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Roadside Night
They dared to call it love...
- GenresCrime
143 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 1960
8 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 6, 2025
Black Gat edition cover art by Ernest Chiriacka. ‘Roadside Night” is a terse noir written by two writers barely known these days. It’s the story of a sucker named Buck Randall, a veteran who runs a roadside diner between Los Angeles and San Diego in the days before that stretch became another overpopulated suburban sprawl, and Sylvia Landon, a head-turning red headed bombshell who, without even trying, knows how to wrap a guy around her little finger. “There are plenty of girls around here with nice legs—and everything else. I know them. Lots of them have been in my cabin. Fun, for a while, but they just have different names. This girl had me going before she got the bar door open. It started right then.”
You know she’s no good from the start and Buck knows as well, but he’s compelled by her charms. “I couldn’t tell her now I wanted her to stay with me here, in this place, where I poured beer, rented rooms. I couldn’t tell her that. But I had to say something. Anything. So I told her the place was an investment. A temporary thing. Something to do while I looked around. I was waiting for something good.”“Something big. Something fast.” Not only does she tell him she wants him to have money, but she tells him he’s made for action and if he doesn’t take action now, he’ll “be living among people made of weak stuff, people who have missed the boat and are trying to forget by sitting back, chewing the cud of lost hopes.” What a great line!
The play is that her boss is a gambling syndicate guy in Long Beach, now in a wheelchair and crippled, but still a good collector. She tells him the guy is a cripple and all Buck had to do is waltz in and grab the briefcase full of money and there’d be no trouble. Of course, there’s trouble.
The trouble is that Buck is on his own after the robbery and felling guilty and wondering about the information in the newspaper about her past and where he fits in. Indeed, her past greets him by the tag name “sucker” and it fits so well. But Buck is in her spider’s web and he can’t get out. Bitsy tells him: “‘So you’re another sucker.’ She was sneering at me. ‘Stupid like he was. Well, don’t do it in a garage. Not with a rope.’”
It’s a classic sucker tale, but what makes it so good is the terse sharp writing that makes everything so immediate and puts the reader in his shoes. Even when Buck knows the score, he’s trapped and can’t escape his fate.
You know she’s no good from the start and Buck knows as well, but he’s compelled by her charms. “I couldn’t tell her now I wanted her to stay with me here, in this place, where I poured beer, rented rooms. I couldn’t tell her that. But I had to say something. Anything. So I told her the place was an investment. A temporary thing. Something to do while I looked around. I was waiting for something good.”“Something big. Something fast.” Not only does she tell him she wants him to have money, but she tells him he’s made for action and if he doesn’t take action now, he’ll “be living among people made of weak stuff, people who have missed the boat and are trying to forget by sitting back, chewing the cud of lost hopes.” What a great line!
The play is that her boss is a gambling syndicate guy in Long Beach, now in a wheelchair and crippled, but still a good collector. She tells him the guy is a cripple and all Buck had to do is waltz in and grab the briefcase full of money and there’d be no trouble. Of course, there’s trouble.
The trouble is that Buck is on his own after the robbery and felling guilty and wondering about the information in the newspaper about her past and where he fits in. Indeed, her past greets him by the tag name “sucker” and it fits so well. But Buck is in her spider’s web and he can’t get out. Bitsy tells him: “‘So you’re another sucker.’ She was sneering at me. ‘Stupid like he was. Well, don’t do it in a garage. Not with a rope.’”
It’s a classic sucker tale, but what makes it so good is the terse sharp writing that makes everything so immediate and puts the reader in his shoes. Even when Buck knows the score, he’s trapped and can’t escape his fate.
August 25, 2025
Buck Randall is a relatively nice guy. He owns a bar and a few cabins. He’s making a little money, with plans to make some more. There’s a nice girl nearby that adores him and doesn’t hide her feelings. Joyce is a little younger, a little greener than Buck, but she’s grown up right and she’s easy on the eyes. Her Daddy likes Buck too, and could be a real asset for the young man’s plans.
Maybe Buck’s military stint had him seeing and doing things that buckled his psyche just a little too sharply. When he catches his first glimpse of Sylvia Landon, things turn noir.
Sylvia is a knockout. She’s whip-smart, and she’s got big plans for Buck. In-between sheet sessions she slowly uncovers those plans. She’s got the perfect robbery lined up, and Buck’s just the man to make it happen.
Over the middle fast-paced pages of this short novel, while Buck follows her lead, he also begins to learn all about his lover’s past. It’s not good, and he can’t help but wonder what it portends for him.
Nistler and Broderick wrangle elements of classic noir, taking them in surprising directions; driving hard toward an unexpectedly deadly climax.
Maybe Buck’s military stint had him seeing and doing things that buckled his psyche just a little too sharply. When he catches his first glimpse of Sylvia Landon, things turn noir.
Sylvia is a knockout. She’s whip-smart, and she’s got big plans for Buck. In-between sheet sessions she slowly uncovers those plans. She’s got the perfect robbery lined up, and Buck’s just the man to make it happen.
Over the middle fast-paced pages of this short novel, while Buck follows her lead, he also begins to learn all about his lover’s past. It’s not good, and he can’t help but wonder what it portends for him.
Nistler and Broderick wrangle elements of classic noir, taking them in surprising directions; driving hard toward an unexpectedly deadly climax.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews