Home »
Hard Case Crime was right to re-release this book
Book Review
By Derryll White
Westlake, Donald E. (2009). The Cutie.
“Who was next on the rich-man parade?”
“You make it sound a lot harsher than it was. Mavis wasn’t a — a prostitute, or anything like that.”
“I know. She was only a mercenary.”
“A lot of people are,” she said…
This novel was originally published by Donald Westlake in 1960, as ‘The Mercenaries.’ Hard Case Crime brought it back, commissioning new cover art and promoting Westlake anew in a changed market. He is still a towering writer in the noir genre, pulling up thoughts of Raymond Chandler and Elmore Leonard.
I love the way Westlake puts the grit and grime into the city. Junkies live in cockroach farms and one has to thread a path through the stench, drunks and garbage cans to get anywhere. It doesn’t sound contrived, but simply the every-day environment that Clay (George Clayton in another life), the central character in this story, negotiates every single day.
This is a book with morals, which surprised me and engaged me. I didn’t expect an extended dialogue on love, respect and being true to oneself. Westlake did a good job of this and of the hanging ending. I enjoy his surprises, and enjoyed the book. I totally understand why Hard Case Crime re-released it. It is an inexpensive read – give it a try.
****
Excerpts from the novel:
COPS – There are four kinds of cops, none of which I like. The first kind is the fanatic. The second kind is the honest-but-reasonable, the third kind is the bought, and the fourth kind is the rented. The fanatic is out to get you no matter what. The honest-but-reasonable is out to get you but he’ll listen if you’ve got something to say. The bought can be very useful, but I hate to have to rely on him, because I never know but what he’ll turn out to be only rented. The rented cop is a bought cop who doesn’t stay bought, and he’s probably the most dangerous kind of all.
INSTITUTIONAL CARE – They’ve got a great little system for waking the boarders up in jail. At six-thirty A.M., they simultaneously clang every door they can find. The resulting racket can be heard for miles. I came up off that metal mattress of mine like an acrobat off a trampoline.
CLASS – The front lawn was dotted with tiny statues, all in color. There were rabbits, puppies, frogs and ducks, all just as cute as morning television, and a plantation slave stereotype boy next to the carriage light, dressed in jockey duds and with his black wooden hand permanently out to accept the reins. This is as close as some people can get to admitting they wish there was still an aristocracy.
– Derryll White once wrote books but now chooses to read and write about them. When not reading he writes history for the web at www.basininstitute.org.
Lotus Books is pleased to sponsor book reviews by Derryll White. If you are interested in a book that Derryll has reviewed you can shop online at https://lotusbooks.ca/, call us at 250-426-3415 or please visit us at 33 10th Ave. S. Cranbrook, and we would be happy to help you find a great read.
