The Syndicate

by Robert Chestnut

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Genres: Crime

132 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1960

Reviews

[Nancy Oakes · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually read this book some time ago, and have been waiting as the official release date (June 15) gets closer to post about it.

In a nutshell, this book has a simple plot: Andy Sorrell has been called on by his boss to take care of three men who have double crossed "the Syndicate," an organized-crime group out of New York. He'll be be paid ten grand for his work, once he finds these crooks who had made off with half a million dollars "rightfully" belonging to the Syndicate after a "bank job" in New Jersey. He is then supposed to recover the money and return it to his boss. But it seems that he no sooner gets started on the job when he begins to realize that there's someone out there who doesn't seem to want him to actually complete his mission. The question is who, and why.

Despite how its plot sounds however, this book is anything but simple. The author has thrown into this mix a main character who can't seem to come to terms with the powerful inner demons that drive him. Considering that the story is revealed completely through his point of view, well, we become a captive audience with a view into his madness, which adds an entirely new level to this story, elevating it well beyond just plot. It's here that this book really shines, and considering that this book, written by a long-forgotten African-American author hasn't surfaced since the 1960s, well, it's worth every minute of time and money spent to read it.

there's much more at my reading journal : http://www.crimesegments.com/2018/06/...

recommended to anyone who likes deep, gritty and dark crime.

[Cody · Rating 4 out of 5]

End-of-Year 'Loose Ends Bother Me' Microreview in Three Sentences or Less:

Here is where Cooper acts the role the literary world assigned him—a Harlem Sam Spade with a prescribed emphasis on the surname (and a giant dick, “private” on business cards only). The thing is, Cooper still manages to subvert the living fuck out of it, letting his white tough-guy protag wax endlessly on the neuroticism of monied whites (when he’s not busily getting down with any of the many white women he flat-out fucks witless in a parody of the hard-boiled form). Like our main man proves, there’s nothing wrong with a fun romp now and again—although this being published pseudonymously might, you know, entreat a little reflection as to why that was a necessity in the first place.

[Scott Cumming · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clarence Cooper is a lost and mostly forgotten name in the crime genre and the literary world at large. After garnering rave reviews for his debut novel "The Scene", he succumbed to drug addiction and had stints in prison. Molotov Editions have resurrected this slim novel, which was published in 1960 under a pseudonym. It's a cracking hard boiled tale that's quite of it's time given the sometimes lack of political correctness and some pretty disturbing scenes.

Andy Sorrell is sent to Syndicate run Hollisworth to take out three men fingered for an inside job in which half a million of the Syndicate's money was stolen. What seems a simple task takes a turn when Sorrell's mind turns to the money itself rather than completing the task at hand. It's here the plot becomes more complicated as Sorrell looks to figure out which of the associated figures has the money in order to purloin it.

The book opens with some brazen homophobia and Sorrell beating the living hell out of a woman who bears a resemblance to his deceased girlfriend. The story is peppered with such moments and they don't feel wholly necessary and relevant to the story. Sorrell's psycho-sexual temperament doesn't actually alter the outcome in any way. It's likely these moments were just acts of salaciousness to garner the book more attention.

The volume is rounded out by an afterword by Gary Phillips where my thoughts on this being like a Parker novel were echoed and expanded upon with an explanation on why it's not entirely like Parker and is more akin to a Jim Thompson antihero.

There are parts of this book that won't be for everyone, but it's a cracking ride that is truly hard-boiled.

[ColumbusReads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Long lost crime thriller and pulp author who has been compared to Iceberg Slim and Donald Goines but also equal parts William Burroughs and Jim Thompson.

This book is rather raw and not at all for the squeamish or easily offended. The opening line: “Anyone could tell at first glance that Brace Lilly was a fairy” is literally just the start of it. This book which was originally published in 1960, is homophobic and misogynistic and at times uncomfortable to read. The verbal and physical attacks toward women in this book are particularly brutal and difficult to read at times. Warning: There’s a rape scene in this book that might may be a dealbreaker for some. That raises the question of where do you exactly draw the line on art and extreme cruelty?

There are many, many things to like about this book and this obscure underground author from Detroit. An author Richard Wright once called one of the most underrated writers in America. This is a really fine pulp thriller if you can somehow get beyond the aforementioned trigger issues.

An LA crime syndicate, fast-paced thriller that’s simply plotted with lots of interesting side characters. Three goons hired to steal a boatload of money, five hundred thousand of it in fact and an enforcer hired to find them. Lots of blood, guts and twists along the way. The ending is exceptionally done. Truly!

There’s an afterword from the crime author, Gary Phillips that’s a must read and I highly suggest you read it. He provides an interesting overview of this author and his career, his life on the streets of Detroit and his period doing time in prison. It’s another fascinating story of a most complicated and complex writer.

Kudos to Molotov Editions for an advanced copy and resurrecting this authentic and original author.

[Tony · Rating 2 out of 5]

This slim slice of pulp fiction was originally published under the pen name Robert Chestnut in 1960 with a lurid cover for the spinner racks at newsstands and drugstores. It's narrated by Andy Sorrell, a killer working for the titular New York mob outfit, as he arrives in California to take care of three men who've made off with a half-million syndicate dollars. Sorrell is a blunt instrument with a sharp, wisecracking tongue not atypical of the genre. He's also a bristling ball of psychosis and rage, rooted in mostly unspecified past trauma -- and how that manifests may exceed the sensibilities of many modern readers. (If the book's opening line -- "Anyone could tell at first glance that Brace Lilly was a fairy" -- is triggering, well, that's kind of the tip of the iceberg of what's to come...)

The plot is a typically convoluted genre game of Sorrell running around a fictional coastal Southern California small town trying to find his targets. This proves to be more tricky than his boss led him to believe, and soon enough he's trying to extract information from half a dozen people who may be trying to mislead him, including various women, cops, and "fairies", and trying to figure out if maybe he should make his own play for the missing money. As the story moves along, the violence picks up momentum, with Sorrell beating the **** out of a number of people (including several women), not to mention an ugly rape scene. I guess the hyperviolence is within pulp conventions of the time, and I guess it's more or less given license by Sorrell's supposed inner demons, but it's all pretty gratuitous.

Based on Cooper's other work and the cover of this edition, I was expecting race to be a strong element, and it's not present at all. It's not 100% clear, but Sorrell seems to be white, as are the other characters. I actually think the cover is quite misleading, both literally and in what it's signaling. Readers with an interest in writers like Jim Thompson, Donald Goines, Iceberg Slim, and the like, may find some nuggets of interest, but I'd call it more of a curiosity than a classic.

[Donny Forbes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fast, hard hitting and intense. Be wary if 60's era language and the like are not your digs.

[Linc Freidin · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up