Re: RARA-AVIS: Hitmen wanted...

Robert E. Skinner (rskinner@mail.xula.edu)
Fri, 23 Oct 1998 09:59:20 -0500 BaxDeal@aol.com wrote:
>
> >I'd like to mention the best of all American spy series, Donald
> >Hamilton's
> Matt Helm. In the fourth book in the series, *The >Removers*, Helm
> and his
> colleagues are told by their chief >that "If you worked for organized
> crime,
> you'd probably be
> >called hit men. In our organization . . . well . . . removers >might
> fit as
> well as anything."
Helm's agency went by a number of blood-thirsty nicknames. Another
being "the wrecking crew," which is my personal favorite. Another was
"mordgruppen," which is what their World War II Nazi foes called them.
Part of what made Helm and his agency so compelling was the legendary
aura that Hamilton built around them, and around Helm, himself, the best
of all of "Mac's" assassins.

I don't think it's ever been noted how much Hamilton was influenced by
Hammett. The early Helm stories, in particular, often evoke the memory
of the Continental Op stories. Helm's voice is much like the
Op's--ironic and darkly humorous--and Helm's ruthlessness is strongly
reminiscent of the Op's, particularly when violence must be done to
achieve an objective. Mac, like the Op's Old Man, is punctilious in his
speech and mild mannered, even when sending his men out on suicide
missions. The Helm stories are a real high watermark in hard-boiled
fiction of the '60s, as well as well-crafted espionage stories.

-- 
**************************************
Robert E. Skinner, Director
Xavier University of Louisiana Library
7325 Palmetto Street
New Orleans, LA 70125
(504) 483-7303 (voice)
(504) 485-7917 (FAX)
e-mail: rskinner@mail.xula.edu
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