Gilded Needles by Michael McDowell

(pb; 1980)

From the back cover

“Welcome to the Black Triangle, New York’s decadent district of opium dens, gambling casinos, drunken sailors, gaudy hookers, and back room abortions. The queen of this unsavory neighborhood is Black Lena Shanks, whose family leads a ring of female criminals─women skilled in the art of cruelty.

“Only a few blocks away, amdist the elegant mansions and lily-white reputations of Gramercy Park and Washington Square, lives Judge James Stallworth. On a crusade to crush Lena’s evil empire, the judge has sentenced three of her family members to death. And now she wants revenge.

“One Sunday, all the Stallworths receive invitations─to their own funerals. Can even the wealth and power of the Stallworth family protect them from Lena’s lust for vengeance?”

Review

Gilded is one of the best books I’ve read this year. It is an intense, cinematic-vivid, character-rich, slow burn of a period piece thriller, one that was near-impossible to set down from its first page to its last. It is worth not only worth reading and owning.

The Running Man by J. Hunter Holly (a.k.a. Joan Hunter Holly)

(pb; 1963)

From the inside flap

“NO ONE WAS SAFE FROM THE POWERFUL FORCE!

“‘I can’t tell you my name,’ the trembling man stammered out. ‘I’m simply  a man, Mr. Munro─a man running for his life! But whether or not I’m able to stay alive or not, someone else must know. . .’

“And what the running man knew was incredible and horrifying. But before the night was over, the running man was dead, and with that, Jeff Munro had to believe the horrifying truth. And he had to find a way to destroy the evil power that was loose upon the world. It had come from outer space, reaching into our Solar System from a faraway star. It was a power that could invade men’s minds. It was a power capable of ruling the entire universe.”

Review

Running is a fun, fast-paced and action-oriented science fiction/alien cult-conspiracy novel. The usual twists, turns and occasional betrayals keep this novella interesting, making it worth your time.
 

The 2013 “Deluxe Paperback Edition” I read was republished by Armchair Fiction as a two-novellas-one-paperback work. Its companion novella is William P. McGivern’s The Mad Robot (it was originally published in the January 1944 issue of Amazing Stories).

A Killer is Loose by Gil Brewer

(pb; 1954: novella)

From the inside flap

“Ex-cop Steve Logan is down on his luck. With a baby on the way, Logan decides to pawn his last pistol to a bartender friend. On his way, he rescues a stranger, Ralph Angers, from being hit by an oncoming bus. Angers is an eye surgeon and a Korean War vet, and he has plans to build a hospital in town. Unfortunately, he is also prepared to kill anyone and everyone who gets in the way of his plans. So when Angers manages to get a hold of Logan’s Luger, he also drags his rescuer into a nightmare of murder and insanity. Logan becomes a hostage to Angers’s plans, and there will be no mercy to anyone who gets in his way.”

Review

Killer is an excellent, immediate-action-and-desperation tale, where its protagonist is thrust into bad-to-worse situations, with a delusional psycho who’s flick-of-the-switch wild. The body count is high in Brewer’s hard-to-set-down pulpy read, each killing horrific in its casual, fast-shot execution. Killer delivers the goods on all counts, even with its lapses into sexist attitudes and pat-happy ending (remember this was written in the late 1950s, not 2019). Worth owning, this.

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The resulting film, La machine à découdre, was release in France on May 7, 1986. It was directed by Jean-Pierre Mocky, who also wrote the screenplay and played the character of Ralph Enger.

Patricia Barzyk played Lilane. Piere Semmler, billed as Peter Semmler, played Steff Muller. François Michaud, billed as François Michaux, played Betty.

The Shape Shifter by Tony Hillerman

(pb; 2006: eighteenth book in the Navajo Tribal Police/Leaphorn and Chee series)

From the back cover

“Retirement has never sat well with former Navajo Tribal Policeman Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn. Now the ghosts of a still-unsolved case are returning to haunt him, reawakened by a photograph in a magazine spread of a one-of-a-kind Navajo rug, a priceless work of woven art that was supposedly destroyed in a suspicious fire many years earlier. The rug, commemorating one of the darkest and most terrible chapters in American history, was always said to be cursed, and now the friend who brought to Leaphorn’s attention has mysteriously gone missing.

“With newly wedded officers Jim Chee and Bernie Manuelito just back fromt heir honeymoon, the legendary ex-lawman is one his own to pick up the threads of a crime he’d once thought impossible to untangle. And they’re leading him back into a world of lethal greed, shifting truths, and changing faces, where a cold-blooded killer still resides.”

Review

Steeped in Native American myths and legends, Shape is a good, steady-pace cop procedural with interesting multicultural characters, myth- and legend-infused action and characterization and a suspenseful climax. The identity of the villain is easy to figure out but in Shape it is not a criticism because Leaphorn’s journey and the multicultural stories he hears and tells are more important than the mystery aspect of the novel. This is worth reading and owning, if the above back cover description and this review interest you.

Mr. Vertigo by Paul Auster

(hb; 1994)

From the inside flap

“It is 1927, the year of Babe Ruth and Charle Lindbergh─and of Walter Claireborne Rawley, a streetwise orphan from Saint Louis who becomes ‘Walt the Wonder Boy,’ a diminutive showman famous for stunning audiences across the country with his feats of levitation.

“Walt’s teacher is Master Yehudi, a mysterious iconoclast who rescues him from poverty and instills in him the faith, fearlessness, and devotion to hard work essential to such a magnificent venture. Inevitably, Master Yehudi and Walt fall prey to the sinners, thieves, and villains in America in its pre-depression heyday, from the Kansas Klu Klux Klan to the Chicago mob, and Walt’s resilience, like that of his young nation, is over and again challenged.”

Review

Vertigo is an excellent, immediately immersive novel. Its mix of “magic,” American history, colorful characters and its from-high-to-low-situations storyline made Vertigo hard to set down, one that will likely stick in this reader’s memory for a long while. Worth owning, this.

Star Wars: Thrawn─Treason by Timothy Zahn

(hb; 2019: sequel to Star Wars: Thrawn─Alliance)

From the inside flap

“‘If I were to serve the Empire, you would command my allegiance.’

“Such was the promise Grand Admiral Thrawn made to Emperor Palpatine at their fist meeting. Since then, Thrawn has been one of the Empire’s most effective instruments, pursuing its enemies to the very edges of the known galaxy. But as keen a weapon Thrawn has become, the emperor dreams of something far more destructive.

“Now, as Thrawn’s TIE-defender program is halted in favor of Director Krennic’s secret Death Star project, he rewalizes that the balance of power in the Empire is meausured by more than just military acumen or tactical efficiency. Even the greatest intellect can hardly compete with the power to annihilate emnitre planets.

“As Thrawn works to secure his place in the Imperial hierarchy, his former protégé, Eli Vanto, returns with a dire warning about Thrawn’s homeworld. Thrawn’s mastery of strategy must guide him through an impossible choice: duty to the Chiss Ascendancy or fealty to the Empire he has sworn to serve. Even if the right choice means committing treason.”

Review

Treason is a good, fun and often-thrilling science fiction read, like one of its prequels, Star Wars: Thrawn. Thrawn, clever─and lucky─strategist, deftly navigates his path through a battery of conflicting elements, situations and personalities, trying to unite his dual allegiances together in a way that is ultimately faithful to both. It is a fast-burn, intriguing entry in the Star Wars franchise, worth your time.

The Sentinel by Jeffrey Konvitz

(hb; 1974: prequel to The Guardian)

From the inside flap

“When Allison Parker found the old brownstone apartment it was to be a new beginning─a place where she cold forge the agony of her father’s illness and death, a place where she could quietly recover from that long ordeal. But slowly a sense of mounting terror began to take over. The neighbors─the old man and his cat, the two strange women, the blind priest─seemed to be something other than what they appeared.

“Then the headaches began. They had plagued her as she watched her father die; now they returned with an intensity that left her numb and shaken, threatening her tenuous grip on reality. And then she realized that here on  this quiet street an epic battle was being waged, a battle ordained from the beginning of time; and she was the prize.”

Review

Sentinel is an excellent, often-unnerving horror novel, with some terrifying images and action, and a pervasive sense of dread throughout its run. Its characters range from religious-iconic shallow and evil to fully realized (especially Christina and her boyfriend, Michael)─most of them work in the story. I write “most” because of the way two next-door lesbians are presented: the outsized horror and derision that is shown toward them may raise the hackles of modern-day LGBT+ supporters (Christina, in general, is horrified by them; Michael dismisses them as “vicious”).

I was initially alarmed at the venom Christina verbally and physically displays towards them (she does not just condemn them for being publicly lascivious, she condemns them for being lesbians). Then I checked myself, remembered Christina─victimized by her family and Catholic─is repressed, so any enthusiastic lustful displays are bound to offend her, especially those expressed by a group that most religions have demonized for thousands of years. Not only that, the 1970s, while progressing women’s rights (up to a point), were a period─like now─when aggressive, necessary feminism was getting a lot of scary, verbal and physical pushback not only from men, but gender-traitorous hausfrau women.

I normally would not give this much “airtime” to an issue that should be dismissed with an understanding of presentism (judge a work by the society and time period that produced it) and its protagonist’s paranoid bias. Unfortunately, a lot of knee-jerk social warriors may not take the time to check their biases while reading this hard-to-set-down, no-words-wasted suspense/horror novel, which may be a milestone for many, including myself, in the 1970s.

This vivid-enough-to be-called-cinematic book is worth owning, if you can get past its dated, egregious attitudinal flaws regarding women and LGBT+ issues. Followed by The Guardian.

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The resulting film was released stateside on January 7, 1977. Michael Winner directed and co-wrote the film. His co-screenwriter was book-source author Jeffrey Konvitz.

Christina Raines played Allison Parker. Chris Sarandon play Michael Lerman. Jeff Goldblum played Jack. Deborah Raffin played Jennifer.

Ava Gardner played Miss Logan. Eli Wallach played Detective Gatz. Christopher Walken played Detective Rizzo. 

Burgess Meredith played Charles Chazen. Sylvia Miles played Gerde. Beverly D’Angelo played Sandra. Kate Harrington played Mrs. Clark.

Martin Balsam played Professor Ruzinsky. Hank Garrett played Brenner. William Hickey played Perry.

Arthur Kennedy played Monsignor Franchino. John Carradine played Father Halliran. José Ferrer played “Robed Figure.” Jerry Orbach played “Film Director.” Tom Berrenger played “Man at end.” Nana Visitor, billed as Nana Tucker, played "Girl at end."

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.