Booked (and Printed): September 2024

 

I love September. The beginning of autumn, the cooling temps, and the first rush of green leaves turning gold, copper, and crimson. A marvelous month that is second only to October in my book of favorite things. Speaking of books (which is why we’re here, right?), my September reading life ended up embarrassingly small—three books and five short stories—due, mostly, to a late month skirmish with Covid that wiped out my pleasure reading for more than a week. Quitting two novels halfway through didn’t help either, but we’ll get to those later. The month started strong with David Housewright’s tenth Rushmore McKenzie mystery, THE LAST KIND WORD (2013). I’ve said before how much I enjoy McKenzie’s adventures and The Last Kind Word is one of the best in the series so far. McKenzie reluctantly goes undercover as a professional thief in Northern Minnesota when an AK-47 that went missing during the ATF’s botched Operation Fast and Furious—a real-life ATF sting operation gone sour on the U.S.-Mexico border—shows up in an amateurish robbery in rural Minnesota.   The bungling robbers turn out to be a down-on-their-luck family. McKenzie worms his way into their circle and, while he is trying to get a line on where they purchased the AK-47, he plans a complicated heist for them. Things get sticky when McKenzie begins sympathizing with the hard luck criminals and a local gangster and a couple crooked cops arrive on the scene. The Last Kind Word has a Richard Stark vibe, great characterization, and a sizzling plot. HEMINGWAY’S NOTEBOOK, by Bill Granger (1986), is the seventh (of fourteen) November Man thrillers; it’s my favorite of the four series’ titles I’ve read, too. After faking his death years earlier, November is called back from retirement when an acquaintance from the intelligence community threatens to tell the KGB he’s still breathing—an organization that would love to change November’s status to cold and dead. So November agrees to help with a niggling little revolution on the tiny Caribbean Island of St. Michel. Of course, nothing is as it seems and November is hard-pressed to peel away the layers of deceit and stay alive at the same time. And it’s done with Granger’s usual irony and distrust of secrecy and authority. The annual short story anthology, THE BEST MYSTERY AND SUSPENSE STORIES OF THE YEAR—2024, edited by Otto Penzler and Anthony Horowitz, is something I look forward to every year. This entry is good, but below the standards I’ve come to expect since a few of the stories made me wonder why they had been selected for its august pages. The good, and even a few great tales, made me forget the mediocre stuff without incident. I’m planning a detailed review of this one later in October and so I’ll leave it at that.

While my book length reading was pathetic, the number of individual short stories I read, five all together, was pretty okay. And every one of those tales were varying shades of good. C. J. Box’s “ONE-CAR BRIDGE,” which features Wyoming Game Warden Joe Pickett, is about a greedy and flat-out mean landowner that may, or maybe won’t, get his just desserts. It was part of Box’s collection, Shots Fired (2015). “THE TWO-PERCENT SOLUTION,” by Jack Ritchie, is a silly and dishonest (read that as impossible for the reader to solve) puzzler featuring Harry Turnbuckle unmasking an arsonist and murderer. Ritchie hit every bad note he could, but somehow its conclusion still elicited a smile. It appeared in the June 1984 issue of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. Al Sarrantonio’s clever horror story, “LAST”—which was published in the anthology Shivers VI (2010)—is a hardboiled and stylish play on humanity’s longstanding fear of technology. And it, unlike Ritchie’s tale, hit every note with a maestro’s touch. “DOOM OF THE DARK DELTA,” by James Reasoner (2024), is good pulpy fun. When sailor and soldier Jorras Trevayle is washed ashore after a shipwreck, he finds an evil sorcerer, a battery of wicked soldiers, a naked woman running for her life, and a species of freakishly large snakes. And all of them are an obstacle to Trevayle’s survival. Reading “Doom of the Dark Delta”—which is the first novella in Reasoner’s new Snakehaven series—is like cracking the pages of an old Weird Tales. But its zesty spirit, cracker-jack plotting, and splendid adventure are all James Reasoner. Finally, Alan Orloff’s gritty and hardboiled flash story, “ONCE” (2024), is an irony-laced crime story with a surprise begin enough for a much longer tale. You can read “Once” here at Shotgun Honey. Now, for those two books mentioned earlier where the pages quit turning before the story did. Between you and me, both DNFs (did not finish) were likely caused by me and Covid more than to any deficiencies in the books themselves. Although read ahead and I’ll mention a few anyway. Sam Llewellyn’s RIPTIDE (1992). Llewellyn is a favorite suspense writer of mine and I’ve always enjoyed his novels set around the ocean and yachting. I’ve tried reading Riptide before and failed, so maybe it’s less Covid than…something else. The narrative is flabby and uneven, which is unusual for Llewellyn, and damned if I could get into it. Again. Maybe I’ll wait another ten years and read it with different results. The other was Phillip Thompson’s first Colt Harper novel, OUTSIDE THE LAW (2017). The hardboiled style, sweltering rural Mississippi backdrop, and gritty plot are right up my ally, but the narrative never spoke to me and seemed a little flat, for no reason I can point to, which makes me think my perception of Outside the Law was influenced more by a foggy head and a cough than any real problems with the story. Maybe I’ll try it again with fresher eyes. Fin— Now on to next month…

Booked (and Printed): July 2024

 

Booked (and Printed) July 2024 July always plays better on paper than in the real world. It is too hot, the days are too damn long, and I never get as much reading done as I would like. This July was no different than any other. I read a sparse five books—sparse because two were far short of novel length. The first of these thin interludes is DIVVY UP: SCIENCE FICTION STORIES, which is a marvelous collection of three tales—one novelette and two shorts—written by Stephen Marlowe in the 1950s. Marlowe was best known as a crime writer but he could write just about anything and he truly excelled at turning out entertaining science fiction. You can read more about Marlowe and this collection here, which I should tell you was retitled as Alternatives: Science Fiction Stories. The other shorty was the mediocre thriller COME AND GET US, by Shan Serafin, about a family being hunted in the Utah-Arizona desert. Published in 2016 as part of James Patterson’s BookShots series of novellas, which was a cool idea that never worked out in either quality or sales, Come and Get Us lacks plausibility and characterization, but the setting and action sequences are sharp enough to have kept me turning the pages. Speaking of short stories—the latest single author collection from Stark House, CREAM OF THE CROP: BEST MYSTERY & SUSPENSE STORIES OF BILL PRONZINI (2024), is as good a collection as I’ve read this year. It covers Pronzini’s entire career from the late-1960s to 2023. There are standalones, Nameless detective tales, and one entry from the historical detectives series, Quincannon & Carpenter. It is highly recommended and you can read more of my thoughts about it here. Of the five individual short stories I read, which were all enjoyable, my favorite was Ed Gorman’s “A DISGRACE TO THE BADGE”—a standalone western about an alcoholic lawman, a spoiled rich kid, and a locked-room murder—is rich with characterization and atmosphere and, best of all, it is ironic and surprising. I’m not sure when “A Disgrace to the Badge” was originally published since The Long Ride Back (2004), where I read it, had a disappointing copyright page. The two shorts I read by James Reasoner—“DOWN IN THE VALLEY” (1979), “DEATH AND THE DANCING SHADOWS” (1980)—both fit comfortably in the crime / detective field. I had read “Down in the Valley” once before and Reasoner’s ability to shift perspective from one character to another so easily, and without any confusion for the reader, is amazing. I liked “Death of the Dancing Shadows” just as well and reviewed it in detail here.

I dug both full-length novels I read in July. ROBAK’S WITCH, by Joe L. Hensley (1997)—which is my favorite read of the month—is the eleventh (of twelve) book in the Don Robak series. Robak is a rural Ohio attorney, soon to be judge, with experience working death penalty cases. When he is called in to help an old friend from law school defend a woman accused of murdering her teenage niece and nephew, Robak finds a community convinced of her guilt. A wacky fundamentalist church spreading rumors she is a witch and far too many citizens, including the County Sheriff, content with going along. You can read my review here. Then, of course, I read the next in David Housewright’s McKenzie series, CURSE OF THE JADE LILY (2012), because boy do I love these books. McKenzie is a witty, funny, and likable cuss with several million dollars in the bank and nothing to do but favors for friends. In this one, McKenzie helps a museum get a priceless artwork back after it was stolen by their security chief. The busy opening and sprawling character list mark this one down from the best in the series, but it is still good fun. The only book I started and chose not to finish was Jack Higgins’s 1992 EYE OF THE STORM, which is where Higgins’s longtime series-character Sean Dillon was introduced. The Dillon books have never been my cuppa but I have fond memories of reading Eye of the Storm back in my innocent youth. While Eye of the Storm still held some attraction for me, I simply wasn’t in the mood. Maybe I’ll try reading it again in one of the colder months when I’m not quite as grumpy. Fin— Now on to next month…

Review: “Death and the Dancing Shadows” by James Reasoner

 

“Death and the  Dancing Shadows” by James Reasoner in The Black Lizard  Anthology of Crime Fiction, 1987   “Death and the Dancing Shadows”—which was originally published in the March 1980 issue of Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine (MSMM)—is an atmospheric and clever novelette featuring West Hollywood private eye, Markham. Retired B-Western movie star, Eliot “Lucky” Tremaine, summons Markham to help him with a “delicate” matter. When Markham arrives at Lucky’s sprawling ranch house, he finds the old actor screening one of his own films. It feels like Norma Desmond drowning herself in her own past in Billy Wilder’s 1950 film, Sunset Boulevard, but (as Tremaine explains) it’s not about vanity but rather a desire to see Hollywood, and by extension the world, the way it once was: “Good, clean, excitin’ stories with a hero and without all this trashy stuff they put in today.” And for all that, Tremaine seems well adjusted, if perhaps too nostalgic for his glory days and maybe a little too keen about his sense of honor and morality, and so Markham readily agrees to help him. We’ll keep Tremaine’s problem on the QT so it will be a surprise when you read the story. What Markham’s investigation uncovers will test Tremaine’s sense of morality in a close and personal way. It will test Markham’s, too… “Death and the Dancing Shadows” is a nifty hardboiled tale with a Raymond Chandler vibe—sharp dialogue, twisty plotting, and heaps of irony—that is as easy to read as it is appealing. And the ending is pitch perfect with an almost noir reflection broken only by Markham’s stolid refusal to succumb to his baser instincts. Maybe not quite as good as Reasoner’s Cody stories, but still pretty damn good.

Go here for the Kindle version of “Death and the Dancing Shadows” at Amazon.

Five Markham stories were published between 1979 and 1982: “All the Way Home” [April 1979, MSMM) “Death and the Dancing Shadows” [March 1980, MSMM] “The Man in the Moon” [April 1980, MSMM] “The Double Edge” [Summer 1981, Skullduggery] “War Games” [April 1982, MSMM] Three, including “Death and the Dancing Shadows,” have been released in Kindle, which you can see here.

Review: "Dust Devils" by James Reasoner

 

Dust Devils
by James Reasoner
The Book Place, 2011

 

James Reasoner’s marvelous crime thriller, Dust Devils—published by Point Blank Press in 2007—received a starred review from Publishers Weekly, and the writer and critic, Ed Gorman, wrote: “Dust Devils is an exemplary modern hardboiled novel with all the merits of the post-Tarantino era but none of the flaws.” Not only does Dust Devils live up to the accolades it received upon its original publication, but it reads as well today, some sixteen years later, as it must have then.
     Toby McCoy is a young drifter looking for work in the dusty, windblown Texas panhandle. On a chance, Toby knocks on the door of a lonesome farmhouse. A woman nearly twice his age, Grace Halligan, opens the door with some suspicion, but agrees to give Toby a job. No more than two weeks later, Grace and Toby, driven by mutual loneliness, make their relationship more personal and physical. But when a pair of gunmen arrive at the farm, Grace and Toby’s secrets are dragged out from the shadows.
     Dust Devils is close to a perfect hardboiled thriller with twist after surprising twist built into the plot. And each twist hits the reader harder than the last until that final, shocking hammer blow. The characters—particularly Grace and Toby—are developed with a realistic flair. Both are likable and curiously mysterious at once. The Texas landscape is painted with a realist’s brush and it is obvious Reasoner not only knows the country where the book takes place, but loves it, too. While Dust Devils isn’t exactly noir, there is an appealing melancholy to the narrative that is as much about the sunbaked landscape as it is about the story.
     Dust Devils needs only a larger readership to claim its deserved place as a genuine hardboiled classic.

Go here for the Kindle version and here for the paperback edition at Amazon.

Review: "Texas Wind" by James Reasoner

Texas Wind
by James Reasoner
The Book Place, 2010

James Reasoner’s first novel, Texas Wind, is a great hardboiled private eye tale set in Fort Worth, Texas in the late-1970s. It was originally published by the stingy and unethical Manor Books in 1980; “stingy and unethical” because most writers had to threaten the editor’s life or hire a lawyer to get paid. The writer and critic, Ed Gorman, called Texas Wind, “one of the finest private eye novels I’ve ever read…” and its narrative simplicity, its powerful and laconic and apt social commentary, and the vividly realized North Texas setting give his statement credibility.
     Cody is an everyman. The kind of guy you see in the grocery store, at the bar, washing his car on the weekend. When the wealthy Gloria Traft approaches Cody to find her missing college age step-daughter, Mandy, Cody reluctantly agrees to take the job. His hesitance is simple: most adult runaways want to disappear, or they reappear within a few days no worse off than when they left. The clues quickly lead Cody to think Mandy fell in love and ran off with a boy, but Gloria talks him into locating Mandy to ensure she is safe. But things turn sideways when another interested player shows himself.
     Texas Wind is a marvelous slice of what life must have been like in the Texas of the 1970s. Reasoner’s simple and powerful descriptive passages breathe life into the city—Fort Camp Bowie Blvd, Trinity Park, the Amon Carter Museum of Modern Art all make appearances—and Cody’s careful observations about the people inhabiting this world, which is a proxy for our own, adds flavor and a little meaning. The story is slam-bang from the first page to the last, too. My regret for this book—and it is a significant regret—is that I waited so long to read it.

Go here for the Kindle version and here for the paperback edition at Amazon.

Bullet Reviews: A smattering of praise

You may have noticed already (or not) that I’ve been struggling with posting new reviews on the blog recently. This is due to myriad reasons, none are of interest to anyone other than me (but check out my short story review column in Mystery Scene Magazine and my new book Blaze! Red Rock Rampage). So, to keep things moving I thought I would post a few small reviews, to the point with no fluff, written for places like Amazon, Goodreads, etc. Each review runs short—anywhere from 40 to 150 words—but I hope everything needed for an appropriate review are still there.

Night Show by Richard Laymon

An early Richard Laymon novel, Night Show, has all the elements that make his work special. Likable, if poor decision making, characters, cinematic plotting, smooth prose, and a mixture of subtle humor and horror. The setting, backstage B-movie horror special effects, is a bonus, too. 

The Dead Man: Face of Evil by Lee Goldberg and William Rabkin

The first entry in The Dead Man series, Face of Evil, is entertaining, odd (in a good way) and downright fun. Matt Cahill, a normal working class guy, finds himself in a very abnormal situation. Dead, but still breathing with a nemesis called Mr. Dark. It is an enjoyable mixture of action, suspense and horror. Humor and a tongue-in-cheek quality add marvelously to this very readable story. A terrific start to the series and I very much look forward to the other books.

The Dead Man: The Blood Mesa by James Reasoner

The Blood Mesa, the fifth installment of The Dead Man series, is an entertaining, non-stop action horror novel. Matt Cahill, The Dead Man, is in the Four Corners area of New Mexico at an Archaeological dig where Mr. Dark’s intentions are plain. Everyone must die. A smooth, action-oriented horror novel, high on entertainment. A fast, enjoyable and downright fun read. It reminded me a touch of Richard Laymon’s excellent horror novels, particularly One Rainy Night. 

The Dead Man: Carnival of Death by Bill Crider

Bill Crider’s Carnival of Death, the ninth book in The Dead Man series, is as much fun as a reader can have with paper and ink. Matt Cahill, The Dead Man, is working security for a carnival when the evil entity Mr. Dark begins playing games and the carnival goers start behaving in violent and disturbing ways. And it is up to Matt and his trusty ax to save the day. A carnival setting is similar to eating cotton candy without any of the less savory side effects (headaches, toothaches, grouchiness), and this story never faltered in its delivery. Action-oriented horror with splatter, a fortune telling love interest and (did I already say this?) a terrific setting. 

Tales from the Otherverse, edited by James Reasoner

Tales from the Otherverse is an entertaining and surprising anthology of alternate history stories. Bill Crider’s story “It Doesn’t Matter Anymore” deservedly won a Sidewise Award for best alternate history short story. A world where Buddy Holly didn’t die in an Iowa plane crash and Elvis dumped Colonel Tom Parker as his manager turns out far differently than I would have suspected. “The Hero of Deadwood” by anthology editor James Reasoner is a clever retelling of Wild Bill Hickock’s story with a single moment changing the entire tale. The exchange of seats at a Deadwood poker game, keeping Hickock’s back against the wall.

There is also a fine Stan Wade story from John Hegenberger and seven other entertaining tales from excellent writers like, Scott A. Cupp, Lou Antonelli, Cheryl Pierson, Keith West, Robert E. Vardeman, Scott D. Parker, and Richard Prosch. An anthology very much worth the price of admission.

HUNT AT THE WELL OF ETERNITY by James Reasoner

In 2009 Hard Case Crime introduced an adventure series featuring explorer, millionaire, and all around good guy Gabriel Hunt. There were six novels published before HCC’s partner, Dorchester Publishing, made its slow and painful fall into oblivion in 2011. The novels were published as by Gabriel Hunt, and the actual author was identified on the title page; each novel was written by a different writer.

HCC’s new publishing partner, Titan Books, is reissuing all of the Gabriel Hunt novels starting with the first title, Hunt at the Well of Eternity. This time around the writer’s name is on the front cover (James Reasoner, in this case), but the story is all Gabriel Hunt. Hunt is something of a playboy adventurer. He is sponsored by The Hunt Foundation—a family thing—to travel around the world in search of really cool stuff (think Indiana Jones with more punch).

Hunt at the Well of Eternity opens in New York City at a gala event in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Gabriel and his brother Michael—the more scholarly and less adventurous of the two—are approached by a beautiful woman delivering a package to Michael. Before she can make the drop, she is interrupted by a group of armed men disguised as waiters. Gabriel fights off the men, but not before the package is broken and the woman is kidnapped. This is the opening salvo, which sets Hunt on a mission to find out who the woman is, and why she was kidnapped.

Hunt at the Well of Eternity is pure pulp adventure. The story is fast and exciting. The prose is simple (delightfully so) and straight forward. Hunt is a larger than life character who carries an old Colt .45 Peacemaker with walnut grips, and two fists made for thumping. The plot is linear and supercharged. There aren’t many surprises, but the action is brisk, and the story is a riot. It is pure adventure, and overwhelming fun.  

TALES FROM DEADWOOD by Mike Jameson

This is a review I originally published on Saddlebums September 14, 2007. As the title suggests it follows the exploits of the men and women who came to the legendary mining town of Deadwood. It is a terrific Western and, if you don't already know, Mike Jameson is a pseudonym of James Reasoner. Mr Reasoner is an impressive writer. His output is phenomenal and the quality of his work is always high.

