Since next week’s column will mark my one-year anniversary at BOOKGASM, I figured it was about time to read three books by authors that just flat out rule. I’m talking not a bum book in the lot. I’ve read a good amount of each of today’s triumvirate – too many to list, but let’s just say all the major stuff sits proudly on my shelf. Pick up something by these guys and you won’t be disappointed at all. Well, except maybe CUBA LIBRE, which is just a little too confusing for some.

PICK-UP by Charles Willeford – Charles Willeford wrote some great stuff, some of which reads like a Cassavettes movie – like this 1967 novel. Harry Jordan is a down-on-his-luck artist trying to scrape by, working counter jobs at dinners and such, until Helen enter his life. She shows up out of the blue – drunk – and Harry falls for her hard, quitting his job so they can paint the town red together, drinking as if their lives depended on it.

The first half of the book focuses on this relationship, which fills both the voids in their lives. Harry feels rejuvenated with Helen in his life, taking up his art again – even painting her in the nude. But what frustrates Harry is that Helen won’t stop drinking, even when he finds work to support them. Helen can’t survive without him around and will drink with anyone and anywhere.

Now, during this portion of PICK-UP, Willeford tips his hand a little, so I was able to figure out an important part of the story. So when it came to that part, I was like, “I knew it!” But Willeford gives us such a great psychological portrait of Harry, it didn’t matter.
where they unsuccessfully try suicide, leading them to a hospital stay, all leading to the point where Harry believes what he is about to do will settle all their problems.

But sadly, it doesn’t, and just leaves Harry dealing with the consequences. This is such a great read that you could fly through it in a lazy afternoon. Just don’t feel bad if you see something coming from a mile way. You’ll enjoy the trip nonetheless.

NIGHT SQUAD by David Goodis – What happens to a cop who’s been thrown off the force and is no use to anyone? Meet Corey Bradford, the protagonist of this 1961 number. He’s not a bad cop, mind you, but one who works more in the gray area. Corey is just oblivious to things happening around him at all times, trying to be as unobtrusive as possible, like watching old men get rolled, then telling the criminals to give him the cash so he can drown his sorrows at a bar.

Corey tries to get into the weekly card game run by the local big shot, but is told no, for no other reason than who he is. As the game goes on, two masked robbers enter the room, not wanting money, but the local big shot himself: Grogan. Corey takes out one of the robbers, while the other is killed by one of Grogan’s men. An appreciative Grogan offeris Corey a job to find out who was behind the attempt.

This throws Corey into the light of the toughest division on the police force: a group of men called the Night Squad, who let no one stand in their way. They figure they can use Corey to help them finally bust Grogan.

Who is behind the attempt will come as no shock since Goodis gives you enough clues that Helen Keller can figure it out. But that’s not the issue with his writing; it’s more about the atmosphere and the people who populate this treacherous world of crime. And Goodis paints us such a dark world of the criminal element, you’ll want to eat it up with a big old spoon. The city in which this takes place is never mentioned, but you won’t ever want to visit.

THE SWITCH by Elmore Leonard – Can you believe this is the first Leonard book covered in this column? Being a huge fan of JACKIE BROWN, and knowing this 1978 book was the first adventure of Ordell and Louis, it was about damn time to read it. As you do, you will picture Samuel L. Jackson and Robert DeNiro in their younger days as these characters, plain and simple.

We get the history of how Ordell and Louis became partners back in the day. Ordell has a plan to kidnap the wife of Frank Dawson, a man who has some shady dealings with Ordell and an offshore bank account bursting with bucks. Little does Ordell or anyone else know that said hubby is about to divorce the little lady.

This book is packed with all that great Leonard dialogue I’ve come to love with a passion. You can see all the action happening in your head with such clear character voices. When Ordell and Louis do the kidnapping job and are waiting for the payoff, they have to deal with the third member of the kidnap team by the name of Richard, a Nazi-loving out-of-work security cop. Even when the team realizes Frank’s not going to pay, they try another option that becomes one big clusterfuck.

Throw in the appearance of Melanie Frank – later to become Ordell’s little surfer-girl mistress later in RUM PUNCH – and you’re treated to another one of Leonard’s little wonders. For me to recommend Leonard is kinda of pointless. I think most people know the man knows his stuff and that’s why he is still one of the best out there still writing.

Next time: Happy anniversary to me! –Bruce Grossman

Buy it at Amazon.

OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THESE AUTHORS:
• NIGHTFALL by David Goodis
• STREET OF NO RETURN by David Goodis