Livia has been editing the big manuscript I finished a while back, and now that she's done, I've put writing my current book on hold so that I can go back over that one, incorporate her suggestions, and generally polish it up so that I can send it in. This is going to take several days, which will put a hole in my new page production. I'm not crazy about it, but it's got to be done. I'm probably too compulsive about getting pages done, but since I've been this way for more than twenty years I don't expect that I'll change any time soon.
I've added my friend Frank Denton's blog to my favorites ( http://frankdenton.blogspot.com ). Frank has the dubious distinction of being the first person to comment on my blog. He also reads an interesting variety of books and is the first person I've run into in a while who talks about Lorna Doone without meaning the cookie. (They do still make Lorna Doone cookies, don't they?)
I'm still reading THE LAST KILL by Charlie Wells.
POSSE FROM HELL
11 minutes ago
3 comments:
Well, thankee, Jim. I'm having a good time doing this. I'll put in a plug for you real soon now. I sure am enjoying your daily words about writing.
Hi, James--
Only been lurking for a few days. Let us know what you thought about THE LAST KILL, okay? I've always been fascinated with what Al Collins calls the Spillane "satellite writers," i.e., Wells, Earl Basinsky and Dave Gerrity. I once talked to Mickey about them. He thought Basinsky was the best (and his DEATH IS A COLD, KEEN EDGE is a great little book) and Gerrity was Mickey's best friend. He didn't think much of Wells' work, and I'd have to agree. But THE LAST KILL does have two things going for it: extremely cool front and back cover, and (*****SPOILER*****) an ending that I'm sure was written by Mickey himself, as he used it again in his story, "The Flier," about six years later. I remember THE LAST KILL as being...well, not very memorable.
--Steve Mertz
I haven't responded to a comment yet, so we'll see how this works. (Or if it works.) I thought THE LAST KILL was okay but certainly not memorable. The plot was pretty predictable, the writing style a very slavish Spillane imitation, and Wells did almost nothing with the Memphis setting, which I think is a good location for a PI novel. There are some good lines and a vividly-described moment or two, and the ending is good (it didn't occur to me that Spillane might have written it, but I can see that). I'll probably read Wells's other book, LET THE NIGHT CRY, sooner or later, but I won't be in any hurry to get to it.
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