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The Forty-Two
It's 1979 in New York City and Charley McCormick loves the Deuce-42nd Street between 7th and 8th Avenues-more than anything in the world. He loves the peculiar low-budget movies. He loves the bizarre all-night circus of it all. But when a pretty girl sits beside him at a horror double feature at the Harris and ends up dead before the lights come back on, his scene is turned upside down...and Charley is thrown into whirlwind of murder and betrayal where no one is what they seem. As he winds through a network of sex workers, gangsters, and B movie producers, Charley gets himself in so deeply there is no choice but to unravel what started on the Forty-Two and might very well end in the city morgue.
366 pages, Paperback
First published June 15, 2014
5 people are currently reading
308 people want to read
About the author
Ed Kurtz
56 books145 followersEd Kurtz is the author of THE RIB FROM WHICH I REMAKE THE WORLD and other novels. His short fiction has appeared in numerous collections, and has been honored in Best American Mystery Stories as well as Best Gay Stories. Kurtz lives in Minneapolis.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
August 22, 2019
”Below the balcony in the main part of the auditorium a small crowd was filing in, hooting and hollering and carrying on like they always did. Some dudes brought in hookers in black fishnets and gigantic, unwashed wigs. As soon as the lights went down they’d get down to business and be gone before the intermission. A couple of nervous junkies huddled together against the west wall, waiting on the darkness for their own disreputable purposes. Someone shouted a string of obscenities and a few people laughed at him. After another minute, the speakers popped like gunshots and the screen exploded in a rippling network of multicolored circles upon which bled the legend: Prevues of Coming Attractions.
Now the lights shut off and the crowd settled in for their respective moments of bliss; be that shooting up, lifting up some whore’s black vinyl skirt or, like Charley, actually paying attention to the mayhem on the screen.”
Just a typical evening down on The Deuce. The gritty sidewalks, piss splattered alley walls, and the sticky movie theater floors of the red light district of New York. The place where, however kinky your desire, there is someone down there ready to fulfill it. This is 42nd Street before it got fumigated, hosed down, and turned into Disneyland...Times Square.
I’m sure Charley McCormick has many unfulfilled desires he would love to explore, but what draws him down to this seedy, dangerous area of town is his unbridled love for slasher films. If there aren’t any good slasher films playing, he will settle for sexploitation, exploitation, blaxploitation, or Kung Fu movies. There is always something playing somewhere that will take him away from his boring, crappy life. He appreciates good movies, but he will settle for a really bad movie that is so bad it almost becomes good.
On this one certain night, he should have stayed home and cozied up with a good book. Generally, that is my advice to everyone. Why go out? Explore the world from the comfort of your favorite cozy chair.
So he is settling in to watch Bava’s Bay of Blood, that was not what was advertised to be playing, but it’s okay, Charley doesn’t mind revisiting the Italian movie...if only someone will get killed, creating blood splattering gore, much, much earlier in the film.
A woman slides into the seat next to him.
This is a little different, but this is The Deuce, unusual is usual. He checks her out in the dim light from the projector and decides she looks nothing like a hooker on the make. When the film does finally give a scare, the girl grabs his knee, and he uses that opportunity to take her hand.
It almost feels like a date.
Hold that thought.
When the lights come up and he is about to give her the line he has been rehearsing for half an hour, he finds that she is covered in blood, and that he has been holding the hand of a dead girl for probably about an hour.
Charley comes down to The Deuce every chance he can for some excitement, but the films he enjoys have just stepped out of the big screen and into his life. He suddenly finds himself the lead actor in the middle of a horror film.
The thing is, Charley is not a detective. In fact, he is a horrible detective, but through his blundering about, he does find some connections to the dead girl. There is the dead girl’s stripper sister who is manipulating the crap out of him. There is the discovery of the boxes of film loops of black market porn consisting of real sick shit like snuff films and beastuality. To add some international flavoring to his murder mystery there are the Serbian gang members who want him dead. The cluster of cherries on top of this swirling bloody milkshake of an adventure are the bodies of the people he knows and cares about who keep turning up dead.
I am starting to think the title of this novel should have been Everyone Dies Except Charley.
Charley has this really naive, crusading quirk to his personality that irritates me nearly to distraction. I’m not alone. ”Christ, you must think you’re Galahad or something, prancing around the countryside saving damsels in distress. In case nobody told you, death is a distress you can’t un-distress y’know?”
Charley also meets this beautiful transexual hooker named Ursula who reminds him of the bodacious Honey Ryder from Dr. No.. Coincidentally or probably not, the lovely actress, Ursula Andress, plays Honey Ryder in the Bond film. Isn’t it fun to catch those allusions where the writer is making connections for those readers who are savvy enough to catch them? If I miss them, I don’t even know I missed them, so no harm no foul.
“Speed, Blow, Suck your Cock.”
Ahh yes, the refrain of the market peddlars down on The Deuce, a marketing as old as Medieval Europe...well with slight variations in the wares for sale. Mead, Shrooms, would you like to meet my Sister? It would be something like that. I still need to work on my pitch if I’m ever transported back in time and have to make a living as a provider of illicit entertainment.
This book came to my attention as I am beginning to watch Maggie Gyllenhaal’s HBO TV show aptly named The Deuce. I’ve always had a bit of an interest in what was going down on 42nd Street, NY, before it was turned into a glitzy tourist trap. This book is set in 1979, but the excesses of the 1980s are already in full swing. The politicians and even the Eye-ties are starting to think that there is more money to be made out of this prime real estate by converting the seedy street fronts into the razzle dazzle of what we see today. Charley better enjoy his movies now, because it won’t be long before the hoods, the politicians, and the capitalists turn his beloved 42nd Street into something unrecognizable.
If you wish to see more of my most recent book and movie reviews, visit http://www.jeffreykeeten.com
I also have a Facebook blogger page at:https://www.facebook.com/JeffreyKeeten
Now the lights shut off and the crowd settled in for their respective moments of bliss; be that shooting up, lifting up some whore’s black vinyl skirt or, like Charley, actually paying attention to the mayhem on the screen.”
Just a typical evening down on The Deuce. The gritty sidewalks, piss splattered alley walls, and the sticky movie theater floors of the red light district of New York. The place where, however kinky your desire, there is someone down there ready to fulfill it. This is 42nd Street before it got fumigated, hosed down, and turned into Disneyland...Times Square.
I’m sure Charley McCormick has many unfulfilled desires he would love to explore, but what draws him down to this seedy, dangerous area of town is his unbridled love for slasher films. If there aren’t any good slasher films playing, he will settle for sexploitation, exploitation, blaxploitation, or Kung Fu movies. There is always something playing somewhere that will take him away from his boring, crappy life. He appreciates good movies, but he will settle for a really bad movie that is so bad it almost becomes good.
On this one certain night, he should have stayed home and cozied up with a good book. Generally, that is my advice to everyone. Why go out? Explore the world from the comfort of your favorite cozy chair.
So he is settling in to watch Bava’s Bay of Blood, that was not what was advertised to be playing, but it’s okay, Charley doesn’t mind revisiting the Italian movie...if only someone will get killed, creating blood splattering gore, much, much earlier in the film.
A woman slides into the seat next to him.
This is a little different, but this is The Deuce, unusual is usual. He checks her out in the dim light from the projector and decides she looks nothing like a hooker on the make. When the film does finally give a scare, the girl grabs his knee, and he uses that opportunity to take her hand.
It almost feels like a date.
Hold that thought.
When the lights come up and he is about to give her the line he has been rehearsing for half an hour, he finds that she is covered in blood, and that he has been holding the hand of a dead girl for probably about an hour.
Charley comes down to The Deuce every chance he can for some excitement, but the films he enjoys have just stepped out of the big screen and into his life. He suddenly finds himself the lead actor in the middle of a horror film.
The thing is, Charley is not a detective. In fact, he is a horrible detective, but through his blundering about, he does find some connections to the dead girl. There is the dead girl’s stripper sister who is manipulating the crap out of him. There is the discovery of the boxes of film loops of black market porn consisting of real sick shit like snuff films and beastuality. To add some international flavoring to his murder mystery there are the Serbian gang members who want him dead. The cluster of cherries on top of this swirling bloody milkshake of an adventure are the bodies of the people he knows and cares about who keep turning up dead.
I am starting to think the title of this novel should have been Everyone Dies Except Charley.
Charley has this really naive, crusading quirk to his personality that irritates me nearly to distraction. I’m not alone. ”Christ, you must think you’re Galahad or something, prancing around the countryside saving damsels in distress. In case nobody told you, death is a distress you can’t un-distress y’know?”
Charley also meets this beautiful transexual hooker named Ursula who reminds him of the bodacious Honey Ryder from Dr. No.. Coincidentally or probably not, the lovely actress, Ursula Andress, plays Honey Ryder in the Bond film. Isn’t it fun to catch those allusions where the writer is making connections for those readers who are savvy enough to catch them? If I miss them, I don’t even know I missed them, so no harm no foul.
