Nothing quite like a chapbook to give the reader a taste of a writer’s style. Don D’Ammassa is an author I should look for more of, since he takes elements of the pulp genre — namely, Doc Savage and The Shadow — and mixes in some detective fiction in WINGS OVER MANHATTAN. What was originally meant for magazine publication has found a life of its own in this breezy little read from Bad Moon Books.
The novella’s protagonist is Fallon, a low-rent private dick who has been hired for a bodyguard assignment. The problem is that the subject is not to know about it. So while Fallon keeps to the background, he sees things are about to take a turn for the worse and is forced to get involved, leading him into a world he would be labeled crazy if he had to explain it all.
Sure, finding a driver with his throat is normal enough in crime fiction. But that is when the normalcy stops, as D’Ammassa throws a healthy dose of Japanese mythology into the mix. His style will no doubt make many think of old-school pulp writers, since that is what he was going for, and since WINGS is such a short piece told in just the right amount of space.
Should they find WINGS, many readers will be clamoring for a longer appearance of this private dick who has a penchant to wrestle with all kinds of monsters — both human and otherwise. —Bruce Grossman
Related posts:
- Wings to the Kingdom
- Manhattan Noir 2: The Classics
- Ghosts of Manhattan
- Pulp: A Collector’s Book of Australian Pulp Fiction Covers
- Crimini: The Bitter Lemon Book of Italian Crime
