You people knew at some point I was going to force John MacDonald and Ross Macdonald into a really bad quick-service restaurant joke. Over a billion readers served! To serve as the middle of this sandwich, we have Carter Brown, whose books read like fast food.
SOFT TOUCH by John D. MacDonald – Considered by some to be the best of the non-Travis McGee bunch, this 1958 entry might actually be the best book MacDonald ever wrote. Jerry Jamison, a man on the verge of a breaking point, is set to leave his job working for his father-in-law and his drunk, lay-about wife Lorraine. Then, out of the blue, old Army buddy Vince Baskay turns up with an offer of some easy money.
Jerry turns him down at first until he figures Vince must know a sure thing when he sees one, not knowing that said plan involves taking some money from a corrupt South American industrialist. The job is supposed to be super-simple – go down to Tampa, wait for the target, jump him and make with the cash – but since this is pulp fiction, you know right from the start that things will go from bad to worse real quick.
Namely, Vince getting shot in the process, and having to hide out with Jerry, who’s trying to decide how to unload his wife and get out of his current situation once everything cools down. Then, one fateful day, Jerry makes a sudden discovery that kicks the book into full gear. This is only the halfway mark, so you really see him go into a desperate tailspin when key information is made known to him.
MacDonald is in prime form with this novel, it just bristles with so much energy. This is the MacDonald book to sell you on how great of a storyteller he can be. It pulls no punches in the short, sharp style, never bogged down at all.
THE LADY IS TRANSPARENT by Carter Brown – Brown’s books go down so fast, they’re forgotten hours after reading them. I’ve read countless of them over time and can only remember a very few things. They are not books you will look back upon as great literature, which is why I read them: to fill my need for some fun little adventures.
This 1962 novel includes what I think is one of his weakest of characters: Al Wheeler. That’s because most of the Brown books all take place in exotic locations with some truly over-the-top storylines, while Wheelers might have some truly bizarre characters, are set in California and feature a truly weird gimmick.
This time, it’s Brown trying his best at an Ellery Queen puzzle-type mystery. The problem is that in the Queen novels, you are given enough clues to figure it out; here, all the clues are just in Wheeler’s head until he needs to prove his theory. The mystery in question is a locked-room one, where a murder so weird calls Wheeler’s attention.
The victim’s name was Henry Slocombe, who was spending an evening at the Harvey mansion. It seems the Harveys have a ghost who wants no one to spend any time in a certain room, especially if they plan on marrying into the family. Slocombe is believed to have been killed by “the gray lady ghost” when his throat was ripped out. The only clue: a tape recording of the incident, with one of the voices sounding like one of the women in the family. But how could this be if the room was locked from the inside?
It’s not the strongest in Brown’s world by a long shot, especially the way we are given how events really transpired. Stick with the far-flung adventures before you tackle the world of Al Wheeler. Still, a Carter Brown a day will keep the boredom away.
THE INSTANT ENEMY by Ross Macdonald – Here’s probably the darkest Lew Archer mystery written. We’re talking no one comes off good in this 1968 one, except maybe Archer. This is probably the single most depressing read in the series, with some of the vilest characters around, coming off like BLEAK HOUSE for the noir set.
What starts out as a simple find-a-missing-girl situation slowly turns into a bigger can of worms no one wants opened: Sandy Sebastian has run off with her boyfriend Davy Spanner and her father’s shotgun. This couple is of the variety that makes the one in BADLANDS look like Dick and Jane. It was pretty easy to find the “happy” couple shacked up in Davy apartment, but Sandy won’t budge and Davy takes a swing at Lew. They get away, with Lew being left with the apartment landlord, who seems to be a bit too close to Davy.
It devolves into Davy and Sally kidnapping one of her neighbors, with the idea of Davy re-enacting his father’s brutal death by train with his newfound hostage. Just a little ray-of-sunshine read, folks. It feels like a Dickensian story with all the secrets and revelations to come, reaching further back into people’s lives that set off like fireworks.
Throw in a retired cop who is also on the hunt for Davy, and of course, the families who try and hide any sort of help from Lew – namely, a diary that could probably crack the whole affair open within seconds of reading it. Then there is the family of the hostage who seem to be hiding information for years.
If you look for this book, you have two options: buying an overpriced used copy or getting the snazzy new Black Lizard reissue. I know I’ve sung the praise of Macdonald before, but this one tops them all, which is a bold and truthful statement. Just don’t expect a very happy ending, but in the world of noir, there never is.
Next time: Altamont wasn’t all bad. –Bruce Grossman
OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF CARTER BROWN:
• AND THE UNDEAD SING by Carter Brown
• THE CLOWN by Carter Brown
• THE EVER-LOVING BLUES by Carter Brown
• THE HONG KONG CAPER by Carter Brown
• MURDER IS A PACKAGE DEAL by Carter Brown
• THE NEVER-WAS GIRL by Carter Brown
• THE WANTON by Carter Brown
OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF JOHN D. MACDONALD:
• THE GIRL, THE GOLD WATCH & EVERYTHING by John D. MacDonald
• A PURPLE PLACE FOR DYING by John D. MacDonald
• A TAN AND SANDY SILENCE by John D. MacDonald
OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF ROSS MACDONALD:
• THE ARCHER FILES by Ross Macdonald
• BLACK MONEY by Ross Macdonald
• BLUE CITY by Ross Macdonald
• THE WAY SOME PEOPLE DIE by Ross Macdonald
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Love your running engagement with Carter Brown books. His plots never hold together well, probably due to the fact that he wrote one a month. He used to write them within about 48 hours. Yes and sometimes it shows. Imagine, he lived in Australia, he was in any ONE month, pitching the new title, writing an accepted one and editing the finished one. Boggles the mind hey? Anyway, I’m writing a book on CB and Mavis remains my favourite character–just finished _Bump and Grind Murder_.
I just discovered Ross Macdonald a year or so ago, though it was probably inevitable that I’d start reading him because I’m a sucker for L.A. crime fiction and also trade paperbacks with cool looking covers. The Black Lizard re-issues are to me what chum in the water is to sharks. At any rate, I’m glad I did, because they’re fantastic. Ross MacDonald really doesn’t get the respect he deserves, his Lew Archer is a very vivd and compelling creation.
But I’ve got one observation about Lew Archer: Has anyone ever gotten knocked unconscious more times than Lew? He’s practically narcoleptic! If I were Archer, I’d charge my clients by the K.O. At some point, those concussions have got to start to add up to some serious brain damage.
Anyhow, of the four RM novels I’ve read, “The Instant Enemy” is definitely my favorite — though christened with the the worst title. All the characters are running on empty and pretending not to know it. It’s bleak as hell, but beautiful for it.