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The Dead Stay Dumb
$5,000 Reward - Dead or Alive - That was the price on Dillon's head.
The nightmare tale of the life and death of Dillon, American gangster. From the first to the last page, the ruthlessness of an inhuman killer is set down with stark realism. Chase's second book.
A cold, ruthless racketeer, Dillon had risen from lackey gunman to Kansas City boss. Now he was big time, big money.
But then Dillon started living it up with two young beauties - and began to make mistakes. And once Dillon's guard was down, an outsider got his chance to pull a gruesome doubletake.
Death was right around the corner...
Dillon didn't take his eyes off the exit to the dark alley. He went on, keeping his gun ready. The open street ahead of him, the deep shadows, and the knowledge that death was waiting for him made his nerves tingle.
Quite suddenly two men sprang into the alley. Dillon could see them outlined against a street light. Instantly, he started firing before his brain telegraphed to his hand.
One of the men tossed up his hands and fell forward, but the other ducked out of sight - now more determined than ever to see Dillon dead.
Dillon has been out of the rackets for some time ; now he was ready to carve his way back in. Ambitious, cold-blooded, impatient, he just needed a start, and one or two unlucky people to help him on his way. He found them. Like Nick Gurney and Roxy, small-time operators who reckoned Dillon was the coming man...
Myra, the curvaceous boxer's daughter tired of small-town life and reckless for excitement... and Hurst, the racketeer who ruled half a city. One way and another, they all helped Dillon, while Dillon helped himself. He didn't hear any complaints either, for a long time...
The nightmare tale of the life and death of Dillon, American gangster. From the first to the last page, the ruthlessness of an inhuman killer is set down with stark realism. Chase's second book.
A cold, ruthless racketeer, Dillon had risen from lackey gunman to Kansas City boss. Now he was big time, big money.
But then Dillon started living it up with two young beauties - and began to make mistakes. And once Dillon's guard was down, an outsider got his chance to pull a gruesome doubletake.
Death was right around the corner...
Dillon didn't take his eyes off the exit to the dark alley. He went on, keeping his gun ready. The open street ahead of him, the deep shadows, and the knowledge that death was waiting for him made his nerves tingle.
Quite suddenly two men sprang into the alley. Dillon could see them outlined against a street light. Instantly, he started firing before his brain telegraphed to his hand.
One of the men tossed up his hands and fell forward, but the other ducked out of sight - now more determined than ever to see Dillon dead.
Dillon has been out of the rackets for some time ; now he was ready to carve his way back in. Ambitious, cold-blooded, impatient, he just needed a start, and one or two unlucky people to help him on his way. He found them. Like Nick Gurney and Roxy, small-time operators who reckoned Dillon was the coming man...
Myra, the curvaceous boxer's daughter tired of small-town life and reckless for excitement... and Hurst, the racketeer who ruled half a city. One way and another, they all helped Dillon, while Dillon helped himself. He didn't hear any complaints either, for a long time...
159 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1941
39 people are currently reading
461 people want to read
About the author
James Hadley Chase
653 books991 followersRené Lodge Brabazon Raymond was born on 24th December 1906 in London, England, the son of Colonel Francis Raymond of the colonial Indian Army, a veterinary surgeon. His father intended his son to have a scientific career, was initially educated at King's School, Rochester, Kent. He left home at the age of 18 and became at different times a children's encyclopedia salesman, a salesman in a bookshop, and executive for a book wholesaler before turning to a writing career that produced more than 90 mystery books. His interests included photography (he was up to professional standard), reading and listening to classical music, being a particularly enthusiastic opera lover. Also as a form of relaxation between novels, he put together highly complicated and sophisticated Meccano models.
In 1932, Raymond married Sylvia Ray, who gave him a son. They were together until his death fifty three years later. Prohibition and the ensuing US Great Depression (1929–1939), had given rise to the Chicago gangster culture just prior to World War II. This, combined with her book trade experience, made him realise that there was a big demand for gangster stories. He wrote as R. Raymond, James Hadley Chase, James L. Docherty, Ambrose Grant and Raymond Marshall.
During World War II he served in the Royal Air Force, achieving the rank of Squadron Leader. Chase edited the RAF Journal with David Langdon and had several stories from it published after the war in the book Slipstream: A Royal Air Force Anthology.
Raymond moved to France in 1956 and then to Switzerland in 1969, living a secluded life in Corseaux-sur-Vevey, on Lake Geneva, from 1974. He eventually died there peacefully on 6 February 1985.
