Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Strangers -- Bill Pronzini

Bill Pronzini's formerly nameless detective was first named (I think) way back in 1978 in Twospot, a collaborative novel with Collin Wilcox, a forgotten writer worth rediscovery.  I could be wrong about that, but that's the way I remember it.  Which means that it was about 7 years after the first "Nameless" book that the name appeared (it's Bill, by the way).  It's been 36 years, but some of us still think of him as "Nameless."   Or maybe I'm just making all this up.  Anyway, I read The Snatch, the first book in the series, when it came out in paperback in the early '70s, and here I am, still reading the series today.  It's certainly one of the best p.i. series ever, and the latest entry is a good example of why.

Over the years, Nameless has aged and gone through all sorts of things.  He's an old guy now, but he's still as honest, as tough, as devoted to his job as ever.  In Strangers, we have a classic situation, the stranger (that would be Nameless) rides into a little western town. He's there to help out an old friend (and lover) whose son has been accused of three rapes.  His mother's convinced he's not guilty.  Everyone else in town is convinced that he is, including the sheriff.  Nobody likes it that Nameless is there.  People insult him, key his car, shoot at him, and try other ways to get him to leave.  He doesn't.  He controls his temper (mostly) and goes about his investigation in his quiet, competent way.  Pretty soon he's uncovered things that the local law has missed.

This is a pretty bleak novel to begin with, and just when things appear to be all wrapped up, Pronzini throws in several more twists, like little bombs going off, boom, boom, boom, and each one of them deepens the darkness.  Forty-three years after The Snatch, MWA Gand Master Pronzini's still showing us how it's done.  Check it out.


8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good review. I'm with you. The October will be 40 years since I read THE STALKER and 39 since I read the first Nameless, THE SNATCH. I think I might be a book or two behind but I've kept up since then and will do so as long as Bill keeps writing them.

Jeff

Unknown said...

They've gone through some interesting permutations over the years, but the quality's never let down.

Jerry House said...

Read is one a few days ago and it's amazing. Pronzini just keeps getting better and better.

BTW, it was TWOSPOT, and if I recall, it was Wilcox who gave him that name in one of his sections of the book.

Unknown said...

Thanks, Jerry. I was pretty sure that was right.

Mel Odom said...

Yep, it was TWOSPOT. I read the book and an interview with Pronzini or Wilcox later and Wilcox made mention of the fact that Frank Hastings could just keep calling him the private investigator, so Pronzini caved to having Nameless named. It was very weird. When I first read THE SNATCH, I wasn't even cognizant of the fact the detective wasn't named. I was hanging on because of the suspense. Haven't yet read the crossover with Mullen and Pronzini.

Unknown said...

I read that one a long time back, Mel. It's good, of course.

George said...

I've read this series for decades and you're right about the high quality of the volumes. I'll have buy a copy of this latest Nameless mystery.

Rodz said...

STRANGERS is classic Nameless and as good as ever. "Novel Noir" in a manner of speaking. I like the return to the old format, Nameless is doing solo work sans very much help.