Mon 13 Mar 2017
A GOLD MEDAL Mystery Review: PHILIP ATLEE – The White Wolverine Contract.
Posted by Steve under Reviews[6] Comments
PHILIP ATLEE – The White Wolverine Contract. Joe Gall #13. Fawcett Gold Medal T2508, paperback original; 1st printing, December 1971.
Joe Gall’s in Vancouver BC in this one, on assignment to stop a breakaway movement on the part of several politicians (backed by a certain superpower) to annex the entire western coast of Canada to the US instead.
While certainly enjoyable enough — and at only 143 pages long, perfect for the first leg of a cross-country flight — I don’t consider this one of the better of the Joe Gall series. The setting, including a trip up North close to the Alaskan border, is a finely described as ever, but the action seems to come only in sporadic bursts, and only one or two of the characters ever seem to jell into place. Only a three-year-old terror on wheels named Malcolm is one I’ll remember for long. (Gall has reason to remember his mother more.)
But what we do get is Joe Gall’s mostly laid-back view of the world, including his observations on the hippies congregating in down town Vancouver at the time. White Wolverine was nominated for an Edgar for best paperback original, which may constitute a better recommendation for you than what I’ve had to say, if like me you’ve missed this one until now. And while no one has ever asked me, I think that Robert Ryan in his prime would have made a great Joe Gall in the movies.
March 13th, 2017 at 11:49 pm
A novel set in Vancouver has to be worth seeking out. There can’t be that many?
March 14th, 2017 at 12:57 am
There are a few, according to Hubin’s CRIME FICTION IV, but of those, even fewer that anyone might have heard of.
The most well-known may be a series of 13 police procedurals by Laurence Gough featuring detectives Jack Willows and Claire Parker.
A location that Gall goes to in this book that has to be really uncommon is the small port city of Prince Rupert, all the way up the north coast of British Columbia, almost to Alaska. Atlee describes it so well that he had to have been there sometime in his life.
March 14th, 2017 at 2:29 am
Interesting. Thanks, Steve.
March 14th, 2017 at 6:23 am
I picked up some of the Gough novels in England over the years, and enjoyed those that I’ve read. As I remember them (not all that well), they were police procedurals, more or less. I’ve still got a few on the shelves, unread.
March 14th, 2017 at 7:34 am
PHILIP ATLEE provided a lot of local details with his setting for the Joe Gall books. Clearly, he spent some time in Vancouver to get the details right.
March 14th, 2017 at 9:07 pm
While Atlee likely did travel to the locale, never underestimate the power of a writer to do compelling research based descriptive work. Van Wyk Mason, who was well travelled, claimed he did all his local color with the help of NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC.