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The Peddler
In the cutthroat world of organized crime, Tony Romero was headed straight for the top. His the brothels of San Francisco. But the path was littered with bodies and broken dreams — some of them his.
Originally published in 1952 under alias Douglas Ring, then in 1963 as self Richard S. Prather. A Hard Case Crime book. Cover art by Robert McGinnis.
Originally published in 1952 under alias Douglas Ring, then in 1963 as self Richard S. Prather. A Hard Case Crime book. Cover art by Robert McGinnis.
256 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1952
3 people are currently reading
399 people want to read
About the author
Richard S. Prather
94 books43 followersRichard Scott Prather was an American mystery novelist, best known for creating the "Shell Scott" series. He also wrote under the pseudonyms David Knight and Douglas Ring.
Prather was born in Santa Ana, California. He served in the United States Merchant Marine during World War II. In 1945 year he married Tina Hager and began working as a civilian chief clerk of surplus property at March Air Force Base in Riverside, California. He left that job to become a full-time writer in 1949. The first Shell Scott mystery, 'Case of the Vanishing Beauty' was published in 1950. It would be the start of a long series that numbered more than three dozen titles featuring the Shell Scott character.
Prather had a disagreement with his publisher in the 1970s and sued them in 1975. He gave up writing for several years and grew avocados. However in 1986 he returned with 'The Amber Effect'. Prather's final book, 'Shellshock', was published in hardcover in 1987 by Tor Books.
At the time of his death in 2007, he had completed his final Shell Scott Mystery novel, 'The Death Gods'. It was published October 2011 by Pendleton Artists.
Prather served twice on the Board of Directors of the Mystery Writers of America. Additionally Prather received the Shamus Award, "The Eye" (Lifetime achievment award) in 1986.
Prather was born in Santa Ana, California. He served in the United States Merchant Marine during World War II. In 1945 year he married Tina Hager and began working as a civilian chief clerk of surplus property at March Air Force Base in Riverside, California. He left that job to become a full-time writer in 1949. The first Shell Scott mystery, 'Case of the Vanishing Beauty' was published in 1950. It would be the start of a long series that numbered more than three dozen titles featuring the Shell Scott character.
Prather had a disagreement with his publisher in the 1970s and sued them in 1975. He gave up writing for several years and grew avocados. However in 1986 he returned with 'The Amber Effect'. Prather's final book, 'Shellshock', was published in hardcover in 1987 by Tor Books.
At the time of his death in 2007, he had completed his final Shell Scott Mystery novel, 'The Death Gods'. It was published October 2011 by Pendleton Artists.
Prather served twice on the Board of Directors of the Mystery Writers of America. Additionally Prather received the Shamus Award, "The Eye" (Lifetime achievment award) in 1986.
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
July 5, 2011
Tony Romero rises from being a poor unwanted Italian kid to being a big player in the rackets, specifically, pimping. Tony kills and schemes his way up the ranks until he meets the one woman he doesn't want to put to work. Will he leave pimping behind for her or is he already too deep in his life's work as a Peddler?
Richard S. Prather has a rare talent, one that's seldom seen outside of Richard Stark and Max Allan Collins: he made me care about a lowlife douche like Tony Romero. Romero's a liar, a user, and a woman-beater, in addition to being a pimp, but I still wanted him to rise to the top of the rackets. Not that I wasn't happy with the ending...
There's a good amount of action and a fair amount of titillation in The Peddler, enough to keep anyone interested.
"What about the three rating? What kept it from being ranked higher?" you ask. I'll tell you. Nearly all of the female characters were exactly the same apart from physical descriptions. I didn't buy Tony falling for Betty, considering she didn't have much in the way of personality to distinguish her from the others. Other than that, I may have subtracted a half star or so because the dialogue is a bit outdated. Tony says God and Jesus in the same sentence and people are acting like he's the Demon God of Vulgar Language.
All things considered, The Peddler is worth a read. It's quick and, as part of the Hard Case Crime Series, is quite affordable.
Richard S. Prather has a rare talent, one that's seldom seen outside of Richard Stark and Max Allan Collins: he made me care about a lowlife douche like Tony Romero. Romero's a liar, a user, and a woman-beater, in addition to being a pimp, but I still wanted him to rise to the top of the rackets. Not that I wasn't happy with the ending...
