Blood Money

Nolan #2

by Max Allan Collins

Nolan was still alive; his wounds healed and his money was safe - all $800,000 of it. It was Nolan's birthday and he was sitting happy.

Until Planner was killed. Planner was an eccentric antique dealer; Planner had the $800,000 in his safe. But now he was dead and the money was gone.

Caught up in a sizzling crossfire of double-dealing, danger and death, Nolan was up against the 'Family' again. There was only one way out...Blood Money!

Genres: Crime, Noir, Mystery, Pulp, Audiobook, Fiction

190 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1973

About the author

Received the Shamus Award, "The Eye" (Lifetime achievment award) in 2006.

He has also published under the name Patrick Culhane. He and his wife, Barbara Collins, have written several books together. Some of them are published under the name Barbara Allan.

Book Awards
Shamus Awards Best Novel winner (1984) : True Detective
Shamus Awards Best Novel winner (1992) : Stolen Away
Shamus Awards Best Novel nominee (1995) : Carnal Hours
Shamus Awards Best Novel nominee (1997) : Damned in Paradise
Shamus Awards Best Novel nominee (1999) : Flying Blind: A Novel about Amelia Earhart
Shamus Awards Best Novel nominee (2002) : Angel in Black

Japanese: マックス・アラン・コリンズ
or マックス・アラン コリンズ

Reviews

[Ed [Redacted] · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not as good as "Bait Money", the previous entry in the Nolan series. This was a good enough book. Workmanlike, Collins is a good enough author that just about anything he writes is readable; this one is just so. I am not going to bother seeking out the next Nolan, at least not anytime soon. If you are looking for a Parker clone, check out Dan Marlowe's "Drake" series, available in electronic format from Prologue Books.

[Jay Rothermel · Rating 3 out of 5]

[....] Jon had [after Bait Money] taken Nolan to Planner’s and stayed by him like a damn nurse for six or eight fucking months. Nolan was not the sentimental type, but Jon was no longer just a silly damn comic book freak to him; Jon was a silly damn comic book freak who had saved Nolan’s life, and that was different.

A lot had happened since then. Planner had been killed, shot to death in the back room of the antique shop when some old “friends” of Nolan’s had come calling. Nolan and Jon had evened the score as best as possible, but lost a pile of money in the process. In the meantime, Nolan’s long-standing feud with the Chicago Family finally fizzled out when a new regime came into power; the new Family people even hired Nolan, and he ran a motel and restaurant complex for them for a while. But he soon got a bad taste in his mouth, working for people who were in his opinion just a bunch of pimps and pushers and killers come up in the world. So he’d quit, amicably, and had decided to take the offer made him by another of his old working cronies who was retired and living in Iowa City, a very close friend of Planner’s named Wagner, who was having some health troubles and wanted Nolan to take over his restaurant business for him. Thanks to a heist he and Jon had pulled in Detroit a few months back, Nolan had had the necessary capital to buy in, and now here he was: settled down perhaps too close to the site of a fairly recent bank job, which was a risk, yes, but a risk he’d decided was worth taking.

[Pepijn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun direct sequel to Bait Money, but I found it better and worse.

Nolan is still his old OG tough guy self and I am here for it. Jon got a larger role to play and I like both who he is/what he does ánd how he humanises Nolan just a little bit. It's sad to see more side characters go (first Irish in the last one, now Planner and Tillis, fuck, sorry for spoiling), since I really liked them and they gave Nolan some background, but what do you do.

Again, simple plot, semi-predictable twists and turns, and then the pace ramps up during the final 50 or so pages. Again, we are not here for incredibly complex plot lines or world shattering thematic insights, so who cares. Except for the fact that the middle part really slumped and the resolution felt like a slight let-down. I was really hoping for more.

Anyways, the sequels are coming in in a few days and I am tackling all of Nolan in the coming weeks.

[Ernie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The beginning of the book has too much exposition and re-introduction of the characters from book 1...but once we got past that awkwardness, it was an enjoyable read.

70's crime noir as viewed from 2026....but it was written in 1973, so it wasn't a period piece at the time it was written. It is full of 70s dialog that may be viewed as racially insensitive or sexist today....but if viewed through a pre-disco era lens, it is an enjoyable snapshot of the past.

Book 2 is really the second half of book 1. I am glad that this one didn't end on a cliffhanger.

