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Hooligan
With Hooligan, David Dodge introduces his last series character John Abraham Lincoln, a member of the U.S. Treasury Department’s Special Service Bureau, informally known as the “Hooligan Squad.” In the line of hooligan duty, Lincoln functions as bodyguard to certain American VIPs and institutions, among them the currency of the United States. It is this institution which sends Lincoln to Hong Kong. His mission is to stop Everett Fung, a Chinese financier believed to be working for the Communist government, from collecting $100,000,000 in U.S. dollars that have come to the colony as insurance settlements for damages caused by typhoon Xanthippe.
244 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 1969
12 people want to read
About the author
David Dodge
91 books28 followersDavid Francis Dodge (August 18, 1910 – August 1974) was an author of mystery/thriller novels and humorous travel books. His first book was published in 1941. His fiction is characterized by tight plotting, brisk dialogue, memorable and well-defined characters, and (often) exotic locations. His travel writing documented the (mis)adventures of the Dodge family (David, his wife Elva, and daughter Kendal) as they roamed around the world. Practical advice and information for the traveler on a budget are sprinkled liberally throughout the books.
David Dodge was born in Berkeley, California, the youngest child of George Andrew Dodge, a San Francisco architect, and Maude Ellingwood Bennett Dodge. Following George's death in an automobile accident, Maude "Monnie" Dodge moved the family (David and his three older sisters, Kathryn, Frances, and Marian) to Southern California, where David attended Lincoln High School in Los Angeles but did not graduate.
After leaving school, he worked as a bank messenger, a marine fireman, a stevedore, and a night watchman. In 1934, he went to work for the San Francisco accounting firm of McLaren, Goode & Company, becoming a Certified Public Accountant in 1937. On July 17, 1936, he was married to Elva Keith, a former Macmillan Company editorial representative, and their only daughter, Kendal, was born in 1940. After the attack on Pearl Harbor he joined the U.S. Naval Reserve, emerging three years later with the rank of Lieutenant Commander.
David Dodge's first experience as a writer came through his involvement with the Macondray Lane Players, a group of amateur playwrights, producers, and actors whose goal was to create a theater purely for pleasure. The group was founded by George Henry Burkhardt (Dodge's brother-in-law) and performed exclusively at Macondria, a little theater located in the basement of Burkhardt's house at 56 Macondray Lane on San Francisco's Russian Hill. His publishing career began in 1936 when he won First Prize in the Northern California Drama Association's Third Annual One Act Play Tournament. The prize-winning play, "A Certain Man Had Two Sons," was subsequently published by the Banner Play Bureau, of San Francisco. Another Dodge play, "Christmas Eve at the Mermaid," co-written by Loyall McLaren (his boss at McLaren, Goode & Co.), was performed as the Bohemian Club's Christmas play of 1940, and again in 1959. In 1961, the Grabhorn Press published the play in a volume entitled Shakespeare in Bohemia.
His career as a writer really began, however, when he made a bet with his wife that he could write a better mystery novel than the ones they were reading during a rainy family vacation. He drew on his professional experience as a CPA and wrote his first novel, Death and Taxes, featuring San Francisco tax expert and reluctant detective James "Whit" Whitney. It was published by Macmillan in 1941 and he won five dollars from Elva. Three more Whitney novels soon followed: Shear the Black Sheep (Macmillan, 1942), Bullets for the Bridegroom (Macmillan, 1944) and It Ain't Hay (Simon & Schuster, 1946), in which Whit tangles with marijuana smugglers. With its subject matter and extremely evocative cover art on both the first edition dust jacket and the paperback reprint, this book remains one of Dodge's most collectible titles.
Upon his release from active duty by the Navy in 1945, Dodge left San Francisco and set out for Guatemala by car with his wife and daughter, beginning his second career as a travel writer. The Dodge family's misadventures on the road through Mexico are hilariously documented in How Green Was My Father (Simon & Schuster, 1947). His Latin American experiences also produced a second series character, expatriate private investigator and tough-guy adventurer Al Colby, who first appears in The Long Escape (Random House, 1948).
Two more well-received Colby books appeared in 1949 and 1950, but with the publication of To Catch a Thief in 1952, Dodge abandoned series ch
David Dodge was born in Berkeley, California, the youngest child of George Andrew Dodge, a San Francisco architect, and Maude Ellingwood Bennett Dodge. Following George's death in an automobile accident, Maude "Monnie" Dodge moved the family (David and his three older sisters, Kathryn, Frances, and Marian) to Southern California, where David attended Lincoln High School in Los Angeles but did not graduate.
After leaving school, he worked as a bank messenger, a marine fireman, a stevedore, and a night watchman. In 1934, he went to work for the San Francisco accounting firm of McLaren, Goode & Company, becoming a Certified Public Accountant in 1937. On July 17, 1936, he was married to Elva Keith, a former Macmillan Company editorial representative, and their only daughter, Kendal, was born in 1940. After the attack on Pearl Harbor he joined the U.S. Naval Reserve, emerging three years later with the rank of Lieutenant Commander.
David Dodge's first experience as a writer came through his involvement with the Macondray Lane Players, a group of amateur playwrights, producers, and actors whose goal was to create a theater purely for pleasure. The group was founded by George Henry Burkhardt (Dodge's brother-in-law) and performed exclusively at Macondria, a little theater located in the basement of Burkhardt's house at 56 Macondray Lane on San Francisco's Russian Hill. His publishing career began in 1936 when he won First Prize in the Northern California Drama Association's Third Annual One Act Play Tournament. The prize-winning play, "A Certain Man Had Two Sons," was subsequently published by the Banner Play Bureau, of San Francisco. Another Dodge play, "Christmas Eve at the Mermaid," co-written by Loyall McLaren (his boss at McLaren, Goode & Co.), was performed as the Bohemian Club's Christmas play of 1940, and again in 1959. In 1961, the Grabhorn Press published the play in a volume entitled Shakespeare in Bohemia.
