July 2016 - The Name of the Game is Death

[Melki, Femme fatale]

Since many of our members are having trouble getting a hold of the Hinkson book, we've decided to offer a second read this month - runner-up in this month's poll - The Name of the Game Is Death.

Marlowe's book is less than 150 pages, so even if you're one of the lucky few to have access to Hell on Church Street, you've still got plenty of time to read this one, as well.

Here's a pretty good article about Dan J. Marlowe - https://yellowedandcreased.wordpress....

[Nancy]

Melki wrote: "Since many of our members are having trouble getting a hold of the Hinkson book, we've decided to offer a second read this month - runner-up in this month's poll - [book:The Name of the Game Is Dea..."

Thank you, Melki!

[Nancy]

Started this one last night.

[Melki, Femme fatale]

I'm about half way through and hope to finish today.
Terrific read so far.

[Still]

Melki wrote: "Since many of our members are having trouble getting a hold of the Hinkson book, we've decided to offer a second read this month - runner-up in this month's poll - [book:The Name of the Game Is Dea..."

I enjoyed this very much.
Thanks for the linc.

[Melki, Femme fatale]

Finished this one yesterday. Darned good read, I thought.

[Nancy]

Almost finished. I can't stand the main character, but the story is done well.

[Algernon (Darth Anyan), Hard-Boiled]

I have just started today. A bloody introduction with bullets flying and corpses strwen left and right. Pretty sure our narrator is a hard case.

I hope we'll get more input from our friends in the group who are not moderators :-)

[Edwin]

I'm 35% done and digging that the narrator is not only being portrayed as a likely sociopath, but also how he got to be that way. The cat and the fat kid flashback was a nice touch.

[Melki, Femme fatale]

Edwin wrote: "I'm 35% done and digging that the narrator is not only being portrayed as a likely sociopath, but also how he got to be that way. The cat and the fat kid flashback was a nice touch."

Agreed. Those flashbacks go a long way in demonstrating just how indefatigable this guy is.

[Tim]

I also agree, as it seems he just picks up and moves on from any and all setbacks, and the fat kid story was great for showing his determination once he sets out to do something, and he is cautious and fearless at the same time, great qualities for his chosen path in life.

This month I was able to read all of the books included in the poll, thinking Hell on Church Street was out of reach, solid choices and I've also picked up a copy of what is in first place for August so far.

[Nancy]

Finished. I still can't stand the main character, but I liked the book. Sociopath, definitely.

[Nancy]

I've just finished reading an article about this author, and this is just the first in a series. I don't know that I could take any more books with this guy as the main character, and evidently, Gold Medal had issues as well:

http://www.thrillingdetective.com/eye...

[Edwin]

@Nancy, thanks for the interesting link. I loved the book, however I share your lack of enthusiasm about getting reacquainted with the main character any time soon.

[Nancy]

Edwin wrote: "@Nancy, thanks for the interesting link. I loved the book, however I share your lack of enthusiasm about getting reacquainted with the main character any time soon."

You know, I normally read fiction with the characters at the forefront of my mind, and I've seen too many people give books a thumbs-down because they didn't like the characters. I thought this book was really well done and if I really hated this guy, it was because the author did such a good job in creating him. I don't think anyone is supposed to actually like him.

[Algernon (Darth Anyan), Hard-Boiled]

I would like to see a movie made from this book. It could get intense under the right direction, but I can't decide on who should play Drake. Most of the A-list actors look like pretty boys to me. Not scary enough. I would like something like a young Jack Nicholson, in "Chinatown" for example.

edit Liam Neeson might do, but he's getting a bit old.

[Nancy]

Algernon wrote: "I would like to see a movie made from this book. It could get intense under the right direction, but I can't decide on who should play Drake. Most of the A-list actors look like pretty boys to me. ..."

Oh, I don't know about a movie. The book was hard enough to read, let alone watch!

[Jim]

Nancy wrote: "...I thought this book was really well done and if I really hated this guy, it was because the author did such a good job in creating him. I don't think anyone is supposed to actually like him. "

Agreed.

[Adam]

I really liked this book, so much so that I also read the 2nd one (One Endless Hour), and am now on to the 3rd (Operation Flashpoint). The only thing I don't really like in One Endless Hour is that he rehashes the fat kid story for an entire chapter. I ended up just skipping through it. It's not verbatim the same, but paraphrased, which is somehow worse. I think it worked really well in The Name of the Game is Death, but not as a recalled detail in One Endless Hour.

[Nancy]

"The only thing I don't really like in One Endless Hour is that he rehashes the fat kid story for an entire chapter. "

Well, I would imagine that he did this in case someone hadn't read The Name of the Game is Death. If we'd started with the second book, it wouldn't have been old material, so it makes sense to me that he did it this way.

[Jim]

I gave this book 4 stars & reviewed it here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I bought some more of the books, but didn't pay proper attention to the edition & wound up getting a couple of "Double Fastback Mystery" editions through AbeBooks. I think they're highly edited. Kind of cute, but not what I want. Here's an example of one:
https://www.amazon.com/Devlin-Affair-...

I did get a couple of old paperbacks, thankfully. One is "Janie", not listed here on GR.