Pulp Fiction discussion

Just wrapped up Agent 87 and the Black Train by Robert Geronimo

I picked this up at New York Comic Con back in October and had a chance to chat with the creator. He's really passionate about the pulp genre and wanted to create a strong female pulp action heroine.

It's a quick read that can be incredibly dark with a twinge of horror. The lead character is a woman spy for the Allies. She's a master of disguise and battles the Japanese during WW2. There's black and white illustrations peppered throughout ask well. They have that scratchy feel from the old pulp novels. Interested to see what you guys think of it!

Franky - Enjoy 'Night and The City'. Powerful movie ;-)

Currently available for Kindle, free on Amazon: & .

Like the look of 'Squid Pulp Blues' in particular. And FREE!! It's a win-win:)

I was sold by the titles of both books. They look like a lot of fun! Thanks for bringing them to our attention...

Assassins Have Starry Eyes is another excellent thriller by Donald Hamilton. The main character is obviously the precursor of his most famous one, Matt Helm. Helm's history made him far more believable, but this was still great. As usual, his logic was practical & his opinions fun.

There were lots of things to be said against the girl, but in her favor was the fact that she could and did read.

I gave it 4 stars & reviewed it here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Loot of the Shanung, which is real cool because I'm doing some research right now on Shanghai in the 1930s and 1940s.

♥,
Cat at Galaxy Press

We have a promotion zone, if this is what you are interested in.

Shanghai is a good location for some noir crime, I think I have a few titles saved somewhere on a wishlist, and I remember the movie Lust, Caution.

Found a copy of The Talented Mr. Ripley at the local library, so I just started. I keep seeing Matt Damon every time I read about Ripley.

Franky wrote: "Found a copy of The Talented Mr. Ripley at the local library, so I just started. I keep seeing Matt Damon every time I read about Ripley."

I read the Ripley series sometime ago Frank & enjoyed them immensely. Such a different take on a sociopath.

Just finished Just One Look by Harlan Coben. This plot really moved along for about 350 pages and then screeched to a snail's pace for the last 20 pages as all of the loose ends were tied up. That made for a bit of a disappointing ending (even with a surprise twist), but still a 4-star read.

I'm re-reading Whip Hand by Dick Francis, and a few years ago I would not normally include it in the hard-boiled genre, but I am struck how it does include a lot of the private investigator staples : Sid Halley is a former champion jockey who lost his hand in a steeplechase accident. He's now a private investigator of crime in and around the racing world. He's got the shattered personal life, he has to put up with goons who believe violence can make him abandon his quest, he does the dreary footwork investigating clues.

This is the same title of a book Willeford wrote under the pseudonym W Franklin Sanders. In the Herron bio of Willeford, (p.340) he has a conversation with Charles about Dick Francis, who Willeford disliked-- did not like his writing style, or his personal curtness. Commenting on Francis' books being "best sellers," he says "Once you get into that racket, they all are." Strange that the title is the same. I believe Willeford published his book (which apparently he disavowed) in 1961. Of course, titles are not copyrightable. But maybe some of Willeford's dislike of Francis stems from the replication of titles, since he would not like being compared to Francis.

Picked these books up today; & & , which completes my 'Sunny Randall' series.

Picked this up today: .

Detour by Martin M. Goldsmith was written in 1939 & made into a short (apparently quite famous) Noir movie in 1945.

"The book, subtitled An Extraordinary Tale, was published by the Macaulay Company. Its plot is similar to the movie to which it was later adapted, except that the main character's name was changed from "Alexander Roth" to "Al Roberts," and erotic passages were removed.
The novel ends with much the same fatalistic line used in the movie: "God or Fate or some mysterious force can put the finger on you or on me for no good reason at all." In the film version of the novel, the reference to God is removed.
The film Detour has achieved considerable acclaim as a defining movie of the film noir era, despite its low budget. However, the novel, long out of print, did not have the same fate."

The movie is available for viewing on You Tube, as it was released into the 'public arena'.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHyXW...

Paul wrote: "Picked this up today: .

Detour by Martin M. Goldsmith was written in 1939 & made into a short (apparently quite famous) Noir movie in 1945.

"The book, subtitled An Extra..."

Interesting. I remember seeing the film quite a while back. Never knew it was based on a book.

Franky wrote: "Paul wrote: "Picked this up today: .

Detour by Martin M. Goldsmith was written in 1939 & made into a short (apparently quite famous) Noir movie in 1945.

"The book, subti..."

Got a copy of the movie yesterday Franky, despite it being free to view. I think the book would be better than the movie. That's usually the case. I prefer to treat movies based on books as a completely separate entity, rather than comparing them in the same context. Although i thought the movie of 'The Big Sleep' was quite faithful to Chandler's book, so there are exceptions.

What I liked about the book is you get the females point of view in the movie it's all his story. The movie is worthy just on style and the budget it was made with.

Certainly a must see for anyone into Noir films

Kipp wrote: "What I liked about the book is you get the females point of view in the movie it's all his story. The movie is worthy just on style and the budget it was made with.