There's a good amount of action and a fair amount of titillation in The Peddler, enough to keep anyone interested.
"What about the three rating? What kept it from being ranked higher?" you ask. I'll tell you. Nearly all of the female characters were exactly the same apart from physical descriptions. I didn't buy Tony falling for Betty, considering she didn't have much in the way of personality to distinguish her from the others. Other than that, I may have subtracted a half star or so because the dialogue is a bit outdated. Tony says God and Jesus in the same sentence and people are acting like he's the Demon God of Vulgar Language.
All things considered, The Peddler is worth a read. It's quick and, as part of the Hard Case Crime Series, is quite affordable.
December 6, 2016
As the song says, Pimpin’ ain’t easy. Or as the other song says, It’s hard out here for a pimp. Or as the song I plan to write someday says, Pimps ain’t nothin’ but lowlife scum who should be repeatedly beaten about the head and shoulders with steel pipes. I doubt there will be much demand for my version on iTunes.
If professional criminals voted high-school style awards to themselves then Tony Romero would probably get a Most Likely to Succeed certificate. Young, but bright and manipulative, Tony is ambitious to the point of insanity. When he gets a glimpse at how organized crime runs San Francisco’s prostitution rackets Tony starts drooling at all that money and power and desperately sets out to get himself a position in the local pimping power structure.
By manipulating people, Tony obtains a slot in middle management and quickly makes the most of it through hard work and clever pimp innovations. He’s doing well, but doing well isn’t enough for Tony. He wants it all, and he wants it now.
The first half of the book was a terrific noir story about the rise of an amoral young man who never once considers how want he wants will impact anyone else. In the second half, Tony has to leave San Francisco for a while due to police attention and while recruiting women to the business he meets one girl he can’t forget. The book weakens considerably after this.
Tony is the only really fleshed out character in the book. Everyone else is a prostitute or a pimp/gangster, and they are all written as stereotypes. This rates somewhere in the middle of the Hard Case line that I’ve read.
If professional criminals voted high-school style awards to themselves then Tony Romero would probably get a Most Likely to Succeed certificate. Young, but bright and manipulative, Tony is ambitious to the point of insanity. When he gets a glimpse at how organized crime runs San Francisco’s prostitution rackets Tony starts drooling at all that money and power and desperately sets out to get himself a position in the local pimping power structure.
By manipulating people, Tony obtains a slot in middle management and quickly makes the most of it through hard work and clever pimp innovations. He’s doing well, but doing well isn’t enough for Tony. He wants it all, and he wants it now.
The first half of the book was a terrific noir story about the rise of an amoral young man who never once considers how want he wants will impact anyone else. In the second half, Tony has to leave San Francisco for a while due to police attention and while recruiting women to the business he meets one girl he can’t forget. The book weakens considerably after this.
Tony is the only really fleshed out character in the book. Everyone else is a prostitute or a pimp/gangster, and they are all written as stereotypes. This rates somewhere in the middle of the Hard Case line that I’ve read.
July 7, 2014
Wow, this was a major disappointment. The first 150 pages were great mean fun. You see the rise of an unpleasant young man into power in the prostitution racket in 1950s San Francisco. It is a viscous portrayal of the criminal set. Then the last 100 pages were horrible, totally horrible. The main character has to leave SF and becomes a recruiter for brothels in Napa and it gets bad, putting in a sense of morality into a character who never had one. Then the last 20 pages is so unpleasant, so bad I couldn't believe it. I started out loving this book, ended up hating it,
July 28, 2017
In some ways, the story of Tony Romero, the protagonist of The Peddler, is similar to the later story of Tony Montana of the Scarface movie. It is the story of a nobody from a nowhere background determined to rise up in the ranks of criminal organized crime with a quickness that demonstrates his keen determination. Here, the criminal organization is not peddling drugs, but human flesh.
Here, Romero meets Maria Casino, who had known from high school days, and finds that she is working in one of the houses in San Francisco and is amazed by how much dough flows through the houses to the crime bosses. He saw her as she hurried out of the Green Room and "Something about her stirred memory in his brain and he walked slowly after her, watching the black skirt swirl above her rounded calves, the slow, liquid ripple of her hips." After having dinner, he queries about why she only got half the dough from her tricks and finds out that there were guys who ran the show, Sharkey and Angelo.
