Fri 24 Jun 2011
ROBERT BLOCH – Terror. Belmont L92-537, paperback original, May 1962.
Bloch’s mysteries aren’t really much as mysteries go, I guess: his idea of plot development is to have weird characters keep dropping in on the hero and move him from place to place, scattering clues and filling in the background.
And these characters are nothing remarkable, either: tough cops, mysterious beauties, and verbose experts in arcane lore show up pretty much on cue and go through their paces. But there’s something so seamlessly easy-going about Bloch’s plotting and prose I find myself swallowing it whole.
Terror spins the tale of a nice young man thrust into a Maltese-Falcon-like hunt for a stolen artifact that devolves into a series of ritual murders committed by some death-worshiping fanatic who… well, you get the idea.
As I say, the plot consists of nothing more than our hero being picked up by various supporting players and hustled about from chapter to chapter till we reach the end. And as I say, it’s fast and fun the whole way, a style of writing that seems to have just about disappeared.
June 28th, 2011 at 5:22 am
Not one of Bloch’s more important novels, as well, not up with THE SCARF or THE KIDNAPPER or PSYCHO or THE STAR-STALKER, which have more pronounced virtues. But, except in his very worst (PSYCHO HOUSE and very little else, though I like the concept of STRANGE EONS more than its execution), the virtue you cite here isn’t inconsiderable.
July 17th, 2011 at 11:51 am
Todd: doesn’t Ed Gorman mention PSYCHO HOUSE as one of the most important 100 noir novels? I think the list is in THE BIG BOOK OF NOIR. Haven’t as yet read PSYCHO HOUSE, but I thought PSYCHO II was at least okay. (Okay, it’s over ten years since I read, so should probably shut up about it.)
March 26th, 2012 at 8:55 pm
Hi everyone.
Great review. I loved this book, although it was incredibly hard to find. I bought it off ebay only to find that it was signed by Bloch himself! Amazing.
If you’re a Bloch fan, you’ve got to read this. It’s amazing.
http://www.aarondries.com/apps/blog/show/13547984-pay-no-attention-to-that-man-behind-the-curtain-on-forgetting-robert-bloch
March 28th, 2012 at 8:50 am
Thanks, Janice. Very interesting reading!