in high
school. I haven't been able to read 'em since then. This
story condenses
down an entire novel plot into a few pages and successfully
shows the
weak points of the Hammer character. Might make a neat short
video,
though.
Gil Brewer: This tale is full of cliches now, though it
probably was
quite fresh for the magazine market of its time. But coming
after
Ellison's _Invisible_Man_ makes it seem merely a low-level
imitation
now.
Leigh Brackett: I think this is the first non-SF story I've
read by her.
Pretty good stuff. You can tell she had extensive
Hollywood
experience--it feels like a film treatment. That's okay,
'cause films
she scripted are among my favorite movies. You can detect
the
Chandleresque elements--particularly in the last
paragraph.
That's as far as I've gotten. I'll continue to read my way up
to the
current stories. I haven't seen a lot of comment on the
readings lately.
Is it simply because the later stories don't measure up to
the work by
Hammet and Chandler?
--Duane
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