Hardboiled Monday: Such Men are Dangerous

Following up on the hardboiled master list, I thought I’d talk about the book by Lawrence Block that holds the number two slot (because we’re going in alphabetical order until we we get to the anthologies). Chris Hocking was kind enough to drop by and offer a few additional thoughts. Every Monday until we reach the end of the list we’ll discuss another book from the list, working our way down in alphabetical order.

Any questions about the contents of the list can probably be answered on the preamble on the post about the list itself, which was created by Hocking to lure me into reading hardboiled and noir, based on his reading in both genres for more than three decades. It worked. Being good doesn’t get you on the list; a work has to be great, keeping in mind certain idiosyncrasies that I discussed in the original post.

You know how Sturgeon famously said that “Ninety percent of everything is crud?” These books are drawn from the ten percent of hardboiled and noir that isn’t.

Just a brief aside before we get to the discussion — this evening I’ll be at the DeKalb Illionois Public Library addressing the importance of fantasy fiction as part of this year’s Big Read. Details are here.

I found Such Men are Dangerous to be a page-turner of a book with a chilling, fascinating narrator. It’s a heist novel that’s just this side of outrageous, but Block pulls it off. I’m curious now to try other books by him, including some of his series novels.

Chris Hocking added: “One of the best reasons for reading noir is the strange sense of disorientation the better examples can provide.  A story may have the drive, power and feel of a well executed genre thriller, yet take you in directions that stun or even alarm.  The events of this novel and the shocking, yet ultimately consistent, behavior of the narrator combine to shake the reader.”