In 1932, Raymond married Sylvia Ray, who gave him a son. They were together until his death fifty three years later. Prohibition and the ensuing US Great Depression (1929–1939), had given rise to the Chicago gangster culture just prior to World War II. This, combined with her book trade experience, made him realise that there was a big demand for gangster stories. He wrote as R. Raymond, James Hadley Chase, James L. Docherty, Ambrose Grant and Raymond Marshall.
During World War II he served in the Royal Air Force, achieving the rank of Squadron Leader. Chase edited the RAF Journal with David Langdon and had several stories from it published after the war in the book Slipstream: A Royal Air Force Anthology.
Raymond moved to France in 1956 and then to Switzerland in 1969, living a secluded life in Corseaux-sur-Vevey, on Lake Geneva, from 1974. He eventually died there peacefully on 6 February 1985.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
April 3, 2021
Tough Gangster
Rene Lodge Barbizon Lodge, who was known by his most frequently used Pseudonym, James Hadley Chase, published 90 books over a 45-year writing career spanning 1939 to 1984. Enamored with American gangster stories, this British writer was personally unfamiliar with the USA, never reaching the US until late in his life and then only briefly. Chase copied the gangster lingo and attitude he read in Chandler and Hammett and in movies.
“The Dead Stay Dumb” was his second novel after the blazing success of his debut novel, Orchids. This book took the gangster attitude Chase read and viewed and turned it up a notch or two. Dillon, the main character in this novel, is tough as nails. He doesn’t drink. He doesn’t party. He doesn’t spent time with dames. He has a one-track mind on being the head mob guy and nothing is going to stand in his way. And, make no bones about it, Dillon is mean and vicious and not above beating women if they don’t do as he says.
What really works here is the portrait of this ruthless criminal who talks the talk and walks the walk and never hesitated to let loose with his tommy gun. He plays a Bonnie and Clyde act with Myra, whose father he murdered in front of her. Only it’s a Bonnie and Clyde without the tenderness and romance Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty showed. This is a marriage of convenience. Myra, who gets in the most vicious catfight ever recorded, acts like the toughest gun moll imaginable and has hitched her wagon to the toughest hombre in town. There will never be ballads written about Myra and Dillon, but they are a couple to be remembered.
Chase does throw a few Antisemitic caricatures in, particularly of the shopkeeper in Platville. But, eighty years ago, attitudes were different and Chase may have just been copying the attitude he thought fit his narrative.
All in all, quite an impressive second novel.
Rene Lodge Barbizon Lodge, who was known by his most frequently used Pseudonym, James Hadley Chase, published 90 books over a 45-year writing career spanning 1939 to 1984. Enamored with American gangster stories, this British writer was personally unfamiliar with the USA, never reaching the US until late in his life and then only briefly. Chase copied the gangster lingo and attitude he read in Chandler and Hammett and in movies.
“The Dead Stay Dumb” was his second novel after the blazing success of his debut novel, Orchids. This book took the gangster attitude Chase read and viewed and turned it up a notch or two. Dillon, the main character in this novel, is tough as nails. He doesn’t drink. He doesn’t party. He doesn’t spent time with dames. He has a one-track mind on being the head mob guy and nothing is going to stand in his way. And, make no bones about it, Dillon is mean and vicious and not above beating women if they don’t do as he says.
What really works here is the portrait of this ruthless criminal who talks the talk and walks the walk and never hesitated to let loose with his tommy gun. He plays a Bonnie and Clyde act with Myra, whose father he murdered in front of her. Only it’s a Bonnie and Clyde without the tenderness and romance Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty showed. This is a marriage of convenience. Myra, who gets in the most vicious catfight ever recorded, acts like the toughest gun moll imaginable and has hitched her wagon to the toughest hombre in town. There will never be ballads written about Myra and Dillon, but they are a couple to be remembered.
Chase does throw a few Antisemitic caricatures in, particularly of the shopkeeper in Platville. But, eighty years ago, attitudes were different and Chase may have just been copying the attitude he thought fit his narrative.
All in all, quite an impressive second novel.
July 10, 2022
The book is a thrilling nostalgic read because it transports you back into an era where life used to be simple, no terrorist as evil doers and no high-tech chase. A simple racketeer’s story which completely engrosses you with its own twist and turns, violent surprises and dollops of oomph!
December 28, 2012
I guess I should feel ashamed of myself for liking The Dead Stay Dumb. I was in the mood for something light and hard-hitting, and James Hadley Chase was a good bet. Many years ago, I had read No Orchids for Miss Blandish, the novel that made Chase's reputation.
At times, The Dead Stay Dumb resembles the male equivalent of a bodice ripper, with lots of meaningless violence, especially against women. One female character has her face burned with an electric curling iron by another woman, who is later strangled and buried in a gravel pit. I lost count of the number of bodies wasted by the book's hero, Dillon, in his quest to be the biggest, baddest gangster in town -- albeit not the smartest. Dillon represents pure id, whether in his dealings with women or with other gangsters who raise his ire. (And sooner or later, they all do.)
It's interesting that the author of so many gangster novels set in America was not only British (his real name was René Lodge Brabazon Raymond) but made only two brief visits to the United States. Yet he did a fair job of mastering the American underworld idiom, to the extent that he does not seem British in any way. Of course, I have not read his later work, much of which was set in his native land.
If I were to read more than one or two of Chase's novels in a year, I would definitely feel as if I were slumming. Yet he's really adept at what he does, and both novels of his that I've read are well described as page-turners
At times, The Dead Stay Dumb resembles the male equivalent of a bodice ripper, with lots of meaningless violence, especially against women. One female character has her face burned with an electric curling iron by another woman, who is later strangled and buried in a gravel pit. I lost count of the number of bodies wasted by the book's hero, Dillon, in his quest to be the biggest, baddest gangster in town -- albeit not the smartest. Dillon represents pure id, whether in his dealings with women or with other gangsters who raise his ire. (And sooner or later, they all do.)
It's interesting that the author of so many gangster novels set in America was not only British (his real name was René Lodge Brabazon Raymond) but made only two brief visits to the United States. Yet he did a fair job of mastering the American underworld idiom, to the extent that he does not seem British in any way. Of course, I have not read his later work, much of which was set in his native land.
If I were to read more than one or two of Chase's novels in a year, I would definitely feel as if I were slumming. Yet he's really adept at what he does, and both novels of his that I've read are well described as page-turners
August 3, 2018
Out of the 5 or 6 novels I’ve read by James Hadley Chase, this one is my favorite so far. I understand that this author turned to full-time writing after his very first novel was published (No Orchid for Miss Blandish) and since this is only his second novel, the quality is really quite remarkable.
Make no mistake, this is one hard-boiled crime story. It’s a gangster novel through and through and is often violent and even brutal in its approach. Dillon is a hardened criminal but never content with his level of power. He works his way up the mobster ladder through deceit, double-cross, and murder. And the more power he gets, the easier it is for him to take the easy way forward and simply eliminate his competition.
The story is rounded out with a handful of important characters that are associated with Dillon. While most of them are also criminals, they tend to have at least some sort of redeeming quality that makes the reader root for them in hopes they will finally give Dillon what he deserves. Many times, they actually feel like the main character of the story, particularly Myra, who becomes a gun moll for Dillon.
This novel is certainly not for everyone. It was written in the early 1940's so the violence and degradation is pretty mild by today’s standards. Nevertheless, some characters’ stories are tragic, and you really get gut-punched a couple of times. For me, it was a worthy reading experience even if I do feel the need to go read something akin to Winnie-the-Pooh next, just to provide balance to my outlook on life.
Make no mistake, this is one hard-boiled crime story. It’s a gangster novel through and through and is often violent and even brutal in its approach. Dillon is a hardened criminal but never content with his level of power. He works his way up the mobster ladder through deceit, double-cross, and murder. And the more power he gets, the easier it is for him to take the easy way forward and simply eliminate his competition.
The story is rounded out with a handful of important characters that are associated with Dillon. While most of them are also criminals, they tend to have at least some sort of redeeming quality that makes the reader root for them in hopes they will finally give Dillon what he deserves. Many times, they actually feel like the main character of the story, particularly Myra, who becomes a gun moll for Dillon.
This novel is certainly not for everyone. It was written in the early 1940's so the violence and degradation is pretty mild by today’s standards. Nevertheless, some characters’ stories are tragic, and you really get gut-punched a couple of times. For me, it was a worthy reading experience even if I do feel the need to go read something akin to Winnie-the-Pooh next, just to provide balance to my outlook on life.
April 12, 2016
Dillon - an incredibly evil, vicious killer, gunman without a conscience. Everywhere he goes the dead men - and women - are in profusion; whether it be his closest "pal" Roxy, his "woman", Myra, those giving him breaks, associates...ultimately he guns them down or somewhat batters them to death. His ambition has no limits and he is the ultimate cold, unconscionable savage killer. Myra, his "woman" meets a horrific end, but how does one pity her when the girl pitches tent with the man (Dillon) who ruthlessly guns her blind father down in cold blood? Yet I was not too convinced with the portrait of Dillon in the end especially when he begins to lust after the immature mentally disturbed Chrissie late in this novel...is it the same Dillon who in the first part of this work did not give a damn about women, liquor and tobacco? A brutal read quand meme, and Chase's psychological nous seems spot on most of the time, eg his initial portrayal of young "teenage tease" Myra - "for a moment her step lost its rhythmic ring...her confidence in herself had no solid foundations...she was still very young. In the company of her elders she had to force herself forward..."
dnf
August 8, 2024Stopped reading at "Even the niggers hesitated in their work, frightened to look up, but peeping their heads lowered."
December 30, 2020
A very early JHC novel. His second, I think. Unlike later books, this one take a little time before it gets going. But once it does, it's a rip roaring bloodbath. A couple of things: people don't speak in idioms all the time. Later on, JHC would cure himself of this fault, but it is in evidence, here. And some of the words and idioms were simply strange or wrong. A Thompson submachine gun is not a riot gun. A pump action shotgun is. The Tommy gun is quite the opposite of crowd control, unless you take control literally. People don't "cram on their brakes." They "jam" on them. Not "get to hell out," but "get the hell out." Lots of these, but it doesn't distract too much.
April 9, 2023
ΒΙΠΕΡ Νο.380
ΔΕΝ ΜΙΛΟΥΝ ΟΣΟΙ ΠΕΘΑΙΝΟΥΝ
Είναι η ιστορία ενός αδίστακτου πιστολέρο με το όνομα Dillon που προσπαθεί να πιάσει την καλή στον κόσμο των γκάνγκστερ, αλλά αντιμετωπίζει πολλούς εχθρούς και προκλήσεις κατά τη διάρκεια. Συνοδεύεται από τη Myra, μια νεαρή γυναίκα που τον ερωτεύεται παρά τη σκληρότητά του. Το μυθιστόρημα είναι μια σκοτεινή και βίαιη απεικόνιση του αμερικανικού υποκόσμου κατά τη διάρκεια της Μεγάλης Ύφεσης, όχι τόσο στο ύφος που μας έχει συνηθίσει ο Πρύτανης των θρίλερ.
ΔΕΝ ΜΙΛΟΥΝ ΟΣΟΙ ΠΕΘΑΙΝΟΥΝ
Είναι η ιστορία ενός αδίστακτου πιστολέρο με το όνομα Dillon που προσπαθεί να πιάσει την καλή στον κόσμο των γκάνγκστερ, αλλά αντιμετωπίζει πολλούς εχθρούς και προκλήσεις κατά τη διάρκεια. Συνοδεύεται από τη Myra, μια νεαρή γυναίκα που τον ερωτεύεται παρά τη σκληρότητά του. Το μυθιστόρημα είναι μια σκοτεινή και βίαιη απεικόνιση του αμερικανικού υποκόσμου κατά τη διάρκεια της Μεγάλης Ύφεσης, όχι τόσο στο ύφος που μας έχει συνηθίσει ο Πρύτανης των θρίλερ.
March 3, 2014
I guess we all read that Crime does not pay and this one tells you that in one of the most horrible ways ever.
It also subtly states that when you chase women, the ending of an already horrible death will be more horrible... :)))
Sounds a little screwy but a great read. Love it.
It also subtly states that when you chase women, the ending of an already horrible death will be more horrible... :)))
Sounds a little screwy but a great read. Love it.
February 6, 2022
Drsná detektívka, kde gangstri nikomu nič nedarujú.
January 8, 2014
It may only be his second novel, but how brilliantly he brings to life a story of gangsters, you can picture this in the early 1900's another short but thrilling tale.....
January 16, 2024
Haven't been in much of a reading mood to start the year off, so why not grab something short and punchy to whet the appetite? James Hadley Chase is as minimalist in his prose as James M. Cain, and nearly as gripping, but there are moments when his style feels simply sloppy as opposed to truly hard-boiled--only moments, mind you. The repetition of dialogue starting with "I guess" gets rather noticeable over the book's 150 pages. Across two pages, different characters utter the following: "I guess that's smart." "I guess I know my way around." "I guess nobody's going to drive like hell in that old jaloopy." "I guess she wouldn't lose her nerve." "I guess we'll knock that bank tomorrow." Every character talks exactly like every other character, which may come down to Chase being a British author writing American slang. I guess it's mostly okay.
