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Kill the Boss Good-Bye
Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad. Tom Fell has been mad for some time. But who has the nerve to destroy him? While Tom Fell was away, his empire collapsed. The cops started raiding his betting parlors. The lieutenant he left in charge decided he wanted to stay in charge.
Now Fell is back from his enigmatic vacation--tan, rested, and teetering on the edge of psychosis. Can Fell claw his way back to power without ending up in an institution? And can anybody stop him without ending up in the morgue?
Kill the Boss Good-Bye is a post-Freudian thiller that manages to be simultaneously terrifying and tragic. Elegantly modulated and filled with characters who inspire both compassion and revulsion, this novel transports us to the frontier where sickness becomes pure evil.
Now Fell is back from his enigmatic vacation--tan, rested, and teetering on the edge of psychosis. Can Fell claw his way back to power without ending up in an institution? And can anybody stop him without ending up in the morgue?
Kill the Boss Good-Bye is a post-Freudian thiller that manages to be simultaneously terrifying and tragic. Elegantly modulated and filled with characters who inspire both compassion and revulsion, this novel transports us to the frontier where sickness becomes pure evil.
124 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1956
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121 people want to read
About the author
Peter Rabe
112 books15 followersPeter Rabe aka Peter Rabinowitsch, was a German American writer who also used the nom de plumes Marco Malaponte and J.T. MacCargo (though not all of the latter's books were by him). Rabe was the author of over 30 books, mostly of crime fiction, published between 1955 and 1975.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
December 23, 2014
Leave a copy of this laying around the office and see how your boss rates you in your next performance review after he or she gets a look at the cover….
San Pietro is a small city with a bustling bookie business thanks to its horse racing track, but the local criminal kingpin Tom Fell, hasn’t been seen in a month after leaving his flunky Pander in charge. Pander sees this as his chance to take over for good so Fell’s loyal minion Cripp fetches the boss. Unfortunately, Fell has been getting treatment for a manic disorder at a sanitarium, and his doctor warns Cripp that taking him away and putting him a stressful environment could have dire consequences. But what could be stressful about an underworld fight for control of a city?
I heard about this one from Donald Westlake’s non-fiction collection The Getaway Car in which he raved about it in an introduction he wrote for a book of Rabe’s stories. I don’t think it quite lives up to the billing that Westlake gave it, but it’s still an entertaining piece of hard boiled crime writing.
I very much enjoyed the first half in which Fell is trying to wrestle control of his organization back from Pander with the criminal syndicate watching to see which man deserves it. However, that piece gets wrapped up very quickly, and then the book shifts into a second phase which I didn’t like quite as much. It wasn’t bad, it just seems to sag a bit when compared with the earlier part and dropped it from a fun 4 stars to a solid 3.
The rating is helped because I picked this up cheaply on Kindle as part of PlanetMonk’s e-reprints of old pulp novels they offer for 99 cents. I certainly got my money’s worth out of it, and I’ll probably be checking out more of them.
San Pietro is a small city with a bustling bookie business thanks to its horse racing track, but the local criminal kingpin Tom Fell, hasn’t been seen in a month after leaving his flunky Pander in charge. Pander sees this as his chance to take over for good so Fell’s loyal minion Cripp fetches the boss. Unfortunately, Fell has been getting treatment for a manic disorder at a sanitarium, and his doctor warns Cripp that taking him away and putting him a stressful environment could have dire consequences. But what could be stressful about an underworld fight for control of a city?
I heard about this one from Donald Westlake’s non-fiction collection The Getaway Car in which he raved about it in an introduction he wrote for a book of Rabe’s stories. I don’t think it quite lives up to the billing that Westlake gave it, but it’s still an entertaining piece of hard boiled crime writing.
I very much enjoyed the first half in which Fell is trying to wrestle control of his organization back from Pander with the criminal syndicate watching to see which man deserves it. However, that piece gets wrapped up very quickly, and then the book shifts into a second phase which I didn’t like quite as much. It wasn’t bad, it just seems to sag a bit when compared with the earlier part and dropped it from a fun 4 stars to a solid 3.
The rating is helped because I picked this up cheaply on Kindle as part of PlanetMonk’s e-reprints of old pulp novels they offer for 99 cents. I certainly got my money’s worth out of it, and I’ll probably be checking out more of them.
November 21, 2022
Peter Rabe’s 1956 gangster novel, Kill the Boss Goodby, is like no other gangster novel you ever read. Like Vincent Gigante, who allegedly feigned insanity for thirty years, Fell, who ran the San Pietro bookmarking operations, was crazy. He disappeared for a month to a sanitarium. While he was absent, Pander took over his operations, thinking it was time to push out the old man. Yet, instead of a shootout between warring factions, Rabe takes us down a different path with Fell teaching Pander a lesson as to who the boss is.
It’s a novel about bookmaking and horse racing and there’s one chapter where it might be helpful to understand betting odds and laying off bets. Rabe gives us a complex portrait of Fell and even we the readers are never quite sure if Fell has it all together. His moves often make little sense. You are left to wonder if he’s a great chess player or just another crazy pawn. There are so many signs throughout that something about Fell is quite off. It’s a fascinating character study, though perhaps not the action-packed tale you might be expecting.
