M-T (matrxtech@sprintmail.com)
Mon, 28 Jun 1999 12:31:39 -0500
_Twelve Tales of Suspense and the Supernatural_ by Davis
Grubb (author ot _The Night of the Hunter_). A superb
collection (1965, Fawcett Crest d814, 40 cents) of truly
weird tales. Grubb was a wonderful writer. The story
_Moonshine_ is a hardboiled and horrifying gem.
_Always Leave'em Dying_, a bizarre novel by Richard Prather,
featuring Shell Scott. This time he's up against a California
cult and its crazy and crooked leader. At some point, Prather
has to tie up and resolve the story, and he does it with
superior disregard for credibility - and with hilarious
results. This hardboiled novel is much better than I
remembered it. Particularly striking is its running topic of
abortion, unusual in a 1954 work supposedly aimed at the
mainstream male reader. For the curious, Shell Scott speaks
explicitly and stronly in favor legalizing abortion.
_Blind Man's Bluff_ by E. Richard Johnson. This 1987 novel
(with a striking photo of Johnson on the dustjacket, in a
background that looks like a prison) is an intensely cold and
brutal procedural. This book was not well promoted and is not
well known, unfortunately. The theme is, as usual in Johnson,
the underworld viewed from the inside, with a clinical and
cynical description of the police's attempts to solve a
series of dope-related murders in an unnamed midwestern town.
This excellent book is the most recent Johnson I have. Has he
published anything since?
_Upon Some Midnights Clear_, by K.C. Constantine. Sterling
stuff, with Balzic in prime form. Some of the most
authentic-sounding dialogue in the business and the usual
compelling characters. Next, I am planning to read
Constantine's very recent novel, once again featuring
Balzic.
Regards,
mt
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