Quick takes and capsule reviews from the dark suspense master himself, Ed Gorman!

As someone who has scrapped two homefront novels, I read Sandra Scoppettone’s latest Faye Quick mystery, TOO DARN HOT, with great pleasure and even greater envy. Scoppettone gives us New York City in 1943, a jumble and jangle of fear, hope and dread that private eye Faye Quick (she inherited her job from the boss who went to war) manages to stand up to with sass and common sense – the working-gal approach to the gumshoe trade. In this adventure, Faye is set upon the trail of a missing soldier, only to find that what might be nothing much turns into a grim kidnapping and murder. All of this is told in the context of homefront anxiety, complicated by the fact that crime rates soared during the war. So much for patriotism. A fine, fun read and hopefully the big hit series Scoppettone has long deserved.

• • •

Pulp fans can rejoice in two new books from Crippen and Landru. The first is THE CASEBOOK OF SIDNEY ZOOM by Erle Stanley Gardner, edited and with an excellent introduction by Bill Pronzini. Zoom is one of those rich tough guys (he lives on a yacht) who fights crime at night. He’s one step from being a costume hero a la The Shadow or Superman, but what makes these old stories readable is Gardner’s street sense. As a young lawyer, he fought a lot of (frequently unpaid) battles for Native Americans and black Americans. These stories crackle with that kind of fury and energy. It’s always fun to watch the old pro apply himself to a different setting and different structure. This should be in all pulp collections.

EVIDENCE OF THE SWORD by Rafael Sabatini may not appeal to pulp fans the way Gardner does but these mystery stories by the great adventure writer of the seas certainly demonstrates that Sabatini was also a master of deductive detective fiction set in various historical times. His place descriptions are masterful, taking us away to exotic times and lands. I wasn’t sure I was going to like this LOST CLASSICS collection, but now I think it’s an important addition to pulp history. And one hell of a lot of fun.

• • •

It’s always a pleasure to meet up with Max Allan Collins’ hit man Quarry who, when we first saw him, had just returned from Vietnam back in the 1970s. Quarry and Collins have evolved over the years, so much so that in THE LAST QUARRY, there’s a real melancholy in Quarry’s reluctant decision to work for a media magnate after rescuing the man’s daughter from a kidnapping. But killing a beautiful librarian? What’s up with that? And breaking the cardinal rule of never getting involved with your prey? As THE LAST QUARRY demonstrates, Collins is operating at peak powers these days.

• • •

I suppose it’s heretical to say that international bestselling author Robert Jordan does better by Conan than Robert E. Howard ever did. But for me at least it’s true. Not only is the writing more literate, vivid and compelling, but the voice is by turns brutal, wry and even on occasion sentimental. This is a Conan with brain as well as brawn. In other words, he’s as much man as superman, and that makes him a lot more interesting as a protagonist. If you like what’s now being called “barbarian fantasy,” then these are the books for you.

Tor has packaged three books each in THE CONAN CHRONICLES and FURTHER CHRONICLES OF CONAN. Both books deserve space on your library shelf and both contain excellent examples of Jordan’s expertise with plot and ambience and action scenes. He works in a cinematic style that puts you right into the numerous clashes Conan manages to survive.

My favorite in the first CHRONICLES is CONAN THE UNCONQUERED because of its sweeping storyline that reveals ancient secrets between action pieces. Some especially fine writing here. In FURTHER CHRONICLES, my choice is CONAN THE TRIUMPHANT because Jordan manages to give us a race-against-the-clock story in which Conan is poisoned and must find an antidote while slashing his way through various through a malestrom of villains. A cleverly devised and executed story – though with Conan, “executed” is always a loaded word. Great reading material. –Ed Gorman

Buy it at Amazon.
Discuss it in our forums.

OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THESE AUTHORS:
• THE BIGGER THEY COME by Erle Stanley Gardner
• THE CASE OF THE HESITANT HOSTESS by Erle Stanley Gardner
• CROWS CAN’T COUNT by Erle Stanley Gardner
• THE LAST QUARRY by Max Allan Collins
• THE WAR OF THE WORLDS MURDER by Max Allan Collins