Night of the Juggler by William P. McGivern

 

(pb; 1975)

From the back cover

“Gus Soltik can’t read, can’t even think straight, but he knows it’s October 15^th, the fifth anniversary of his mother’s death. On this day Gus will kill again─slashing young Kate Boyd’s throat. Two men have precious few hours to stop him. But first they must fight each other.”

 

Review

Juggler is an immediately immersive and excellent police procedural, with characters who are, for the most part, well-developed, driving the action with their personalities and actions. A few characters are narrowly defined and/or odd, probable cannon fodder-type figures by today’s “woke” standards, but in the mid-Seventies they were standard fare (McGivern’s handling of Manolo is a bit over-the-top; that said, Manolo is more than a flashy homosexual, and this is crime novel, not a melodramatic character study.) The action is constant, the pace never lags, and the writing is focused, with a great ending scene between two of the main characters. Worth reading and owning, this.

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The resulting film was released stateside on June 6, 1980. Robert Butler and an uncredited Sidney J.Furie directed it, from a screenplay by William W. Norton (billed as Bill Norton Sr.) and Rick Natkin.

Cliff Gorman played Gus Soltic. Richard S.Castellano, billed as Richard Castellano, played Lt. Tonelli. James Brolin played Sean Boyd (cinematic stand-in for Luther Boyd). Linda Miller, billed as Linda G. Miller, played Barbara Boyd. Abby Bluestone played Kathy Boyd.

Dan Hedaya played Sgt. Otis Barnes. Mandy Pantinkin played Allesandro the Cabbie. Richard Gant played “Hospital Cop.” Sharon Mitchell played Susie. John Randolph Jones played “Truck Driver.”