The fourth in the series The Troopers is scheduled for release March 3, 2009 and if the first three are any indication it will be terrific.

Tales from Deadwood is the first in a series of three novels featuring a lavish mixture of dime-novel mythology, historical fact, plenty of action, and a whole lot of the Old West, which sums to an original and fresh novel. It chronicles the lives of several men and women who make their way to Deadwood, South Dakota in search of wealth on the newly discovered gold of the Black Hills, including all of the regular players: Wild Bill Hickok, Charley Utter, Al Swearengen, Calamity Jane; and a few new ones as well.

Dan Ryan is the central character in the story, and the novel opens with him defending a wagon train from an Indian attack. He, along with the other men in the party, repel the attack, and Dan makes a new friend in the process. He and Bellamy Bridges decide to partner up, and when they finally reach Deadwood they purchase a claim. The relationship between Dan and Bellamy—plus a few whores, a madam, a gambler, and an old general—is the main storyline, but it isn’t the only storyline.

The other plotline follows Wild Bill Hickok and his entourage as they travel from Cheyenne to Deadwood. Wild Bill doesn’t make it to Deadwood before the end of the novel, but Mr. Jameson does an admirable job of painting him as a strong, courageous, patient, and kind man who protects his friends and shows uncommon patience with his admirers.

Tales from Deadwood is not a rip-off of HBO’s Deadwood, but instead it is story that stands on its own merits—the characters are portrayed significantly different, and the storyline focuses on places and people the television series does not. It is a traditional western with enough action, lore, and suspense to please the core readership of the genre, but the characters and simple, sparse prose is done with the economy and expertise that will also appeal to nearly anyone who enjoys a well-told tale.

The Dwindling Supply of Westerns

I’ve been thinking about westerns recently. I have always read them, but until recently—the last few years—I hadn’t really given much thought to their strength in the marketplace or longevity as a viable genre. Then I noticed, belatedly, that the western section at my favorite local bookstore was shrinking, almost on a monthly basis, and the supermarkets and other non-bookstore outlets simply quit carrying western titles.

I did a little sample—very unscientific—on Amazon this morning to see how many new western titles they currently have scheduled for release in August. The total: 34. Of these 34 titles 14 of them are large print editions, 18 are mass-market paperbacks, and two are hardcover. It should be noted that the bulk of the large print editions are also in hardcover.

By my reckoning nearly all of the large print editions are reprints; the 18 mass-markets are a mixture of original and reprints—probably about 50-50. And the two hardcover editions are both reprints: Peter Dawson and Lewis B. Patten. So out of the 34 titles scheduled for sale on Amazon in August, nine or ten of them are original, and of that number probably half are from an adult western series like Longarm, The Gunsmith, The Trailsman, etc.

Which means that in August we will have a total of five or six original western novels published and available through Amazon. Wow. The western novel really is disappearing. Buy’em while you can. While I'm thinking about it, are there any viable markets--print or Internet based--that still publish western short stories?

A selection of the titles that will be available in August:

Cavalry Man: Doom Weapon by Ed Gorman, Aug. 1

Death Head Crossing by James Reasoner, Aug. 7

Remember the Alamo by William W. Johnstone, Aug. 7

The Mother Lode: A Man of Honor Novel by Gary Franklin, Aug. 7

Ralph Compton’s The Bloody Trail by Ralph Compton & Marcus Galloway, Aug. 7

The Fugitive by Max Brand, Aug. 28

Heaven is a Long Way Off: A Novel of the Mountain Men by Win Blevins, Aug. 28

Night Riders by Giff Cheshire, Aug. 28

***

A note: I'm excited by a couple of these offerings--Cavalry Man: Doom Weapon by Ed Gorman and Death Head Crossing by James Reasoner. I have never read a novel by Reasoner, although I have read several of his short stories, including a few westerns and enjoyed each of them. Especially Hacendado.