Quarry's Deal

Quarry #3

by Max Allan Collins

BEHIND THE DOORS OF AN ILLEGAL CASINO,
WILL QUARRY FIND LADY LUCK...OR A LADY KILLER?

Putting his plan in motion to target other hitmen, Quarry follows one from steamy Florida to the sober Midwest. But this killer isn't a man at all - she's a sloe-eyed beauty, as dangerous in bed as she is deadly on the job. Has Quarry finally met his match?
The longest-running series from Max Allan Collins, author of Road to Perdition, and the first ever to feature a hitman as the main character, the Quarry novels tell the story of a paid assassin with a rebellious streak and an unlikely taste for justice. Once a Marine sniper, Quarry found a new home stateside with a group of contract killers. But some men aren't made for taking orders - and when Quarry strikes off on his own, god help the man on the other side of his nine-millimeter...

Genres: Crime, Mystery, Noir, Fiction, Thriller, Hard Boiled, Pulp

188 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1976

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

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quarry is to Max Allan Collins as Parker is to Westlake. A likable, somewhat cult-like figure that lives on the wrong side of the law. In Quarry's Deal, the third installment in the hit-man series, Quarry tracks down a fellow operative with designs to make some cash by informing the target of his impending demise. From there Quarry moves with brutal efficiency, thrusting himself in the assassin’s life in more ways than one on track towards a nice payday.

This is perhaps one of the more calculated and cold Quarry novels I’ve read. Max Allan Collins paints a perfect picture of the subtle yet shockingly effective kill – one of the hallmarks of the series. It was an interested concept; pitting Quarry against his female equivalent, and along with the customary sex came a character dynamic which added some nice depth to the story.

Like the other Quarry books I found myself unable to put it down and read it in a single sitting (even the second time round on the reread). There is something about Quarry and his method that intrigues and addicts. No longer a traditional hitman, his self made occupation relies upon tracking assassins (for lack of a better word) and dealing for their targets lives. It’s an interesting concept that doesn’t date.

My rating 4/5 stars. A must for fans of Quarry and the HCC series.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

With the Broker's List in hand, Quarry follows a woman the Broker called Ivy from Florida to Iowa, intent on earning money by informing the target and protecting him. Only he didn't count on falling for her...

Quarry's Deal was a notch above the previous two Quarry reprints and nearly the same level as The Last Quarry. Collins' writerly chops are much more developed than in the previous two books. Not only that, I wasn't quite sure who Ivy's partner was until halfway through the book. I'd give this a 3.5 if I could.

"By why not a 4?" you ask. You see, Bertram, my problem is with the character of Quarry, as it is in almost all the Quarry books. For a professional killer, he makes a lot of stupid choices, usually regarding women. In fact, if there's a stupid decision to be made involving a woman, he'll make it. While I realize I should suspend disbelief, I can hardly imagine a hitman thinking "Well, I've followed this woman from Florida because she was on the Broker's List. Not only will I engage her in conversation and have sex with her, I'll also MOVE INTO HER APARTMENT." For that matter, Ivy's not much better, inviting a guy she just met to crash at her apartment while she's planning on offing a guy.

So, Quarry's Deal is really entertaining and better than the previous two Quarry reprints. Just don't look behind the curtain!

[Carla Remy · Rating 4 out of 5]

From 1976
When Quarry kills, or does any violence, it is written about in a very casual, off-hand, way. I like it.

[Ben A · Rating 5 out of 5]

My fave of the early, original Quarry books as he takes on the first case of his new role and goes up against the female version of himself.

[Mohammed Abdikhader Firdhiye · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my second Quarry of the original series and its the best one i have read so far. Quarry himself is written much better, smarter,meaner,more professional in his work. Most importantly he is so much fun to read in first person when he is wisecracking. He is everything i fell for when i read The First Quarry new novel by Hard Case Crime.

[Oli Turner]

HCC S04 finished and it’s the third #quarry novel #quarrysdeal by #maxallancollins originally Published in 1976 as #thedealer.
Entertaining and fast moving as always. Quarry encounters a female assassin (and of course has to have an abundance of sex with her). The ongoing plot of the broker’s list and quarry’s diverging career path continues. Quarry’s wit has always been a part of the books but it seems more present in the later novels than in these earlier books. I wonder if MAC intentionally added more as the series developed and quarry’s character really started to evolve and take shape. This entry in the series has a great sense of tension as quarry’s life gets entangled with the woman he has been following. It’s difficult for quarry to see what moves each of the parties are making and how much they know - like playing chess in very thick fog, you can see some of the moves but not the whole board. The plot never went where I expected and there were a few fun diversions that later fold back into the main story. The afterword from MAC is quite interesting as well. Plus another #robertmcginnis cover which is always a delight.

