Thu 19 Dec 2019
A PI Mystery Review by Barry Gardner: MAX ALLAN COLLINS – Blood and Thunder.
Posted by Steve under Reviews[5] Comments
MAX ALLAN COLLINS – Blood and Thunder. Nate Heller #7. Dutton, hardcover, 1995. Signet, paperback, 1996. Amazon Encore, trade paperback, 2011.
You already know I think Collins is underrated. Though they’ve been uneven, I think the Heller novels include his best work.
Collins has one writing habit the irritates the hell out of me — he overuses the word “smirk.” And from the contexts, I think he mis-uses it sometimes as well.
Nate Heller met the Louisiana Kingfish, Huey Long, back in Chicago in ’32. when Long was stump-beating for FDR. Now, in 1935, Long is preparing to make his own run for the Presidency. The only thing that kept Long from being a full-fledged paranoid is that there really were people out to get him, and now he’s got wind of another scheme. Heller finds himself offered a non-refusable sum of money to investigate down in Louisiana, so off he goes to the swamp country.
As always, Collins does a thoroughly researched, thoroughly competent job of writing a historical crime novel. His prose style is breezy and semi-pulpish — and I’ve explained before that I do not intend that as a slur — and he always keeps his story moving.
This one didn’t strike me as one of the strongest Hellers, but that’s more an impression than an analysis. I liked it just fine.
December 19th, 2019 at 9:21 pm
I haven’t read any Hellers (YET!), but I think Max does an excellent job with the Mickey Spillane manuscripts.
December 19th, 2019 at 9:54 pm
I like the new Spillane books, too, and maybe better than the Hellers. The reason I stopped reading them is that after a while I couldn’t believe that one person, a private eye at that, could meet so many important historical figures on a personal basis.
I stopped watching MURDER, SHE WROTE for pretty much the same reason. No one woman could come across so many murders in one small town. It gets tough to swallow after a while.
December 19th, 2019 at 10:06 pm
Correction (again):
Murder She Wrote had a rule, enforced throughout all 12 years of its run:
Only five (5) episodes were set in Cabot Cove in any given season – no more and no less.
The rest of the time, JB Fletcher was on the road.
Or there were the guest sleuths late in the run.
December 19th, 2019 at 10:22 pm
I kind of knew that, Mike, but not the specific rule. I guess I was exaggerating a little!
My comment re the Heller books still stands.
December 21st, 2019 at 12:30 am
The intelligence behind the Heller books, and the generally excellent research that goes into them keep me coming back.
Re all the historical personages, I just whisper Frank Harris to myself and it all seems much more likely.
I agree that Collins has been somewhat underrated, a mix of actual pulp voice with a more serious literary intent that he manages never to let get in the way of the action.
Agree on his fine work keeping the Spillane legacy alive.