“Speed, Blow, Suck your Cock.”
Ahh yes, the refrain of the market peddlars down on The Deuce, a marketing as old as Medieval Europe...well with slight variations in the wares for sale. Mead, Shrooms, would you like to meet my Sister? It would be something like that. I still need to work on my pitch if I’m ever transported back in time and have to make a living as a provider of illicit entertainment.
This book came to my attention as I am beginning to watch Maggie Gyllenhaal’s HBO TV show aptly named The Deuce. I’ve always had a bit of an interest in what was going down on 42nd Street, NY, before it was turned into a glitzy tourist trap. This book is set in 1979, but the excesses of the 1980s are already in full swing. The politicians and even the Eye-ties are starting to think that there is more money to be made out of this prime real estate by converting the seedy street fronts into the razzle dazzle of what we see today. Charley better enjoy his movies now, because it won’t be long before the hoods, the politicians, and the capitalists turn his beloved 42nd Street into something unrecognizable.
If you wish to see more of my most recent book and movie reviews, visit http://www.jeffreykeeten.com
I also have a Facebook blogger page at:https://www.facebook.com/JeffreyKeeten
June 20, 2021
This type of read should of been right up my street. Set in the 70s with criminals, hookers, seedy men, blue movies and a killer on the loose. For me it showed a lot of promise but just didn't deliver.
October 29, 2023
3.5 stars. This book starts with a guy watching a movie in a grindhouse theater on 42nd in NYC. While he is watching a horror movie a young woman comes and sits beside him. She grabs his knee at a scary part and he reaches down and holds her hand. When the movie is over he turns to ask her out for coffee and finds that she has been stabbed and has bled to death while he was watching the film. Things move on from there and the book is basically a whodunnit with lots of twists and turns. I had a good time reading it.
July 19, 2014
Ed Kurtz's "The Forty-Two" is a wonderful blend of crime novel, mystery story and homage to the Times Square grindhouse theater district of New York's 42nd Street circa 1979 all in one. "The Forty-Two" is a gripping, page-turner of mystery set in the world of the people who made the movies and those who watched them. The story begins innocently enough with Charley McCormick, hotel clerk and sometime trash movie boom mic operator (if you can call it that) indulging in his favorite recreation: catching a movie on 42nd Street. An attractive woman, without explanation, sits next to him in the mostly empty theater. At a shocking moment in the film, she clutches his hand and never lets go. Because she's dead. Stabbed in the back as she and Charley watched the movie. From there we're off on a page-turning nightmare through the back alleys of New York and the lowest, most disturbing avenues of exploitation film-making as Charley plays detective against his better judgment. And it quickly becomes apparent that the people responsible for the murder will not sit by waiting for someone to find them out.
Both the writing and plot are taunt and fast-moving. For a 364 page book, it seems only half that length as Kurtz throws unexpected revelations and plot twists as fast as you can read them. The only fault in the whole of the book might be that Charley has an incredible knack for being rescued just as someone is about to shoot him in the head (it happens several times), But each time, it seems that there is yet a new revelation demanding that you turn the page, so it's a minor fault.
"The Forty-Two" has a great plot, but Kurtz also fills the story with realistic, compassionate characters. Charley and, in particular, the prostitute Ursula, are vivid, real people with complex stories of their own. And as much as the plot twists and turns, it's Charley and Ursula who keep you turning the page because Kurtz gives them the depth to make readers genuinely care about what may or may not happen to them. And Kurtz keeps things real by sometimes having the story and characters do exactly what you don't expect them to do (or shouldn't do according to convention). Sometimes it's exciting, sometimes shocking, sometimes frustrating, sometimes heartbreaking, and always uniquely Ed Kurtz.
Unlike his short novel, "Dead Trash", "The Forty-Two" doesn't attempt to replicate a grindhouse movie on paper, but the settings, subject matter and certainly some of the characters would be right at home in a 1970s AIP film showing on a 42nd Street theater screen.
"The Forty-Two" is a hard-driving, page-turning thriller in the best sense of the words,
Both the writing and plot are taunt and fast-moving. For a 364 page book, it seems only half that length as Kurtz throws unexpected revelations and plot twists as fast as you can read them. The only fault in the whole of the book might be that Charley has an incredible knack for being rescued just as someone is about to shoot him in the head (it happens several times), But each time, it seems that there is yet a new revelation demanding that you turn the page, so it's a minor fault.
