Baby Moll (Hard Case Crime)
by John Farris
List Price:
Our Price: $1.50
You Save: $5.49 (79%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $1.43 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: John FarrisEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2008-07-29
ISBN: 0843959649
Number of pages: 217
Publisher: Hard Case Crime
Book Reviews of Baby Moll (Hard Case Crime)
Book Review: BABY MOLL by John Farris
Summary: 4 Stars
Peter Mallory is on the verge of obtaining everything he has ever wanted. He owns a business, he is a respected resident of the community, and he is set to marry a beautiful and intelligent woman. He is in a good place, but when an old associate appears at his bait shop Mallory's past threatens everything he has built.
Mallory was a lieutenant in the Florida Mob when he walked away six years earlier and now the boss wants him back. He doesn't want to go, but he wants his past to stay where it is and when the boss threatens to share a few details with his fianc?e he unwillingly agrees.
When he arrives he finds the Don a shadow of his former self. He has aged and lost control of his own turf. He no longer protects territory from rival gangs and even worse old associates are being murdered one by one. After each murder a news clipping is delivered that tells the story of a murder he and the others committed years earlier. It's getting to the Don and he needs Mallory to look into it and figure who it is and stop it.
BABY MOLL is the best reprint Hard Case Crime has released. It was originally published in 1958 as by Steve Brakeen and while it is very much a product of its era it has lost little of its impact. The story is told with a sparse and economical style that reminded me very much of Michael Crichton's early John Lange novels, but the mystery and plotting are one step beyond what Crichton was doing in the 1960s.
The characters are perfect--the aging mobster is drawn with a brilliantly nuanced mixture of menace, sorrow, bluster and loss. The supporting cast is an oddball group that Mr. Farris effectively uses to clutter the mystery and build tension. Mallory never quite gets a handle on their motivations or even who a few of them truly are.
The mystery is structured perfectly; it is a balance of hardboiled American mixed with a flavoring of an intricate whodunit with a dash of suspense novel thrown in for good measure. The whodunit is the mystery itself--the diverse cast and their conflicting motives interlaced with the careful release of clues and even a few red herrings to keep both Mallory and the reader off-balance. But it is presented and stylized as a down and dirty hardboiled novel that will appeal to anyone who enjoys an old style suspense novel.
-Gravetapping
Mystery & Thrillers Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Audiobooks on Cassette
- Audiobooks on CD
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- e-Books
- Engineering
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Medicine
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Must have list for 2008
Wrath of a Mad God (The Darkwar Saga, Book 3)by Raymond E. Feist
Eos; Published: 2008-04-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $13.16
Price in other shops:
The Pirate King (Forgotten Realms: Transitions, Book 2)by R.A. Salvatore
Wizards of the Coast; Published: 2008-10-07; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $16.49
Price in other shops:
The Ancientby R. A. Salvatore
Tor Books; Published: 2008-03-04; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $6.98
Price in other shops:
Bones of the Dragon (Dragonships of Vindras)by Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman
Tor Books; Published: 2009-01-06; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $16.47
Price in other shops:
Phantom Prey (Lucas Davenport Mysteries)by John Sandford
Putnam Adult; Published: 2008-05-06; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.00
Price in other shops:
The Broken Window: A Lincoln Rhyme Novel (Lincoln Rhyme)by Jeffery Deaver
Simon & Schuster; Published: 2008-06-10; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $7.46
Price in other shops:
The Mercedes Coffin LP: A Decker and Lazarus Bookby Faye Kellerman
HarperLuxe; Published: 2008-09-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $13.58
Price in other shops:
Bones (Alex Delaware, No. 23)by Jonathan Kellerman
Ballantine Books; Published: 2008-10-21; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $12.83
Price in other shops:
Compulsion (Alex Delaware, No. 22)by Jonathan Kellerman
Random House Audio; Published: 2008-03-25; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $25.43
Price in other shops:
Faces of Fear: A Novelby John Saul
Ballantine Books; Published: 2008-08-12; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $9.97
Price in other shops:
Similar books summaries and other product reviews
Fifty-to-One (Hard Case Crime)by Charles Ardai
Hard Case Crime; Published: 2008-11-25; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.59
Price in other shops:
Zero Cool (Hard Case Crime)by John Lange
Hard Crime Case; Published: 2008-02-26; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.00
Price in other shops:
Money Shot (Hard Case Crime)by Christa Faust
Hard Crime Case; Published: 2008-01-29; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.83
Price in other shops:
Shooting Star/ Spiderweb (Hard Case Crime)by Robert Bloch
Hard Case Crime; Published: 2008-04; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.90
Price in other shops:
Gun Work (Hard Case Crime)by David J. Schow
Hard Crime Case; Published: 2008-10-28; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.95
Price in other shops:
The Murderer Vine (Hard Case Crime)by Shepard Rifkin
Hard Case Crime; Published: 2008-04-29; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.25
Price in other shops:
The First Quarry (Hard Case Crime)by Max Allan Collins
Hard Crime Case; Published: 2008-09-30; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.79
Price in other shops:
Somebody Owes Me Moneyby Donald E. Westlake
Hard Case Crime; Published: 2008-05-27; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.95
Price in other shops:
The Max (Hard Case Crime)by Ken Bruen, Jason Starr
Hard Case Crime; Published: 2008-08-26; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.79
Price in other shops:
No House Limit (Hard Case Crime)by Steve Fisher
Hard Case Crime; Published: 2008-07; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.59
Price in other shops: