Pulp Poem of the Week

A man named Barney Manton.
A man who believed in hitting and
hitting hard,
because if you hit hard enough,
you always got something,
if only a corpse.

          Harry Whittington
          Call Me Killer
          1951

Pulp Poem of the Week

You take a guy who writes a book.
Can you say why he can write a book
while you can’t?
Or another Joe can paint your picture
so it looks just like you,
while if you did it,
it would look like a dog maybe,
or a camel maybe.
Some guys can do one thing—
well, this job is the only one I can do.
But I can do it, baby.
And I’ll be right—
no matter how many people
try to lie me out of it,
you included,
I’ll get the truth.
Because I won’t stop until I do.
And don’t you forget it.

          Harry Whittington
          Call Me Killer
          1951

Pulp Poem of the Week

elaborately
unaware
of the noise

          Harry Whittington
          Call Me Killer
          1951

Book Review: Harry Whittington, Call Me Killer (1951)

Amnesia Noir meets Noir Cop. Our amnesiac, of course, cannot remember whether he actually killed that guy, while our Noir Cop clings to his Noir Ways in the face of encroaching forensics. The plot machinations are a bit much to swallow, but you can go only so far wrong when Amnesia Noir meets Noir Cop. Grade: B

Top Ten Novels Reviewed in 2009

1. Bill S. Ballinger, Portrait in Smoke (1950)
2. James M. Cain, Double Indemnity (1936)
3. James McKimmey, The Long Ride (1961)
4. John D. MacDonald, Soft Touch (1958)
5. Gil Brewer, The Brat (1957)
6. Bill S. Ballinger, The Tooth and the Nail (1955)
7. Marvin H. Albert, Devil in Dungarees (1960)
8. W. R. Burnett, High Sierra (1940)
9. Harry Whittington, Hell Can Wait (1960)
10. Paul Tremblay, The Little Sleep (2009)

Pulp Poem of the Week

It was an ancient house,

built in the late nineties

and constantly repaired

and restored since then.

There was nothing

but the look of money

wastefully squandered here--

a smell of money

even in the flower beds

where roses smelled like

sweaty fifty-cent pieces

instead of roses, and

the jasmine had the scent of

a disinfectant used in banks.

Harry Whittington

Hell Can Wait

1960

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-