The story is about a career-minded criminal blowing into a small rural town and scooping up (then disposing of) various allies or involuntary benefactors along the way: the kindly (but antisemitically money-obsessed) shopkeep who gives him a job, the low-lifes who want something bigger but can't quite grasp it, the sexy farmer's daughter determined to avoid wasting her life and youth and beauty in the Kansas dirt. There's not much to main character Dillon outside of being ruthlessly ambitious, but you get a hint of some deeper aspects of his character within the last few pages. Myra is more interesting, a woman forced to live her entire life in submission to men--first her domineering father, then Dillon--but just when you're starting to feel sympathy for her situation, she exhibits some pretty ugly characteristics herself.
My favorite part of the book is the first of three, about Dillon's efforts to rig a boxing match. Tarantino has said in interviews for Pulp Fiction that his purpose with that screenplay was to take "the oldest stories in the book" and make them fresh again, but even as someone reasonably familiar with old gangster books and movies, I'd never previously encountered the "boxer paid/threatened by the mob to take a dive but can't make himself go through with it in the ring" trope until The Dead Stay Dumb. (Myra's father, a former boxer, is named Butch--perhaps an influence on Tarantino, perhaps it's merely a very obvious name for this sort of character.) Despite losing out on his chance to get back into the criminal world in any meaningful way, Dillon exhibits a strange kind of respect for Franks, the boxer he tried to threaten into throwing the fight, and instead takes out his rage on his cohorts when they complain: "Shut up, you rats! Franks's got more guts than the bunch of you rolled into one. What does it matter if you lost a little dough?" A strange code of honor for a relentless killer who takes retribution on others when they merely inconvenience him.
I was, however, disappointed that at no point in the novel does anyone drop the title in dialogue. "I guess we don't need to worry--the dead stay dumb." *swelling melancholy music as the camera pulls back*
The story is about a career-minded criminal blowing into a small rural town and scooping up (then disposing of) various allies or involuntary benefactors along the way: the kindly (but antisemitically money-obsessed) shopkeep who gives him a job, the low-lifes who want something bigger but can't quite grasp it, the sexy farmer's daughter determined to avoid wasting her life and youth and beauty in the Kansas dirt. There's not much to main character Dillon outside of being ruthlessly ambitious, but you get a hint of some deeper aspects of his character within the last few pages. Myra is more interesting, a woman forced to live her entire life in submission to men--first her domineering father, then Dillon--but just when you're starting to feel sympathy for her situation, she exhibits some pretty ugly characteristics herself.
My favorite part of the book is the first of three, about Dillon's efforts to rig a boxing match. Tarantino has said in interviews for Pulp Fiction that his purpose with that screenplay was to take "the oldest stories in the book" and make them fresh again, but even as someone reasonably familiar with old gangster books and movies, I'd never previously encountered the "boxer paid/threatened by the mob to take a dive but can't make himself go through with it in the ring" trope until The Dead Stay Dumb. (Myra's father, a former boxer, is named Butch--perhaps an influence on Tarantino, perhaps it's merely a very obvious name for this sort of character.) Despite losing out on his chance to get back into the criminal world in any meaningful way, Dillon exhibits a strange kind of respect for Franks, the boxer he tried to threaten into throwing the fight, and instead takes out his rage on his cohorts when they complain: "Shut up, you rats! Franks's got more guts than the bunch of you rolled into one. What does it matter if you lost a little dough?" A strange code of honor for a relentless killer who takes retribution on others when they merely inconvenience him.
I was, however, disappointed that at no point in the novel does anyone drop the title in dialogue. "I guess we don't need to worry--the dead stay dumb." *swelling melancholy music as the camera pulls back*
March 9, 2025
Истории из жизни бандитов — максимально не мой жанр. Трудно с интересом читать книгу, в которой все герои до единого вызывают единственную реакцию, «хоть бы ты уже сдох поскорее, упырь чортов». И когда автору романа про бандитов удается меня увлечь — ну что сказать, талант есть талант.
