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3.56 AVERAGE
3.56 AVERAGE
dark
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
For some bizarre reason I have always enjoyed the “hit-man” type books: Keller, Quarry, et al. Perhaps it stems from an innate desire to take out the Lords of Finance and bring some excitement into what is otherwise an extremely law-abiding life.
Be that as it may, Perfect Crime Books is bringing back the early Quarry books by Max Allan Collins, the first of which was written while he was at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. I bought all of them.
Quarry’s Cut was the last of the early ones and it does show some signs of tentativeness, an insecurity with the character, that is lacking from the later volumes. But as the story progresses one can already see signs of the later Quarry.
Quarry has semi-retired following the death of his broker, but he has managed to purloin the Broker’s files and now makes his living offering his services to targets of the contracts and then taking out the contractor who hired the hit-man. He’s enjoying chili at Wilma’s Inn close to his A-frame house when he sees Turner, a hit-man and former partner with whom he had had a falling out several years before. They exchange a few words (euphemistically speaking) and Quarry beats the target’s name out of him, thinking he, himself, might be the target, in which case it will be important to learn who might have hired Turner.
He learns the real target is a porno movie director (and soon the puns come fast and furious) and makes his way to the abandoned resort where Jerry Castile, the director, is shooting what he hopes will be his last porno flick. Quarry offers him his deal and soon we are in the midst of an Agatha Christie with bodies falling and a blizzard cutting everyone off from the outside. Quarry only knows that one of the cast may be Turner’s partner in the hit.
Very enjoyable but only 3 stars in comparison to some of the later Quarry’s.
Be that as it may, Perfect Crime Books is bringing back the early Quarry books by Max Allan Collins, the first of which was written while he was at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. I bought all of them.
Quarry’s Cut was the last of the early ones and it does show some signs of tentativeness, an insecurity with the character, that is lacking from the later volumes. But as the story progresses one can already see signs of the later Quarry.
Quarry has semi-retired following the death of his broker, but he has managed to purloin the Broker’s files and now makes his living offering his services to targets of the contracts and then taking out the contractor who hired the hit-man. He’s enjoying chili at Wilma’s Inn close to his A-frame house when he sees Turner, a hit-man and former partner with whom he had had a falling out several years before. They exchange a few words (euphemistically speaking) and Quarry beats the target’s name out of him, thinking he, himself, might be the target, in which case it will be important to learn who might have hired Turner.
He learns the real target is a porno movie director (and soon the puns come fast and furious) and makes his way to the abandoned resort where Jerry Castile, the director, is shooting what he hopes will be his last porno flick. Quarry offers him his deal and soon we are in the midst of an Agatha Christie with bodies falling and a blizzard cutting everyone off from the outside. Quarry only knows that one of the cast may be Turner’s partner in the hit.
Very enjoyable but only 3 stars in comparison to some of the later Quarry’s.