Bare Trap

Johnny Liddell #6

by Frank Kane

No. D333. A Jimmy Liddell Mystery. Second printing.

Genres: Mystery

192 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1952

About the author

Frank Kane, Brooklyn-born and a lifetime New Yorker, worked for many years in journalism and corporate public relations before shifting to fiction writing. At the time he was selling crime stories to the pulps he was also sustaining a career writing scripts for such radio shows as Gangbusters and The Shadow.

In addition to the Johnny Liddells, Kane wrote several suspense novels, some softcore erotica, and (under the pen name of Frank Boyd) "Johnny Staccato", a Gold Medal original paperback based on the short-lived noir television series, starring John Cassavetes, about a Greenwich Village bebop pianist turned private detective.

Reviews

[George K. · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Γυμνή παγίδα", εκδόσεις ΒΙΠΕΡ.

Πρώτη επαφή με το έργο του Φρανκ Κέιν και αν μη τι άλλο δηλώνω ικανοποιημένος και ιδιαίτερα ψυχαγωγημένος. Σε καμία περίπτωση ο συγγραφέας δεν ανήκει στην ίδια κατηγορία με ιερά τέρατα του είδους (π.χ. Τσάντλερ ή Χάμετ), όμως έχει ωραία πραγματάκια να προσφέρει στους λάτρεις των σκληροτράχηλων νουάρ με παλπ αισθητική. Ας πούμε ότι είναι στην ίδια κατηγορία με συγγραφείς του στιλ Μπρετ Χάλιντεϊ, Χένρι Κέιν, Ρίτσαρντ Πρέιδερ, και πάει λέγοντας. Το βιβλίο αυτό έχει να προσφέρει μυστήριο, δράση και ορισμένες ανατροπές στην πλοκή, έστω και αν δεν πρωτοτυπεί ιδιαίτερα. Η γραφή είναι απλή και άκρως ευκολοδιάβαστη, με ρεαλιστικές περιγραφές σκηνικών και καταστάσεων. Οι χαρακτήρες είναι μάλλον μονοδιάστατοι και αρχετυπικοί, πάντως σίγουρα κάνουν ικανοποιητικά τη δουλειά τους. Όπως και να το κάνουμε, αν θέλεις βάθος στους χαρακτήρες νουάρ μυθιστορημάτων, διαβάζεις Τσάντλερ, όχι κάποιον παλπ συγγραφέα. Γενικά, πιστεύω ότι όσοι γουστάρουν τα παλπ μυθιστορήματα του είδους, θα περάσουν ευχάριστα την ώρα τους διαβάζοντας το συγκεκριμένο βιβλίο, και πιθανολογώ αρκετά από τα υπόλοιπα με πρωταγωνιστή τον Νεοϋρκέζο ιδιωτικό ντετέκτιβ Τζόνι Λίντελ (που στη συγκεκριμένη ιστορία δουλεύει στο Λος Άντζελες). Στη βιβλιοθήκη μου έχω ακόμα δυο μυθιστορήματα του συγγραφέα, και ανάλογα πώς θα μου φανούν, ίσως αγοράσω και άλλα (αρκεί να τα βρω).

[Timo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ennen sanottiin totuus jo kirjojen nimessä.
Mutta hyvä tämä oli, ilokseen luki. Sujuvaa yksityisetsivöintiä.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Warning! Spoilerish comment at end of review!


I've heard a lot about Frank Kane and how good his detective novels were, but this, my first of his, did not deliver in the end. It's just a very okay book. Yes, it has a tough-guy private-eye spewing out lots of tough-guy talk and action as he's working between both the uncooperative police and the bad guys out to stop him. There's murder and more murder. There's an assortment of beautiful babes and dangerous dames and lots of innuendo. So it has all the basic ingredients of a hardboiled private-eye tale, and it does start out strong, but it stretches it all out too long. The fast pace doesn't keep up. It could easily have been edited down by 25%. And here's the spoilerish bit...


The killer reveal at the ending seems like something from left field pulled out at the end because Kane was looking for a surprise rather than having layed the groundwork with a few clues that, when looked back on, show you you should have guessed the killer the whole time. Yes, I did guess the killer before the end, but only towards the very end when Kane layed it on too thick. I was annoyed as soon as I knew, because it hadn't been set up well throughout the novel. Overall, a disappointment of a book. I have several more by him on my shelf, but I can't say I'm feeling in a hurry to read them.

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bare Trap is the sixth book in the long-running Johnny Liddell private eye series. At 192 pages, it's one of the longer books in the series. It's a story of a corrupt Hollywood filled with gold diggers, blackmailers, desperate studio executives, compulsive gamblers, all-powerful gossip columnists, hoods, stacked blondes, and murder. It's also a terrific fast-paced, action-packed detective story that takes Liddell from his New York haunts to the west coast where he takes on a client as a favor to Muggsy, his sometimes girlfriend and ace reporter pal. Typical of most private eyes of the era, Liddell tries to work the case on his own and gets mixed up in gun battles, kidnapping, blackmail, and murder frames. Kane manages to make old Hollywood come alive in all its cynical, jaded glory with gossip everywhere and ex-beauty queens working reception. One of the best of the Liddell series.

[Chazzi · Rating 5 out of 5]

New York Private Eye, Johnny Liddell is on the scene in Hollywood. Called on by close friend, Muggsy Kiely, on a hush-hush case. Find the missing son of a dead movie idol. Liddell being out-of-town talent is perfect for a town that eats, drinks and breathes scandal.

Written in the hardboiled detective style, the characters are colourful, the dialogue great and the twists and turns are as plentiful as they are in Topanga Canyon.

[Mark Brock-farrington · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had fun. Always an enjoyable read. Kane's Johnny Liddell and Halliday's Mike Shayne are always a blast to read. My goal was to read as many as I could find and I keep finding more. Good Time's