Romero finds that Maria is working a party later that night and he knows some of the players there and finagles an introduction. When he gets to the party (after spending the evening sweating about whether she would come through with his invite), he thinks that it was one of those places that smelled like money. "It made him think of fat guys getting their pink faces patted in barber shops, and slant-eyed women with gold douche bags." He also meets a slinky brunette, Ginny, Sharkey's wife. "[S]he was a hot one. She couldn't be more than twenty-five or twenty-six, and she was built like a burlesque stripper."
Soon, Romero meets the boss (Sharkey) and works his way into the organization. He sets up an argument with one of the chieftains and soon takes over his district and eventually Romero takes on the boss himself and ousts him to take over and run all the houses in the city. No one is fooled that Romero is anything but ambitious and that anything he does is by accident. He is moving up the ladder. He wants the money and the power.
Of course, there is always another boss (Angelo) and, in taking over so quickly, Romero finds himself blackmailed and then eventually forced to leave the city and ousted from power. Angelo is a snake in the grass and the real power no matter who is running the houses.
Although the plot itself is not terribly complicated, it is a well-written and engrossing story that captures the reader immediately. It is a story of blind ambition that knows no bounds and Prather does an excellent job of capturing the psyche of Romero.
Here, Romero meets Maria Casino, who had known from high school days, and finds that she is working in one of the houses in San Francisco and is amazed by how much dough flows through the houses to the crime bosses. He saw her as she hurried out of the Green Room and "Something about her stirred memory in his brain and he walked slowly after her, watching the black skirt swirl above her rounded calves, the slow, liquid ripple of her hips." After having dinner, he queries about why she only got half the dough from her tricks and finds out that there were guys who ran the show, Sharkey and Angelo.
Romero finds that Maria is working a party later that night and he knows some of the players there and finagles an introduction. When he gets to the party (after spending the evening sweating about whether she would come through with his invite), he thinks that it was one of those places that smelled like money. "It made him think of fat guys getting their pink faces patted in barber shops, and slant-eyed women with gold douche bags." He also meets a slinky brunette, Ginny, Sharkey's wife. "[S]he was a hot one. She couldn't be more than twenty-five or twenty-six, and she was built like a burlesque stripper."
Soon, Romero meets the boss (Sharkey) and works his way into the organization. He sets up an argument with one of the chieftains and soon takes over his district and eventually Romero takes on the boss himself and ousts him to take over and run all the houses in the city. No one is fooled that Romero is anything but ambitious and that anything he does is by accident. He is moving up the ladder. He wants the money and the power.
Of course, there is always another boss (Angelo) and, in taking over so quickly, Romero finds himself blackmailed and then eventually forced to leave the city and ousted from power. Angelo is a snake in the grass and the real power no matter who is running the houses.
Although the plot itself is not terribly complicated, it is a well-written and engrossing story that captures the reader immediately. It is a story of blind ambition that knows no bounds and Prather does an excellent job of capturing the psyche of Romero.
June 15, 2021
Up to this point, The Peddler has been the darkest and most brutal of the Hard Case Crime novels…at least for me.
And that’s a good thing since I feel Prather’s fictitious look at the seedy underbelly of prostitution and pimping felt incredibly realistic.
No one in this novel was likable or had any reason to be, and I’m ok with that too, since it’s hard to find any kind of sympathy for those who run houses of ill repute.
The last 20 pages are ridiculously violent, but there is a reason for it, and it all comes out in the end.
And that’s a good thing since I feel Prather’s fictitious look at the seedy underbelly of prostitution and pimping felt incredibly realistic.
No one in this novel was likable or had any reason to be, and I’m ok with that too, since it’s hard to find any kind of sympathy for those who run houses of ill repute.
The last 20 pages are ridiculously violent, but there is a reason for it, and it all comes out in the end.
March 29, 2017
Has a really great ending!
February 24, 2016
Pure pulp and fun. Dated, it is clear, but still fun. If you haven't read any of the Hard Case Crime books and like a rest from what you usually read, try one.
November 4, 2021
What is it about stories with irremediably scummy protagonists that make them so compelling, at least when it comes to noir offerings? It's a truism that a writer should make their protagonist have some redeeming qualities, even if they're a cynical antihero. And yet the works of Jim Thompson, Charles Willeford, and Richard Prather are somehow most satisfying when their main characters are depraved to their very cores.
Tony Romero's a smalltime hood in postwar San Francisco. On the surface it's the foggy, romantic city of sunshine and cable cars burned into all our minds by a million movies and a million songs, but beneath that it's a city every bit as sinful as Vegas, and as crime-ridden as Chicago.
Tony, tired of eking out a living at the margins, decides to pimp, and pimp hard. He earns the ire of some other small-timers by horning in on their business, but he quickly lays the smack down on his competitors. This earns him the eye of the "Top" of the San Fran demimonde. "Top," definitely has different connotations to the modern reader (especially as related to San Francisco), but here it means the king of the city's rackets.
The top gives Tony a small fiefdom, which Tone keeps expanding. The more he gets, though, the more his appetite grows, until he becomes so voracious that he can't help but betray everyone unfortunate enough to get into his orbit. He corrupts minors, he cruises around in a caddy with whitewalls, he shoots cops. In brief, he lives his version of the American Dream, which eventually becomes a nightmare.
It's a crude, blunt but effective tale of wretched excess, and a man who ultimately used flesh peddling as a way to avoid the complications and ambiguities of love, which he experiences, however briefly, in the book's middle section.
If, as Bukowski once said, "Love is a dog from hell," then Tony sets out to put that puppy to sleep, and sadly succeeds. Highest recommendation, for those with a skewed, cynical vision. Everyone else might feel different about it.
Tony Romero's a smalltime hood in postwar San Francisco. On the surface it's the foggy, romantic city of sunshine and cable cars burned into all our minds by a million movies and a million songs, but beneath that it's a city every bit as sinful as Vegas, and as crime-ridden as Chicago.
Tony, tired of eking out a living at the margins, decides to pimp, and pimp hard. He earns the ire of some other small-timers by horning in on their business, but he quickly lays the smack down on his competitors. This earns him the eye of the "Top" of the San Fran demimonde. "Top," definitely has different connotations to the modern reader (especially as related to San Francisco), but here it means the king of the city's rackets.
The top gives Tony a small fiefdom, which Tone keeps expanding. The more he gets, though, the more his appetite grows, until he becomes so voracious that he can't help but betray everyone unfortunate enough to get into his orbit. He corrupts minors, he cruises around in a caddy with whitewalls, he shoots cops. In brief, he lives his version of the American Dream, which eventually becomes a nightmare.
It's a crude, blunt but effective tale of wretched excess, and a man who ultimately used flesh peddling as a way to avoid the complications and ambiguities of love, which he experiences, however briefly, in the book's middle section.
If, as Bukowski once said, "Love is a dog from hell," then Tony sets out to put that puppy to sleep, and sadly succeeds. Highest recommendation, for those with a skewed, cynical vision. Everyone else might feel different about it.
May 8, 2024
Tony Romero is a pimp, “…an honest-to-God flesh peddler…” The book is about his hunger for power in The City's underworld, specifically the prostitution houses, and is climb to the top. But what goes up must come down to… Set in San Francisco, with a side trip to Napa and Sacramento, Tony goes after what he wants in a story that keeps moving despite the main character being so unlikeable.
And the book ends exactly as it should have.
And the book ends exactly as it should have.
March 8, 2019
Meh. It was just ok. Karma is a bitch. What goes around comes around.
December 29, 2020
Meh. Lesser entry in the series.
February 2, 2022
One of my favorite of the Hard Case Crime books.
September 8, 2016
"The Peddler," by Richard S. Prather, seems like a novel from a much earlier time. It was published in 1952, but the San Francisco it depicts seems very different than how the city is in more "modern" times.
"The Peddler" is very much a story about a ruthless young man determined to take the world for everything he can. It reminds me of gritty 1930's films like "Public Enemy" and "Scarface" (yes, it reminds me of the 1980s version as well), where the lawless world depicted is all about criminals doing what they do. If any police are present, they're just another group of criminals or a hazard to be easily avoided with enough cash or skill.
Tony Romero is an anti-hero, to be sure. He's a young and hungry crook on his way to making himself an outright villain. A chance meeting with an old flame (euphemism) leads him into the world of San Francisco's prostitution trade. Through an old contact, Tony gets in with the mob. He starts out helping to run the thriving business of the sex trade. But, of course, that is not enough for Tony. He always wants MORE. And he's willing to do anything to get it.
