Get Out of Town

by Paul Connolly

Nancy McNeill made one mistake and found herself trapped. Escape was impossible. The vice and corruption surrounding her made this small southern community a patch of hell on earth. Murder itself had become a jest. And only one man was willing to face the forces arrayed against her. One man against a mob. A powerful novel of uncompromising reality.

164 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1951

About the author

Librarian note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

A pseudonym used by Tom Wicker.

Wicker wrote three Gold Medal paperback originals early in his career using this pseudonym.

Reviews

[Edwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The debut novel from Wicker tells the story of a rookie cop fighting the drug trade and police corruption in a segregated deep South town. War vet Dave Reynolds lands a job on the small police force in his hometown and reestablishes a relationship with Nancy, the widow of his best friend and local newspaper editor. Barbiturate abuse is rampant in the black community and the impulsive Dave throws himself into cracking the drug trade while digging himself and Nancy into deep danger. A fine novel that portrays the attractions of small town life in the deep South, as well as the ugly, pervasive racism that marked that period in the previous century.

[Alonzo Church · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hero is a newly minted policeman in an unspecified Southern town, circa 1950. Of course there is the usual racism and the usual violent corrupt cop. There’s also the beautiful heroine who was the wife of hero’s best friend (before he up and died.) The unique factor — drugs are being peddled on the black side of town and, suddenly, there’s murder and violence going on over there. Our hero has some ideas on who is doing the villainy and how to fight it. Only problem is he also has ideas on what he should be doing to some of the beautiful women in town and that’s upsetting his thinking. What will he do when he is told by corrupt element to Get Out of Town?

Tom Wicker used to be one of the most establishment of the establishment liberals who wrote for the New York Times. I wonder how fondly he remembered the paperback originals he wrote under a pseudonym. This one has narrative energy and a sense of place that makes it a worthy Gold Medal entry. It also is pretty darn racist (which is why 3 stars rather than 4).