[ML · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fun read. Quarry is the most dead pan character I’ve ever read. This took you on an adventure over several states.
Starting in Florida, we see Quarry keeping an eye on a woman assassin Ivy/Lucille.
He’s keeping a low profile and does not lack for female companionship. He follows this assassin back to his old stomping grounds, Iowa.

This has many twists an turns and Quarry is trying to establish a new business of saving the victim of the assassin for hire. He plays detective and is successful in finding out several different plots going on.

This did not end how I thought it would! It was a welcome surprise! Now off to read the next Quarry episode….

[Dartharagorn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a little less action packed. But still fun. What a little time capsule though. From the Sanka instant coffee and OMG don't get addicted to the evil devil's lettuce ha ha so so funny. Remember kids the "Pot" is the gateway to drug! Just all the dated stuff was a lot of fun. One of the reasons I love vintage paperbacks. If you liked the first two you should enjoy this one as well.

[Malum · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars.
A little slower than the previous two installments and hilariously outdated (someone is supposedly in a mental asylum in a catatonic state because of "marijuana addiction"), but still a solid entry in the Quarry series.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another well done Quarry novel. Not much to say that I haven't said before. It's a quick, fun read. I just love the first person voice.

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

QUARRY’S DEAL is the 3rd book in the “Quarry” series by author Max Allan Collins, and Quarry is back in action with a plan and a new business model, which is to use a list he’s in possession of that had belonged to his former employer known only to him as “The Broker” that Quarry uses to locate targets of hits by other hit men Broker had employed, then convince the intended victims to pay his set fee to have the hitters taken out instead.

Investigation into a beautiful hit woman he finds from the list leads him to Florida where he figures out who the target is, and it turns out to be a highly successful casino operator.

Since he’s well familiar with the inner workings of the teams employed by Broker, he knows he has to learn who the other partner would be in the planned hit in a two person team that includes a shooter and a spotter.

Can Quarry keep from falling for the beautiful but deadly female hit woman and focus on the task at hand in his plan to thwart the hit, or will his plans change as a result of his attraction to the shooter?

Interesting twists in this novel that doesn’t follow the path of a typical story based on a hit man with the addition of the female shooter, and his attention is divided in a way that makes him vulnerable; yet he has shown in the past that when committed to the task at hand he doesn’t fail.

4 stars.

[James Caterino · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding classic stylized hard-boiled noir from prolific genre master Max Allan Collins ("The Road to Perdition" and tons of other stuff).

Quarry is the ultimate two-fisted brooding anti-hero character and Collins gives him a suspenseful, colorful mystery adventure full of femme fatales and shady operators in the tradition of Mickey Spillane, Dashiell Hammett, etc. Collins uses a wonderful, ultra-lean style in this fast-paced crime tale and this book definitely left me hungry to read more Quarry novels.

This novel was first published in 1967 and Hard Case Crimes has done their usual bang-up job in with this beautifully packaged 2016 edition featuring absolutely gorgeous knockout cover art by master illustrator Robert McGinnis.

[Adam Cleaver · Rating 5 out of 5]

These books are great. They are so easy to read and so entertaining and fun. I love the story in this one and once again Quarry has a great love interest going on, and this time with another killer!
TAlking about killers, Quarry is pretty cold hgearted in this one. The last person he takes out was crazy, and didn't see it coming. These stories are so good I'm going straight on to the next one in the series. I'm so happy theres a lot of these books...! Another 5 star read for sure.

[John Biddle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Third in the Quarry series by Max Allan Collins, Quarry's Deal was a good, short read. Quarry's a retired hit man, and in this book puts his expertise toward stopping a hit rather than committing one.

Though I prefer the Keller books by Lawrence Block, these are worth reading. I think they were the first series where a hit man was the main character, but I'm not sure.

[Jake · Rating 4 out of 5]

The sexism is dialed up a little more than it is in the first two. I figured such would be the case when I started the series, but it still irks me. Otherwise, this is another entertaining Quarry entry. Fun, sparse, and clever.

[Kris · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Quarry books aren't technically mysteries; Quarry is a hitman and the books are about his latest hit. But they always seem to have a mystery to them.

Originally published in 1976, so sadly there's some language that was cool then but which is not so cool now. A couple of characters use slurs for racial minorities and for gay people. Other than that, and the gratuitous sex which I'm not crazy about but others may enjoy, this was a solid piece of writing.

[Randy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Broker is dead and Quarry has his list, the names, and where to find them, of the various hit men he brokers deals for. No interest in being a broker himself, Quarry has a different idea in mind: find a hit man going out on a job, shadow them until he learns the "job," then offer that "job" himself as a stop for the kill. Finding who hired the hitter is extra of course.

