Created by Robert J. Randisi
(1951 –)
Manhattan-based former boxer and current private eye MILES “KID” JACOBY appears in a series of novels that begin right from his first stumbling steps as a P.I., when — possibly still a little punch drunk — he obtains his license in Eye in the Ring (1982).
Numerous cameos and references to other private eyes abound in the series, reflecting Miles’ creator’s passion for the genre. A life-long fan of the genre, Robert J. Randisi fills the series with sly winks, tips of the hat and guest appearances by other eyes. In The Steinway Collection, for example, Jacoby runs into Michael Collins’ Dan Fortune in Bogie’s Restaurant, a local hangout for P.I.s (and their creators, at the time) and asks him for some advice; later he calls Bill Pronzini’s Nameless (referring to him by his nickname “Wolf,” as in “Lone Wolf”) for some info on pulp magazines, and later in the same novel, Jacoby gets some help appraising a pulp magazine collection from a gentleman named Stuart Kaminsky, creator of the Toby Peters series.
Although he’s probably better known for the 642 million westerns he’s written under various pseudonyms (including the long-running Gunsmith series, as J.R. Roberts), Randisi is, of course, the founder of The Private Eye Writers of America, and is also responsible for Brooklyn-based P.I. Nick Delvecchio, New York Racing Commission investigator Henry Po and most recently, the popular Rat Pack series featuring Vegas floor boss and casino troubleshooter Eddie G. They’re all equally good, and equally recommended.
SHORT STORIES
- “The Steinway Collection” (1977, Mystery Monthly; 1999, Pure Pulp)
NOVELS
- Eye in the Ring (1982) |Â Buy this book |Â Kindle it!
- The Steinway Collection (1983; aka “Beaten to a Pulp”) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
- Full Contact (1984) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
- Separate Cases (1990) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
- Hard Look (1993) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
- Stand Up (1994) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
