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Fred Fellows #2
Road Block
On pouvait compter sur Ragan pour avoir mijoté son coup aux petits oignons. Une paie de 100 000 dollars qu'on arriverait aisément à détourner de sa destination. Pour ça, il n'y a qu'un verrou à pousser, afin de débloquer la porte. Ragan avait trouvé son bonhomme. Seulement dans la petite bande, il y avait une souris et un tordu.
160 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1960
About the author
Hillary Waugh
157 books16 followersAka Elissa Grandower (5 books), H. Baldwin Taylor (3 books), Harry Walker (1 book).
Hillary Baldwin Waugh was a pioneering American mystery novelist. In 1989, Waugh was named a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America.
During his senior year at Yale, Waugh enlisted in the United States Navy Air Corps and, after graduation, received his aviator's wings. He served in Panama for two years, flying various types of aircraft. While in military service, Waugh turned his hand to creative writing, completing and publishing his first novel Madam Will Not Dine Tonight in 1947. He quickly published two more novels, but they were not very well received.
In 1949, as the result of reading a case book on true crime, Waugh decided to explore a realistic crime novel. With the cooperation of his fiancée, who was a student at Smith College, Waugh set his police procedural Last Seen Wearing... in a fictional women's college. Published in 1952, the book was a significant success and is now considered a pioneering effort exploring relentless police work and attention to detail.
After Last Seen Wearing..., Waugh went on to publish more than thirty-five additional detective novels, many aptly described as "hard boiled". Pseudonyms include "Elissa Grandower," "Harry Walker" and "H. Baldwin Taylor."
Waugh married Diana Taylor, and the couple had three children. Waugh died on December 8, 2008.
Hillary Baldwin Waugh was a pioneering American mystery novelist. In 1989, Waugh was named a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America.
During his senior year at Yale, Waugh enlisted in the United States Navy Air Corps and, after graduation, received his aviator's wings. He served in Panama for two years, flying various types of aircraft. While in military service, Waugh turned his hand to creative writing, completing and publishing his first novel Madam Will Not Dine Tonight in 1947. He quickly published two more novels, but they were not very well received.
In 1949, as the result of reading a case book on true crime, Waugh decided to explore a realistic crime novel. With the cooperation of his fiancée, who was a student at Smith College, Waugh set his police procedural Last Seen Wearing... in a fictional women's college. Published in 1952, the book was a significant success and is now considered a pioneering effort exploring relentless police work and attention to detail.
After Last Seen Wearing..., Waugh went on to publish more than thirty-five additional detective novels, many aptly described as "hard boiled". Pseudonyms include "Elissa Grandower," "Harry Walker" and "H. Baldwin Taylor."
Waugh married Diana Taylor, and the couple had three children. Waugh died on December 8, 2008.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 1, 2025
Noir-vember 2025 continues with Road Block by Hillary Waugh (1960, 188 pgs., free on Internet Archive) is the 2nd in the Sheriff Fred Fellows series. While not nearly as good as the 1st book Sleep Long, My Love, Road Block is still one wild & fun read. Not much to the plot, bad guys rob a corporation of it's payroll leaving behind a high body-count, then the good guys through police procedural track them down...The characters are stock with the bad-bad guys, the blond moll, weak innocents, and plenty of cops...What makes this book a good read is writer Waugh's use of suspense and description...lotsa bang-bang shoot 'em up! While no classic this is a fun, quick read...I'll give it a what-the-heck-read-it-recommendation...3.0 outta 5.0....
January 13, 2020
Starting with LAST SEEN WEARING in 1949, Waugh perfected the modern "police procedural" and I think his tight plots, humor, and realistic characters are hard to beat. This one appeared in 1960 and it's a fascinating look at a crime from its conception to its tragic finale.
It's set in the small town of Stockford, Connecticut where shrewd, dedicated Police Chief Fred Fellows fights crime with an inadequate staff of poorly-paid officers. With no fancy forensics or military-style equipment, he can only pit his wits against criminals by trying to out-think them. In career criminal Lloyd Ragan, he comes up against an opponent as cool, far-sighted, and wily as himself. Who'll win?
Waugh was out-spoken in his admiration for cops and his contempt for criminals, but he "reported" like an honest journalist and Ragan is almost a sympathetic character. A man of intelligence and self-discipline, he plans his crimes as meticulously as a good general plans a battle, but has less control over his soldiers. He tries to hire the best, but in the underworld, the best isn't very good.
The reliable driver he's counted on is unavailable and the experienced gunman shows up with a mouthy blond bimbo and a teen-aged punk who thinks he's a hot-shot. But the prize (a $100,000 payroll heist) is too tempting to pass up and so Ragan presses on with his bumbling crew. They're laughable if you can forget the trail of bodies they leave behind.
The first half of the book follows the gang as they prepare for the job and carry it out. The second half shows Chief Fellows as he tries to prevent their escape and then tries to figure out why his web of road blocks has failed to net them. As always, Waugh fills the story with sometimes off-beat, but always believable characters - many of them caught up in this bizarre series of events as they go about their quiet lives. Most tragic are the children, who are victims of the greed and foolishness of their elders.
Like all Waugh's books, it's well-written and thought-provoking. He didn't write about crime and punishment. He wrote about people. His books are long out of print and (strangely) not available as ebooks, but second-hand copies can still be picked up for a few bucks. Mine is a beat-up library reject, but I enjoyed it as much as a leather-bound first edition. Waugh was a talented professional and it's a shame that he's been largely forgotten.
It's set in the small town of Stockford, Connecticut where shrewd, dedicated Police Chief Fred Fellows fights crime with an inadequate staff of poorly-paid officers. With no fancy forensics or military-style equipment, he can only pit his wits against criminals by trying to out-think them. In career criminal Lloyd Ragan, he comes up against an opponent as cool, far-sighted, and wily as himself. Who'll win?
Waugh was out-spoken in his admiration for cops and his contempt for criminals, but he "reported" like an honest journalist and Ragan is almost a sympathetic character. A man of intelligence and self-discipline, he plans his crimes as meticulously as a good general plans a battle, but has less control over his soldiers. He tries to hire the best, but in the underworld, the best isn't very good.
The reliable driver he's counted on is unavailable and the experienced gunman shows up with a mouthy blond bimbo and a teen-aged punk who thinks he's a hot-shot. But the prize (a $100,000 payroll heist) is too tempting to pass up and so Ragan presses on with his bumbling crew. They're laughable if you can forget the trail of bodies they leave behind.
The first half of the book follows the gang as they prepare for the job and carry it out. The second half shows Chief Fellows as he tries to prevent their escape and then tries to figure out why his web of road blocks has failed to net them. As always, Waugh fills the story with sometimes off-beat, but always believable characters - many of them caught up in this bizarre series of events as they go about their quiet lives. Most tragic are the children, who are victims of the greed and foolishness of their elders.
Like all Waugh's books, it's well-written and thought-provoking. He didn't write about crime and punishment. He wrote about people. His books are long out of print and (strangely) not available as ebooks, but second-hand copies can still be picked up for a few bucks. Mine is a beat-up library reject, but I enjoyed it as much as a leather-bound first edition. Waugh was a talented professional and it's a shame that he's been largely forgotten.
October 16, 2022
3 1/2 til 4 minus. Dansk tittel: Dødsfælden.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews