Heads You Lose

Heads You Lose by Brett Halliday

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


A gas station owner named Clem Wilson calls Michael Shayne for help and is murdered while on the phone. Who murdered the gas station owner and why? That's what Michael Shayne has to know. But can he find out who gunned down Clem Wilson before he's gunned down himself?

Okay, now this is more like it. After the disappointment of Fourth Down to Death, Heads You Lose has redeemed Michael Shayne a bit in my eyes.

The plot to Heads You Lose is so much more complex than it seems at first glance. The wartime setting and the rationing of gasoline proves to be the lynchpin that holds everything together. It took me forever to figure out who killed Clem Wilson and I like to think I have respectable sleuthing skills.

The body count in this one is fairly high and most of the deaths were unexpected. Halliday did a lot of misdirection in this one. Clem Wilson's deserter son wound up being a giant red herring after it sure looked like he was behind his father's murder early on. While I knew there are over 100 of these, I still feared for Michael Shayne a couple times.

No big complaints on this. It's a product of the time it was written so the idea of rationing gas and rubber isn't really relateable. Aside from powerful lady lawyer, the other female characters were standard for detective stories of its day.

Some of the characters were a little weak but as a thrilling detective story, Heads You Lose easily got the job done. I wouldn't say it was amazing or timeless but I enjoyed it quite a bit.



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Fantastic Four: 1234

Fantastic Four: 1234 by Grant Morrison

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


As Dr. Doom picks off the members of the Fantastic Four one at a time with help from Namor and the Mole Man, Reed Richards is cooped up in his lab. Can he find a way to stop Doom? And will he stop him if he can?

For a Grant Morrison story, 1234 is pretty straight forward. Dr. Doom is manipulating reality and trying to destroy the Fantastic Four. The Thing ends up human minus an arm, Sue gets entangled with Namor, and Johnny falls victim to the Mole Man.

Despite being pretty well written, I didn't find the story to have much substance. Grant Morrison's known for throwing a lot of big ideas around and that's what I expected from this one. Besides hints that Dr. Doom is part of Reed Richards' subconscious, there was very little of that here. Reed's role in the story reminded me of a condensed version of what Blackbolt did in the Inhumans miniseries by Jae Lee and Paul Jenkins.

The artwork was pretty good but I've seen better from Jae Lee both before and since. I guess my main gripe with 1234 is that neither creator really lived up to my expectations. It was still enjoyable but really nothing special.



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Ska: An Oral History

Ska: An Oral History by Heather Augustyn

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Ska: An Oral History covers the history of ska music from its inception to Jamaica through the ska boom of the 90's, all the way up to present day.



Lean closer everyone, I have something to reveal. I became a ska fan when I got my first CD player in 1993 and my neighbor gave me a copy of Ska Core, the Devil, and More by The Mighty Mighty Bosstones. I've remained a fan of the music ever since, though these days I'm more into the more traditional ska sound of The Slackers, Mr. T-Bone, and Dr. Ring-Ding. Anyway, on to the review...


The chronicle starts in Jamaica, naturally. Pioneers like Derrick Morgan, Prince Buster, Desmond Dekker, Toots Hibbert, and The Skatellites were given their due. Some of the stuff, like Don Drummond murdering his girlfriend and dying in the insane asylum, I was familiar with. Others, like the feud between Derrick Morgan and Prince Buster, I was not.


From there, the English skinhead reggae scene of the 60's is covered, primarily focusing on Laurel Aitken and Judge Dread. The focus shifts to the two tone era of The Specials, the Selecter, Madness, and Bad Manners. It really put me in the mood to dig out the Specials debut album. Actually, I'd say a bit too much time was spent on the two-tone era. I could have done without entire chapters detailing The Beat, The Selecter, and Bad Manners. It seemed a bit like padding.


The third wave was covered, starting with the Toasters and Bim Skala Bim, and moving along with Fishbone, Let's Go Bowling, the Scofflaws, Agent 99, Jump with Joey, and the New York Ska Jazz Ensemble.


Hepcat was mentioned next and I began getting excited. Then radio ska bands like No Doubt and The Mighty Mighty Bosstones were mentioned. Deals gone bad was mentioned and then Agent Jay of The Slackers and Isaac Green of The Skalars talked about how the scene died because most of the people going to shows were in bands and nobody was buying records. Which I witnessed first hand in my first couple of years of going to ska shows.


That's pretty much it. The book did a good job of detailing the history of ska but I think it focused on the two tone era a little too much and could have used more than a mention of The Slackers, since they are by far the biggest touring American ska band at the moment. It also wouldn't have hurt to mention that ska has a much bigger audience in Europe and Japan, evident by the turnouts that Mr. T-Bone, The Moon Invaders, and Dr. Ring-Ding see. For being released in 2010, it doesn't feel current to me.


Man, it's hard to settle on a rating for this. I'm giving it a three. I'd give it a four but the writing seemed choppy in places, especially during the transitions between topics.