"The Forty-Two" has a great plot, but Kurtz also fills the story with realistic, compassionate characters. Charley and, in particular, the prostitute Ursula, are vivid, real people with complex stories of their own. And as much as the plot twists and turns, it's Charley and Ursula who keep you turning the page because Kurtz gives them the depth to make readers genuinely care about what may or may not happen to them. And Kurtz keeps things real by sometimes having the story and characters do exactly what you don't expect them to do (or shouldn't do according to convention). Sometimes it's exciting, sometimes shocking, sometimes frustrating, sometimes heartbreaking, and always uniquely Ed Kurtz.
Unlike his short novel, "Dead Trash", "The Forty-Two" doesn't attempt to replicate a grindhouse movie on paper, but the settings, subject matter and certainly some of the characters would be right at home in a 1970s AIP film showing on a 42nd Street theater screen.
"The Forty-Two" is a hard-driving, page-turning thriller in the best sense of the words,
November 11, 2014
A fine crime novel with lovely characterization and a strong sense of place. Grindhouse freaks should get a kick out of it (one of the characters is modeled on Andy Milligan!). However, too many coincidences, contrivances and last-minute rescues sapped my enthusiasm.
January 30, 2018
If you were lucky enough to be able to go to the 42nd street of the 70/80’s, then the Grindhouse theaters should have made quite the impression on you. I was lucky enough to sit among the roaches and degenerates for a showing of Dr. Butcher M.D and a few others.
Ed Kurtz captures the atmosphere, grit, grime sleaze and body fluids of Times Square of Ed Koch. A thrilling murder mystery, Kurtz makes the most of the location. The lines of peep shows, theaters and sex shops are characters in their own right.
His flesh and blood characters are complex and engaging as the story moves a fast pace, it’s storytelling like this that inspires me to continue writing on my own.
Highly recommended.
Ed Kurtz captures the atmosphere, grit, grime sleaze and body fluids of Times Square of Ed Koch. A thrilling murder mystery, Kurtz makes the most of the location. The lines of peep shows, theaters and sex shops are characters in their own right.
His flesh and blood characters are complex and engaging as the story moves a fast pace, it’s storytelling like this that inspires me to continue writing on my own.
Highly recommended.
March 15, 2018
I liked it, but not as much as the other two books. It definitely has plenty of potential in the first half, but it does lose its focus on the latter half. I do like the premise of going to a theater, sitting next to a stranger only to have them die right next to you. Definitely a creepy idea that could've been handled better. Just needs work.
September 13, 2020
Just finished this. It’s my first book from my new publisher New Pulp Press & the first for me from Ed Kurtz. It’s a really well written, gritty thriller- soaked with blood & cheeseburger fat. It captures the period & seediness amazingly well- might be a little rough for some people’s tastes buts it’s really good and has a real pulse & a heart too.
December 26, 2015
Inhalt:
New York, 1979.
Charley McCormick liebt das Deuce - die Vergnügungsmeile in der 42. Straße zwischen der 7th und 8th Avenue - mehr alles andere auf der Welt. Er steht besonders auf die low-budget Filme. Er liebt das bizarre Zirkustreiben mit all seinen Facetten. Als ein hübsches Mädchen während einer Horror-Doppelvorstellung im Harris neben ihm Platz nimmt und tot ist, noch bevor die Lichter wieder angehen, wird seine ganze Welt auf den Kopf gestellt. Charley gerät in einen Strudel aus Mord und Betrug, in dem niemand ist, was er vorgibt, zu sein. Als er durch einen Sumpf aus Sexindustrie, Verbrechern und B-Movie-Produzenten watet, gerät Charley so tief hinein, dass er keine andere Wahl mehr hat, als das Knäuel aus losen Fäden, das im Forty-Two seinen Anfang nahm und sehr wahrscheinlich in der städtischen Leichenhalle sein Ende fand, zu entwirren.
Meine Meinung:
Die Geschichte spielt zu einer Zeit, als ich noch nicht geplant war. VHS löste gerade das Betamax-Format ab. Obwohl ich weder jemals in New York war, noch sonderliches Interesse an Snuff-Filmen habe, hat mich dieses Buch dennoch - oder gerade deswegen? - besonders fasziniert und in seinen Bann gezogen.
Es Kurtz schafft es binnen kürzester Zeit ein Gerüst zu konstruieren, das so stabil steht, dass selbst heftiges Zerren und Rütteln daran es nicht zum Einsturz bringen können. So unrealistisch die ganze Situation, der Charley zu Beginn ausgesetzt ist, auch sein mag: ich wette, dass sie so oder so ähnlich in jeder Großstadt in den entsprechenden Vierteln zu finden ist.
