2013 -- The Year In Reading

2013 marked my reentry to consistent blogging, and it was also my most productive year as a reader in the past five or six.  To date I have finished 53 books (and I will probably finish another 2 or 3); the majority were novels, but the total includes a tolerable number of nonfiction works, too.  The nonfiction tended towards history, which included a number of interesting titles including Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer and Manhunt by Peter Maas.

The year also marked a return to a genre I enjoyed (loved?) as a boy—adventure.  Specifically the British writers of the 1960s and 70s featuring such stars as Alistair MacLean, Desmond Bagley, and Jack Higgins.  This said, I didn’t read many “new” authors, but mostly stayed with the old reliables.  In fact, I only increased my fiction writers read by five—Craig Thomas (Wolfsbane), Alfred Coppel (The Eight Day of the Week), Shepard Rifkin (The Murderer Vine), A. Bertram Chandler (Star Courier), and Billie Sue Mosiman (Wireman).

What I lacked in new writers I made up for in my long time favorites.  A full fifteen of the novels I read, or approximately 28 percent of my total reading, was limited to four writers.  I read or reread six titles by Jack Higgins, and three titles each by Jack M. Bickham, Ed Gorman, and Bill Pronzini.  And I really enjoyed every one of the novels by each of my most frequently read writers of 2013.

In the old days of this blog I put together a listing of my favorite five books read for the year, and I decided it would be fun to do it again this year.  It was difficult to pare the list to five, and there were three or four that were cut from the list by a less than scientific methods.  With that said, my five favorite novels read in 2013 are—

5.  The Name of the Game is Death by Dan J. Marlowe.  This is the first title to feature Marlowe’s recurring character Earl Drake, and it is a real piece of hardboiled candy.  It was originally published by Gold Medal in 1962, and earlier this year it was released with its sister novel The Endless Hour in a nifty trade paperback by the never disappointing Stark House Press.  Read the Gravetapping review.

4.  Dark Passage by David Goodis.  This is Goodis’ most well-known novel.  It is dark, a little twisted, and a bunch of fun.  It was originally published in 1946, and it has been reissued a number of times. It is currently available in an omnibus hardcover edition by The Library of America, which includes four other Goodis titles.  Interestingly, the plot is similar to the television show “The Fugitive” and United Artists Television settled a copyright lawsuit with Goodis’ estate.

3.  The Beardless Warriors by Richard Matheson.  I was reading this title for the first time when Richard Matheson passed earlier this year, and it is a truly masterful piece of storytelling.  It is the story of a young man ordered to the frontlines as a replacement soldier during the Battle of the Bulge in Europe.  He is transformed from a green recruit to a seasoned combat soldier in a matter of days, and what frightens him and the reader alike is how easily he takes to killing.  This is a masterpiece by one of the most consequential authors of his generation.

2.  Fire in the Hole by Elmore Leonard.  This is a collection of short stories written by Mr Leonard.  The title is from the story the television series “Justified” is based, and amazingly the pilot for the television series and the story are almost identical.  I devoured this collection in little more than one sitting, and as I read it my main thought—nobody writes like Elmore Leonard. 

1.  The Murderer Vine by Shepard Rifkin.  When I sat down to compile the best of list there was no doubt what the number one would be.  It is a perfectly executed crime novel, and an even better piece of civil rights literature.  Read the Gravetapping review.

"The Plunge" by David Goodis

I recently read Dark Passage by David Goodis and really enjoyed it.  It is a novel where everything works.  It is plot controlled, but the characters are given just enough room to be interesting, and the atmosphere vibrates between something close to despair and almost, but not quite, hope.  When I finished I had the sharp desire to flip back to page one and start again.  Instead I dug out a David Goodis’ short story I read a few years ago titled “The Plunge” and reread it.  It was better this time than the last, and rather than satisfy my urge to reread Dark Passage, it made the itch more demanding.   

The following review originally appeared in 2009, and be warned it is a spoiler.

David Goodis is a writer that every hardboiled reader should know.  His work is dark—about as dark as you will ever read—heavy and literate.  It is often difficult to differentiate between the good and the bad, and the tales are drenched with a self-loathing that gives the stories a deep and sinister glimpse into the darkness of the human condition.

His short story “The Plunge” is one of his best, and a perfect example of what Goodis did well—create men who are, for the most part, good and then twist their world just enough to push them out of bounds into waiting darkness.

Roy Childers is a clean cop in a corrupt department.  He has risen through the ranks quickly; he is a homicide lieutenant with a bright future.  He has four children and another on the way.  His wife loves him and he seemingly loves his wife, but that isn’t enough for Roy.  He doesn’t consciously understand that he wants more, but he does.

His world begins its slow descent when a warehouse is taken down for $15,000.  The robber killed one security guard and blinded the other. It is a trademark Dice Nolan score.  Dice is a man whom Childers has a special connection; they grew up on the same street and Roy has put him behind bars more than once.  Now Childers wants to take Nolan down one last time, but he isn’t ready for what happens.  Nolan has something Roy wants and it will be his undoing.

“The Plunge” is a brutal story.  It chronicles the unwinding of a man.  A man who seemingly has everything.  A man who is better than his end.  And a man who should know better. It is literate and the prose is pitch-perfect:

“Seven out of ten are slobs; he was thinking.  There was no malice or disdain in the thought.  It was more a mixture of pity and regret.  And that made it somewhat sickening, for he was referring specifically to the other men who wore badges, he fellow-policemen.  More specifically he was thinking of the nine plainclothesmen attached to the Vice Squad.  Only yesterday they’d been caught with their palms out, hauled in before the Commissioner, and called all sorts of names before they were suspended.”

