Carny Kill

by Robert Edmond Alter

A masterpiece of lurid menace from the underbelly of the South.

On his first day working for Cochrane's carny, Thaxton found that his new boss was married to his ex-wife. On the second day he found his boss's body--with one of May's throwing knives planted firmly in its chest.

With its impeccably rendered carnival setting and its deliriously crooked array of spielers, luck-boys, and dancing girls with indecent hips and sub-zero hearts, Carny Kill is crime fiction at its most devious and pungent.

Genres: Noir, Fiction, Crime, Mystery, Novels, Bizarro Fiction

Paperback

First published January 1, 1966

About the author

Robert Edmond Alter is remembered chiefly for two novels, paperback originals from the 1960s: "Swamp Sister" (1961) and "Carny Kill" (1966). He also wrote children's novels and sold stories to some of the top magazines of his day, including the "Saturday Evening Post" and "Argosy". Alter died suddenly at the age of 40 (some sources state it was Cancer). Some of his later works were published for the first time many years after his death. He was survived by his wife, Maxine and his daughter Sand.

Reviews

[Still · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable little fast-paced crime thriller from 1966 in the tradition of Gil Brewer, Harry Whittington, or Dan Marlowe.

This isn’t high-lit but it’s fun.

It was one of those tourist traps that have turned the coast of Florida into a glittering facade. They hide the naked sight of the hundreds of thousands of voracious cash registers behind the tinsel... The place was on the outskirts, on the tidelands, where acreage is cheap. It was a big, bristling, brawling take-off on the Disneyland idea out in Southern Cal.

Like most of those places that are designed for the tourist who wanders around with money falling out of his pockets, it looked fine on top, impressive. Then you start scratching the surface and the dirt you find under your fingernails is the same grime you'll find in any clipjoint.

That's why I felt at home.

I didn't want him reaching for his shoulder holster with the intention of subduing me further with his gun. If he reached, he would discover that the holster was empty.
I'd palmed his Roscoe while we were hugging each other and had slipped it under my belt...

He floored it and that big rumbling, crystal-eyed sedan came hurtling down the road at me, but it was already slated for crashville when I started jerking off shots at the windshield, and it swerved out of control and to the left and I took a frantic roll back into the ditch.

December 29, 2019
Third time around.
Review stands.
I didn't enjoy this as much as I enjoyed the author's . Doesn't mean it isn't a classic ranking up there with Jonathan Latimer's "Bill Crane" series of loopy detective novels or Norbert Davis's similarly zany "Max Latin" Pulp novellas.
Recommended to all fans of this kind of stuff.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

Robert Edmond Alter unfortunately only wrote a couple of pulp novels since he was primarily a children's book author. But the pulps he did write are real good and certainly worth reading if you can find them. "Carny Kill" is as you might suspect set in the classic carny world that was the setting for many pulp paperbacks as well as part of Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land. Alter does a great job of capturing that atmosphere, the world of carneys going from job to job, living in their own world, keeping their own secrets. Together with the carney world, Alter gives us the set up of the guy who wanders in to a setup with his ex wife and her rich new husband, the carney owner, and of course no alibi but lots of murder motive. Everything you want in a quick-reading classic paperback.

[Carla Remy · Rating 4 out of 5]

01/2019

From 1966. The carnival atmosphere reminded me of Craig Rice's Innocent Bystander (1949), the life of the lifelong carnys. But in this they travel around, knew each other from other fairs in far flung states, which is cool. Both are very good thriller mysteries. Carny Kill contains an exceptional action scene toward the end, when the fake police pick up Thax (and what happens then). This, like his Swamp Sister, is quite satisfyingly detailed. It is hard not to think of the long, interesting, career Alter would have had if he hadn't died at age 40 in 1966.

[Karin Montin · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a great read. It's narrated by a carny named Thax, who gets a job in a Florida amusement park and then discovers his ex-wife, a knife-thrower, is married to the owner. The next day, the owner is murdered and all the clues, too many, actually, point to her as the killer. It's an obvious frame, but who really did it, and why the phoney frame-up?

In very short order, other people are killed, too. The police don't really think Thax is the killer, but he feels like he'd better figure it all out, because they're a little slow and meanwhile he's on the spot.

Thax runs a shell game. (People win, but only when he wants them to.) The other attractions and people who operate them are described very well. There are nautch girls, luckboys, spielers, a spider lady, Tarzan and Cheeta, etc.

The language of the carneys sounds authentic and Thax himself has a few weird mannerisms. (BTW, just found this very good carny lingo dictionary .) He says things like, "He was about my big." There's a nice scene where he amuses some regular people outside the park with a spiel he makes up on the spot. It's a riot. He also quotes St-Exupéry.

One of the attractions in the park is Treasure Island, modelled on the novel. The guy who works (and lives) on the island and Thax are both big Treasure Island fans and trade lines from the book in several scenes.

Carny Kill was published in 1966, the same year as Alter died (at 40), but it feels like it could have been written in the thirties or forties.

I recommend it. I also recommend Michael S. Chong's piece on Al Guthrie's site: . He talks about working as a carny in Toronto and refers to several carny noir novels.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

"And nothing else matters..."

[Jack Heath]

Synopsis: Thaxton joins Cochrane's carnival and finds his ex-wife married to the boss! Then the boss dies.

[Benjamin Chandler · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was fun.

A carny goes to work at a Disneyland ripoff and gets tangled in his new boss's murder.

Alter really captures the carny barker banter as hero Thax runs the park's shell game—all while surrounding him with a wild collection of supporting amusement park characters. Thax, in addition to being a smart-mouthed skeezy skirt-chaser, is a secret bibliophile, so when he's not fooling folks at the shell game, eyeing the nearest lady in nylons, or eluding bad dudes, he's quoting Robert Louis Stevenson and longing for the life old adventure books promised.

The author died at the age of 40. He only wrote 4 novels for adults, though also gobs of short stories and many books for kids. I really wonder what his output would have been if he'd lived twice as long. I feel a little bummed that I've already read half of his novels. He really is great at capturing a voice and making the books' worlds believable.

[no elle · Rating 4 out of 5]

theres a fucked up lil midget who spends most his time in a ape suit n he lives in a tree when he isnt performing in the freakshow... just juicy brained intellectual things.. simply MUST find swamp sister..

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick reading vintage crime novel set in a Florida carnival, originally published in 1966. Enjoyable enough to sprinkle in some more vintage crime in the reading list.

[Alonzo Church · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thax comes to an amusement park in pre-Disney Florida for a job. He regrets it almost immediately. The owner is a nice guy, but he’s married to Thax’s ex-wife, a scary lady with a knife throwing act. Murder and mayhem follow and our hero looks good as a prime suspect. Is the sex with the hot little carny stripper worth sticking around for, or should he just drift like he always does, because nothing really matters?

Quite good paperback original, with a surprisingly literary bent and a well-read, if reluctant, hero. Setting is authentic, catching the moment just before Florida’s amusement era went from quaint and quirky to Disney.

[Dan Blackley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great noir story. Twists and turns abound with seedy characters from the carnival. I really enjoyed the story and felt the steamy atmosphere of the South.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The weirdest thing is that the author wrote 14 children's books (apparently all out of print now). Didn't realize till I was done and read his bio at the back. Makes sense now though - seemingly random literary allusions scattered throughout the book, everything from Treasure Island to Saint-Exupery. Otherwise, the book reads like one of Jim Thompson's milder novels.

[catechism · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dude with fast mouth and faster hands finds work as a carny, has existential crisis, solves some murders: news at 11!

Probably closer to 3.5 stars than 4, but I rounded up for the noiry goodness of the writing. The plot was fairly predictable, but I liked the setting and the weird philosophical bent.

[Larry Webber · Rating 5 out of 5]

great fun, I have the old Black Lizard edition

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

Classic noir crime novel based in early century Los Angeles, entertaining light read...