Vic Valentine, Private Eye: 14 Vignettes by Will Viharo

(pb; 2019: story anthology--tenth book in the Vic Valentine series)

From the back cover

“Lounge lizard. International man of misery. Space cadet. Dog walker. Lover. Loner. Fighter. Fool. Vic Valentine has been all of these things and more, and less─much less. These fourteen torrid tales of forbidden love, shameless lust, surrealistic horror, existential mystery, pointless mayhem, and just plain stupidity spanning Vic’s pathetic life collectively illuminate the darkest corners of the human condition, without revealing a single goddamn truth, other than we’re all lonely globs of ephemeral flesh wandering aimlessly around a big ball of shit hanging by a thread in a vast, apathetic world.

“Welcome to the hypnotic, erotic, neurotic world of Vic Valentine, Private Eye.”

Overall review

14 Vignettes is a great addendum collection of Vic Valentine works, filling in timeline gaps relating to the P.I.-turned-dog walker’s life. As is often the case with Vic, his neurotic and sexual worldview revolves around multimedia interests (especially music and movies), women, tiki bars and frelled-up, over-the-top situations. This unique, entertaining and pulpy string of stories is not a book for the prudish or the politically correct, but it should not be, because otherwise it would not be the fun, worthwhile read it is. It put me in the mindset of Peter O’Donnell’s Modesty Blaise anthology, Pieces of Modesty, the way it filled in certain gaps in her storyline. Both are worthwhile purchases.

Review, story by story

“Feet First”: Vic engages the services of a prostitute. Set during the Love Stories Are Too Violent for Me era, this story has meaningful and clever banter. I love the finish, which has wild, fresh ending like the best stories do.

“Vein Attempt”: In Seattle,Vic tries to seduce a sexy phlebotomist (Brigitte), who is a dead ringer for a French porn actress Fans of director-writer Jean Rollin may especially like this one.

“By Any Other Name”: Sex-, jazz- and CBGB-suffused microtale. This prequel to the first Vic Valentine novel  is chatty and entertaining, and ably sets up Love Stories Are Too Violent for Me.

“Doc and Me”: Vic’s final conversation with his longtime friend-landlord-bartender─they talk about The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), as well as the virtues and vices of its 2003 remake (and most remakes, in general). They also converse about the therapeutic value of breasts, friendship and the beautiful diversity of the East Bay, California─especially Oakland. Warm homage to the above subjects, this, one of my favorite entries in this collection.

“Pawn of the Dead”: Vic reminisces about his brother (Johnny), who died at a young age, with whom Vic shared common passions: punk/CBGB, Dawn of the Dead (1978) and other late Seventies influences.

“Just Breathe”: Vic has a hallucinogenic slipstream of a case, involving a secretive woman (with whom he has a fling), a blood bank, and an ending that may be the beginning of something sweet or horrifying.

“Sick as a Dog”: Vic has an affair with a married woman (Katey), the owner of one of the dogs he walks. She is a woman with a secret, beyond her wielded butcher knives, pet-play and other sado/masochistic psychodramas.

“Blowing Smoke”: In high school, Vic hooks up with a classmate (Dolly), whose love of oral sex─giving and receiving─hides surprising truths she would rather not talk about. Great end-line to this one.

“Westwood Ho”: Los Angeles, late Eighties. Vic, hired to find a missing stripper (Roxi), accomplishes his mission. A brief, tender and honest friendship results. One of my favorite stories int 14 Vignettes.

“Googie Grindhouse”: Prior to the events of the “Westwood Ho,” “Feet First” and Love Stories, Vic and Valerie─later known as Rose─fly from New York to Los Angeles, where she, independent, sets the tone of their future encounters. Romantic, harsh and sometimes nightmarish work.

“Tiki Bar Bounce”: Vic gives a shout-out to his favorite, real-life tiki bars, many of them located in the East Bay-San Francisco, California region. Sexy women, mainly Monica, also get some printed love. There is also a real-life cocktail recipe! Fun, sometimes trip-out read, especially when Radon, a recurring Viharo character, appears.

“Pulp Beat”: Vic tells the story of how he became a private eye. It involves a naïve college student (Brenda), a spontaneous lie and a Berkeley-to-San Francisco BART ride. This tale takes place before Vic meets Doc and other characters, introduced in Love Stories. This is one of my favorite selections in this collection.

