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A review by peter_j_reader
The Vengeful Virgin by Gil Brewer
5.0
Over the past few weeks, I've been on a hard-boiled crime kick. 'The Vengeful Virgin' is, so far (and quickly followed by Christa Faust's 'Money Shot'), my favorite. It is a quick and tightly constructed book with no fat - nothing could have been trimmed from it. Brewer's prose kept me glued to the book until it's final, satisfyingly noir-soaked ending.
The book, originally published in 1958 and republished by the wonderful Hard Case Crime imprint, more than lives up to its promise. One of the blurbs on the book'c back cover called it a "[James M.} Cainlike" and throughout the book I did find myself thinking back to Cain's work - Double Indemnity specifically - and feeling that Brewer more than held his own. I can only hope that more of Brewer work finds its way back into mass circulation (my library only has this book in its system). I'll gladly swim in these dark waters again.
The book, originally published in 1958 and republished by the wonderful Hard Case Crime imprint, more than lives up to its promise. One of the blurbs on the book'c back cover called it a "[James M.} Cainlike" and throughout the book I did find myself thinking back to Cain's work - Double Indemnity specifically - and feeling that Brewer more than held his own. I can only hope that more of Brewer work finds its way back into mass circulation (my library only has this book in its system). I'll gladly swim in these dark waters again.