Tony does evolve--or more precisely, devolve--through the course of The Peddler. He starts out with a lot of brass and little experience. He's shocked when another mobster's wife wants him at what could be described as an old-timey "swingers party." But, later on, he's sent out into the countryside to seduce virgins (and non-virgins) to go back to San Francisco to become whores. There are some fairly risqué sections of the book. Nothing too exciting, but what is implied is often just as interesting as what is said.
Yes, Tony is thoroughly repulsive. But it is interesting to watch him tear up the landscape on his rise to the top. The writing is as blunt and heedless as Tony himself. Any preserved sense of decorum is probably the fault of the publishers--who likely objected to some explicit parts of the novel--and not the author.
As someone who lives near San Francisco, I can say the author, through Tony, loves the City by the Bay. When the story is not all about Tony, it's about San Francisco. I did laugh when they sent Tony "to the country" to recruit girls after a bad dust-up that got headlines. Why? The "countryside" they sent him to was Napa. That's kinda priceless.
But there's one weird slip in the book that makes me wonder if it was originally set in New York and if it was supposed to be about "real" gangsters. Why? There's a brief reference to Tony helping out "Charlie Lucky" (as in Charlie "Lucky" Luciano) instead of a character named Leo Castiglio (whom Tony actually helps) early on in the book that may have slipped through the editing process.
I would have liked the writing better if it was a step or two removed from Tony. I think the author felt the prose had to match the protagonist. To a certain extent, that's true. In this case, though, it makes for a grim read of paranoia, betrayal, lust, and ruthless ambition. Tony is not much for nuance and neither is "The Peddler."
The people around Tony know what he is and what he's capable of, yet they all stand by and do nothing about him until it's far too late. Like the old gangster movies that prompted the Hays Code, the plot of "The Peddler" presents Tony with opportunities for redemption. Since Tony is a total gangster, you can guess how all that goes.
"The Peddler" is very much a story about a ruthless young man determined to take the world for everything he can. It reminds me of gritty 1930's films like "Public Enemy" and "Scarface" (yes, it reminds me of the 1980s version as well), where the lawless world depicted is all about criminals doing what they do. If any police are present, they're just another group of criminals or a hazard to be easily avoided with enough cash or skill.
Tony Romero is an anti-hero, to be sure. He's a young and hungry crook on his way to making himself an outright villain. A chance meeting with an old flame (euphemism) leads him into the world of San Francisco's prostitution trade. Through an old contact, Tony gets in with the mob. He starts out helping to run the thriving business of the sex trade. But, of course, that is not enough for Tony. He always wants MORE. And he's willing to do anything to get it.
Tony does evolve--or more precisely, devolve--through the course of The Peddler. He starts out with a lot of brass and little experience. He's shocked when another mobster's wife wants him at what could be described as an old-timey "swingers party." But, later on, he's sent out into the countryside to seduce virgins (and non-virgins) to go back to San Francisco to become whores. There are some fairly risqué sections of the book. Nothing too exciting, but what is implied is often just as interesting as what is said.
Yes, Tony is thoroughly repulsive. But it is interesting to watch him tear up the landscape on his rise to the top. The writing is as blunt and heedless as Tony himself. Any preserved sense of decorum is probably the fault of the publishers--who likely objected to some explicit parts of the novel--and not the author.
As someone who lives near San Francisco, I can say the author, through Tony, loves the City by the Bay. When the story is not all about Tony, it's about San Francisco. I did laugh when they sent Tony "to the country" to recruit girls after a bad dust-up that got headlines. Why? The "countryside" they sent him to was Napa. That's kinda priceless.
But there's one weird slip in the book that makes me wonder if it was originally set in New York and if it was supposed to be about "real" gangsters. Why? There's a brief reference to Tony helping out "Charlie Lucky" (as in Charlie "Lucky" Luciano) instead of a character named Leo Castiglio (whom Tony actually helps) early on in the book that may have slipped through the editing process.
I would have liked the writing better if it was a step or two removed from Tony. I think the author felt the prose had to match the protagonist. To a certain extent, that's true. In this case, though, it makes for a grim read of paranoia, betrayal, lust, and ruthless ambition. Tony is not much for nuance and neither is "The Peddler."
The people around Tony know what he is and what he's capable of, yet they all stand by and do nothing about him until it's far too late. Like the old gangster movies that prompted the Hays Code, the plot of "The Peddler" presents Tony with opportunities for redemption. Since Tony is a total gangster, you can guess how all that goes.