«Мертвые не кусаются», про быт мелких гангстеров в довоенных США, прочел не отрываясь. Все начинается достаточно невинно — мелкие мошенники мутят договорные боксерские поединки где-то в американском захолустье и стригут с этого свой мелкий гешефт. Читателю, впервые открывающему книгу, трудно даже представить, к какой жести приведет одна неудачная махинация и в какие бездны жуткого макабра низвергнется судьба отмороженного Диллона и его друзей (зачеркнуто) боевых товарищей (зачеркнуто) случайных напарников.
Книга ни разу не шедевр, но, на мой взгляд, довольно крепкий продукт в своей нише. При этом еще следует учесть, что это то ли первая, то ли вторая проба пера Чейза, который на тот момент работал мелким клерком то ли в банке, то ли в книжком магазине в своих европах, а представление об Америке черпал исключительно из нуарных детективов Хэммета с Чандлером. Но уверенная рука будущего мастера здесь уже ощущается.
Твердые 7/10.
«Мертвые не кусаются», про быт мелких гангстеров в довоенных США, прочел не отрываясь. Все начинается достаточно невинно — мелкие мошенники мутят договорные боксерские поединки где-то в американском захолустье и стригут с этого свой мелкий гешефт. Читателю, впервые открывающему книгу, трудно даже представить, к какой жести приведет одна неудачная махинация и в какие бездны жуткого макабра низвергнется судьба отмороженного Диллона и его друзей (зачеркнуто) боевых товарищей (зачеркнуто) случайных напарников.
Книга ни разу не шедевр, но, на мой взгляд, довольно крепкий продукт в своей нише. При этом еще следует учесть, что это то ли первая, то ли вторая проба пера Чейза, который на тот момент работал мелким клерком то ли в банке, то ли в книжком магазине в своих европах, а представление об Америке черпал исключительно из нуарных детективов Хэммета с Чандлером. Но уверенная рука будущего мастера здесь уже ощущается.
Твердые 7/10.
June 17, 2017
Best book by JHC, out of the few that i have read. And one of the few books that i have read multiple times. It has some rugged appeal, there is no loveable character, but you love to hate most of them, and the one most hatable is the one that most impresses you. I have'nt come across any other character like Dillon in any of the fiction work i have read so far. He is mean, cunning, as hatable as possible, still you want him to survive to the end.
Hats off to JHC for writing this masterpiece. Its a small book with tight grip on the plot. Way the story goes, its very hard to predict whats going to happen next. JHC succeeds 100% in keeping your interest intact all the way to climax.
I hope one day some fine director will attempt to make a movie in this awesome book.
Hats off to JHC for writing this masterpiece. Its a small book with tight grip on the plot. Way the story goes, its very hard to predict whats going to happen next. JHC succeeds 100% in keeping your interest intact all the way to climax.
I hope one day some fine director will attempt to make a movie in this awesome book.
May 3, 2021
Dillon is a would be Dillinger, a mean gunman whose coming to town means bad news for all who cross his path. From fixing fights to running rackets with automatic machines to cold blooded murder, Dillon is determined nothing will stop him from rising to the top. First published in the early forties, it is a book of its time, with open misogyny and the argot of the time.
It is a short book, the second of James Hadley Chase's large oeuvre.
My rating 2.5 rounded up to three as Goodreads don't allow for half points.
"You got me wrong," he said, "I don't tote a rod. You know me, boss; I wouldn't do a thing like that."
It is a short book, the second of James Hadley Chase's large oeuvre.
My rating 2.5 rounded up to three as Goodreads don't allow for half points.
May 13, 2024
A gunman without a conscience, A criminal in the making. Set in the 40s when when crime was about fixing fights and running rackets, the story takes a bit of time to get started. But once the story picks up, it is misogynistic, violent & action packed. The last 2 paragraphs bring the story to a surprising end.
The book does not match my typical style of reading, but I must say the short book made me effortlessly turn the pages.
That speaks for all that I have heard about James Hadley Chase, the king of thrillers.
The book does not match my typical style of reading, but I must say the short book made me effortlessly turn the pages.
That speaks for all that I have heard about James Hadley Chase, the king of thrillers.
July 8, 2018
Super hardboiled saga of Dillon, a horrific criminal on the make. Very little fat as far as extraneous description or dialog, but the plot does meander a bit. Thrilling, violent and misogynistic, or perhaps more appropriately misanthropic. Intense thrills.
November 16, 2020
I can't think of one interesting part in this book. The main character is detestable. Almost every word is US slang.
December 14, 2018
সেলুনে মদ্যপানের সাথে গল্প-গুজব চলছে। কিছুক্ষণ আগে বুচ হোগানের মেয়ে তার বাবার জন্য মদ কিনতে এসেছিলো। আকর্ষণীয়া মিস হোগানকে নিয়ে চলছিলো জল্পনা-কল্পনা। এমন সময় বারে লম্বা একজন মানুষের ছায়া পড়লো। বারটেন্ডারের কাছে গিয়ে সে পানি চাইলো। বারটেন্ডার জানালো, এখানে পানি বিক্রি হয় না। লোকটা আবারও তার কাছে পানি চাইলো। তার শীতল চাহনিতে ভয় পেয়ে বারটেন্ডার তাকে পানির বোতল দিলো। পানি খেয়ে বিদায় হতে বললো। এ্যাবি শুরু থেকেই লক্ষ্য করছিলো তাকে। তার কাছে মনে হয়েছে লোকটা ক্ষুধার্ত। লোকটাকে সে তার দোকানে খাবার খেতে যাবার পরামর্শ দিলো।
ডিলন শহরে নতুন। এ্যাবির স্টোরে খেতে আসার পর এ্যাবির হয়ে একজনকে শায়েস্তা করায় দোকানে কাজ জুটে যায় তার। শহরের নারী মহলে রটে যায় ডিলনের কথা। মেয়েরা নানা ছুতোয় দলে দলে দেখতে আসে তাকে। ডিলনের কর্কশ রুক্ষ মুখ, কিন্তু একহারা পেটানো শরীর দেখে তারা শিহরিত হয়।
বুচ হোগানের মেয়ে মায়রাকে শহরের অনেকেই পছন্দ করে। তবে তার মনের মানুষ গার্নি। বুচ হোগান এককালের নামী বক্সার। এখন চোখে দেখতে পায় না। এ কারণেই তার অন্যান্য ইন্দ্রিয়গুলো খুব সজাগ থাকে। বুচের নাকের ডগার নিচে মায়রার সাথে প্রেম করতে ভয় পায় গার্নি।
শহরে বক্সিং প্রতিযোগিতা হবে। ফ্র্যাঙ্কসের সঙ্গে স্যাঙ্কির। জেতার সম্ভাবনা ফ্র্যাঙ্কসেরই বেশী। ডিলন গার্নির দলকে বলে স্যাঙ্কির ওপর বাজি লাগাতে। সে ম্যাচ ফিক্স করবে। ফ্র্যাঙ্কস ইচ্ছে করে ম্যাচ হারবে। ডিলন ফ্র্যাঙ্কসের সঙ্গে দেখা করে তাকে ম্যাচ ছেড়ে দিতে বলে। তা না হলে.. কোমরে লুকানো কোল্ট বের করে ভয় দেখায়। ফ্র্যাঙ্কস কী ভয় পেয়ে ম্যাচ ছেড়ে দিতে রাজী হবে?
মায়রা স্বাধীনচেতা মেয়ে। সে তার অন্ধ বাবার শাসনের কবল থেকে মুক্তি চায়। গার্নিকে সে পছন্দ করলেও গার্নি বুচকে টপকে কিছু করতে ভয় পায়। মায়রার কী মুক্তি মিলবে?
গার্নি ছোট শহরের পাতি মাস্তান হলেও মনে মনে চায় বড় কিছু করতে। তার সে আশা কী পূরণ হবে? আর ডিলন.. সে আসলে কে?
