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scottapeshot's review against another edition
4.0
Tasty reading, light and simple. An excellent narrator, Phillips is proving not to be a Willeford (although his tense is similar), but a kind of a light Leonard. Colorful as fuck, but without that basic polarization of truth. He's becoming a broader, more urbane version of Joe Landsdale, but again, the underpinnings of meaning are sliding.
lisa_mc's review against another edition
3.0
Scott Phillips writes great crime stories, and by crime stories I don't mean detective stories but stories about criminals. His characters are Bad Dudes -- rakes, ruffians, liars, swindlers, extortionists, murderers -- but they are always interesting, and always getting themselves into and out interesting predicaments.
"Hop Alley" continues in this vein. It's sort of a prequel/sequel to "Cottonwood" but stands alone, telling the story of Bill Ogden (now using the name Bill Sadlaw) between the time he left Kansas and his arrival in San Francisco. He's in Denver, running a photo studio and more or less keeping his nose clean, but of course things don't stay that way. Though this book takes place in the 1870s West, it's not really a "Western" as most people would think of that genre. It is, however, a fast-paced, entertaining read.
Phillips' writing is gritty, funny and full of action. His books move quickly and you never quite know where they're going, which for me is a good thing. If you have delicate sensibilities, know that Phillips' books contain a fair amount of sex, violence and bad language -- but it is germane to the story, never gratuitous. Phillips seems at home writing in any time period -- Old West, contemporary France, post-WWII -- probably because human nature being what it is, there are always Bad Dudes, and they always get into trouble.
"Hop Alley" continues in this vein. It's sort of a prequel/sequel to "Cottonwood" but stands alone, telling the story of Bill Ogden (now using the name Bill Sadlaw) between the time he left Kansas and his arrival in San Francisco. He's in Denver, running a photo studio and more or less keeping his nose clean, but of course things don't stay that way. Though this book takes place in the 1870s West, it's not really a "Western" as most people would think of that genre. It is, however, a fast-paced, entertaining read.
Phillips' writing is gritty, funny and full of action. His books move quickly and you never quite know where they're going, which for me is a good thing. If you have delicate sensibilities, know that Phillips' books contain a fair amount of sex, violence and bad language -- but it is germane to the story, never gratuitous. Phillips seems at home writing in any time period -- Old West, contemporary France, post-WWII -- probably because human nature being what it is, there are always Bad Dudes, and they always get into trouble.
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