Ich könnte mir diese Buch super als Film in Pulp Fiction-Manier vorstellen. Tempo, Action und Blut. Verdammt viel Blut. Das ganze Buch ist so blutig, dass man das Gefühl hat, während des Lesens auf rostigen Nägeln herumzulutschen. Dieses Buch war wieder einmal eine Herausforderung für mich. Beinahe jedes zehnte Wort war eine Stolperfalle für mein Schulenglisch. Natürlich ergibt sich viel aus dem Zusammenhang und man muss nicht jedes Adjektiv kennen ... und ich bin jetzt auch kein Experte was Drogen, Prostitution, Snuff-Filme und B-Movies angeht. Aber durchaus im lernfähigen Alter :)
Alles in allem ein rundum gelungenes Kunstwerk, gewidmet zwei großartigen Filmemachern, von denen ich noch nie in meinem (jungen) Leben gehört habe.
Sollte Quentin Tarantino das hier irgendwann mal lesen: Mach 'nen Film draus! Das wird ganz großes Kino.
New York, 1979.
Charley McCormick liebt das Deuce - die Vergnügungsmeile in der 42. Straße zwischen der 7th und 8th Avenue - mehr alles andere auf der Welt. Er steht besonders auf die low-budget Filme. Er liebt das bizarre Zirkustreiben mit all seinen Facetten. Als ein hübsches Mädchen während einer Horror-Doppelvorstellung im Harris neben ihm Platz nimmt und tot ist, noch bevor die Lichter wieder angehen, wird seine ganze Welt auf den Kopf gestellt. Charley gerät in einen Strudel aus Mord und Betrug, in dem niemand ist, was er vorgibt, zu sein. Als er durch einen Sumpf aus Sexindustrie, Verbrechern und B-Movie-Produzenten watet, gerät Charley so tief hinein, dass er keine andere Wahl mehr hat, als das Knäuel aus losen Fäden, das im Forty-Two seinen Anfang nahm und sehr wahrscheinlich in der städtischen Leichenhalle sein Ende fand, zu entwirren.
Meine Meinung:
Die Geschichte spielt zu einer Zeit, als ich noch nicht geplant war. VHS löste gerade das Betamax-Format ab. Obwohl ich weder jemals in New York war, noch sonderliches Interesse an Snuff-Filmen habe, hat mich dieses Buch dennoch - oder gerade deswegen? - besonders fasziniert und in seinen Bann gezogen.
Es Kurtz schafft es binnen kürzester Zeit ein Gerüst zu konstruieren, das so stabil steht, dass selbst heftiges Zerren und Rütteln daran es nicht zum Einsturz bringen können. So unrealistisch die ganze Situation, der Charley zu Beginn ausgesetzt ist, auch sein mag: ich wette, dass sie so oder so ähnlich in jeder Großstadt in den entsprechenden Vierteln zu finden ist.
Ich könnte mir diese Buch super als Film in Pulp Fiction-Manier vorstellen. Tempo, Action und Blut. Verdammt viel Blut. Das ganze Buch ist so blutig, dass man das Gefühl hat, während des Lesens auf rostigen Nägeln herumzulutschen. Dieses Buch war wieder einmal eine Herausforderung für mich. Beinahe jedes zehnte Wort war eine Stolperfalle für mein Schulenglisch. Natürlich ergibt sich viel aus dem Zusammenhang und man muss nicht jedes Adjektiv kennen ... und ich bin jetzt auch kein Experte was Drogen, Prostitution, Snuff-Filme und B-Movies angeht. Aber durchaus im lernfähigen Alter :)
Alles in allem ein rundum gelungenes Kunstwerk, gewidmet zwei großartigen Filmemachern, von denen ich noch nie in meinem (jungen) Leben gehört habe.
Sollte Quentin Tarantino das hier irgendwann mal lesen: Mach 'nen Film draus! Das wird ganz großes Kino.
October 27, 2015
I received this book from Goodreads. A young man who spends his free time going to seedy movies gets into trouble when an attractive young woman sits down next to him and is stabbed to death. As he trys to solve the murder he makes one questionable decision after another putting friends, and himself, in harms way. A great read if you want to feel the dark side of New York and meet some well developed characters.
February 8, 2017
An absolutely disturbing and thrilling story! One never knows where Ed Kurtz will go with his writing, other than the fact that it's going to be a wild and shocking ride. I am a Kurtz fan for life!
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews