Thu 15 Oct 2020
A PI Mystery Review by Ray O’Leary: MICHAEL COLLINS – Freak.
Posted by Steve under Reviews[2] Comments
MICHAEL COLLINS – Freak. Dan Fortune #11. Dodd Mead, hardcover, 1983. Worldwide Library, paperback, 1990.
One-armed Dan Fortune is hired by Ian Campbell, president of a computer firm, to find his recently-married youngest son and daughter-in-law. The couple have sold the house he gave them, cashed in some bonds and vanished. The only clue left behind is one word, “Freak”, written several times on a pad by the telephone. On starting his search, Fortune discovers he has competition in the hunt from someone leaving a trail of bodies.
A pretty good effort, with interesting characters and a surprising (at least to me) twist at the end. Sometimes I suspect, though, that Collins forgets his hero has only one arm. The conclusion takes place in the wilds of Arizona, and Fortune has rented a rifle, which he doesn’t get a chance to use. While I’m sure that with proper time to set up his sights, a one-armed man could make a perfectly acceptable marksman, but I couldn’t help wondering if a rifle would have been Fortune’s weapon of choice for a running shoot-out.
October 15th, 2020 at 7:27 pm
I missed this one, but overall I have always liked the Dan Fortune novels. As prolific as Collins/Lynds was though I would not be surprised if he did forget Fortune’s handicap once in a while as the book progressed.
October 15th, 2020 at 8:13 pm
Lynds wrote 18 Dan Fortune novels between 1967 and 1992, which is a very very fine run. (Crippen & Landru did a collection of DF short stories in 2000.) But like you, I’ve never read FREAK. In fact, he’s an another PI writer who wrote books faster than I could read them. If I’ve read half of hem, that might be all.