Fear's Justice by Marc Olden

Fear's Justice by Marc Olden
Villard Books, Copyright 1996

Back in the 70s I was hooked reading those numbered men's adventure/vigilante novels. One of the best (if not THE best) was a series titled "Narc" written by a guy named Robert Hawkes. It featured an America drug agent called John Bolt and I found the writing in these books heads above the others that were being pumped out at that time. I later discovered that Robert Hawkes was a pseudo for Marc Olden, who also was penning the excellent "Black Samurai" and "The Harker File" novels. In the 80s and 90s, Olden wrote high charged thrillers, some influenced by his interest in the Asian culture and martial arts. And in 1996 he delivered a knockout with "Fear's Justice," where a chastised NYC detective goes it alone against crooked cops and dirty city politics.

Detective Feargal "Fear" Meagher is a tough fat-assed mick, who doesn't care much for most minorities on the force or anywhere else in NYC. When his girl is slaughtered and the murder is pin on a Black vagrant, he smells a cover up. Meagher starts digging into it and because it's been known that he pocketed $25,000 from a drug pusher, the higher ups try to get him to lay off. Too late though, Meagher uncovers a group of SOB rogue cops that are moonlighting as contract killers. They call themselves the "Exchange Students" and their leader is Detective Schiafino, the husband of Meagher's girlfriend. Schiafino is one bad dude and wants to see Meagher suffer, violently and slowly. Schiafino is connected and has influence with the highest city officials, which puts a mighty squeeze on Meagher's investigations.

"In the outhouse of life," he said, "Schiafino's a splinter in your ass. The man didn't tell you anything you didn't already know. And forget this crap about sending you to prison. He wants to do you himself, and we both know why."

Even pinned down, Meagher is able to get through the cracks and finds an accomplice in his world of corruption. And then later we are left wondering if that was an accomplice after all. As in most Marc Olden novels there is a showdown and what I like about this one is that it is straightforward. Meagher settles it and walks away, as a reader I savored it and left well satisfied.

This one is what I call a novel that slams into you. Fast and raw, (in language and violence) it paints a bleak picture of NYC. We go down some of the filthiest streets and meet some of the most vile people that I have come across in a crime story. The dialogue is fresh noir, superior than any that I have seen in a post-pulp era novel. This is the best book that I have read in months. I'm thrilled that I picked it up.

I have to return to more of Marc Olden's novels.

The Muleskinner by Robert MacLeod

The Muleskinner by Robert MacLeod
Fawcett R2253,
Copyright 1967

Way, way back when I was in Junior High, I remember seeing this novel in the school library on one of those rotating paperback racks. Alongside it was Pierre Boulle's "The Bridge over the River Kwai," Jack London's "Smoke Bellew," Audie Murphy's "To Hell and Back," and I recall Eric Williams' "The Wooden Horse"- all were in the form of hard cover paperbacks that school libraries stocked in those days. I read those four, but I never did get around to Robert MacLeod's "The Muleskinner." I've always enjoyed his Westerns and recently obtaining a copy of this one, I opened it up for two days and read it.

"They began to get the stench, sickly, almost tangible on the hot, still air. Up ahead, a dozen buzzards floundered into the air. A million flies were buzzing. Under the trees was a clumsy big carreta, four dead oxen and six dead Mexicans-two men, a women, a young boy, an older girl, and a naked girl child, all torn by the beaks, hideous and bloated. They had all been scalped."

Ben "Ox" Davis runs freight, and can handle mules better than any man in the Arizona territory. He's tough and gets downright brutal when he has to use his fists, but believes in living a honest life having regards for the needs and feelings of others. On one of his hauls he comes upon the aftermath of a stagecoach robbery where it seems all occupants have been shot down. But later he finds two who have survived, one being Gwen Goodfield who Ox falls hard for. At first it looks like renegade Apaches are on a murder spree, but we find out that this is the work of a gang of vicious robbers. Gwen takes up with Ox's rival, Lew Barnes. And now Lew is flashing new money around Tuscon, making town folk suspicious of Lew's nice guy nature. Things really heat up when Ox saves a Mexican kid who was raised by Apaches. The vindictive saloon crowds aren't convinced that the kid is not Apache and want his scalp. Ox has his hands full protecting the kid and making runs with his mule team, not to mention trying to convince Gwen that Lew Barnes is a bum. After Ox's swamper is killed, along with more murderous holdups, and then the kid goes missing - the root cause of all the trouble is discovered and Ox is determined to settle the score.

As always, you get a bit of western education when you read a Robert MacLeod novel. MacLeod captures the hard life of a muleskinner. The toil these men take driving mules to get their heavy loads from one location to another, the history of legally selling Apache scalps, the boom of prosperous growth in the West - it's all in this novel. I liked all that. As for the storyline, I'll call it an average Western. Ox may be vivid and broad, but he is too gaga around Gwen for my type of Western hero. Gwen is so naive that I wanted Ox to give her a good kick in the butt. But if you can overlook that, there is plenty of murder and fisticuffs to make it enjoyable. And the struggle of survival, the excellent descriptions of the dusty drives on the mule wagons, and the subplot revolving around the misidentified Apache kid, are expertly told.

Robert MacLeod is one of my favorite Western authors. Reading his novels you can sense his natural attraction to the West and it's clear that he has done a lot of research. "The Muleskinner" may not be his best work, but it is good and for me worth the read. (After all, I waited over 40 years to get to it)

This is the cover of an earlier paperback edition.
Fawcett Gold Medal D1786

The Last Score by Charles Runyon

The Last Score by Ellery Queen (penned by Charles Runyon)
Pocket Book 50486, Copyright 1964

In the early 60s, the Ellery Queen machine was spitting out quality mystery yarns that were authored by a hungry group of fine suspense writers. Charles W. Runyon wrote three of them for the establishment. All are excellent, which include "The Killer Touch" (1965) and "Kiss and Kill." (1969) But my favorite is this first one of his three, which takes the reader on a wild ride through the remote areas of 1960s Mexico.

" His attacker was all speed and power. A steel forearm had Reid's nose crushed against his face and his breath cut off; a knife caressed his throat. This is it, this is curtains, Reid thought - no preparation, no warning, the stupid end of a stupid enterprise."

Reid Rance is an adventurer/travel agent who specializes in taking his clients to locations that are far off the beaten paths. One day he gets a visit from May Gibson, the town matriarch of Greengrove, Texas. Mrs. Gibson has an unruly, bratty, and determined high school daughter, who has her mind set on a three-week trip to Mexico. She needs someone who will not only show the beautiful young Leslie the sights, but also one that will play bodyguard. At first Reid wants nothing to do with a "spoiled teen-aged nymphomaniac," but he needs the cash and reluctantly accepts.

Even though both seem to hit it off at the start, Leslie turns out to be a bit wiser than your normal teenager. Bored with seeing the sights, she lays it on Reid what she really wants out of this trip to Mexico, and that is to score some marijuana. After a "dangers of drugs" spiel by Reid, he agrees to help her out and that is when things go bad. Leslie gets kidnapped and Reid must get her back before Mrs. Gibson and the rest of Greengrove, Texas gets wind of it.

I loved the pace of this novel and Runyon keeps the reader glued to the story. He takes us south of the border, through the areas of Mexico's more unglamorous side. Dusty poor villages, shady seaport towns, and a violent ending in the jungle - and mixed in a group of devious drug users that grab at the opportunity to kidnap for ransom... all of this is compelling stuff for a 1964 novel.

Some might find it a bit dated for today and the illegal drug situation is not as violent as what is going on in Mexico now, but it is flawlessly written and it is suspenseful as hell. Reid Rance is a intriguing main character and you can't help but be on his underdog side. Throw in an adrenalin-filled ending, and all I can say is - I really, really enjoyed "The Last Score." (One of the best that came out of this Ellery Queen ghostwritten period.)

Note: If you ever do read "The Last Score," watch out for the outre chapter where Reid Rance is forced to smoke some of that wacky weed. (wow)

The Butterfly by James M. Cain

The Butterfly by James M. Cain
Signet 720, Copyright 1946

When I pick up one of Cain's novels, I expect a devious pull into a deceitful murder plot set in Southern California. But in this one we are taken to a coal mining region of West Virginia for a seductive backwoods noir tale that has plenty of family scheming, temptation, and hatred.

"He was eating beans out of a can with his knife, and I let him finish them up before I raised my gun. I drew my bead right on the butterfly. He doubled up when I pulled the trigger, and held on to his stomach, and kicked like a cat trying to shake papers off it's feet, and drew his breath in and out fast like a dog in the summer time, except instead of heat that made him do that, it was pain. That suit me fine. I stepped out, picked up his rifle from where he had set it down to eat, and sat down to watch him twitch."

After Jess Tyler's two-timing wife split on him 18 years ago, he seemed content just farming his land near the abandoned coal mines. That all changes when his 19 year old daughter Kady shows up one day and decides to stay for a spell. Well before you know it, both feel a little more passion between them than is usual between a father and daughter. But Jess is a Church-going-man and fights the temptation, even as Kady spews seduction over him. Things happen fast in this novel, Jess finds out that Kady has a illegitimate baby boy and it has been kidnapped by her stepfather. The boy gets returned as more members of Jess Tyler's family get involved. Kady plans to marry the baby boy's real father, but that goes sour. Then there is suspicion that the stepfather is the real father of Kady's boy. With incestuous lust still tempting Jess, he heads out to settle the score between him and the man who took away his wife years ago. But just about then, Jess learns something and that brings his relationship with Kady down a road towards sin and shame.