Definitely reading more of this series

Four Stars

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a good solid story set in the Midwest, in Iowa to be precise. Nolan, who originally was a nightclub manager for a mob-controlled enterprise, had a disagreement with a mobster, who ordered Nolan to kill a friend. Nolan ended up killing the mobster and fleeing with the Mob's money. This earned him the enmity of the dead man's brother, Charlie, an underboss in the Chicago mob. Years go by, Nolan becomes a master thief, often working with a man known as the Planner, who would put together plans and crews. In Bait Money, which chronologically precedes Blood Money, After a daring robbery of a financial institution. Nolan tries to make peace with his enemies and, in particular, underboss Charlie.

Blood Money is the sequel to bait money. A year has gone by and things have changed and boy have they changed. Nolan is now operating a motel for the mob and his nemesis is nowhere to be found. Another daring robbery takes place and Nolan's future with the mob, once-assured, is no longer safe. Bodies are falling. People are being snatched. Witnesses are being wiped out before Nolan can talk to them.

This book is a little different than Bait Money. It is more of a live action, mob action tale of intrigue and lacks some of the levity found in the first book. However, a lot of the same characters are here and the story flows nicely from the ending of the first Nolan book.

[Vultural · Rating 3 out of 5]

Collins, Max - Blood Money

Immediate sequel to Bait Money finds Nolan returning to the Family, managing a small motel with lounge and pool.
An offer if extended for full reinstatement, a larger establishment to manage, if he pays a hefty "consideration."
All too soon, he learns someone found his stash and fled with it.
Guns are oiled, and the hunt begins.
Another fast moving, hard boiled yarn by a very young Max Allan Collins.

[Clay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though it takes place about a year after the events of Bait Money, this is a sequel (or, more appropriately, a Part 2) to that book. It goes through someone ripping off Nolan's take from the previous bank job, killing the caretaker of the loot, and Nolan's search for his money and the killer of his friend.

[Ken Jensen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The second Nolan book is better than the first one. The writer has taken leaps in developing his skills, and he has created an enjoyable tale. Nolan is a professional thief, and someone has stolen all his money, and he needs to get it back. Simple as that. It’s a bit too predictable at times but enjoyable nonetheless.

[Marty Solotki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stefan Rudnicki once again does a great job for Audible, narrating the Nolan sequel to “Bait Money.” This one is more a murder mystery than crime caper, as Nolan and John search for a killer in order to get back into the good graces of The Family…and recover Nolan’s stolen $800K. An interesting tale of how revenge corrupts us as we get older, and a great cast of criminal characters.

[Bruce Nieminski · Rating 3 out of 5]

6.5/10
190 pages

Nolan #2

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

A hard-hitting pulp novel with more than enough violence, humor, and quirkiness to please almost any fan of the genre.

[David Highton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Early 70s story about the mafia. Written in typical early Collins style

[Jason McCracken · Rating 3 out of 5]

Better than book 1 but it still feels like Parker-lite.

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5 written in the 70’s and it shows. Still was short and fun ride. Good sequel.

[Wayne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice follow up to book one. All the loose ends get hog tied up. Lots of great dialogue and set pieces you don't see coming. Always a pleasure.

[Randy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nolan has recovered from his near fatal wounds and is getting ready to invest his part of the three quarters of a million from the bank job(Bait Money). The money has been held by Planner in an old safe until the time is right. Things have been patched up with the "Family" and Nolan is investing in one of their legitimate restaurants.

Then two men, father and son, old enemies of Nolan's, murder Planner and steal the money. Nolan has an idea who did it, impossible as it seems, and Jon and he go after them.

[Ed · Rating 4 out of 5]

#2 in the Nolan series. Although there is enough backstory in this 1973 novel to read it as a standalone, I recommend reading Bait Money (1973) the series debut first.

Nolan has recovered from his wounds and is getting ready to invest his part of the three quarters of a million from the bank job(Bait Money). The money has been held by Planner. Things have been patched up with the "Family" and Nolan is investing in one of their legitimate restaurants. Then two men, father and son, old enemies of Nolan's, murder Planner and steal the money.

[Douglas Castagna · Rating 4 out of 5]

More or less a continuation of Bait Money, and since that one had ended abruptly I was glad that this took place soon after. Nolan proves to be a strong series character as this one avoids most conventions of a sophomore slump and really lays on the action. Nice followup.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading all the Nolans as I can find them

[Diana Kamada · Rating 3 out of 5]

good plot but sexist treatment of women. bit vulgar..