During the Fifties, following the huge success of Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer novels, everybody was looking for more books in the same vein, including Spillane’s own publisher. Mike Roscoe contributed to the cause by writing five novels featuring tough Kansas City private eye Johnny April. One difference is that “Mike Roscoe” is actually a pseudonym for two real-life private investigators, John Roscoe and Mike Russo. And to me, “his” work seems to be influenced not so much by Spillane, but the author some people consider an influence on Spillane as well: Carroll John Daly.SLICE OF HELL is the first Mike Roscoe book I’ve read, although it’s the middle book in the series. In this one, Johnny April is hired to leave his usual Kansas City stomping grounds and go to San Francisco to investigate a crooked trucking company executive who’s rumored to be on the verge of expanding his operation to Kansas City. Since he’s going to San Francisco anyway, Johnny takes on another case that has come his way, a low-paying job for an elderly woman who wants him to arrange a funeral for a friend of hers who has just passed away.
Well, you don’t have to have read many of these books to know that those two cases are going to wind up being connected. The predictability of the plot is one of this book’s failings. So is the overall thinness of the story. And a lot of the tough guy dialogue doesn’t really resemble anything that might actually come out of a human mouth. “Mike Roscoe” has the same sort of tin ear for dialogue that could be found in much of Carroll John Daly’s work.
So why am I recommending a novel this flawed as a Forgotten Book? Well, it’s written in an odd, punchy style that takes some getting used to but is very effective once you do. Even the stiff dialogue didn’t bother me as much after a while. And I wound up liking big, dumb Johnny April. (But, Lord, he really is dumb.) The authors keep the pace moving nicely. April has a touch of the same vigilante mentality as Race Williams, and there’s a scene that seems like a direct homage to one of Daly’s stories. Really, that’s a good yardstick. If you can read and enjoy Carroll John Daly’s work, despite its flaws (which I can, without any trouble at all), then you’ll probably enjoy the Mike Roscoe novels, too.
12 comments:
Sometimes a books flaws are what gives it character and nobody likes an unflawed characters.
Yeah, I'm to the point where I'd rather read a flawed (or even "bad") book with a distinctive voice than a more smoothly written one with no heart and soul.
I bought all the Mike Roscoe books long ago. I read one of them but never went on to the others, one of which was part of an Ace Double. Maybe someday I'll give them another try.
I've never even heard of these.
These are the five books in the series, for anyone who's interested:
Death is a Round Black Ball (1952)
Riddle Me This (1952)
Slice of Hell (1954)
One Tear for My Grave (1955)
The Midnight Eye (1958)
The first four were published in paperback by Signet. They all came out in hardback first from Crown. The last one was half of an Ace Double and seems to have been a paperback original.
I actually really enjoyed Daly's The Man In The Shadows - tinny dialogue and all. But you can still find some very well written passages in the book, though it is far from perfect. I'll keep my eyes out for the "Mike Roscoe" books. What a perfect name - sounds like one of Robert Leslie Bellem's characters.
I hunted up all the Mike Roscoe titles after reading Max Allan Collins tout them in 1001 Midnights. They all have the issues you describe, but the second, Riddle Me This, is the best by a full yard. Tougher, faster, terser and more emotional.
I read the whole thing while sitting by a rainy window, which probably helped.
John Hocking
Cullen,
I've liked all the Carroll John Daly stories and novels I've read, warts and all.
John,
Thanks for the recommendation. I'll have to hunt up a copy of RIDDLE ME THIS. It's hard to believe anything could be more terse than SLICE OF HELL. I don't think there's a speech tag or a paragraph longer than three sentences in the whole book.
I've been looking for some hard boiled stuff set in my hometown of Kansas City- thanks for the tip.
John is right, "Riddle Me This" (1952) is the best of the Johnny April series. The first four were published by Signet and ACE put out "The Midnight Eye."
I always felt that having two guys collaborating on this series hurt it a little. It was missing something that other duo authors (like in Wade Miller's Max Thursday series)tapped into to spin fine mystery yarns.
The one I read (One Tear for My Grave, I think) had a photo of Spillane on the back with the quote, "I wish I'd written this book." All I could say was I wish you had, too, Mick.
Unless I'm thinking of another book and author, of course. The mind gets mushy at times.
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