Certainly a must see for anyon..."

Interesting perspective Kipp. In a way, i prefer a different perspective to be taken between the movie & book. Re; His viewpoint in the movie; her's in the book. Makes me more interested in viewing both, knowing that.

Goldsmith's style in this book seems to be tailored to make very quick, easy reading. The themes that the great "poverty row" film used are all in the novel, anyway, although Roth in the book is much less a hopeless fugitive and an existential loner. He has a new identity, and of course his biggest regret is never seeing his girl friend again. She is very interesting, with her courage in exploring sexuality, and (in another way) in her choice of mate after Roth had apparently gone for good.

Billed as 'World Noir', but...

Finished a couple of days ago. Here's my review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

2 stars

Just finished . Very enjoyable. Review to follow.

Just started

Anyone read The Girl with a Clock for a Heart yet? Just started and like it so far. Great writing and the flash backs are interesting, now you want to know what happened 20 years ago and what is happing now. It's a great ride so far, hope it holds up to the end.

http://everythingnoir.com/

Bryan wrote: "Anyone read The Girl with a Clock for a Heart yet? Just started and like it so far. Great writing and the flash backs are interesting, now you want to know what happened 20 years ..."

Got the book Bryan, but haven't got around to it yet.

A Walk among Tombstones(Scudder #10) by Block of course.

Its always a pleasure to walk the weird number street of NYC with Scudder. This book doesnt disspoint and frankly im getting tired of writing reviews that praise the books in the series that just keep getting stronger.

I almost wish for an okay Scudder book so i could say this wasnt great book in the series as usual ;)

Blood on the Moon by James Ellroy.

But I would like to warn readers it contains graphic violence reminiscent of Taratino's Reservoir Dogs so it is NOT for squeamish lightweights.

James wrote: "Blood on the Moon by James Ellroy.

But I would like to warn readers it contains graphic violence reminiscent of Taratino's Reservoir Dogs so it is NOT for squeamish lightweights."

I have read this book and the next Hopkins book in the series. It was enough to put me off Ellroy and never read his more famous crime books. I found it to be generic macho crime, the lead....... I have forgotten the books already.

I will give him a fair chance since he is pretty respected writer in the modern field.

I read & enjoyed all of the Hopkins novels & most of Ellroy's other books. I'm a big fan (oh really?), but even i find his "hip beat banter" bloody tedious at times.
The last book of his i (tried) to read, i actually gave up, it was so bad. Something about Howard Hughes/Bay of Pigs/CIA, blah, blah. I forget it's title.

I'm reading at the moment & picked up a copy of yesterday. Really looking forward to reading this, but i have 5 or 6 others to read before i get to it:)

I'm reading Lemons Never Lie by Richard Stark aka Donald E Westlake. It's a spin-off of the Parker novels. Good so far & very much like them.

Jim wrote: "I'm reading Lemons Never Lie by Richard Stark aka Donald E Westlake. It's a spin-off of the Parker novels. Good so far & very much like them."

That's the one with the Grofeld character, isn't it? I kept 'looking around' wondering what Parker was up to. But i still enjoyed it.
Have you read the Dortmunder series by Westlake Jim? I haven't read all of them, but i intend to eventually. Bit of light relief after Parker. Whew!!

Mohammed wrote: "James wrote: "Blood on the Moon by James Ellroy.

But I would like to warn readers it contains graphic violence reminiscent of Taratino's Reservoir Dogs so it is NOT for squeamish lightweights."

I..."

Have you read the L.A. Quartet, starting with (The Black Dahlia/The Big Nowhere/L.A. Confidential & White Jazz) Mohammed? Highly recommend you read these, perhaps before tackling more of the Hopkins books. The Quartet was my intro to Ellroy.

It is & I haven't, Paul. I'll have to see what I have on the shelf. I was on a real pulp kick for a while & then off for a couple of years.

Jim wrote: "It is & I haven't, Paul. I'll have to see what I have on the shelf. I was on a real pulp kick for a while & then off for a couple of years."

Dortmunder is Parker in the way he works but the tone of the stories are more comic like Grofield. Its a wonderful contrast to read fun capers that is more comic, not as bleak heist noir ala Parker.

I feel weird laughing at the funny comic crime of Westlake while Parker in the hands of Richard Stark is so cold, almost scary in his mean,cold ways.

Paul wrote: "Mohammed wrote: "James wrote: "Blood on the Moon by James Ellroy.

But I would like to warn readers it contains graphic violence reminiscent of Taratino's Reservoir Dogs so it is NOT for squeamish ..."

The only reason i havent dismissed the idea of reading Ellroy again is because his LA Quartet is so acclaimed among fans similar to me. Too many readers whose taste,judgment i respect like you guys here in this group.

Mohammed wrote: "Jim wrote: "It is & I haven't, Paul. I'll have to see what I have on the shelf. I was on a real pulp kick for a while & then off for a couple of years."

Dortmunder is Parker in the way he works ..."