February 16, 2017
My dedication to the Hardcase Crime imprint can, at times be very trying. This book came to be frustrating with its first use of the word of Frisco when referring to San Francisco. Now, if the characters were non-natives, it would be forgivable. But, they weren't. And, anyone who grows up in SF knows Frisco is a word for out-of-towners who don't know any better. Then there was the geography in which it sounded as if the author was referring to a map and never having been the city. I was ready to give up after the first 50 pages, but I believe in finishing books, even if it takes me years. In the end, I do feel I was rewarded with a book that takes an unexpected turn. A turn the main character completely deserves.
The characters and their dialogue come from a tradition of watching too much Noir. They are to say, uninspiring. But, there is something about the writing that kept me going regardless of the cliches. The author wrote during the time period of the original Film Noir. You could say, he was probably cashing in on a phenomena. Books were allowed more freedoms, though. So, as the characters go to drunken orgies and hang with prostitutes, we get to see the main character spiral out of control to his eventual doom. While the film code did dictate "Crime doesn't pay" in this book the crimes could never have been portrayed as bluntly. In the end the punishment fits the crime/s.
The action scenes are well written. The choices the main character makes, even when offered a way out, logical and true to who is. So, in the end, I grudgingly enjoyed reading this book and am glad to not have given up on it.
The characters and their dialogue come from a tradition of watching too much Noir. They are to say, uninspiring. But, there is something about the writing that kept me going regardless of the cliches. The author wrote during the time period of the original Film Noir. You could say, he was probably cashing in on a phenomena. Books were allowed more freedoms, though. So, as the characters go to drunken orgies and hang with prostitutes, we get to see the main character spiral out of control to his eventual doom. While the film code did dictate "Crime doesn't pay" in this book the crimes could never have been portrayed as bluntly. In the end the punishment fits the crime/s.
The action scenes are well written. The choices the main character makes, even when offered a way out, logical and true to who is. So, in the end, I grudgingly enjoyed reading this book and am glad to not have given up on it.
September 2, 2016
Long-lost crime paperback about Tony Romero, impoverished Italian kid from San Fransisco with dreams of striking it rich. After hearing how much money prostitutes make in a night, and that pimps take half of their earnings, he decides that pimping is the life path for him. The book chronicles his rise, gaining more power and more money; Tony eyes every position above his like a hungry wolf, because the grass is always greener, and he is never satisfied.
Another tired and predictable "crime as a moral fable" novel. Protagonist is an amoral louse who manipulates his friends and allies, rises to his position of power on the backs of his prostitution ring, and eventually his character erodes so badly that the only way he can get any lower is to fall into his grave. Prather's writing was okay, but didn't impress me; his biggest strength is making you sympathize with Tony long after you should hate him. The finale is worth it.
Something for Hard Case Crime completists, or crime readers who like the "morality play," self-destructive-protagonist subgenre. I'm not a fan of that subgenre, so if you are, add an extra star or so.
Full review found here.
Another tired and predictable "crime as a moral fable" novel. Protagonist is an amoral louse who manipulates his friends and allies, rises to his position of power on the backs of his prostitution ring, and eventually his character erodes so badly that the only way he can get any lower is to fall into his grave. Prather's writing was okay, but didn't impress me; his biggest strength is making you sympathize with Tony long after you should hate him. The finale is worth it.
Something for Hard Case Crime completists, or crime readers who like the "morality play," self-destructive-protagonist subgenre. I'm not a fan of that subgenre, so if you are, add an extra star or so.
Full review found here.
September 25, 2014
I’m usually a big fan of the Hard Case Crime imprint, but The Peddler is one of its more forgettable entries. Originally published in 1952 under a pseudonym, this story follows the meteoric rise of Tony Romero, an inner city Italian youth, through the ranks of the San Francisco mob. There are two scenes of violence and some innuendo that was probably considered edgy in its day.
The story suffers from by-the-numbers plotting and dull characters that are really just paper-thin stereotypes. Tony’s initiation into organized crime is just too easy to swallow, the female characters all fit into the Madonna-or-whore dichotomy, and pacing is uneven. I enjoyed the stark brutality of the final two scenes even though they were very predictable. I realize these flaws are not uncommon in pulp fiction, but the better authors bring something new and fresh to the genre.
