How forgotten is this book? Well, it was nominated for an Edgar® in 1976, and the last time I looked at the Edgar® database, the title was listed incorrectly (as The Assassination). It's a first-person police procedural in the Dragnet vein, about a serial killer. And it's 138 pages long. Now that's my kind of book.When I read this book back in the middle '70s, I was taken by the narrative voice, which reminded me a bit of Joe Friday, but not quite. Maybe it's time to mention that the only other book I have by David Vowell is Dragnet: 1968. I haven't read that one, but Vowell was also the writer on a number of the much-maligned '60s revival of Dragnet on TV.
Reading The Assassinator now, I find it disturbingly homophobic, something I didn't notice thirty-odd years ago, to my shame, I guess. I was still taken in by the voice, though. Imagine a book, even one as short as this, with almost no dialog. That's what you have here. It's a tough trick to pull of, but Vowell does it, and you almost don't even notice it. The procedural part's good, too, very Dragnet, as I said. Good book if you can get past the gay-bashing, and worth a read. It sure won't take you long.
8 comments:
Funny how we didn't notice sexism and homophobia then. Now it shrieks at us.
That's a very interesting cover on THE ASSASSINATOR. I'll have to look for it.
Patti - it doesn't "shriek" for me. I notice it, put it in the time frame - something I do when I read an "old" book anyway - and go on reading. I'd be more bothered if someone went back and tried to clean it up, removing all references that editor thought to be currently inappropriate. Who knows but that someone else might then do the same in 20 years and so on until there's nothing left of the original. As an example, imagine someone concerned about animal cruelty taking all references - including in the title - to cowboys using or wearing spurs. Then we'd have - what? The Naked Stirrup" ?
So whether it's sexism, the "N word", gay bashing or just 10-cent phone calls and a bottle in the glove box, I say let it stay and read past it.
(...gets off soap box...)
Bill - Good choice. I checked, my local library doesn't seem to have this... guess I'm out of luck. :-)
Hello! I see that you review books.
I represent Randy Denmon, an author that is releasing his second book, The Savage Breed, published by Kensington Publishing on September 1st. The book is about Two Texas Rangers in the 1840's. Randy's first book, The Lawless Frontier, received recognition as a finalist in the American Spur Awards, The Ben Franklin Awards and the Independent Publisher Book Awards.
I'm sure you are inundated with many review requests, and that it's impossible to review them all. But this is a great Texas story, that I believe you, and your readers would enjoy.
I've pasted some general information about the book below to give you a sneak peek if this might be something you would like to review.
Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.
Thanks in advance for your consideration!
Sohana Kutub
JO Design
817-335-0100
sohana@creativejo.com
The Savage Breed
Travis Ross and Chase McAlister were infamous Indian hunters, scouts and Texas Rangers turned ranchers. In a war of independence, they fought against desperate odds. Travis lost a woman, the daughter of a proud Mexican rancher, and both made the kind of enemies that never go away. Now, a new war is brewing and the two friends are looking across the Rio Grande, knowing what they left behind, facing a chance to settle scores, recapture what they lost, and many more ways to die…
A decade after they fought for Texas, Travis and Chase plunge into the brutal madness of the Mexican American War. And amidst the fighting and suffering, they discover how much has changed, what has stayed the same, and that in a furious fight for survival, they’ve made the most dangerous enemy of all…a murderer fighting on their own side…
Well, that image of Rock Hudson on the cover sort of made the point, didn't it?
Wonder if Vowell wrote that episode about the hippie couple who left their baby alone in the tub while they toked up?
Fred, I think you hit it on the "head".
Post a Comment