A terrific police procedural with its main storyline intertwining with another, told from the perpetrator's point of view. So, it's not much of a mystery, but there's plenty of action, intrigue, romance, and even humour to make it a real page-turner. Great pace, too, as the whole thing is finished over three days. And, btw, chapters are titled by days and timespans within them, which is something I always like to see.
It all ties nicely together, and technical details—more often than not overplayed in police procedurals—are balanced just right in the proper dosage. We have the technological wonders of the IBM computer (along with stacks of punching cards, of course), polygraph tests, ballistic lab stuff, and basically loads of hard work and determination that pay off. The investigation doesn't simply follow from point A to point B, but instead, there are many bum leads and realistic obstacles, like the little episode in which a cop runs out of gas while driving to pick up a major witness! Did I mention there was some humour in this one? Additionally, refer to the "Bad guy" section of the facts below for more.
I do have a few minor complaints. Negro/nigger words are used too often. However, it needs to be said that such racist language is used strictly as a characterisation tool (nicer people would say 'blackfella') and to make the novel more realistic. I hope. I certainly didn't get the impression there was anything intentionally racist about it.
It wouldn't suffer much from trimming of 20-odd pages and a slight rewrite of the ending. I don't think that the asshole pimp Lucas should break that easily. However, at that point, we are past page 200, so it's likely Mr Costigan just wanted to wrap it up. Like I'm doing now.
Short enough?
4/5
Facts:
Hero:
Detective Lieutenant Johnny Cristo is the main character we follow, but in some ways, the hero of this story would be the entire police precinct. I especially liked Eleanor, "the diminutive little lady", who runs the IBM mainframe.
The bad guy(s):
Syndicate running Old Man is the top dog, and the main villains are the ex-pimp Frank Lucas - "a graduate of Sing Sing, an alumnus of San Quentin" and his henchman Marthusian.
But the real star is Fenton, the hitman. We get some idea of him upon his first appearance:
There was no stamp of the Syndicate upon him. There was something odd, though, something strangely fanatic in his face.
It was his eyes. They were dark, luminous, and they seemed never to blink. Frank Lucas had once seen a movie in which John Brown had stormed the arsenal at Harpers Ferry.
Fenton reminded him of John Brown.
I wouldn't go as far as to say that he steals the entire show, but he's definitely a cherry on the cake. Some piece of work this guy is. The polar opposite of the usual professional hitman. Not very bright since he kills a cop at the airport toilet right upon his arrival and later - even worse - kills the wrong guy!? And why, you may ask? Well, he simply picked his target's address from the phonebook, and there happened to be a couple of guys with the same name. So, forget the usual stuff about hit preparation, such as long surveillance and gathering information about the target's habits. All that Fenton requires is the name, the address and a piece of advice from the newspaper's horoscope (!!):
Today is a propitious one for action which you may have been holding off for days or even months. Act today to buttress your position at work, in financial dealings or in matters of love.
Not exactly a psychopath. To one of his victims, he looks like "a Midwest farmer dressed for a church breakfast".
It's hilarious to read about the troubles he's putting his employees through. Even though he's told numerous times to back off until things cool down after the cop-killing fuck-up, he doesn't even consider giving up. When Lucas suggests hiding him in one of his establishments (since he's a pimp, you can imagine what they would be), Fenton flatly rejects such an idea because he's a religious man and won't stay in "them" houses. And he's no drinking man either, which drives Marthusian crazy later when he chaperones him.
Location:
I don't recall it being explicitly named, so it would be one of those 87th precincts: "the city in these pages is imaginary".
It all ties nicely together, and technical details—more often than not overplayed in police procedurals—are balanced just right in the proper dosage. We have the technological wonders of the IBM computer (along with stacks of punching cards, of course), polygraph tests, ballistic lab stuff, and basically loads of hard work and determination that pay off. The investigation doesn't simply follow from point A to point B, but instead, there are many bum leads and realistic obstacles, like the little episode in which a cop runs out of gas while driving to pick up a major witness! Did I mention there was some humour in this one? Additionally, refer to the "Bad guy" section of the facts below for more.
I do have a few minor complaints. Negro/nigger words are used too often. However, it needs to be said that such racist language is used strictly as a characterisation tool (nicer people would say 'blackfella') and to make the novel more realistic. I hope. I certainly didn't get the impression there was anything intentionally racist about it.
It wouldn't suffer much from trimming of 20-odd pages and a slight rewrite of the ending. I don't think that the asshole pimp Lucas should break that easily. However, at that point, we are past page 200, so it's likely Mr Costigan just wanted to wrap it up. Like I'm doing now.
Short enough?
4/5
Facts:
Hero:
Detective Lieutenant Johnny Cristo is the main character we follow, but in some ways, the hero of this story would be the entire police precinct. I especially liked Eleanor, "the diminutive little lady", who runs the IBM mainframe.
The bad guy(s):
Syndicate running Old Man is the top dog, and the main villains are the ex-pimp Frank Lucas - "a graduate of Sing Sing, an alumnus of San Quentin" and his henchman Marthusian.
But the real star is Fenton, the hitman. We get some idea of him upon his first appearance:
There was no stamp of the Syndicate upon him. There was something odd, though, something strangely fanatic in his face.
It was his eyes. They were dark, luminous, and they seemed never to blink. Frank Lucas had once seen a movie in which John Brown had stormed the arsenal at Harpers Ferry.
Fenton reminded him of John Brown.
I wouldn't go as far as to say that he steals the entire show, but he's definitely a cherry on the cake. Some piece of work this guy is. The polar opposite of the usual professional hitman. Not very bright since he kills a cop at the airport toilet right upon his arrival and later - even worse - kills the wrong guy!? And why, you may ask? Well, he simply picked his target's address from the phonebook, and there happened to be a couple of guys with the same name. So, forget the usual stuff about hit preparation, such as long surveillance and gathering information about the target's habits. All that Fenton requires is the name, the address and a piece of advice from the newspaper's horoscope (!!):
Today is a propitious one for action which you may have been holding off for days or even months. Act today to buttress your position at work, in financial dealings or in matters of love.
Not exactly a psychopath. To one of his victims, he looks like "a Midwest farmer dressed for a church breakfast".
It's hilarious to read about the troubles he's putting his employees through. Even though he's told numerous times to back off until things cool down after the cop-killing fuck-up, he doesn't even consider giving up. When Lucas suggests hiding him in one of his establishments (since he's a pimp, you can imagine what they would be), Fenton flatly rejects such an idea because he's a religious man and won't stay in "them" houses. And he's no drinking man either, which drives Marthusian crazy later when he chaperones him.
Dames:
There's Johnny's love interest, Terry. She's cool, and this time I wasn't bothered too much with the "I Love You" crap after their one-night stand.
And we have seductress stewardess Sally with "curves that seemed to move with a life of their own" and "stacked like a cross between Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield". But she's around only briefly for an interview and to give our Johnny boy some ideas...
Finally, there's Mrs Lucas. She is mentioned for the first time when her husband is introduced:
There was a man with a record as long as his arm, and a woman with a record barely shorter... The man's name was Frank Lucas and the woman was his wife.
And:
He had a pretty wife, younger than himself, intelligent and elastic enough to hide her past.
And finally, for the only time when she briefly makes an appearance, she's described as a "stylish woman of statuesque proportions".
But unfortunately, that's it. Intriguing (elastic!?) with great potential but not used at all. It would be cool to find a prequel to this book centred around her and Fenton.
There's Johnny's love interest, Terry. She's cool, and this time I wasn't bothered too much with the "I Love You" crap after their one-night stand.
And we have seductress stewardess Sally with "curves that seemed to move with a life of their own" and "stacked like a cross between Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield". But she's around only briefly for an interview and to give our Johnny boy some ideas...
Finally, there's Mrs Lucas. She is mentioned for the first time when her husband is introduced:
There was a man with a record as long as his arm, and a woman with a record barely shorter... The man's name was Frank Lucas and the woman was his wife.
And:
He had a pretty wife, younger than himself, intelligent and elastic enough to hide her past.
And finally, for the only time when she briefly makes an appearance, she's described as a "stylish woman of statuesque proportions".
But unfortunately, that's it. Intriguing (elastic!?) with great potential but not used at all. It would be cool to find a prequel to this book centred around her and Fenton.
I don't recall it being explicitly named, so it would be one of those 87th precincts: "the city in these pages is imaginary".
Body count:
3 (+ 1 Fentom's victim that is not directly related)
The object of desire:
Finding a cop killer
Blackouts:
None
References:
Did Frank see Michael Curtiz's Santa Fe Trail, and Fenton reminded him of Raymond Massey?
Cool Blurbs:
There are no notable blurbs, but I'm including the back cover scan anyway, as I find it amusing to see an advertisement for a book related to Jesus Christ on the back of a pulp paperback. Bad sales?
Title:
Another pretty self-explanatory one.
Dedicated to:
"To Ann"
3 (+ 1 Fentom's victim that is not directly related)
The object of desire:Finding a cop killer
Blackouts:
None
References:
Did Frank see Michael Curtiz's Santa Fe Trail, and Fenton reminded him of Raymond Massey?
Cool Blurbs:
There are no notable blurbs, but I'm including the back cover scan anyway, as I find it amusing to see an advertisement for a book related to Jesus Christ on the back of a pulp paperback. Bad sales?
Title:
Another pretty self-explanatory one.
Dedicated to:
"To Ann"
Edition:
Pocket Book #1256, 2nd printing, November 1959
Cover:
Nice one. No credits, but according to pulpcovers.com, done by Darrel Greene.
Cool lines:
There's a nice and somewhat tender subplot concerning one cop whose wife is growing tired of his constant absence and is about to leave him. So, it was nice to read this in the epilogue:
Motorcycle Patrolman Ryndes had solved his domestic problem by kidnapping his son, leaving him at his mother-in-law's, pouring three martinis into his wife and attacking her in bed.
That's an original and cool way to wrap up the book with a happy ending!
Pocket Book #1256, 2nd printing, November 1959
Cover:
Nice one. No credits, but according to pulpcovers.com, done by Darrel Greene.
Cool lines:
There's a nice and somewhat tender subplot concerning one cop whose wife is growing tired of his constant absence and is about to leave him. So, it was nice to read this in the epilogue:
Motorcycle Patrolman Ryndes had solved his domestic problem by kidnapping his son, leaving him at his mother-in-law's, pouring three martinis into his wife and attacking her in bed.
That's an original and cool way to wrap up the book with a happy ending!
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