সেই চল্লিশের দশকে জেমস হ্যাডলি চেজ আগাগোড়া একজন খলচরিত্রকে নিয়ে বই লেখার সাহস দেখিয়েছেন। বইয়ের মূল চরিত্র ডিলনের মাঝে মানবিকতার ছিটেফোঁটাও নেই। এমন অনেক বই পড়েছি যেখানে মূল চরিত্র খল হলেও তার মধ্যে অনেক মানবিক গুণাবলী দেখা যায়। দ্য ডেড স্টে ডাম্ব বইতে এমন সুযোগ নেই। ডিলন আগাগোড়া একজন খল মানুষ এবং সে কাউকে কোনো সুযোগ দেয় না।
চেজের বাকী বইগুলোর মত এখানেও সুন্দরী রমণী রয়েছে। তবে তাকে ঘিরে কাহিনী আবর্তিত হয়নি। কাহিনী সংক্ষেপ পড়ে বাকী অংশ আন্দাজ করা যাবে না। এরপর প্লটের বিস্তৃতি গড়িয়েছে আরও বহুদূরে। খুব ভালো লেগেছে বলবো না। কোনো চরিত্রের প্রতি ভালো লাগা কাজ করেনি বলেই হয়তো। তবে ভিন্নধর্মী একটি এ্যাকশন থ্রিলার পড়তে চাইলে পড়ে দেখতে পারেন।
ডিলন শহরে নতুন। এ্যাবির স্টোরে খেতে আসার পর এ্যাবির হয়ে একজনকে শায়েস্তা করায় দোকানে কাজ জুটে যায় তার। শহরের নারী মহলে রটে যায় ডিলনের কথা। মেয়েরা নানা ছুতোয় দলে দলে দেখতে আসে তাকে। ডিলনের কর্কশ রুক্ষ মুখ, কিন্তু একহারা পেটানো শরীর দেখে তারা শিহরিত হয়।
বুচ হোগানের মেয়ে মায়রাকে শহরের অনেকেই পছন্দ করে। তবে তার মনের মানুষ গার্নি। বুচ হোগান এককালের নামী বক্সার। এখন চোখে দেখতে পায় না। এ কারণেই তার অন্যান্য ইন্দ্রিয়গুলো খুব সজাগ থাকে। বুচের নাকের ডগার নিচে মায়রার সাথে প্রেম করতে ভয় পায় গার্নি।
শহরে বক্সিং প্রতিযোগিতা হবে। ফ্র্যাঙ্কসের সঙ্গে স্যাঙ্কির। জেতার সম্ভাবনা ফ্র্যাঙ্কসেরই বেশী। ডিলন গার্নির দলকে বলে স্যাঙ্কির ওপর বাজি লাগাতে। সে ম্যাচ ফিক্স করবে। ফ্র্যাঙ্কস ইচ্ছে করে ম্যাচ হারবে। ডিলন ফ্র্যাঙ্কসের সঙ্গে দেখা করে তাকে ম্যাচ ছেড়ে দিতে বলে। তা না হলে.. কোমরে লুকানো কোল্ট বের করে ভয় দেখায়। ফ্র্যাঙ্কস কী ভয় পেয়ে ম্যাচ ছেড়ে দিতে রাজী হবে?
মায়রা স্বাধীনচেতা মেয়ে। সে তার অন্ধ বাবার শাসনের কবল থেকে মুক্তি চায়। গার্নিকে সে পছন্দ করলেও গার্নি বুচকে টপকে কিছু করতে ভয় পায়। মায়রার কী মুক্তি মিলবে?
গার্নি ছোট শহরের পাতি মাস্তান হলেও মনে মনে চায় বড় কিছু করতে। তার সে আশা কী পূরণ হবে? আর ডিলন.. সে আসলে কে?
সেই চল্লিশের দশকে জেমস হ্যাডলি চেজ আগাগোড়া একজন খলচরিত্রকে নিয়ে বই লেখার সাহস দেখিয়েছেন। বইয়ের মূল চরিত্র ডিলনের মাঝে মানবিকতার ছিটেফোঁটাও নেই। এমন অনেক বই পড়েছি যেখানে মূল চরিত্র খল হলেও তার মধ্যে অনেক মানবিক গুণাবলী দেখা যায়। দ্য ডেড স্টে ডাম্ব বইতে এমন সুযোগ নেই। ডিলন আগাগোড়া একজন খল মানুষ এবং সে কাউকে কোনো সুযোগ দেয় না।
চেজের বাকী বইগুলোর মত এখানেও সুন্দরী রমণী রয়েছে। তবে তাকে ঘিরে কাহিনী আবর্তিত হয়নি। কাহিনী সংক্ষেপ পড়ে বাকী অংশ আন্দাজ করা যাবে না। এরপর প্লটের বিস্তৃতি গড়িয়েছে আরও বহুদূরে। খুব ভালো লেগেছে বলবো না। কোনো চরিত্রের প্রতি ভালো লাগা কাজ করেনি বলেই হয়তো। তবে ভিন্নধর্মী একটি এ্যাকশন থ্রিলার পড়তে চাইলে পড়ে দেখতে পারেন।
January 21, 2015
An entertaining read. The action was fast and keeps the reader turning the pages.Read more at my blog:
The Dead Stay Dumb
The Dead Stay Dumb
May 19, 2013
a book on underworld, the dark potbelly of haunted, gruel, evil and frightening part of this real world
March 20, 2015
Compared to other novels of Hadley Chase this was little boring after a while :(, interesting in the beginning and pretty lame in the end especially the dillon character
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