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Beyond the Valley of the Apocalypse Donkeys

Beyond the Valley of the Apocalypse Donkeys by Jordan Krall

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Henry Price makes a delivery to a nudist colony and becomes entranced by a naked woman wearing a donkey mask. Gary Lancaster is obsessed with a movie called The Apocalypse Donkeys, a film that may or may not be real, and blueberry pancakes. Bill Stapleton is an aging former daredevil who knows someone is sleeping with his wife. But how are the men linked by the mysterious green hummingbird?

Jordan Krall continues to impress me. I first became a fan of his after Fistful of Feet, his bizarro western. Subsequent books of his like Squid Pulp Blues and King Scratch have reinforced my opinion of him as an author to watch in the future. Then this book came along.

I've read a lot of bizarro fiction in 2011 and this one may have taken the cake. How many other books have you read that prominently feature a naked woman in a donkey mask, a green hummingbird, blueberry pancakes, and a nudist colony? And I didn't even mention references to Small Wonder, that 80's sitcom featuring the little girl robot, or the 66 Ford Futura, the car they used to construct the Batmobile in the 1960's Batman show.

The book starts off just a little odd and becomes positively nightmarish by the end. The nature of identity is explored, as are aspects of voyeurism. The scene near the end with Gary and the coven of naked donkey-masked women was my favorite part of the book.

That's about all I have to say. Krall's rendered me speechless. It's an easy four but expect a helping of uneasiness while you read it.



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The Prettiest Girl I Ever Killed

The Prettiest Girl I Ever Killed by Charles Runyon

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


The sleepy town of Sherman seemed normal until Curt Friedland returned to clear his brother's name and get him out of jail. Now, a lot of accidental deaths are starting to seem like murder and housewife Velda Bayrd seems to be caught in the middle of things...

First off, The Prettiest Girl I Ever Killed is among the earliest serial killer novels. It stands up fairly well and has a nice "Who is the wolf in sheep's clothing" feel at times.

Velda Bayrd is unusual in that she's the heroine of a noir novel and isn't a femme fatale or a doormat. She's pretty interesting character, drawn to Curt Friendland despite being in a comfortable, albeit boring, marriage.

The writing is very workmanlike but it serves the purpose well enough. I like that Curt Friendland's almost a sociopath himself, driven to clear his brother's name at almost any cost.

The reveal of the killer was a bit of a letdown. There weren't enough likely suspects introduced to make my sleuthing efforts worthwhile. Still, the killer was pretty chilling once he was revealed and his background was explored a bit.

The Prettiest Girl I Ever Killed is an easy 3 and I'll be keeping an eye out for more paperback originals by Charles Runyon.



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LaBrava

LaBrava by Elmore Leonard

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Former Secret Service agent Joe LaBrava meets an actress he fell in love with at age twelve. Now she's being blackmailed by a redneck and his Cuban partner. Or is she...? Can LaBrava get to the bottom of things before he winds up dead?

When it comes to Elmore Leonard books, they're either awesome or just okay. This one is definitely closer to okay.

The plot was pretty good. LaBrava, a photographer and former FBI man, gets entangled with Jean Shaw, an actress he's pined over for years and a blackmail scheme. As always with Leonard, the dialogue and machinations were the stars of the show. Leonard paints a vivid picture of Florida's sleazy underbelly. The characters of LaBrava, Franny, Richie, and Rey were all pretty well rounded. I thought I had the ending figured out but it went in a slightly different direction.

It wasn't a great Elmore Leonard because everything felt a little too easy. I also thought the twist was tipped a little too early. Once I knew all the players in the blackmail game, I was ready for it to be over.

Still, even a mediocre Elmore Leonard is still pretty good. I liked it but I didn't love it.



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Fourth Down to Death

Fourth Down to Death by Brett Halliday

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


When Mike Shayne is hired by the owner of a football team to find out of one of his lineman purposely let his star quarterback get hurt, he gets a lot more than he bargained for...

First off, I'm not going to lie. I could tell you that I've been wanting to try another Mike Shayne mystery since Hard Case reprinted Murder is my Business but I really picked this one up because of the cover. I'll pause while you get an eyeful.

I hate to say it but the cover was my favorite part of this book. Fourth Down to Death is dated as hell, both in its 1970 setting and it's treatment of the female characters in general. Were the early 70's as misogynistic as I'm imagining? There's a rape-y subtext for part of the book and Mike Shayne strikes two women in the face, neither even close to being a danger to him.

The plot was overly-complicated for what it was and I wouldn't say it was actually solvable except by process of elimination. Maybe someone who's more into the ins and outs of gambling would appreciate it more. I just know that my eyes glazed over whenever the point spread was mentioned and I kept waiting for the vixen on the cover to show up.

It's not without it's moments, though. Shayne took a shit-kicking but kept getting up. He reminded me of Ross MacDonald's Lew Archer quite a bit. Both of them should have been suffering from post-concussion syndrome by the end of their series.

If you're curious about the Mike Shayne series, you'd be better served to read Murder is my Business. The best part of this one is the cover.



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