I’ve owned most of James McKimmey’s novels in one form or another over the years, probably because they usually had very good covers like the one by Robert McGinnis on the original Dell edition of this book. But I’ve never read any of them until now, prompted by the Stark House reprint of two McKimmey novels, 24 HOURS TO KILL and BLUE MASCARA TEARS.
As you can tell from the title, the action in 24 HOURS TO KILL takes place in a relatively
short period of time. That’s a literary technique that I almost always enjoy.
There’s a man-against-nature element, too, which is something else I like. The
police have caught up to a young punk who killed a night watchman in a botched
robbery, then killed a cop and wounded another in his attempt to escape
capture. The punk, who has become something of a folk hero because of a series
of newspaper columns by a cynical reporter, is being transported back to the
city where the crimes took place to stand trial when a flood washes out some
bridges and strands the prisoner in a small town that’s effectively become an
island. A local teacher who’s appointed sheriff because the actual sheriff is
cut off from the town has to be responsible for keeping the prisoner in custody.
Unfortunately, several other young punks who idolize the guy are also in town
and want to set him free.
If you’re going to write a compressed time book, you usually need a fairly large cast of characters so that you can cut back and forth between them. That’s how McKimmey tackles this novel, concentrating mostly on the young amateur lawman who’s trying to rise to the occasion but also bringing in plenty of supporting characters, some good, some not so good, and some very bad. (The reporter character is one of the most despicable I’ve encountered in fiction.) Some domestic drama crops up to go along with the crime and suspense angles, and all of it is handled very well. McKimmey has a great touch with characterization, and because of that I cared about what was going to happen and kept flipping the pages.
24 HOURS TO KILL is a very well-constructed novel and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. I can see why James McKimmey is well-regarded as a suspense novelist. I give this one a high recommendation and I’m glad I have more novels by McKimmey on hand to read.
5 comments:
I suspect many books were once bought "probably because they usually had very good covers", James. The move away from illustration painted by brilliant artists, and the substitution of what can only be politely described as "design work", has irritated me for decades. As a cost-cutting policy, probably advocated move by publishers' accountants, it must surely have led to many missed sales. But the trend has continued, so it's impossible to say the policy has misfired. Very sad.
I first noticed a decline in the covers in the Seventies when the great covers on the Mike Shayne and Shell Scott series, many of them painted by Robert McGinnis, were replaced by terrible photo covers. I still bought the books because I wanted to read them, but if I hadn't already been a fan of both series, those covers sure wouldn't have prompted me to pick them up.
Probably shouldn’t admit this publicly, but i kinda like the Mike Shayne photo covers. Well, some of them. The hairstyles, the fashions, the pretty ladies (including a Playboy Playmate or two)… they scream “1970s” to me.
But yes, the McGinnis covers are in a whole ‘nother league.
b.t.
Oh, and I even like a few of the Shell Scott photo covers. Just not any of the ones with the guy with white shoe polish in his hair. Those are uniformly god-awful.
b.t.
I'll admit I do feel a certain nostalgia for those covers because I love both series and enjoyed reading the books. And because it was the Seventies. That was a pretty good decade for me.
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