A swift story that is packaged with suspense, morality, and the forbidden topic of incest. Oh, and a murder along the way. Cain's writing (as always) is terrific in this novel. The characters burst from the pages, the plot has plenty of twists and offers a stark portrayal of hatred, lust, and even the passion of love. There is an intensity in this story and it builds and builds, then ends masterfully as Jess is writing down the tale of what happens.

It's safe to say, I never read anything that I didn't fully enjoy by James M. Cain. It's been a while since I read a backwoods noir novel and adding Cain as the author... this one is a "can't miss!"

The Liquidator by R.L. Brent

The Liquidator by R.L. Brent
Award Books AQ 1507
Copyright 1974

I've read a lot of decent 70s "Vengeance against the Mafia" series novels and I've read a lot of crappy ones. Having just finished the first in The Liquidator series, I have to say this was one of the better ones.

"I wanted to see the cop who was dumb enough to bust Monk Simon," she said in a low voice. "Don't you know he's more important than Kissinger?"
"That's the reason I busted him," Jake said.

Jake Brand is a rock hard Miami cop. Having seen his patrolman father killed by a crazed drug addict and his older brother blasted by a Mob hit, Jake bends the rules to take down the Organization. He makes plenty of enemies, which forces the Mob to put an end to Jake their top priority. They set him up to take the fall for a murder rap and Jake is sent to prison for five long years. When our boy gets out he's got one thing to live for... and he sets out to even the score.

Yes this story has been told before, but not written as well as this one. R. L. Brent (pseudo. for Larry Powell) shows his talent. The characters have solid personalities, the plot holds the reader and has none of the "goofiness" that I witnessed in other similar testosterone adventure novels, and I thoroughly enjoyed the action-packed plot. And best of all, Jake even comes off as a realistic character (well, sort of) and you can't help but like the rough guy.

I was pleasantly surprised by this one and I don't know if the others in this series are as good. But I will be reading another to find out. (Jake left a few strings hanging to prepare us for the second novel)

The Liquidator (1974)
Contract For a Killing (1974)
The Cocaine Connection (1974)
Invitation To a Strangling (1975)

Away

I have to attend to a personal matter and will be away from my blog for 2-3 weeks. I'll be back posting in the near future.

A.W.

Farewell, My Lovely by Raymond Chandler

Farewell, My Lovely by Raymond Chandler
Pocket Book 212, Copyright 1940

"I like smooth shiny girls, hardboiled and loaded with sin."

My favorite Raymond Chandler novel. And of course there is more here than Philip Marlowe trying to get a lead on where Moose Malloy is hiding out and finding what became of little Velma. I've probably read "Farewell, My Lovely" more times than any other novel. And whenever I pick it up, I discover something in it that amazes me. This time it was Marlowe's interaction with the two main cops in the story. Detective Lieutenant Nulty is a sloppy, lazy, almost unhealthy homicide cop. He doesn't even leave his office in the 77th Street Division and depends on others to provide leads and services for him. Marlowe willingly helps him out, knowing he can use Nulty's name to benefit his investigation whenever an "official" question needs to be asked. For Marlowe, throwing Nulty a bone can do him some good, in the future he may need to cash in a little credit with the Hollywood Police Department.

Randall is the Los Angeles homicide cop assigned to the Lindsay Marriott murder. A professional all the way, he suspects Marlowe is withholding from him and he warns Marlowe to stay out of it. Later, Marlowe sort of goes through the back door looking into the Marriott murder as he discovers there was a connection between Marriott and the drunken Florian hag. The next time Marlowe and Randall meet, their relationship turns more respectful and the exchange of information is mutual. Of course, Marlowe has to first go through taking his "treatment" at Dr. Sonderborg's residence. The last chapter really captures Randall showing a high regard for Marlowe, as they meet and he tells of Velma's final fate.

Chandler also has Marlowe battling his share of corrupt cops. There are the two Bay City ones who sap him and take him to Dr. Sonderberg. And the Bay City police chief is in politically with the racketeer Brunette. But then there is the ex-cop Red Norgaard who takes a great risk to ferry Marlowe to the gambling ship Montecito. He is so mysterious and likable, that Marlowe sees a bit of himself in Red. Chandler must of liked the character also because in the end he gets his job back on the police force.

Good ones or bad ones, when it came to a P.I.'s interaction with cops, no one wrote them better than Raymond Chandler. It's just another magnet the draws you into a Philip Marlowe novel.

"After a little while I felt a little better, but very little. I needed a drink, I needed a lot of life insurance, I needed a vacation, I needed a home in the country. What I had was a coat, a hat and a gun. I put them on and went out of the room."

Raymond Chandler's novels are not just enjoyable to read, they are a privilege to read.