Tue 9 Apr 2013
REVIEWED BY DAN STUMPF:
PETER RABE – The Out Is Death. Gold Medal #657, paperback original, 1957. Black Lizard, softcover, 1988.
On a positive note, I recently finished The Out Is Death by Peter Rabe, and am once more impressed by the talent of one of the less-remembered two-bit novelists of the 50s.
Those who sing the praise of Thompson, Goodis et al., should take a look at this tough, sentimental tale of a broken-down safe-cracker and the friend who tries to save him from a sadistic hood coercing him out of retirement.
The action is fast, the plot tight, but it’s Rabe’s feel for the characters, even the minor ones, that lifts this out of the ordinary. Try it.
April 9th, 2013 at 3:52 pm
I DID try Rabe, still have some to look forward to, and can only recommend him.
Dark, sometimes hopeless, but never boring or uninvolving.
A very good author !
The Doc
April 9th, 2013 at 4:34 pm
Peter Rabe is my hero. “The Box” is my favorite but that claim can go to any number of his books.
April 9th, 2013 at 5:34 pm
I like Peter Rabe also and have enjoyed many of his crime novels. Stark House has reprinted several recently.
April 10th, 2013 at 1:50 am
Yup, Walker, mine are by Stark House.
The Doc
April 10th, 2013 at 2:50 am
Donald Westlake was an admirer of Peter Rabe and wrote a fine essay about him in “Murder Off The Rack”, edited by Breen and Greenberg.
April 10th, 2013 at 5:22 am
Well, Westlake certainly is an author to be listened to, josef !
The Doc
April 12th, 2013 at 8:45 am
I haven’t read all of Rabe’s novels, but the handful I have read have all been dark. STARK HOUSE deserves all the accolades for keeping Rabe’s work in print. If Rick considers THE BOX Rabe’s best book, then I’ll tackle that book next.
April 13th, 2013 at 8:04 pm
Nice coincidence–Stark House will be reprinting the first three Daniel Port novels in one volume, including The Out is Death, in late 2014.
April 13th, 2013 at 8:56 pm
Three cheers, Greg. Hurray, hurray, hurray!