It’s a novel about bookmaking and horse racing and there’s one chapter where it might be helpful to understand betting odds and laying off bets. Rabe gives us a complex portrait of Fell and even we the readers are never quite sure if Fell has it all together. His moves often make little sense. You are left to wonder if he’s a great chess player or just another crazy pawn. There are so many signs throughout that something about Fell is quite off. It’s a fascinating character study, though perhaps not the action-packed tale you might be expecting.
May 26, 2013
From 1956, this novel details a power struggle for the control of a west coast city's gambling and vice rackets. Right hand lieutenant Pander decides to take control of things while the boss, Fell, is chilling in a rest home after a nervous breakdown. Under Pander's leadership things start going to hell. Fell decides, against his doctor's wishes, to check out and return to the business. Only problem is, Fell's cure is a precarious one, and the inevitable downward spiral to psychosis may be the result. Fell's henchman, a walking calculator named Cripp, must see to it that Fell keeps in control just long enough to stay alive. In the end, everyone is only fifteen minutes away from snapping, it's just a matter of who'll be left standing afterward.
September 9, 2024
Kill the Boss Good-Bye, by Peter Rabe, published 1956. Just learned of this author last week on Scott Bradfield’s 5,000 subscribers YouTube celebration. Someone asked Scott about Donald Westlake… said he had interviewed DW in the early ‘90’s and Westlake said Peter Rabe was his favorite noir writer, and Kill the Boss Good-Bye specifically good. Had to check him out… and goodness there it is a new ebook for my Kindle for 99 centavos click.
I can see why Westlake (think Stark/Parker) liked him so much… Rabe creates energy in his lead character, Fell -the boss (although bosses have bosses and there’s the rub). With Tom Fell, it’s psychic energy - the guy’s manic. A little shock treatment and a month stay in a sanatorium, puts him back in control… kind of. For me it was the 1st 1/2 of the book that really stood out. The shock treatment, the shrink and Fell managing his head, his wife -and moreover his work responsibilities, which is San Pietro CA, and the racing business for the Outfit. Trying to stay ahead of the bosses above, and underlings below… stay and on top of the heap. Rabe knows the ponies, the bookies and how racing/gambling/organization connects with the politicians, the law and merchants… aka, the local economy. I follow, but don’t know the racing business details- guessing Donald Westlake loved the details, and the energy of this book. Here’s some selected highlight to give you a taste…
It’s a Raid. “They went straight through the kitchen in back, to the corridor, because that was the shortest way to get where they wanted to go. When the door in back had swung shut after the last of them Pearl turned back to the counter and said, “What kinda business? You know them?” “Do I know them!” said Phido, but he said it more to himself.” — “He could see the room with the telephones, the blackboard where the odds were posted, and it could have been the quotation room of a broker’s office except for Phido’s buddies against the wall, the police captain, and the sheriff who had come along just for good measure.” —“the sheriff put a seal across the door lock and then he left too. They hadn’t bothered Phido. They nodded at him because they knew him, but since he hadn’t tried stopping them they had left him alone.” — “A raid, Phido? How come they raided – ” “I don’t get it,” said Phido, saying it several times over till Pearl interrupted him. “Better do something, Phido. Call Mr. Fell. Better tell him they got one of his places!” “Call Fell! How’m I gonna call him? If Fell was around you think this coulda happened?”
2nd in Charge. Fell was- “the kind who didn’t have to push his weight around to make an impression – but Pander didn’t follow that train of thought, because it didn’t make sense to him. What made sense was that Fell wasn’t here and that he had left things with Pander.” — “ Fell was gone, and Pander was ready. Up in L.A. they were watching how smart he would be. “I’m in,” said Pander. “We’re gonna move.” … “Listen, you mean they didn’t even say what about Fell? Didn’t they say where he was?” “Hell,” said Aaronson. “They thought for sure you’d know.”
Fell’s wife. “Janice took a shower… She remembered being skinny at twenty, full-bodied at thirty, and now – five years later – exactly the same. Why think about it? She was tall and well-built, and Fell liked it.” A visitor to the house- want coffee? “He turned, looking belligerent. “Don’t you think it might be more important than coffee when I take the risk and come to this house?” -“All right, where is he? What’s going on?” Sutterfield sounded nasty. “Herb, don’t you think I’m worried too?” — “came down here myself. Did you ever hear of a police commissioner making a call like this himself?” “Now I’ll explain something to you, Janice. He depends upon me as much as I depend on him. Where is he?” “I can’t tell you.” “You won’t?” “He’ll be back, Herb.” “When? By the time this town blows up in his face? — “Herb, if you need some money … ” “You seem to have no idea how much Tom pays for protection.” “No, and I don’t care. Go and speak to somebody in the organization.” “Why don’t you see Pander? He’s in charge,” she commented. “That clown?” “Janice shrugged. “Or see Cripp. Tom and Cripp are very close.”
