Sun 28 Feb 2021
Reviewed by Dan Stumpf: RICHARD POWELL – Say It with Bullets.
Posted by Steve under Reviews[7] Comments
RICHARD POWELL – Say It with Bullets. Simon & Schuster, hardcover, 1953. Graphic #93, paperback, 1954; Hard Case Crime, paperback, 2006.
Imagine my astonishment when I read this book and found nothing inside it that even vaguely alluded to the image on the cover of the Graphic edition. No wonder my generation grew up mistrustful of authority.
What I did find was a well-crafted road mystery, in retrospect full of improbabilities, but so well papered-over I didn’t notice.
Powell starts things off with ex-cargo pilot Bill Wayne on a bus, heading West on a guided tour that stops at Cheyenne, Reno, San Francisco and LA. It seems he has an old wound in his back from when he and five war buddies in China fell out over what sort of cargo they should be piloting, and one of them settled it with a .45. He has a new wound in his side from when word got out that he was back in the states, and now he wants to find out which one of his old buddies decided that was much too close for comfort.
Okay, improbability #1: He found a tour that stops at the cities where his ex-partners live, and he figures this is the best way to get close to them without leaving a trail. Which leads to
Improbability #2: The tour is guided by the girl who had a crush on him, back when he was a football star in college, and she was just the coach’s gangly daughter.
But like I say, Powell rolls over these so smoothly I didn’t even feel the bumps, and before I could stop and think it over, Bill was meeting up with the first old buddy on his list — who turns up dead shortly thereafter.
At this point Powell rings in a horn-dog deputy, supposedly out to solve the murder, but apparently more interested in romancing the woman in the case. Or is he?
Powell keeps us guessing, even as he rings in complications that somehow don’t slow things down. We get fights, foot-chases, frame-ups, narrow escapes, and enough bullets flying through the air to satisfy even the most discriminating tastes.
And one thing I especially enjoyed. There’s a hefty chunk of this book spent driving into Yosemite National Park through the back entrance, over the Tioga pass. Anyone who has ever driven this road will never forget it. I’ve done it, and it was like hanging onto a Brahma Bull. Powell does it justice and even throws in a gunfight on the way.
You just can’t beat writing like that!
February 28th, 2021 at 9:21 pm
The first book cover (from the top of the review, scrolling down) the dark-haired guy in the blue suit and tie. That’s not a sandwich he’s reaching for.
February 28th, 2021 at 9:32 pm
Nor is that his checkbook, either.
Not the best cover in the world, but all in all I’d say it’s the best of the three.
March 1st, 2021 at 11:51 am
Richard Powell wrote The Philadelphians which was turned into an almost good picture with Paul Newman, The Young Philadelphians. The novel was appreciably better, but both had more than a little something going.
March 1st, 2021 at 12:46 pm
Writing THE PHILADEPHIAN was a big step upward for Powell. After that one, he left the mystery field behind for good.
March 1st, 2021 at 2:15 pm
Paperback collector that I am, I have a real affection for the covers on most Graphics. But I also find most other collectors pass them right by when talking about great art on the books in their collection. Of course, I’m only talking about cover art, not content. Dan, thanks for the good review on a book I may never read.
March 1st, 2021 at 2:21 pm
Dan’s review is so good that the next time I come across this book in my collection I promised myself I would put it right on top of my “To Read Next” pile.
March 1st, 2021 at 6:48 pm
Powell’s mysteries always had something extra, tough, but lightly skimming the screw ball school. I like his Arab and Andy Blake books best, but this was the first of his books I read.
He wrote a number of bestsellers including a fine novel about the Trojan War WHOM THE GODS WOULD DESTROY, and other big novels about journalism and the war.
In addition one of his humorous novels was turned into an Elvis Presley film 1962’s FOLLOW THAT DREAM based on Powell’s 1959 novel PIONEER, GO HOME!.
Among other credits he wrote the screenplay for the film of Spillane’s MY GUN IN QUICK with Robert Bray as Mike Hammer.