Quarry's paperbacks

  
I discovered Max Allan Collins' "Quarry" books about a year ago and I am slowly working my way thru the series. There's 12 books so far (the first one was published in 1976 and the latest one was published recently). The series is about an ex Vietnam vet who turns pro hit-man. Apparently, Collins was the first author to make a hit-man a main character.There's a new tv series but I'm not gonna check it out until I've got thru all 12 books.

"A Ticket to the Boneyard" - Lawrence Block (1990)

"A Ticket to the Boneyard"
By Lawrence Block (USA, 1990) 
Danish edition: "Billet til ormegården" 
Published by: Forlaget Klim (1992)
Translation: Mette Egerod
Ex library copy

I've just finished reading my second Matt Scudder novel. The first one was "A Walk Among the Tombstones" (which I posted about here) and this second one was "A Ticket to the Boneyard". I read "Walk" in Hard Case Crime's cool US paperback rerelease but my copy of "Boneyard" is an old Danish edition that I found (and bought) years ago at a library book sale. It was slightly odd to read about Matt Scudder in Danish but it was alright (although the translation was far from perfect which, unfortunately, was all too obvious even without having the original edition to compare with). I might get hold of the original English language version at a later stage.

I have at least one more Matt Scudder ex library book laying around somewhere (I've got seven or eight big removal boxes full of books piled up in my wee pad, I simply haven't got enough book cases to put 'em on!). Not sure which one it is, it could very well be "A Dance at the Slaughterhouse".

In "Boneyard" Matt Scudder and his lady friend, the prostitute Elaine, get harassed (to put it mildly) by an old foe from way back; Nasty piece of work James Leo Motley got locked up for 12 years thanks to Scudder and now he's out and about doing what an ex jailbird with a 12 year grudge does best. He doesn't stay far away from Scudder and Elaine, and this fellar isn't one to pop around for coffee or hang out with you discussing the latest trend in vinyl rereleases. He's off his rocker and does his best to "thank" Scudder for the 12 years behind bars. Matt's friends and relatives start dying in gruesome and yukky ways.

This isn't Miss Marple and there's no butler. "Boneyard" is a grim, violent and totally captivating hard-boiled crime novel and I certainly wanna get hold of more of Block's Scudder books. I think I liked "Tombstones" slightly better but it could very well have to do with this edition having been translated and the language just doesn't flow at well through the filter that a translation is. And as I mentioned at the beginning the translation isn't perfect to say the least (man "entrerer" altså ikke ind ad et vindue på dansk, helt ærligt!). But in any case, highly recommended.

Hardboiled from Hard Case Crime

I finished Lawrence Block's "A Walk Among the Tombstones" the other day. 400+ hardboiled pages. Thoroughly enjoyed every page. Good stuff. This is my first book in Block's series about Matt Scudder but hopefully not the last. There's a new(ish) film adaptation out but I haven't watched it.

...and now I'm halfway thru Richard Stark's (aka Donald E. Westlake) "Lemons Never Lie" from 1971. Great stuff. The book was in a huge pile of books on my shelf and I probably wasn't gonna read it till later but then I noticed a "rave" for the book by Lawrence Block and as I'd just finished HIS awesome book. I knew I haaad to read it right away. Both books are published by Hard Case Crime books.

"The Consummata" by Mickey Spillane & Max Allan Collins (late 1960s + 2011)

I received the second latest book from every hard-boiled crime reader's fave publisher, Hard Case Crime; THE CONSUMMATA!! It was kicked off by Mickey Spillane back in the late 60s but he never finished the damn thing and then he croaked. Now his buddy Max Allan Collins has finished it and if nothing else the cover looks ...as always with Hard Case Crime... smashing! I paid £2.14 for my copy!!! It's brand new but has "review copy -not for sale" printed on the front cover (which is kinda neat me thinks). This is the first of the new books from HCC since their one year hiatus (due to being between publishers) that I see and the book format has (at least with this volume) changed from the small paperback size to slightly bigger and with a better binding (or at least so it seems). I'm not sure I'm all that happy with the bigger format, I mean the smaller paperback size is PULP size! But, anyhoo, the contents is the same I guess. But still. But ANYWAY I look forward to getting into this sucker despite size... but, uhhhhh, I've already got way too many unread books!! Argh.

Blood's A Rover (2009)

Lissen hepcats, I read old crime litterateur. You know, from the days of pulp mags and cheap pocket books, that kinda shit. Not much new stuff holds my interest really. Why would I wanna read about Swedish policemen with dandruff, ex-wives, and grown up women's lib daughters? Or even worse, why would I wanna read femi-crime books? Fuck no! I want stuff from the hardboiled days of yesteryear, when a main character wasn't a cop cos most likely he'd gotten hisself booted off the force for drinking, or being a nuisance, or simply too much of a renegade loner, or being a renegade loner and a pain in the ass nuisance. I want my private dicks to know what to do with women and stiffs, and... well, uh, rambling again. What's this leading up to you're wondering; Well, one of the few present day writers I do read is that cocksucker James Ellroy. If you only read one present day writer (or just one writer in total!), he's the one you should DEVOUR!

I just discovered this very recent YouToobe spot he's done for his new book, Blood's A Rover. Check it out, cabron!