Synopsis/blurb….
Return of a femme
fatale. Beautiful, homicidal Julie has one lethal solution for every problem.
And now Nolan and his sometime sidekick Jon have gotten on Julie's
"problem" list. If a pair of out-of-town hitmen can't do the job,
Julie will do it herself. Said the Cleveland Plain Dealer: "For fans of
the hardboiled crime novel...this is powerful and highly enjoyable reading,
fast moving and very, very tough." Now six of Max Allan Collins's early
Nolan novels are back in print, with new Introductions by the author.
Book 6 in the Nolan series of 8 from
Most of the time we are in the company of Jon, Nolan’s young
sidekick. Jon’s playing in a band and has a casual on-off sex thing with the
other lead singer – Toni. The band are popular on the local circuit, but are
playing their last gig before splitting – musical differences apparently -
Jon’s cohorts being metal-heads. I found this start to the novel interesting
and a bit of a change from other entries in the series. Collins explains in his
introduction, that back in the day he was a gigging musician. You could tell he
has a real passion for music.
Moving on. From the stage Jon think he spots an unwelcome
face from the past (and an earlier Nolan book). Julie was the back-stabbing
psycho bitch who tried to kill both Jon and Nolan before absconding with the
proceeds from their insider-led bank job. Jon isn’t too sure, but when he goes
into the crowd to investigate his target has vanished.
Julie is herself having a likewise moment of deja-vous and
when her suspicions get confirmed. She instigates Jon’s kidnapping with the
sole purpose of keeping the relentless Nolan off her back and keeping all the
loot from the bank robbery. Information drawn from Jon under duress, allows her
the opportunity to sic a couple of “Family” hitmen onto Nolan with the express
purpose of taking him off the board permanently.
Unbeknownst to Julie, Jon and his on-off girlfriend – Toni –
get a message through to Nolan before he is snatched. Nolan – out of town on
business – arrives home to find his dog dead, his girlfriend being tied up and
threatened and two Mafia hitmen to deal with.
An angry man when roused, Nolan deals with the situation.
Deciphering Jon’s cryptic phone message he heads after his protégé knowing
something is amiss, but unsure what.
Teaming up with Jon’s on-off f-buddy Toni, he’s soon on
Julie’s coat-tails. In the author’s capable hands we get an interesting and
somewhat bloody resolution.
Another belter and time well spent in the company of one of
my favourite series crims.
4.5 from 5
In October I’ll be reading the penultimate Nolan novel – Spree.
Scratch Fever was
bought a couple of years ago for Kindle.
It's always great to be re-introduced to 'old friends' from other novels, isn't it, Col? And I really do like the musical context for this one. Glad you enjoyed this one!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Margot. It was slightly different to the set-up of the other Nolan's I've read and just as enjoyable. I did like the musical back-drop.
DeleteYou clearly like Collins's work very much indeed. Glad to hear you had such fun with this one!
ReplyDeleteIndeed I do. I'm actually looking forward to finishing this series and embarking on another one of his series characters - QUARRY - a hit man. Sounds right up my street!
DeleteYou certainly always make the Collins books sound interesting...
ReplyDeleteHis Nate Heller books might be up your street Moira.
DeleteWell, I want to try Collins but I have two other series to try. If I don't like those, maybe I will check this one out. Very prolific writer.
ReplyDeleteVery very prolific which is kind of intimidating as a new reader (it is to me anyway). I think I have had to discount reading his Nate Heller series based on numbers alone (and cost). I think I would enjoy them though. I will be reading his Quarry series, which I think is 11 or 12 books long.
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