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Joe Crow #5
Alles Asche.
A female lottery winner in a small Midwestern town offers a monetary prize to whomever can tell her the mysterious whereabouts of her husband who has gone into hiding.
Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
3 people are currently reading
68 people want to read
About the author
R. Murray Gilchrist
45 books8 followersRobert Murray Gilchrist was born in Sheffield, England in 1867. He never married and throughout his life lived mostly in remote places, including the North Derbyshire village of Holmesfield and a remote part of the Peak District.
He began his writing career in 1890 with a novel, Passion the Plaything, and would go on to publish a total of 22 novels, six story collections, four regional interest books, and a play. His stories appeared in many popular periodicals of that era, including The Temple Bar and the decadent journal The Yellow Book. Not much is known about Gilchrist’s personal life, but he is known to have lived for a time with a male companion, and given that Gilchrist never married and sometimes featured homoerotic themes in his work, as in the story ‘My Friend’, it is possible he was homosexual.
Though well known today to connoisseurs of weird and Decadent fiction, Gilchrist’s story collection The Stone Dragon and Other Tragic Romances was generally poorly received by critics on its initial appearance in 1894, and following the book’s failure, Gilchrist chose to write in other genres. It was not until Hugh Lamb began anthologizing some of Gilchrist’s work in the 1970s that he began to be rediscovered. Now he is ranked by many alongside other fin de siècle practitioners of weird fiction, including Vernon Lee, Arthur Machen, and Eric Stenbock and The Stone Dragon is a volume highly sought-after by collectors.
During World War I, Gilchrist was noted for his charitable assistance to Belgian refugees, many of whom attended his funeral after his death in 1917.
-Valancourt Books
He began his writing career in 1890 with a novel, Passion the Plaything, and would go on to publish a total of 22 novels, six story collections, four regional interest books, and a play. His stories appeared in many popular periodicals of that era, including The Temple Bar and the decadent journal The Yellow Book. Not much is known about Gilchrist’s personal life, but he is known to have lived for a time with a male companion, and given that Gilchrist never married and sometimes featured homoerotic themes in his work, as in the story ‘My Friend’, it is possible he was homosexual.
Though well known today to connoisseurs of weird and Decadent fiction, Gilchrist’s story collection The Stone Dragon and Other Tragic Romances was generally poorly received by critics on its initial appearance in 1894, and following the book’s failure, Gilchrist chose to write in other genres. It was not until Hugh Lamb began anthologizing some of Gilchrist’s work in the 1970s that he began to be rediscovered. Now he is ranked by many alongside other fin de siècle practitioners of weird fiction, including Vernon Lee, Arthur Machen, and Eric Stenbock and The Stone Dragon is a volume highly sought-after by collectors.
During World War I, Gilchrist was noted for his charitable assistance to Belgian refugees, many of whom attended his funeral after his death in 1917.
-Valancourt Books
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
June 1, 2022
Never gets old
Discovered Pete Hautman about 30 years ago, 'BD'-- before digital --from an actual bricks and mortar bookstore in MN. Those dog eared books are long gone but Im re-acquiring his books for my kindle and re-reading and loving every minute of it.
Discovered Pete Hautman about 30 years ago, 'BD'-- before digital --from an actual bricks and mortar bookstore in MN. Those dog eared books are long gone but Im re-acquiring his books for my kindle and re-reading and loving every minute of it.
May 4, 2016
I was looking for something fluffier to read than the last thing - whatever it was. I've already forgotten. Something with humor in it. Hautman's book reminds me a bit of Donald Westlake oeuvre. There is humor but a bit of danger. Maybe a bit more than a bit.
Barbaraannette not only has too many duplicated letters in her name, but her husband, Bobby, disappeared six years ago. When she suddenly wins almost $9 million in the Minnesota lottery and is confronted by the press, the first thing that pops into her mind is that she will give $1 million dollars to whoever finds him and brings him back.
