Sat 6 Jun 2020
TONY KENRICK – The Chicago Girl. G. P. Putnam’s Sons, hardcover, 1976. Berkley, paperback.
The first line sets the tone: “He’d always said that older hookers were better value; they knew more tricks.â€
The idea is to find a Vassar girl willing to impersonate a prostitute realistically enough to con a fence out of a $800,000 emerald necklace. It’s a dangerous business, with plenty of authentic New York City street life as backdrop. Of course it’s going to be movie. Some of the complications are seen coming, but once you’re hooked, Kendrick has you all the way. A wild finish.
Rating: A minus.
–Slightly revised from The MYSTERY FANcier, Vol. 1, No. 2, March 1977.
UPDATE. While a couple of Kenrick’s books were made into movies, The Chicago Girl was not one of them.
June 6th, 2020 at 7:53 pm
After reading this one, I really thought that Kenrick was going places as an author, and I bought his books when they came out as I saw them. He had a pretty good career, but I think he’s one of those writers who might have been better off with a series character. I don’t think he ever did.
Here, courtesy of the Fantastic Fiction website, is a complete list of all his books:
The Only Good Body’s a Dead One (1971)
A Tough One to Lose (1972)
Two For The Price Of One (1974)
Stealing Lillian (1975) aka Kidnap Kid
The Seven Day Soldiers (1976)
The Chicago Girl (1976)
Two Lucky People (1978)
The Night-time Guy (1979)
The 81st Site (1980)
Blast (1984)
Faraday’s Flowers (1985) aka Shanghai Surprise
China White (1986)
Neon Tough (1988)
Glitterbug (1991)
June 6th, 2020 at 8:23 pm
Like you I suspect a series character would have been a good bet for Kenrick.
June 9th, 2020 at 11:56 am
There was a period in the late 1970s and early 1980s that I binged on Tony Kendrick novels because I love caper novels. I think the first Kendrick novel I read was STEALING LILLIAN (aka, KIDNAP KID). Loved it! I went on to read several more of Kendrick’s caper novels. I especially liked THE SEVEN DAY SOLDIERS about a bunch of average guys who mess with a drug cartel. The last Kendrick novel I recall is BLAST. I might own the other novels that came afterward, but I know I haven’t read them. As you say, you’d think Kendrick would have been a Bigger Name because the plots of his books were solid and the characters were memorable.
June 9th, 2020 at 1:17 pm
I remember him most for the bright vivid stories he told. I wish I’d read more of them!
June 26th, 2020 at 8:14 pm
Became a fan of Kenrick when he was compared to Westlake. Always enjoyed his work. Many of his novels were optioned for the movies but only Faraday’s Flowers made it.
He wrote one more book (that I know of) in 1996 as Joe de Mers titled THE RETURN. It’s a solid read and it’s out there.
June 27th, 2020 at 11:03 am
Glad to know someone else is a Kenrick fan!