ذات القبعة الخضراء

by Frank L. Packard, صالح الغمراوي (مترجم)

قصة فتاة كاتبة روائية تصادق صحفيا شابا، حيث ظنت أن الرامي الأكبر زعيم أكبر عصابات نيويورك هو أخاها الذي فقد في الحرب، وعاشت على أمل أن تعثر عليه حيا.

98 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1929

About the author

Frank Lucius Packard was born in Montreal, Quebec and educated at McGill University and the University of Liege. As a young man he worked as a civil engineer for the Canadian Pacific Railway. His experiences working on the railroad led to his writing a series of mystery novels, the most famous of which featured a character called Jimmie Dale.

Frank Packard died in 1942 in Lachine, Quebec and was buried in the Mount Royal Cemetery in Montreal.

Reviews

[Rick Mills · Rating 4 out of 5]

Major characters:

Enid Howard, a Canadian author, our protagonist
Phil Martin, reporter for the New York Herald Star
Joe Caprillo, proprietor of the Gondola Restaurant
Shive Frank, a hoodlum and informer
The Big Shot, a.k.a. Hal Varney, Norman "Norry" Kane
Roy Howard, Enid's MIA brother
Izzy Myers, junk dealer

Locale: New York City

Synopsis: Enid Howard, a Canadian author living in New York City, dines each evening at the Gondola Restaurant - a place which skirts the prohibition laws and is frequented by some underground characters. She becomes acquainted with newspaper reporter Phil Martin who eats there with her often.

Phil reveals he is working on a story to expose the identity of the biggest gang leader in New York, only known as the 'BigShot'. He is working with an informer, Shive Frank, who is going to provide a photo of the Big Shot. Shive follows Enid on the street and hands her the photo for Phil. Shive is then killed in a drive-by shooting. Enid looks at the photo and is convinced the Big Shot is her own brother, Roy Howard, who went MIA (Missing in Action) in France during the war, and has not been heard of since.

Enid tracks down the Big Shot and claims he is her long-lost brother, but the Big Shot denies it. While they are meeting, the police come in. The Big Shot and Enid flee. She sustains a minor gunshot wound in the process, and now the police think she is part of the gang. The Big Shot knows all about Phil, and now Enid tries to save him while falling in love with him at the same time. Enid is trying to prove to the Big Shot he is really her brother, while he is trying to prove he is not. Of course, he has a hidden agenda - now he is falling in love with her!

Review: We are in gangland New York in prohibition times, where tough guys and hoodlums abound. There is lots of youse-tough-guys talk.

The story reads a lot like a Hardy Boys adventure, with lots of things happening all the time! Every moment! With plenty of exclamation marks! And cliffhanger endings to each chapter! Lots of ingredients: conflicting love stories, chases, creepy dark houses, girls tied up, narrow escapes, and of course someone with amnesia!

The Big Shot solves the is-he-the-brother question in a unique and surprising way.

Note use of some ethnic slurs for persons of Italian ancestry and stereotypes for persons of the Jewish faith.

I have one of Packard's railroad novels (Running Special) which I enjoyed. I look forward to escaping into his The Adventures of Jimmie Dale which is lurking in my TBR pile.

[Trish Boese · Rating 4 out of 5]

4* A great story! I love the Frank Packard style. In this story, a girl gets drawn into shady criminal activities because her boyfriend and brother (who don't know each other) are going after each other. Enid tries to protect them both but events spin out of her control. Great old-fashioned suspense!