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dantastic's review
4.0
Tricia Heverstadt comes to the Big Apple all the way from South Dakota with very little money to make it big, just like her sister Coral. When she gets there, Coral turns her out and Tricia gets bilked out of all her money. Out of desperation, she takes two jobs, one as a dancer at a nightclub owned by a gangster, and another working for Hard Case Crime Books. She writes a crime novel but a lot of people seem to think it's a true story because the plot mirrors a heist that was pulled on Uncle Nick, the gangster she works for. South Dakota doesn't look so bad now, does it, Tricia?
Fifty-To-One is a lot of fun. Each chapter is named after one of the first fifty Hard Case books. Charley Borden, the Hard Case owner in the tale, is delightfully sleazy. Lawrence Block and Donald Westlake are characters in the story. Tricia goes from one predicament to another, all the while looking for the money everyone thinks she has.
I guessed who stole the money about halfway through but it was a wild guess on my part. Still, the ending made smile and hungry for more Hard Case.
Fifty-To-One is a lot of fun. Each chapter is named after one of the first fifty Hard Case books. Charley Borden, the Hard Case owner in the tale, is delightfully sleazy. Lawrence Block and Donald Westlake are characters in the story. Tricia goes from one predicament to another, all the while looking for the money everyone thinks she has.
I guessed who stole the money about halfway through but it was a wild guess on my part. Still, the ending made smile and hungry for more Hard Case.
jakewritesbooks's review
4.0
A little too gimmicky for its own good but still a decent read. The writer, in a tribute to reaching the 50th novel of the HCC series, names a chapter after each of the 50 books and tries (sometimes too hard) to tie a theme from their titles into the plot. It takes a couple of turns too many but is an engaging enough read.
thomasroche's review
5.0
I just can't say enough nice things about this clever, fast-paced novel from Hard Case Crime publisher Charles Ardai. The concept is irresistible: for the 50th Hard Case Crime publication, in honor of the fictional 50th year of Hard Case Crime, publisher Ardai wrote a novel set 50 years ago (in 1958 -- the book was published last year) where each of its 50 chapters is titled for one of Hard Case's books, in order of their publication. Clever, huh? Julio Cortazar would probably have approved.
But it's so much more than just clever, meta, and deconstructive -- it's a supremely entertaining pulp novel with vividly realized characters, an intoxicating narrative voice and plenty of satisfying twists and turns, not to mention action. Fifty-to-One is the story of a book that never was, the fictional story of a heist against a mob boss, made up by a dancer named Trixie and published as the true confessions of a thief. Problem is, the mob boss is convinced it isn't fiction, since he seems to be missing a few million bucks and some important documents. Unlike almost any other mystery I've ever read, this one actually had me surprised -- nay, shocked -- when The Big Reveal comes as to who stole the money. I felt like a dork for not seeing it coming, but that's how caught up I was in the narrative trickery. More importantly, I cared about the characters enough that at the end I actually gave a shit whodunnit -- actually pretty rare for me with a bona-fide mystery novel. In the meantime it's a fast-paced ride and filled with juicy period details and a plot that never slows down.
Ardai's two earlier novels, written as [a:Richard Aleas|117263|Richard Aleas|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66.jpg], were absolutely brilliant but incredibly depressing. This novel retains some of the moral sensibilities that made Little Girl Lost and Songs of Innocence so intense, but in this case those sensibilities serve the purposes of the caper, rather than the roman noir. There's still plenty of dark alleys, bloodshed and tragedy, but Fifty-to-One left me feeling invigorated, rather than contemplative.
After reading more than a dozen books in the Hard Case Crime line, I have to say I think this one's my favorite -- beating out even Lawrence Block's classic [b:Grifter's Game|380569|Grifter's Game (Hard Case Crime #1)|Lawrence Block|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1183504844s/380569.jpg|3261476] (aka "Mona"), Ed McBain's powerful [b:The Gutter and the Grave|442788|The Gutter and the Grave (Hard Case Crime #15)|Ed McBain|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174814964s/442788.jpg|431569], and David Dodge's "yarn" [b:Plunder of the Sun|552743|Plunder of the Sun (Hard Case Crime #10)|David Dodge|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1175735252s/552743.jpg|539978], all of which I adored. Don't miss it.