At no time did this feel like a “real” mob story (just as West Side Story never felt like a real street gang movie). There was no sense of Italian-American subculture, no realistic depiction of how power is gained or kept, and just a few glimmers of the effects of corruption. In short, don’t expect anything on par with The Godfather or The Sopranos.
The story suffers from by-the-numbers plotting and dull characters that are really just paper-thin stereotypes. Tony’s initiation into organized crime is just too easy to swallow, the female characters all fit into the Madonna-or-whore dichotomy, and pacing is uneven. I enjoyed the stark brutality of the final two scenes even though they were very predictable. I realize these flaws are not uncommon in pulp fiction, but the better authors bring something new and fresh to the genre.
At no time did this feel like a “real” mob story (just as West Side Story never felt like a real street gang movie). There was no sense of Italian-American subculture, no realistic depiction of how power is gained or kept, and just a few glimmers of the effects of corruption. In short, don’t expect anything on par with The Godfather or The Sopranos.
September 17, 2013
This was a nothing special crime story about a wannabe crook who does whatever it takes to get to the top of the garbage heap, but not without consequences. Everything was lackluster from the cardboard cutout characters to the flat dialogue to the goofy ending. "Breaking Bad" it is not. However, there might be a connection. The creator of that show, Vince Gillian, says he wanted to tell the tale of a meek guy who turns into Scarface. This book, written in the 1950's, had elements (including a dopey main character named "Tony") that reminded me of the Al Pacino film from the 1980's. If indeed this crummy little tale was a source of inspiration, it might deserve another star. But probably not.
April 25, 2017
It was about a 3.5. 3 for the story, which was "eh" and an extra half star for the ending, which was wonderful. I was just kind of indifferent to Tony Romero's sociopathic rise to the top of the San Francisco underworld as he was simply climbing on the backs of men no less slimy than himself. And the middle part, the diversion, just seemed too random to really fit well with the story (or maybe the whole bit with Betty was just to show that Romero had no conscience? Idk). But the end, which I won't spoil, was fantastic and made reading this book worth it.
January 9, 2009
Not one of the better HCC books -- there may be a reason Prather published this under a pseudonym (it's also one of the very few times he left Shell Scott in Hollywood.) All of the characters are either unpleasant, unattractive, or unlikeable (with one interesting exception) and the plot is not terribly interesting. But it kept my attention enough to keep me reading... not sure why. Better luck with the next one I guess.
May 17, 2008
Unremarkable story of an up-and-comer in organized crime in San Francisco. Tony Romero is young, ambitious, and misogynistic. If you read this novel, you will learn nothing about him more interesting than this.
September 19, 2012
Read on plane from Perth to Doha, full review may follow.
A quick enjoyable pulp read that didn't reach the heights I had hoped for from the premise but with the kind of ending that more than makes up for any disappointment in content.
A quick enjoyable pulp read that didn't reach the heights I had hoped for from the premise but with the kind of ending that more than makes up for any disappointment in content.
December 8, 2014
M'eh. No the worst, but not as snappy as the type of crime fiction I like, probably because the main character is really kind of an idiot. There are no real surprises in the plot either, so it's quite a bit formulaic.
Want to read
July 1, 200806/30/08 rec via pbs
August 19, 2008
One of the best books about a tough pimp who gets gunned down by an ex-hooker I've ever read.
Prather also wrote the Shell Scott Detective series. Over 40,000,000 books in print at one time.
Prather also wrote the Shell Scott Detective series. Over 40,000,000 books in print at one time.
August 11, 2012
This is the second Richard Prather I have read, and to be honest I preferred his earlier novel. That's not to say this one it's bad, just not as good. All the same it is still worth your time.
August 9, 2014
This is more of a "coming of age" story than hard crime. If you're interested in the pimp game and recruiting girls for prostitution, then maybe you'll like this, but it wasn't my cup of tea.
September 15, 2015
A rip-roaring ride from Prather. Hugely violent, despicable characters, great dialog. Hard to believe this was first published in 1952.
January 12, 2008
classic Prather fun, dark!
April 23, 2017
Here is wonderful gritty novel about the rise and fall of a small time hoodlum, who gets all the way to the top. But there is a cost to pay a large cost, paid in increments over time. The hard case crime series has always been about finding these lost gems of a by gone era. This certainly is one of them.
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