Book review

By Derryll White

Campbell, Robert (1988).  Plugged Nickel

Robert Campbell is one of those older writers that I somehow missed. He died in 2000, and was very active in writing screenplays and TV episodes for Maverick, Hawaiian Eye, Marcus Welby, M.D., and others.

I found a mint first edition Pocket Book edition of Plugged Nickel, bought it and jumped right in.  Jake Hatch is a railway detective for the Burlington Northern, working out of Omaha, Nebraska.  Railroad society has its own structure, rules and language, immediately making the story different from the norm and a little foreign to most readers.  That is part of the excitement.

Robert Campbell is an accomplished writer.  The plot has many twists and turns but always stays true, right up to the surprising conclusion.  He is old school, focusing on character development and adding many embellishments as the tale progresses.  There is the intimation of many sexual liaisons, but no explicit sexuality as is common nowadays.

If I can find more Robert Campbell novels I will certainly make time to read them.

*******

Excerpts from the novel:

TRAVELING MAN –  ”You’re fishing for compliments.  You’re not old, you’re ripe.  A man doesn’t have to be very old these days to become a relic.  But I didn’t exactly mean that.  I guess I mean that you’re a railroad man.  It’s written all over you.  I guess I mean that the railroads won’t be around much longer and when they’re gone, I wonder what will happen to you.”

ATTRACTION – I sometimes believe that any charm I may have with the ladies lies in the fact that they know I’m a traveling man, more or less, and can be depended upon not to linger too long after we’ve had our moment.

– 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.

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