A Review by August West Marvin H. Albert used his Nick Quarry pseudonym for all six of his Jake Barrow private eye novels. We're not breaking new ground here, but all the novels have hair-trigger action and are excellent. And No Chance in Hell, published in 1960, is one of the best from the series. It starts … Continue reading “No Chance in Hell” by Nick Quarry
Category: Review
Looking for the Connections
Reconsidering Altman's "The Long Goodbye" I think Altman's rendition of The Long Goodbye gets a bad rap. Fans of Raymond Chandler's poetic novels and Bogart's iconic portrayal find Elliot Gould as a smart-ass, sleepy "Rip Van Marlowe" too much of a change in character. Gould's Philip Marlowe is a man who fell asleep in the … Continue reading Looking for the Connections
The Adventures of Cardigan: A Review
Review by Mario Taboada "Hardesty was as dumb an egg as they come -- but boy how that baby could pitch ball. So when he tangled himself all up in a murder net it was up to that big dick from Cosmos to pick the knots. Or else - But there just wasn't any "or else". … Continue reading The Adventures of Cardigan: A Review
HBO’S Perry Mason
It's the Stubble, Stupid! After wading through the sordid wallow that was HBO’s PERRY MASON, my first urge was to dig up some of my tattered paperbacks by Erle Stanley Gardner, or stream a few episodes of the old TV show starring Raymond Burr. I might even dig up some of the flicks from the … Continue reading HBO’S Perry Mason
The Mitch Tobin Series by Tucker Coe (Donald Westlake)
An Overview by Bryan Schingle I am not a huge fan of the books of Donald E. Westlake. But I love the books written by his pseudonyms. I was already an avid fan of the extremely bleak, hard-boiled Parker books that Westlake wrote under the pen name of Richard Stark, featuring a hardened professional criminal. The characters, … Continue reading The Mitch Tobin Series by Tucker Coe (Donald Westlake)
Gates of Eden by Ethan Cohen
Review by Christopher Friesen Yes, that Ethan Coen. The not-quite-indie, not-quite- Hollywood filmmaker, who along with his brother Joel, wrote Fargo, The Big Lebowski, Blood Simple and O Brother, Where Art Thou? is the author of this collection of short stories. Part homage to a youth spent in Minneapolis and part homage to the gritty … Continue reading Gates of Eden by Ethan Cohen
Pynchon’s Private Eye Novel: “Inherent Vice”
Review by Scott Adlerberg Thomas Pynchon's fictional world teems with mysteries and quests. His first novel, V, from 1963, revolves around a man's search for an enigmatic woman or spirit named V who has appeared on different continents at critical moments in 20th Century history. In The Crying of Lot 49 (1966), California housewife Oedipa … Continue reading Pynchon’s Private Eye Novel: “Inherent Vice”
Thrilling Detective Non-Fiction (Index)
Essays, Reviews and Other Stuff TRIBUTES So Long, Jimbo: James Garner 1928-2014 by Kevin Burton Smith Remembering Rockford: James Garner 1928-2014 A Tribute by Craig McDonald Raymond Chandler Was An Asshole by Stephen Blackmoore Looking for Robert B. Parker: A Fond Farewell to the Man Who Saved P.I. Fiction by Cameron Hughes Dennis Lynds, 1924-2005 The Mystery Community … Continue reading Thrilling Detective Non-Fiction (Index)
Dane Kirby
Created by Brian Panowich "There wasn't a trail or a pig path in North Georgia he couldn't navigate with his eyes closed." -- Kirby knows his way around (Hard Cash Valley) In the third book in the Bull Mountain series, a multi-volume saga that follows the rough-edged Burroughs clan of the hill country of north … Continue reading Dane Kirby