The story opens in normal enough fashion.  The protagonist is a cop who wants to find a murderer.  There is even something special and personal about this particular criminal, but Mr Goodis takes the premise and smudges it with his own recipe.  He marks it with weakness and greed.  He takes a good and strong man and chops him down with life, fear, and hunger.

The best part is, he does it all without ever losing his grip on the story or its impact on the reader.  He makes it interesting and entertaining from beginning to end.  He builds a path into darkness and then shows the reader the way out—a cleansing, but a rather messy and permanent one.

“The Plunge” originally appeared in Mike Shayne’s Mystery Magazine October 1958. I read it in A Century of Noir edited by Mickey Spillane and Max Allan Collins.

"The Plunge" by David Goodis

Spoiler Alert. This review is basically one big spoiler, so read with care.

David Goodis is a writer that every hardboiled reader should know. His work is dark—about as dark as you will ever read—heavy and literate. It is often difficult to differentiate between the good and the bad, and the tales are drenched with a self-loathing that gives the stories a deep and sinister glimpse into the darkness of the human condition.

His short story “The Plunge” is one of his best, and a perfect example of what Goodis did well—create men who are, for the most part, good and then twist their world just enough to push them out of bounds into waiting darkness.

Roy Childers is a clean cop in a corrupt department. He has risen through the ranks quickly; he is a homicide lieutenant with a bright future. He has four children and another on the way. His wife loves him and he seemingly loves his wife, but that isn’t enough for Roy. He doesn’t consciously understand that he wants more, but he does.

His world begins its slow descent when a warehouse is taken down for $15,000. The robber killed one security guard and blinded the other. It is a trademark Dice Nolan score. Dice is a man whom Childers has a special connection; they grew up on the same street and Roy has put him behind bars more than once. Now Childers wants to take Nolan down one last time, but he isn’t ready for what happens. Nolan has something Roy wants and it will be his undoing.

“The Plunge” is a brutal story. It chronicles the unwinding of a man. A man who seemingly has everything. A man who is better than his end. And a man who should know better. It is literate and the prose is pitch-perfect:

“Seven out of ten are slobs; he was thinking. There was no malice or disdain in the thought. It was more a mixture of pity and regret. And that made it somewhat sickening, for he was referring specifically to the other men who wore badges, he fellow-policemen. More specifically he was thinking of the nine plainclothesmen attached to the Vice Squad. Only yesterday they’d been caught with their palms out, hauled in before the Commissioner, and called all sorts of names before they were suspended.”

The story opens in normal enough fashion. The protagonist is a cop who wants to find a murderer. There is even something special and personal about this particular criminal, but Mr Goodis takes the premise and smudges it with his own recipe. He marks it with weakness and greed. He takes a good and strong man and chops him down with life, fear, and hunger.

The best part is, he does it all without ever losing his grip on the story or its impact on the reader. He makes it interesting and entertaining from beginning to end. He builds a path into darkness and then shows the reader the way out—a cleansing, but a rather messy and permanent one.

“The Plunge” originally appeared in Mike Shayne’s Mystery Magazine October 1958. I read it in A Century of Noir edited by Mickey Spillane and Max Allan Collins.

A David Goodis Review

Anyone who reads noir knows the name David Goodis. His work has been in and out of print so often it isn't difficult to find, but somehow the man remains elusive. His story is one of tragedy--much like the sad, seedy novels he wrote for the paperback houses in the 1940s, 50s and 60s. He died at the age of 49 after a long, quiet career as a paperback writer, in the same home he was raised in Philadelphia. To many he remains a master of the noir novel, but to read him is to see the world as something less than gritty, not to mention mean, nasty and very unfair. Maybe they are just the way Goodis viewed the world.

There is a terrific review of Goodis's novel Black Friday on Pulp Pages. It was written by G.L. Hauptfleisch, and it quotes Ed Gorman:

“'David Goodis didn’t write novels, he wrote suicide notes,' mystery writer Ed Gorman once wrote. 'He was a sad, suffering guy and he was able to get that sadness and suffering down on paper.'"

That pretty much sums up Goodis, and his writing. He is a little dark for me, but if you can get past the desperation, the poverty and the ills he portrays he was a pretty damn literate and entertaining writer.

Go Here to read the article/review.

New Hard Case Crime Artwork--The Wounded and the Slain

New today! I just received an email from the fine people at Hard Case--Charles Ardai to be exact, or maybe his secretary. Who knows? They have just released the cover art (see right) for their upcoming David Goodis novel, The Wounded and the Slain. This title won't be on bookshelves until May, 2007, but it definitely is something to look forward to.

The next title coming from Hard Case Crime, the first week of September, is Pete Hamill's The Guns of Heaven. I thought this baby was an original HCC title, but alas, no. It was originally published some twenty years ago and HCC is bringing it back into print.

I love Hard Case Crime. The idea, the books, and the covers, but I have been disappointed with a few of the reprint titles--the Donald Hamilton title, the David Dodge title, and a few others. It's not that I didn't like them, but rather they didn't speak to me. My reaction was, "Hmm...well, at least I can add it to my books-read list." Not a great recommendation.

On the other hand I have absolutely loved all of their original novels--especially Kiss Her Goodbye by Allan Guthrie, and The Confession by Domenic Stansberry. They are of my generation, and they say something that I am waiting to hear--I empathize with the characters more, enjoy the excitement more, and just basically like them better--on the whole--than the reprints. So, needless to say, I am disappointed that The Guns of Heaven is a reprint.

If you are out there Charles Ardai, acquire more original novels--maybe a Bill Pronzini title, an Ed Gorman, another Stansberry, or Guthrie. Anything new. Please. I'll buy it, I promise.