Thursday, July 2, 2009

Book Review: Harry Whittington, Hell Can Wait (1960)


At first, Harry Whittington's Hell Can Wait reminded me of The Girl from Hateville, my most recent foray into Gil Brewer. Both novels involve a man on a mission in a small town where he is not welcome. In Brewer, the man wanted to find out the truth about the death of his father, the town banker who robbed the townsfolk blind. In Whittington, the man, Greg Morris, wants revenge on the drunk driver who killed his wife. Unfortunately for Morris, the drunk driver is the richest and most powerful man in the town (which is why he was able to beat the rap in the first place). The most important difference between the two novels is that while the Brewer was executed terribly, the Whittington is very good. Grade: A-

4 comments:

  1. Harry Whittington wrote terrific novels at a tremendous pace. Sadly, most of his work is out-of-print. Stark House is reprinting some of Whittington's best work. Hopefully, someone will convert Whittington's works to an ebook format for a new audience of readers.

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  2. A lot of great-sounding Whittington this Friday - consider me voncinced! Thanks David.

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  3. Prologue Books will be making about 15 Whittingtons available as ebooks in the upcoming months.

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