I'm still stuck in the '40s. Madman on a Drum is an obscure
book by N. R. De Mexico, published as a paperback original by
Cavalcade in 1944. Anthony Boucher gave it a rave review in
his column (reprinted in The Boucher Chronicles II), and now
Ramble House (publisher of the aforementioned Boucher book)
has reprinted Madman. It's the best Woolrich pastiche you're
likely to find outside George Hopley and William Irish. Larry
Graham suddenly finds himself in a nightmare world where his
apartment is no longer his, his job is gone, his girlfriend
has been murdered. From there on, things just get worse.
Everything happens in about 24 hours, so the pace is furious.
Now and then de Mexico tries to drag in the reader by
narrating passages in second person. It even sort of works.
As far as I know, nobody knows whether de Mexico (also the
author of the highly collectible Marijuana Girl) isa real
name or a pen name. If it's a pen name, two people (including
Larry Shaw) have been suggested as possibilities.
Bill Crider
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