Barbaraannette realizes too late that this might cause problems. First of all, you don't get all the money at once, but as an annuity, so she would have to take out a loan to pay it. Secondly, she didn't mention that he had to be alive. But once Barbaraannette has made a decision, she sticks to it. She's not sure why she wants her faithless, feckless husband back, but she does. Her sisters think she's crazy. The banker sent to get her account (and give her the loan) not only thinks she's crazy to want Bobby back, but has always been in love with her ... and unable to tell her so.
So far it seems straight-forward, but Bobby has a girlfriend, Phlox, who would like the money but not sure she wants to give Bobby up. Bobby is torn between splitting the million with Phlox and the rest of the money with Barbaraannette. Either way, he'll have to go back to Cold Rock, MN to get his hands on the money. Unfortunately, he cheated two putative business partners out of thousands of dollars there (another reason he left town) who would like a) their money back and b) revenge. But before they can get their hands on Bobby, he's half-rescued and half-kidnapped by a pretty-boy psychopath who's currently shacked up with a liberal arts professor. Then all heck breaks loose.
Confused yet? Hautman manages to sort things out with a little more bludgeoning and shooting than suit my taste, but at least it all gets sorted. It's amusing if not laugh-aloud.
Barbaraannette not only has too many duplicated letters in her name, but her husband, Bobby, disappeared six years ago. When she suddenly wins almost $9 million in the Minnesota lottery and is confronted by the press, the first thing that pops into her mind is that she will give $1 million dollars to whoever finds him and brings him back.
Barbaraannette realizes too late that this might cause problems. First of all, you don't get all the money at once, but as an annuity, so she would have to take out a loan to pay it. Secondly, she didn't mention that he had to be alive. But once Barbaraannette has made a decision, she sticks to it. She's not sure why she wants her faithless, feckless husband back, but she does. Her sisters think she's crazy. The banker sent to get her account (and give her the loan) not only thinks she's crazy to want Bobby back, but has always been in love with her ... and unable to tell her so.
So far it seems straight-forward, but Bobby has a girlfriend, Phlox, who would like the money but not sure she wants to give Bobby up. Bobby is torn between splitting the million with Phlox and the rest of the money with Barbaraannette. Either way, he'll have to go back to Cold Rock, MN to get his hands on the money. Unfortunately, he cheated two putative business partners out of thousands of dollars there (another reason he left town) who would like a) their money back and b) revenge. But before they can get their hands on Bobby, he's half-rescued and half-kidnapped by a pretty-boy psychopath who's currently shacked up with a liberal arts professor. Then all heck breaks loose.
Confused yet? Hautman manages to sort things out with a little more bludgeoning and shooting than suit my taste, but at least it all gets sorted. It's amusing if not laugh-aloud.
February 15, 2016
I had high hopes that this book would be funny! The premise certainly lent itself to be humorous, and yet the story line fell well short of the mark.
What could be funnier than an abandoned wife offering one million dollars on tv after winning the Powerball? Multiple people are trying to cash in on it, and the husband changes hands from one captor to another....sounds like a comedy you could envision on the big screen. Instead there are very weird twists, some odd murders, and the humor is lacking.
I finished the book I. The hopes that the twists would all come at the end, and they just weren't there. I felt like it was a waste of an afternoon. I probably won't read anything by this author again.
What could be funnier than an abandoned wife offering one million dollars on tv after winning the Powerball? Multiple people are trying to cash in on it, and the husband changes hands from one captor to another....sounds like a comedy you could envision on the big screen. Instead there are very weird twists, some odd murders, and the humor is lacking.
I finished the book I. The hopes that the twists would all come at the end, and they just weren't there. I felt like it was a waste of an afternoon. I probably won't read anything by this author again.
April 18, 2016
Being in competition with his brothers in the Federal Duck Stamp contest every year for many yaers, I was hoping Pete's books sucked ( who needs all that talent in one family!). Alas, this book was a lot of fun to read.
October 14, 2009
This guy wears cool shirts.
July 17, 2012
This was a really funny summer read. I really enjoy this one.
April 2, 2013
This book was a hoot! Enjoyed it from page 1 right to the end
March 21, 2023
3.5 stars. Starts slowly, but great characters and good plot twists
July 18, 2012
Lots of very quirky characters. A fun read.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews