Friday 19 August 2022

MAX ALLAN COLLINS - QUARRY'S BLOOD (2022)

Synopsis/blurb …

The hitman hero of the acclaimed series Quarry on Cinemax returns for his final act. By Quarry’s creator, the award-winning author of Road to Perdition!

QUARRY'S VIOLENT PAST COMES LOOKING FOR HIM

The professional hitman known as Quarry -- star of the Cinemax TV miniseries of the same name -- has put killing behind him. But after a beautiful writer of true-crime bestsellers drops by to announce he's the subject of her next book, killers descend to give him some of his own deadly medicine, forcing Quarry to journey into his bloody past to find the answers -- and settle old scores.

QUARRY’S BLOOD brings the hitman’s decades-long saga right up to the present day as MWA Grand Master Max Allan Collins explores the startling final act of Quarry’s professional career.

I’ve been a fan of the Quarry books for a number of years, though haven’t been able to keep pace with them all. Quarry’s Blood is the 16th in the series. I read the first three or four back in 2016, but then got distracted.

Here Quarry’s an old man and is retired. A journalist/true crime author comes to him with some questions, believing that some of the fictional books he authored years ago are thinly veiled accounts of hits he carried out for The Broker before his death. She thinks Quarry was the main hitman and seeks confirmation of some of his deeds.

Between his earlier books, her first book and her intended next book some old acquaintances from the past decide to settle some outstanding blood debts. Quarry and his new confidant go on a hunt with both notebook and gun in hand to try and discover who is trying to kill him. I’m guessing some of the encounters touch on plots and characters from some of the books I haven’t yet read.

Overall I liked it. I like the main character and the trouble author Collins rains down on him. It’s interesting seeing what tricks the older hitman still has up his sleeve. I probably would have enjoyed it a bit more if I had read all the previous books, but that one’s on me not Max Allan.

It’s a definite incentive to backtrack and start again.

Quarry (read in 2021), Quarry (read in 2016), Quarry's List, Quarry's Deal and Quarry's Cut have been enjoyed before. 

4 stars from 5


Read – August, 2022

Published – 2022

Page count – 224

Source – review copy – Edelweiss Above the Treeline

Format - Kindle

6 comments:

  1. That's the thing about a long-running series, isn't it, Col? You can sometimes miss things if you don't keep up with the novels. I know that's happened to me several times. There's just not a lot of time for keeping up with every series... At any rate, it is interesting to see what a hitman is like when he's older and ready to put it all aside. And the crime writer character sounds interesting, too.

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    1. Margot, I wish I was retired and could devote many more hours to my reading. I'd still only ever scratch at the surface of all I'd want to read. I liked the aging of the character here, it worked well for me. I hope I can backtrack and catch up, but we'll see.

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  2. It's on the writer to make each book standalone. I think this one does, within reason, but is definitely going to be more fully enjoyed by someone who's read the other books. That said, the Quarry novels have not appeared in order (same is true of my Nathan Heller series), spurred by what story pops into my head and where in the continuity it seems to work best. There are basically two periods of Quarry -- when he works with/for the Broker, which leads into the next period, when he is approaching targetted victims of hitmen and offers his services to remove the threat. The novels I've written in recent years that predate QUARRY aka THE BROKER were inspired by the TV series beginning with what was essentially their take on the character's origin...a whole season of TV based on a few paragraphs in that book.

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    1. Max, thanks for stopping by and offering some context. I've enjoyed all the books I've read of yours. Long may it continue!

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  3. Col – I’ve enjoyed several of Collins’ books. And I know what you mean about keeping up with his output.

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    1. Elgin, he's pretty prolific. I've had to be selective on which of his series I follow.

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