Yes, i agree re: Westlake/Stark. Almost like a split personality. Westlake wrote under several pseudonyms in the course of his career.
When i read my first Parker novel, i was hooked. He is a total bastard, but his character is so different from any i'd read before, i found those books to be very compelling.
I've read all but 1 of the Parker novels, but i read them out of order. Re-read The Hunter (Parker #1) & will probably read them all again eventually, now i have the whole collection.

I got the first Dortmunder & will give it a shot. Thanks.

@Jim- you're welcome. Hope you enjoy it.

Someone posted a comment about Jonathan Craig & i think mentioned his book 'Alley Girl' & i'm blowed if i can find the post again. But for anyone interested, here are some of his eBooks free on the Munsey's site:

http://www.munseys.com/detail/mode/au...

They're quite well formatted for their age & all have covers, which is a rarity for Munsey's.

Paul wrote: "Mohammed wrote: "Jim wrote: "It is & I haven't, Paul. I'll have to see what I have on the shelf. I was on a real pulp kick for a while & then off for a couple of years."

Dortmunder is Parker in ..."

I have read the first 14-15 Parker books in order and im saving the last 8 more contemporary books. Parker is mean bastard but he is great like New York Times called him a perfect"No Hero". He is too icecold, amoral for being anti-hero. Recently he made it in a list of my all-time Top 10 favourite Literary characters. I love reading him for his cold ways.

Only other Noir,PI character in the same league for me in my affections is The Op, Matt Scudder,Jack Taylor.

Mohammed wrote: "Paul wrote: "Mohammed wrote: "Jim wrote: "It is & I haven't, Paul. I'll have to see what I have on the shelf. I was on a real pulp kick for a while & then off for a couple of years."

Dortmunder ..."

Re; the latter Parker books. As the series moves into the 70's, Parker started to seem like a man (or rather a character) who was starting to seem like an anachronism. By the late 70'-early 80's Stark was starting to introduce police computers & cell phones into the Parker stories & it jarred for me. I always think of Parker as being very low tech. The blunt instrument. Technology seemed out of place for me.
In addition, though it doesn't interfere with my enjoyment of the Parker novels, Parker never ages. These novels span some 30 years, but Parker always seems to be around his early 40's. It's a testament to Stark/Westlake's talent as a writer, that his novels can span 30 years & yet the contradiction of Parker's age is not odd. That seems very cool to me.

Paul wrote: "Mohammed wrote: "Paul wrote: "Mohammed wrote: "Jim wrote: "It is & I haven't, Paul. I'll have to see what I have on the shelf. I was on a real pulp kick for a while & then off for a couple of yea..."

Thats one of the reasons im weary of reading the last books because the 70s which was the last book Butcher's Moon for 20+ years it is still many decades ago technology wise. I mean i was just reading Scudder book 10 from 1992 and thats million years before internet,emails,wiki in your mobile phone. Scudder was using primitive hacking help from computer geeks.

So 70s Parker using telephone didnt bother me. But in 2000s Parker the police have much better technology, ways to get theifs in seconds during a robbery. Stark/Westlake is great writer so he can make it work anyway im sure.

The aging never bothered me because Parker is always only about the work, his personal life you rarely see. I can see it as he worked 15 jobs in 10+years time. The 30 years the book span can be 10 years in his life. He did work a few times per year to get money to live his kind of calm life between jobs.

speaking of neo-noir and noir influences in fantasy books, I am reading now City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett. I find it refreshingly that it is not about contemporary, supernatural detectives but a fully developed and original secondary world, bringing politics, personal entanglements and history into the investigation of a murder.

Just finished You're Next by Gregg Hurwitz. First time for this author, but won't be the last. A solid 3 stars.

After about three thrillers in a row, I'm up for a change of pace. So I'm starting in on The Alien Years by Robert Silverberg. Close encounters gone amok.

I started reading today.

I'm starting Sunset Express by Robert Crais. This is the first book of his that I'm reading.

The Tin Collectors by Stephen J. Cannell is the first of his Shane Scully series. It was pretty good & well read. I only gave it 3 stars, but look forward to listening to the next. My review is here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I'm reading "Shortcut to Hell" by Charles Valley, a 1970 detective novel so obscure it's not on GoodReads. The plot revolves around a private eye, whose attempt at clearing an innocent man's name ends up getting an entire town on the wrong side of him as said community happens to contain some very dark secrets.

It kind of has a "trashier version of Ross Macdonald" thing going on in both the writing style and "seemingly idyllic Southern California small town that's hopelessly corrupt beneath the surface" setting, obviously not as good as him but it's still very entertaining.

Just finished Sunset Express by Robert Crais. LOVE that Elvis Cole.

I haven't tried any Elvis Cole yet, but I keep hearing good things about the series.
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Right now I'm into Moth by James Sallis

next up for me is Lady Killer by Elizabeth Sanxay Holding.

Currently reading . Not usually a fan of short stories, but this collection gives the reader an insight into Chandler's development of the detective who would eventually become Marlowe. All stories in this collection (there are 7) originally appeared in Black Mask Magazine.