He concentrates his first effort on a female named Ivy, following her up into Ohio from a phone number she left her boy friend. Here he gets a surprise as he's checking out the owner of that number and fins it's a restaurant called the Red Barn Club way out in the sticks. The basement is a poker room/casino. Ordering a drink at the bar, he gets his second surprise when the bartender turns around and he's confronted with Ivy.

Shadowing her, he learns she's watching Frank Tree, the owner of the club, a man who has mob connections. Ivy's obviously watching him, so he needs to find the shooter, make a deal with Tree, and end this.

Problems ensue when he ends up in Ivy's bed, he's mugged one night and robbed. Are they connected?

A fine edition in the Quarry series.

[Donald · Rating 3 out of 5]

An average mystery. It's fairly obvious who a lot of the major players are fairly early on. It's equally obvious Quarry has the facts wrong, but Collins leaves a reasonable out for his protagonist getting things wrong. My biggest issue with the book is the excessive attention Quarry gives to the physical attributes of literally every female he comes across - even a random teenager. On the one hand this book was written during a different time period, when such things were perhaps more acceptable, but it still comes across as egregious.

[Nate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Collins lists this as his favorite of his own Quarry novels, which kinda mystified me as this one was the one I liked the least so far. It’s not bad, just seemed a bit aimless and featured less of the hard-boiled suspense and action than the previous novels. I did find it amusing how obsessed Collins is with big breasts, kinda like if Russ Meyer wrote crime novels.

[Wayne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good Quarry book from Max Allan Collins. The female hit man is a nice twist to the series. Nice to see Hard Case Crime bring these books back.

[Mark Goddard · Rating 5 out of 5]

All of the Quarry books are top notch. Can't get enough of these, this one may be my favorite yet.

[Will · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quarry's Deal, by Max Allan Collins. 1976.

[This review contains spoilers for Quarry, Quarry's List, and Quarry's Deal.]

This is the third installment of the original four Quarry books from the 70s. In the first book, Quarry worked for the Broker, until things went wrong and Broker was killed. In the second book, Quarry tracked down a list Broker kept of all the contract killers that worked for him. Now, in Quarry's Deal, we find our anti-hero hit man fully working on his own, using that list to track down other assassins so that he can reach out to their targets ahead of time and potentially make money off of them by convincing them they are about to be killed so that - for a price - he can prevent that. This plan was hatched in the second book, and here in the third book, we find Quarry putting it into action.

It's an interesting concept, and I've enjoyed the stories so far, despite some dated concepts. There is obvious wish-fulfillment in regards to all the women wanting to jump in the sack with Quarry at the drop of a hat. This book also had a laughable (to me) concept reminiscent of 1930s Reefer Madness paranoia (Frank's son was admitted to a psych ward as an apparent catatonic vegetable for...smoking weed? Really? That seems out of place, even for the 70s).

Nevertheless, these are fast reads, with a pulpy style, an interesting concept, and some action. Knowing what I'm getting into ahead of time, I find them entertaining enough. I plan on reading the fourth book soon, and will likely take a break after that to read something else.

[Darius Ostrowski · Rating 4 out of 5]

OK, I have become a big fan of Max Allan Collins and his hardboiled writing style. This is my fourth book featuring Quarry, the hitman who targets other hitmen (and assorted bad guys).

This time Quarry is following Ivy, a female hitman (hitwoman?) who appeared on the Broker's list. He follows her from her home in Florida (a swinging apartment complex) to Iowa, attempting to find out who her target is so he can stop the hit and cash out from the potential victim. But this time, Quarry gets too close, too involved. It turns out that he is attracted to Ivy (real name Lu), that he's unsure if he wants to stop her. But a job is a job, can Quarry find out who ordered the hit and collect from the potential victim, all without blowing his cover with Ivy?

A really fun time, as Quarry finds out that he actually has feelings for someone and he struggles with doing his job while not wanting to ruin his budding romance. The first person writing style, the casual violence, and Quarry's code of conduct all make for a very interesting and unique pulp novel. But don't forget that this is pulp from 1976, a much different time and place. The casual sex is rampant and everywhere, drugs are still demonized, and some of the stereotypes have not aged well, so understand that this is a pulp book of its time. But still great fun.

[Ramon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was totally right, I only had one more of these in me. That said, I did think, as I entered the last twenty pages, "Maybe I can just go right down and get the next ones...", so clearly it still has its hooks in me a little bit. But I think that's a good place to set it down, at least for now. I also just got a huge stack from the library, including a big James M. Cain volume, so I feel like I should do that next anyway. I also have two volumes of Spillaine waiting for me if I feel the need for more dirty, dirty pulp.

