Closing out the University of Chicago Press’ trio of Richard Stark’s Allen Grofield reissues is 1969′s THE BLACKBIRD — the one that shares an intro and crosses over with one of Stark’s Parker novels, 1971′s SLAYGROUND.
While in SLAYGROUND, we follow Parker after an armored car robbery, THE BLACKBIRD allows us to see what happens to Grofield, who gets knocked out due to the getaway car crashing. After the first chapter, this book easily could have been titled ALLAN GROFIELD, SUPER SPY. You guessed it: This is pretty much Stark (aka Donald E. Westlake) delving into the spy genre.
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For those unfamiliar, when Mickey Spillane passed away, he left a treasure trove of work to his friend Max Allan Collins — some just notes; others, fully developed plots. And then surprises like LADY, GO DIE!, the original sequel to I, THE JURY, but in an unfinished state. Why this was put to the side is anyone’s guess, but if it came out when originally written, it would have been just as powerful and popular as its 1947 predecessor.
A few months after the events of JURY, we find Mike Hammer and his secretary, Velda, on vacation on Long Island, in the small town of Sidon. Their first night there, while taking a leisurely walk, they come across a man in the process of getting a serious beatdown by the local police.
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Continuing with the University of Chicago Press’ Alan Grofield reissues, we hit a true oddity with the series’ second entry, THE DAME, because Richard Stark — or Donald E. Westlake, if you prefer — wasn’t known for whodunits. Yet that’s exactly what this breezy, 1969 novel becomes rather quickly.
The story seems to take place just a few days after the events of THE DAMSEL. Grofield receives a bizarre letter asking him to come to Puerto Rico for a job offer. No other information is given — just the promise of a well-paying gig.
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I don’t really re-read that much stuff unless something calls for it years later. Case in point: Edgar Rice Burroughs’ 1912 novel, A PRINCESS OF MARS, and its resulting series. The film adaptation, JOHN CARTER, crashed and burned last month as one of Hollywood’s biggest flops ever, plus Library of America has released a new hardcover edition with a pulp-inspired cover and an introduction by novelist Junot Díaz. So I figured I would revisit the time spent on Barsoom — that’s Mars, for those of you who don’t know.
Burroughs is probably the pulp master, having created not one but two distinctive characters in the genre, one being Tarzan and one being PRINCESS’ hero, John Carter, a Civil War vet who is mysteriously transported to Mars, where he is met by alien creatures called Thraks.
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University of Chicago Press’ Richard Stark reissues have continued, with three titles most fans of the author were hoping would be included. I’m referring to the Alan Grofield books, of which the publisher has reissued the first three of the series’ four, all sharing an informative introduction by Sarah Weinman. (Hard Case Crime already squeezed out the fourth, LEMONS NEVER LIE, a few years ago.)
Those of you expecting the same cold and calculating stories of Stark’s other creation, Parker, will be disappointed. Grofield is one of the few people who is actually “friendly” with Parker, like the other side of the coin — he’s talkative and gregarious to a point, but also a criminal at the heart of it all.
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