But it's so much more than just clever, meta, and deconstructive -- it's a supremely entertaining pulp novel with vividly realized characters, an intoxicating narrative voice and plenty of satisfying twists and turns, not to mention action. Fifty-to-One is the story of a book that never was, the fictional story of a heist against a mob boss, made up by a dancer named Trixie and published as the true confessions of a thief. Problem is, the mob boss is convinced it isn't fiction, since he seems to be missing a few million bucks and some important documents. Unlike almost any other mystery I've ever read, this one actually had me surprised -- nay, shocked -- when The Big Reveal comes as to who stole the money. I felt like a dork for not seeing it coming, but that's how caught up I was in the narrative trickery. More importantly, I cared about the characters enough that at the end I actually gave a shit whodunnit -- actually pretty rare for me with a bona-fide mystery novel. In the meantime it's a fast-paced ride and filled with juicy period details and a plot that never slows down.
Ardai's two earlier novels, written as [a:Richard Aleas|117263|Richard Aleas|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66.jpg], were absolutely brilliant but incredibly depressing. This novel retains some of the moral sensibilities that made Little Girl Lost and Songs of Innocence so intense, but in this case those sensibilities serve the purposes of the caper, rather than the roman noir. There's still plenty of dark alleys, bloodshed and tragedy, but Fifty-to-One left me feeling invigorated, rather than contemplative.
After reading more than a dozen books in the Hard Case Crime line, I have to say I think this one's my favorite -- beating out even Lawrence Block's classic [b:Grifter's Game|380569|Grifter's Game (Hard Case Crime #1)|Lawrence Block|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1183504844s/380569.jpg|3261476] (aka "Mona"), Ed McBain's powerful [b:The Gutter and the Grave|442788|The Gutter and the Grave (Hard Case Crime #15)|Ed McBain|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174814964s/442788.jpg|431569], and David Dodge's "yarn" [b:Plunder of the Sun|552743|Plunder of the Sun (Hard Case Crime #10)|David Dodge|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1175735252s/552743.jpg|539978], all of which I adored. Don't miss it.
blkmymorris's review
4.0
It was a very fun read. A tightly plotted 1950s suspense story or mobsters, showgirls, and pulp fiction writers. It's all spun around a fun little gimmick: imagine if this publisher (Hard Case Crime) really did exist and each of the 50 chapters is a title from the publisher.
It was a light and engrossing read that had you racing along to keep pace with what the character will do next and how they wil get out of the next jam as they try to figure out who robbed a mob boss and not get killed.
It was a light and engrossing read that had you racing along to keep pace with what the character will do next and how they wil get out of the next jam as they try to figure out who robbed a mob boss and not get killed.
pattydsf's review
3.0
This is so much fun. I don't read much crime fiction and I don't think I have ever read any "pulp" paperbacks. However, I figured out that the Hard Crime books that Ardai publishes are an homage to the best of the crime novels of the 1950's.
And this book is the the homage of homages. Ardai has take the titles of the 49 books he published before this one and made them chapters in this book. Somehow he manages to use these titles to string together an amazing tale about Tricia, a small-town girl, Charley the publisher and a crime that Tricia thinks she has invented.
As I said, this was fun.
And this book is the the homage of homages. Ardai has take the titles of the 49 books he published before this one and made them chapters in this book. Somehow he manages to use these titles to string together an amazing tale about Tricia, a small-town girl, Charley the publisher and a crime that Tricia thinks she has invented.
As I said, this was fun.
steveb0b72a's review
4.0
I really enjoyed this, but the first thing you need to know is: it's not a typical novel, it's an extended joke. Hard Case Crime had published 50 books, so to celebrate the publisher wrote a story which uses those titles IN ORDER to make a plot. It's great fun, and the author even drops each name into each chapter with a giant clang so that everyone is in on it. Somehow, despite needing to wrestle each few pages into hitting the novel title required, there's a great pulp tale which comes out of it - a frantic chase starring mobsters, nightclubs, gunfights and a naive young woman from the countryside who has to learn mean city ways real fast. It's silly, it knows it, but as a celebration of Hard Case Crime it'll still leave you smiling. The gallery of awesome pulp book covers (the actual covers of 1-50) is great as well.
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