In this one, Quarry takes the list he got at the end of Quarry's List and uses it to track down a potential hit, then offers the hit money to protect them from the assassin. It's a neat idea, and while the book really burns, it still meanders a lot, focusing on Quarry's process. And it's interesting, but maybe leaves the final story a little... thin? Unsatisfying?

He also bones down a LOT in this book, a lot more than in the previous two, and I'm not really sure why such descriptive sex acts were a thing here. I did read this thing in three days, though, work days too! Not even a weekend!

[Travis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another entry in the always entertaining Quarry series by Max Allan Collins.

This one slips a little lower in my rating because of its resolution. While the person behind the contract killing makes sense in a Chekhov's gun way (a la Law & Order), it wasn't nearly as satisfying as other Quarry novels. And the targeted killer's ending is left ambiguous. So the whole pay-off for this novel is left wanting.

The story along the way to the lackluster conclusion is good enough. For some reason the stakes felt much lower than usual. I think I might be hitting the "middle" Quarry novels after reading all the tent pole entries. The cast of characters is colorful and the settings are painted well. The whole world feels lived in with a fine noir vibe.

As usual, it's Quarry's first person point of view that really makes the novel shine. His staccato narration and wry observations always hit the spot. It feels like classic pulp fiction but with higher quality writing.

[Alexander Engel-Hodgkinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5/5

Collins' third Quarry is the strongest so far. Intricately wrought, engaging, complex, and wittier and smarter than the previous two, I chewed through Quarry's Deal faster than most of the books I've read this year. It took everything that made the other two great and made them even better, while shaving off the few things that held the character and his story back. I don't have a whole hell of a lot to say about this that I haven't said positively about the previous two. So far this one's the best one and I'm not about to spoil why because you should read it for yourself.

I'm really looking forward to reading the others, but unfortunately with COVID slowing down mail orders, I don't dare risk ordering another one because it might not show up before I move to my new home in a new city. But damn, will I miss Quarry till then.

[Ricardo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tercera entrega de la serie de Max Allan Collins sobre el asesino a sueldo "Quarry", sin duda su personaje más famoso. Esta tengo entendido es una de sus favoritas pese a que representa un estilo aparte en lo que venía haciendo hasta ahora, esta vez enfrentando al protagonista a lo que potencialmente parece una versión femenina de sí mismo.

La relación entre los dos personajes es de hecho el principal foco de una novela muy breve y veloz con una carga de sexualidad muy evidente, una sexualidad típica además de la ficción pulp de los setenta con su carga de exhibicionismo, brutalidad y misoginia casual. Es en estas escenas donde Collins parece sentirse en su elemento más incluso que en las secuencias de acción, las cuales son escasas.

Me gustó mucho la estructura de dos tramas que parecen en un principio paralelas y la manera en que resuelve el desenlace, aunque algunos de los giros dramáticos me parecieron muy convenientes y salidos de la nada. No es la mejor de Quarry que he leído hasta ahora pero no está mal.

[Ricky Mikeabono · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think the editor or publisher really leaned on the author to include more sexual content. I'm no prude, but it took up way too much real estate in this story. I could just imagine readers in the 70's thinking "no way... there are resorts and casinos where rich women go just to find young men to try to satisfy their incessant urges? oh man... oh man... these are the times to be alive!"
Anyway about the story, this is the first in the series where Quarry sets off on his new business model, which I believe is the basis for the rest of the series - he finds targets of hitmen then saves them for money. Hopefully he works this out a little better in future novels, because it was a little convoluted in this story. I still do like the author and his straightforward writing style. I also like the setting and how the pop culture of that era bleeds into the pages.

[Max Driffill · Rating 4 out of 5]

The third book in the original 4 Quarry novels. There is a genre of crime novel that seems almost solely about creating characters that exist in a universe where all dialogue was created or at least reviewed by Dashiell Hammet and David Mamet. Max Allan Collins does this genre better than anyone, save maybe Elmore Leonard.

Quarry is a hit man who decided to offer his services to the potential victims of other assassins. For the reasons, see book one and book two. “Quarry’s Deal” is just another entertaining volume of Quarry, interesting and clever, doing and saying the kinds of things Quarry says and does. These adventures aren’t necessarily deep, but they are certainly highly entertaining and enormously well written.

[Donald · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Killing people with blunt objects isn’t really my style, but then style is a luxury I can’t always indulge in.”

"I hoped I wouldn't have to kill her. I probably would. But I hoped not."

Ahh, big hearted Quarry! He comes into contact with a female version of himself, as he is trying out his new business plan to prevent killers from killing - for a fee! He's still got the Broker's list, and he is hoping he can use it to be in business for himself. This is his first attempt at the new plan. And it's a pretty good read (and quick!), with an interesting ending.

“Maybe next time.”

Interesting aside - one of my daughter’s nicknames is Lu!