Joy writes:
<<
I was reminded of an exciting adventure book I thought
was by Frank Gruber
that took place in South America and concerned llamas.
"The Red
<something
or other>"? So I Googled, and didn't see anything
close by the time I was
distracted by the story of his friendship with and
influence on L. Ron
Hubbard. Does this book sound familiar to anyone?
>>
I'm a big Gruber fan and have read just about everything he's
written that has appeared between hard covers. Don't recall
any "The Red ..." or any books dealing with llamas. I may
have missed one of his later novels. Those were his adventure
tales, usually involving spies. They're not nearly as
entertaining as his earlier series books. Of those the Simon
Lash series definitely qualify as hard-boiled.
<<In my surfing, I came across a lot of his used books
and bought French Key.>>
"The French Key" is one of his best, IMO, the first of the
Johnny Fletcher-Sam Cragg novels. They're sort of noir lite.
Fletcher and Cragg are con men who think of themselves as
book salesmen. They set up on street corners. Cragg, a
muscle-bound type, strips to the waist and wraps a chain
around his chest. Fletcher, the smooth talker, does the
pitch, selling the self-help book, "Every Man A Samson." When
a crowd gathers, Cragg expands his chest, pops the chains and
Fletcher peddles the books. The gimmick is that, in each
adventure, they wind up entering another "world."
Horse-racing, cockfighting, comic-strip artistry, coin
collecting, Vegas gambling, the recording industry. Gruber
evidently researched each background carefully. He also
seemed to have a slightly larcenous mindset or he'd known
quite a few con men, because the stunts Fletcher pulls are
pretty impressive.
Dick Lochte
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