Just a few thoughts (scrambled as usual)
There was also a good piece on Dennis in Mystery Scene a few
years back.
I think it was reprinted in The Fine Art of Murder.
In a sort of casual way, I've been looking for these books
for years,
without much luck. Same goes for Texas Wind, and a handful of
others.
Wouldn't it be great if you could download books that are out
of print
or really hard to find? I know I could go to P.I.E.S. or some
of the
other net stores and probably track 'em down, but wouldn't it
be great
to know you could hear about a book, and look it up, pay your
dough
(say, no more than a current paperback) and download a text
or maybe an
Acrobat file. Just a thought.
Oh, and I think Dick Francis can be pretty hardboiled. I
always thought
Whip Hand was one of the nastier books I've read, and many of
his
"heroes" aren't particularly likable. Interesting, yeah, but
likable?
They're some pretty cold guys, usually rather detached, and
more than
often a bit twisted.
Actually, I often find that some Brits have a better
understanding of
hardboiled stuff than some so-called tough guy American
writers. They
tend not to get as bogged down in cute characters. Must be
the weather.
In fact, it's a wonder that Chandler, Macdonald, et al. could
make sunny
California so bleak. (Then again, Chandler thought he was a
Brit, and
Macdonald was at least half-Canadian).
Kevin Smith
P.S. What are we reading?
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