“Page Turner”: Vic dreams he is another man (Will Viharo), shark-fishing in Florida with actor Christian Slater. Fun meta-work.

“Illville”: A post-Vic Valentine: Space Cadet story, this. Vic details his slip-swirl days with recent movies by Jim Jarmusch and Quentin Tarantino, his wife (Val), ghosts (Doc), and life in general. This is a solid, post-“Mental Case Files”* wrap-up, and satisfying bookend to this fourteen-tale anthology.

(*The “Mental Case Files” are Viharo’s most recent Vic Valentine novels: Vic Valentine: International Man of Misery, Vic Valentine: Lounge Lizard for Hire and Vic Valentine: Space Cadet.)

The Red Scarf by Gil Brewer

(pb; 1958: novella)

From the inside flap

“Roy Nichols needs to find some quick cash to keep from losing his motel. The new highway was supposed to go through, providing plenty of business, but now it’s been delayed. The bank refuses to help, and his brother turns him down. Desperate and on the way back home, he catches a ride with a bickering couple named Vivian and Teece. They start drinking, and he gets spooked, and crashes the car. That’s when Nichols discovers that his travelling companions have been carrying a briefcase full of cash. Teece appears to be dead, and Vivian confesses that they have robbed the mob, and begs him to help her escape. But to do that, Nichols will have to lie to his wife Bess. . .to the cops. . .and ultimately, to a dangerous man named Radan.”

Review

Scarf is an excellent, intense-from-the-first-word pulp novel, whose protagonist─a good-hearted but desperate man─finds himself to questionable things, even as he sweats it out the entire time. Those around him know he’s hiding something (he is a terrible liar), but he feels he has no other choice to come clean. This is a fast-burn read─I finished reading it within two hours─and one worth seeking out and owning, if quick, pulpy thrills are your bent.

Cari Mora by Thomas Harris

(hb; 2019)

From the inside flap

“Half a ton of a dead man’s gold lies hidden beneath a mansion on the Miami Beach waterfront. Ruthless men have tracked it for years. Leading the pack is Hans-Peter Schneider. Driven by unspeakable appetites, he makes a living fleshing out the violent fantasies of other, richer men.

“Cari Mora, caretaker of the house, has escaped from the violence in her native country. She stays in Miami on a wobbly Temporary Protected Status, subject to the iron whim of ICE. She works at many jobs to survive. Beautiful, marked by war, Cari catches the eye of Hans-Peter as he closes in on the treasure. But Cari Mora has surprising skills, and her will to survive has been tested before.”

Review

Cari is a fun, fast-moving summer read, highlighted by Harris’s quirky, mordant humor, violence and gore, as well as a few pointed political references. I read this 300-page treasure-hunt novel in one sitting, something I rarely do. Fans of Harris’s other books─particularly his Hannibal quadrilogy─may well appreciate his humor, although this is a relatively light read (on the surface), when compared to his other books. This is worth checking out from the library, or owning, for the price of a regular-sized paperback.

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre: The Film That Rattled a Terrified Nation by Joseph Lanza

(hb; 2019: nonfiction/film)

From the inside flap

“When Tobe Hooper’s low-budget slasher film, TheTexas Chain Saw Massacre, opened in theaters in 1974, it was met in equal measure with disgust and reverence. The film─in which a group of teenagers meet a gruesome fate when they stumble upon a ramshackle farmhouse of psychotic killers─was banned in several countries and was pulled from many American theaters after complaints of its violence. Despite the mixed reception from critics, it was enormously profitable at the domestic box office and has since secured its place as one of the most influential horror movies ever made. In The Texas Chain Saw Massacre: The Film That Rattled a Terrified Nation, cultural critic Joseph Lanza turns his attentions to the productions, reception, social climate, and impact of this controversial movie that terrified an already-rattled America.

“Joseph Lanza transports the reader back to the tumultuous era of the early-1970s, defined by political upheaval, cultural disillusionment, and the perceived decay of the nuclear family, in the wake of Watergate, the onslaught of serial killers in the US, and mounting racial and sexual tensions. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre: The Film That Rattled a Terrified Nation sets the themes of the film against the backdrop of America’s political and social climate to understand why the brutal slasher flick connected with so many viewers.”

Review

Texas is one of my favorite 2019 reads. It immediately absorbed me into its time early-Seventies period, with its mix of cinematic influences, intentions and reactions, as well as the often-iconic events and cultural players who were part of them. These artists, politicians, criminals, religionists, and other citizens of the milieu─as shown in Lanza’s entertaining, waste-no-time and informative book─are given their proper due, while the author keeps the pace lively, clever and worthwhile. This is a rare read for me, one that I hope to revisit again. Or, to put it another way: it is worth owning, and re-reading, whether you are interested in the 1974 film, the Vietnam era, or the early 1970s in general.

Rom: Cold Fire, Hot War by Chris Ryall, Christos Gage, David Messina (artist), Ron Joseph (artist), Paolo Villanelli (artist), Guy Dorian (artist) and Sal Buscema (artist)

(pb; 2018: graphic novel, collecting “all fourteen issues of the 2016—2017 IDW-imprint/comic book series, the 2017 Annual, and the Rom: Revolution one-shot”)

From the back cover

“The evil Dire Wraiths have escaped to Earth, but are hounded by  a Knight of the Solstar Order, the one feared more than all others.

“He is Rom, the Wraith-slayer. Rom the Spaceknight!

“Having followed the Dire Wraiths across the galaxy, Rom finds they have infiltrated all levels of society, hiding in plain sight. Replacing many humans in key leadership positions, the Wraiths’ plan to dominate the planet─and everyone on it─is gaining momentum. But Rom finds resistance from the humans as well, who fear he is just another alien invading Earth. He is joined in the battle by two other Solstar Knights. . . but are they here as friends or foes?”

Review

Cold Fire is a fun, smart and character-interesting update of the original Rom comic books series, which ran under the Marvel imprint from 1979—1986. (Even the villains, the Direwraiths, are presented as fully realized beings, making them─and their viewpoints─more fascinating.)

Not only that, this IDW-based update incorporates modern elements and artwork (that, thankfully, does not suck in the way that computer-generated drawings sometimes do). Rom also respects the action-based storyline and spirit of the original run, as well, which made me, who read the 1979 series as a child, just as happy now (as I was then). This brief series ended after fifteen issues, which is a shame, because it looks like they were gearing up for some intriguing tale-spiral possibilities. Worth owning, this.

Hannibal Rising by Thomas Harris

(hb; 2006; fourth book in the Hannibal Lecter quadrilogy)

From the back cover

“Hannibal Lecter emerges from the nightmare of the Eastern Front, a boy in the snow, mute, with a chain around his neck.

“He seems utterly alone, but he has brought his demons with him.

“Hannibal’s uncle, a noted painter, finds him in a Soviet orphanage and bring him to France, where Hannibal will live with his uncle and his uncle’s beautiful and exotic wife, Lady Murasaki.

“Lady Murasaki helps Hannibal to heal. With her help, he flourishes, becoming the youngest person ever admitted to medical school in France.

“But Hannibal’s demons visit him and torment him. When he is old enough, he visits them in turn.

“He discovers his gifts beyond the academic, and in that epiphany, Hannibal Lecter becomes death’s prodigy.”

Review

This prequel to the first three Hannibal Lecter books is perhaps my favorite of the quadrilogy, because of it is a (mostly) straightforward revenge─there are parts that occasionally run a bit long about art, directly related to his family’s death and loss of fortune, that foreshadow his later obsession with high culture (art, culinary and its other facets). That is a minor nit, however, considering that my favorite genre is lean ‘n’ mean pulp tales, that allow for little or no word-fat.

This is an excellent, burn-through read, if you like World War II history, dark thrillers and interesting characters.

#

The resulting film was released stateside on February 9, 2007. Peter Webber directed it, from a screenplay by the book’s author, Thomas Harris.

Gaspard Ulliel played Hannibal Lecter. Aaran Thomas played “Young Hannibal.” Li Gong, billed as Gong Li, played Lady Murasaki.

Dominic West played Inspector Popil. Rhys Ifan played Vladis Grutas. Richard Brake played Enrikas Dortlich. Kevin McKidd played Petras Kolnas. Joerg Stadler played Bernd.

Helena Lia-Tachovska played Mischa Lecter. Ingeborga Dapkunaite played “Mother Lecter.” Richard Leaf played “Father Lecter.”

Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War by Mary Roach

(hb; 2016: nonfiction)

From the inside flap:

“Grunt tackles the science behind some of a soldier’s most challenging adversaries─panic, exhaustion, heat, noise─and introduces us to the scientists who seek to conquer them. Mary Roach dodges hostile fire with the US Marine corps Paintball Team as part of a study on hearing loss and survivability in combat. She visits the fashion design studio of US Army Natick Labes and learns why a zipper is  a problem for a sniper. She visits a repurposed movie studio where ampoutee actors help prepare Marine Corps medics for the shock and gore of combat wounds. At Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti, in east Africa, we learn how diarrhea can be a threat to national security. The author samples caffeinated meat, sniffs an archival sample of a World War II stink bomb, and stays up all night with the crew tending the missiles on the nuclear submarine USS Tennessee. She answers questions not found in any other book on the military: Why is DARPA interested in ducks? How is a wedding gown like a bomb suit? Why are shrimp more dangerous to sailors than sharks? Take a tour of duty with Roach, and you’ll never see our nation’s defenders in the same way again.”

Review

Roach’s Grunt, like her other books, is an entertaining, informative and often witty read, one that may change the way you view human nature, as well as the science behind government-funded experiments, and how scientists and military personnel apply the results of those experiments. Favorite chapters: “Old Chum”; “That Sinking Feeling” and “Up and Under.” This is an excellent nonfiction book, one worth owning.

Rob Guillory’s Farmhand, Volume 1: Reap What Was Sown by Rob Guillory

(pb; 2019: graphic novel, collecting issues #1—5 of the Image-imprint comic book series. Publisher: Image.)

From the back cover

“Jedediah Jenkins is a simple farmer. But his cash crop isn’t corn or soy.

He grows fast-healing, highly customizable human organs.

“For years, Jed’s organic transplants hve brought healing to many, but deep beneath the soil of the Jenkins Family Farm there is something sinister taking root. Today this dark seed will begin to sprout, and the Jenkins family will be the first to taste its bitter fruit.

“From Eisner Award-winning artist Rob Guillory (Chew), comes a new darkly comedic series about science gone sinister and agriculture gone apocalyptic.

“Nature is a Mother.”

Review

Farmhand is an entertaining, fast-paced comic book series with its eye-catching art, well-written and relatable characters, and storyline-inherent multilayered themes of generational conflict, cutting-edge science vs. religious faith, as well as the oft-told, nature-flouting lessons of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. These elements make Farmhand an intriguing, familial, horrific and science fiction-ish read, one that I am glad I own. (I am picky about what I keep on my bookshelf.)

Labyrinth by Eric Mackenzie-Lamb

(pb;1979)

From the back cover

“A handsome, brilliant college professor framed by the sexual hysteria of a lovelorn student and forced to leave civilization and safety behind. . . A vicious psychopath with bizarre carnal tastes and a bestial talent for killing. . .  A lovely young heiress drawn by forbidden desire into a nightmare of her own perverse making. . . All of them deep in the heart of a vat, unmapped Okefenokee swamp, where a fabulous lost treasure baited the most hideous trap this side of hell.”

Review

Labyrinth is a great, entertaining pulp novel with vivid, simile-rich descriptions, effective and often enthralling action sequences and well-written characters whose passions, light and dark, make for heroes worth sympathizing with and rooting for, as well as villains worth hissing at. If you are looking for fast read, pre-Eighties thriller with a Southern Comfort setting,Civil War history and a violent treasure hunt thrown into the mix, this may be a book you would want to own.

Before the Chop IV (and After): LA Weekly Writing (and More), 2012—2018 by Henry Rollins

(pb; 2018: nonfiction/media column collection)

Review

Chop IV continues in the thematic vein of its first three volumes, with Rollins writing about his love of listening to vinyl, travel and learning, as well as the joys and downfalls of spoken word gigs. He also, of course, geeks out about his favorite bands and friends (e.g., Iggy Pop) and shares blunt, smart observations about getting older in a society that does not value aging, nor the its (hopefully) attendant wisdom.

Of the four volumes, this is the least joyous and fun, but that is not Rollins’s fault, nor is it a reflection of the quality of his writing. It reflects, rather, the times: like so many things in the now, it is tainted with our current US President and his effect on─it seems─everything. This a minor caveat, at worst, for those of us seeking a respite from the daily toxicity oozing from the White House. Or, to put it another way: Chop IV is worth owning despite its inevitable reflections on our current societal climate.