I finished reading Peter Rabe's JOURNEY INTO TERROR (1957).
It's book 11 of the 18 he wrote from 1955 through 1960 for
Gold Medal. JOURNEY (cited in Geoffrey O'Brien's "Hardboiled
Checklist") is packaged with THE BOX in the terrific Rabe
omnibus available from Stark House Press (2003).
This classic noir pivots on John Bunting's obsession over
avenging the death of his fiancé¥ Ann Jackson killed by a stray
bullet during a robbery. Bunting, a young electrical
engineer, grows enraged, calculating, and relentless. He
finds out that Saltenberg, a local racketeer, ordered the
robbery, and Tarpin led the gang. After John meets Linda, the
widow of Saltenberg's late accountant, they learn Tarpin is
in Manitoba, Florida, (near Miami) operating a pinball
machine racket.
The narrative then shifts with their "journey" (in Linda's
car) to confront Tarpin in Florida. Rabe innovatively
contrasts the settings of wintry New York (Bunting's plan)
with sultry Florida (Bunting's execution). Bunning gets a job
assembling pinball machines for Tarpin and plots his
payback.
The edgy romance Bunting has with Linda intensifies his
ambivalence and also prevents JOURNEY from slipping into a
formulaic revenge noir. I like how the characters' dialogue
and mannerisms are sharp and true whether in a cathouse,
lunch counter, or Florida bar. Rabe, a Ph.D. in psychology,
builds plenty of introspection in the scenes, especially the
troubled Bunting and Linda trying to figure each other
out.
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