A review by gengelcox
Union Bust by Warren Murphy, Richard Sapir

adventurous fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No

1.5

A mostly forgettable installment of this pulp series, this time focused on unions. Like many conservative tropes of the 70s, unions were conflated with the mafia, partly for some true cases in the East coast, but mainly because your libertarian right-wing conservative feels threatened by any collective action. While the authors were likely not right-wingers themselves, they knew many of their audience were and as commercial writers, they weren’t above pandering. 

 

Pulp novels like this share a connection to comics, which also emerged in the 30s, in that they are essentially disposable entertainment, meant to be enjoyed like candy and just as quickly forgotten.