His career as a writer really began, however, when he made a bet with his wife that he could write a better mystery novel than the ones they were reading during a rainy family vacation. He drew on his professional experience as a CPA and wrote his first novel, Death and Taxes, featuring San Francisco tax expert and reluctant detective James "Whit" Whitney. It was published by Macmillan in 1941 and he won five dollars from Elva. Three more Whitney novels soon followed: Shear the Black Sheep (Macmillan, 1942), Bullets for the Bridegroom (Macmillan, 1944) and It Ain't Hay (Simon & Schuster, 1946), in which Whit tangles with marijuana smugglers. With its subject matter and extremely evocative cover art on both the first edition dust jacket and the paperback reprint, this book remains one of Dodge's most collectible titles.
Upon his release from active duty by the Navy in 1945, Dodge left San Francisco and set out for Guatemala by car with his wife and daughter, beginning his second career as a travel writer. The Dodge family's misadventures on the road through Mexico are hilariously documented in How Green Was My Father (Simon & Schuster, 1947). His Latin American experiences also produced a second series character, expatriate private investigator and tough-guy adventurer Al Colby, who first appears in The Long Escape (Random House, 1948).
Two more well-received Colby books appeared in 1949 and 1950, but with the publication of To Catch a Thief in 1952, Dodge abandoned series ch
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 19, 2022
Two perspectives linger after reading Hooligan. First, as a novel in and of itself, it does have a low point. That comes during the overly lengthy interior monologue US Secret Service agent John Abraham Lincoln conducts with himself after assaulting the female Chinese agent, Ngan Hong, who works under the control of his nemesis, Everett Fung. But it dims into insignificance in light of the powerful beginning and ending of the novel. At the start, David Dodge describes the beginnings of a typhoon, which builds until it strikes Hong Kong in unrelenting fury. That description is so detailed as to remind me of James Michener's introduction to Hawaii, where he passes through eons of time and the building of the islands from the gradual amassing of coral. The ending comes with the arrival of yet another hurricane and provides for an open, ambiguous resolution of events. The fate of John Lincoln is unsure, even as an explosion of violence whips the apartment in which Lincoln, Fung, and Hong are trapped by the hurricane outside. Dodge does an excellent job of building and maintaining tension. And then not allowing for a firm conclusion, leaving the reader to make his own.
The second perspective I see at work is Dodge constructing John Lincoln as a sort of anti-Al Colby. Colby was the hero of three Dodge mystery novels set in Mexico and South America. Colby is willing to allow himself to be drawn into morally compromising positions, especially in the second Colby novel, Plunder of the Sun. But questionable morals does not mean that Colby abandons morality. Ultimately, he rejects avarice, monetary and sexual, and hews to a path of gritty justice, albeit it will be a path littered with necessary violence. John Lincoln is the opposite. He gives lip service to morals, while succumbing to his own sadistic nature. His morality depends on what his job requires. And the face-off at the end, with Fung and Hong, demonstrate the triumph of his conditioning over justice. Dollars mean more than lives and trust.
The second perspective I see at work is Dodge constructing John Lincoln as a sort of anti-Al Colby. Colby was the hero of three Dodge mystery novels set in Mexico and South America. Colby is willing to allow himself to be drawn into morally compromising positions, especially in the second Colby novel, Plunder of the Sun. But questionable morals does not mean that Colby abandons morality. Ultimately, he rejects avarice, monetary and sexual, and hews to a path of gritty justice, albeit it will be a path littered with necessary violence. John Lincoln is the opposite. He gives lip service to morals, while succumbing to his own sadistic nature. His morality depends on what his job requires. And the face-off at the end, with Fung and Hong, demonstrate the triumph of his conditioning over justice. Dollars mean more than lives and trust.
June 23, 2018
Set in a little-used time and place - Hong Kong in the late 1960's - Dodge combines financial intrigue with an exotic atmosphere and some heavy sexuality to make an interesting and surprising novel unlike any of his others.
October 4, 2018
In all honesty, Hooligan is not David Dodge's best work. But, even sub-par Dodge is worth reading (or, this case, re-reading). The protagonist, John Lincoln, is a specially-trained U.S. government employee who is clearly no fan of the current (1968/69) administration. Lincoln is a member of the U.S. Treasury Department Special Service Bureau, know informally as "hooligans," and is routinely assigned to bodyguard duty. His special skill is in the use of a handgun, to either protect his assignment or die trying. Before he can be forced into retirement, Lincoln is sent to Hong Kong to negotiate with Chinese businessman Everett Fung over $100 million in insurance claims after a massive typhoon hits the colony. Without a clear understanding of what, exactly, he is supposed to do, Lincoln suspects that the only type of "negotiation" he is qualified to carry out is the assassination of Fung. Dodge's mastery of suspense is on clear display in this novel, and the conclusion of the story is truly shocking. However, the casual racism of the late 1960s is also on display, and Lincoln's attitude towards sex can be jarring to a 21st century readership. Dodge clearly intended to create a brutal, flawed character with moral ambiguities, but it can be hard to sympathize with this guy at times.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews