I finished reading Peter Rabe's THE BOX, the Stark House
edition packaged with JOURNEY INTO TERROR. The nutshell plot
concerns Quinn, a sharpie New York City lawyer, shipped out
by the Mob in a wooden crate round-trip to teach Quinn a
lession. Quinn is busted out of the crate in the North
African town of Okar, still alive but a bit unglued. After
surveying the town's operations, he tries to muscle in on the
local smuggling business. One of the striking qualities about
Rabe is his original "voice", and I'd vote "thumbs up" on it.
The harsh, claustrophobic setting helps to develp the "box"
metaphor in the story. Helpful essays by Ed Gorman, Bill
Crider, Donald Westlake, and George Tuttle offer perspective
on the author and his work, including the Gold Medal canon.
Like Charles Williams and John D. MacDonald, Rabe's fiction
tells a good story but in a fresh, accessible way.
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