Cripp Jordan. “got out of the car and with a peculiar swing of the arms walked toward the building. It was a shock to see him walk, his whole body making a spastic jerk each time the twisted leg took a step. That’s why they called him Cripp.” But Crip knows where- “What about Fell?” he said. “You’re the doctor,” said Cripp. “How is he?” “Coming along very well. Very well. You may see him, of course, but please remember the rule of the house. Keep him calm, happy, untroubled.” Dr. Emilson again made his smile. “He’s got to come back.” said Cripp. Emilson thought for a moment, because he rarely said yes or no. He said. “You mean leave here?” “Mr. Jordan, the only important business is Mr. Fell himself. That’s why he’s here.” “You said he was doing fine. I’m glad. But his other business isn’t.” “I got to see him about this.” Emilson wasn’t sure how to handle this matter. It confused him. “Out of the question,” he said, sparring for time. Cripp went right on. “Let’s ask him. You said he’s better, so he ought to decide himself.” “When you brought him in he was suffering – to use your language – from a nervous breakdown” “This type’s got a name, Jordan. Fell’s a potential manic!” — “fast-moving, cheerful guy, lots of laughs, lots of drive, and no end to what he might do” … “He’s got the makings to just take off into space, laughing or not laughing. And once he does that, once he cuts off his mooring, everybody better scatter because Fell isn’t going to wait around and apologize.” — “Cripp saw Fell. He had never seen Fell wearing anything but a business suit, so Cripp hadn’t spotted him right away.” — “Fell turned to Dr. Emilson. “Let me have my bill,” he said. “I’m checking out.”
Fell’s back in town. “He had seen the signs earlier, Pander, probably – only Pander wasn’t alone in this. Perhaps they were just trying Pander out, the front office sending him a problem just for the hell of it. But they didn’t do a thing just for the hell of it, always for a reason. To see if Fell was losing his grip.” — “Has it been hot back home?” Cripp answered, “Plenty hot.” “That’s good,” said Fell. “Nothing like a lot of early heat for a good track when the season starts.” “ It wasn’t going to be easy breaking it all to Fell, all the bad news and the storm warnings.”
Fell explains. “They lay you out and put wires on your head,” Fell said. “Then they feed you the juice.” “Electroshock. They gave me a series of them. Man,” he said, and Cripp could hear Fell breathe in the back, “did I used to wake up confused.” “I had that,” said Fell, “and then those talks with Emilson.” Fell laughed” — “It’s like with this cigarette,” said Fell. “That first drag tearing down your throat used to be really something. A real pleasure.” “It’s like they took the edge off of things,” said Fell, “and everything’s toned down.” “That’s a cure?”
Back to Business. “Let’s have all you know. Pander, and so forth.” “He’s got a lot of new faces in town, but most of those guys just hang around.” “That figures,” said Fell. “His own hoods.” “Here’s the next thing. We had some raids.” “Sutterfield must be nuts. That creep must be absolutely nuts.” “That’s what I figured, until I found out why. He hasn’t been getting his protection money.”
Home. “the lawn. It had a dark and juicy look in the low light, and it smelled moist. Like Desert Farm, he thought, like the hothouse lawn in the desert out there. I’m going to let this one go natural. I’m going to shut off the damn sprinkling system and let this one go just the way it wants … A shaft of light fell across the lawn and made Fell’s face show sudden lines and hard creases.” — “Janice. She saw him stand for a moment, and then saw how his face became softer” — “He pulled the tie off and threw it toward a chair. “Always the same spot,” said Janice. They both laughed and looked at the tie lying next to the chair legs. “And remember,” he said, “no practice for over a month.” He sat down next to her and put his arm around her waist. “A whole month! No ties at the sanatorium. Suicide risk.” — “The whole room reminded him of her. The room of the past month had reminded him of nothing. Perhaps that had been part of the cure, too, to be reminded of nothing; but what it made him remember most was this room and Janice.” Talk. “You don’t have to stay here, you don’t have to keep at it. We – ” “If I only knew what I have to do -” And later. “Strength had come back to him and it felt like nothing that he had felt since the time he had left.” -“all pressure but without an object; as if Janice weren’t enough, as if nobody were enough. There was only an aimless pressure.” …
Backstory. “his whole brazen history, starting with the time he had run away from home for no good reason, for the reason of running, for the joy of running, starting with the hobo jungles, and then his first winter in big, cold Chicago. And then the break. The police picked him up -never been in jail before. He was regular, the cons said. He didn’t take any gaff but he didn’t have a chip on his shoulder, and when he got out on parole somebody was waiting for him. “ – because the boss thinks you’re regular. You don’t talk, you got spunk, you didn’t squeal on the guy what done the job.” “He stuck. For the first time he saw a clear line showing him where to go.” - “there were no more loose ends and no more running around. Almost everything had a system. Join the combine, run your section, move west because the combine was spreading and they needed a good man with experience, stick to your racket and grow big.” … “Fell had run San Pietro for fifteen years before anything started to bother him again. That’s when it started. When he had the town in the palm of his hand he still had pressure left and nowhere to put it.” — “He didn’t like to think about it because it didn’t help.”
Ok, 1/4 the way in …enough. Here’s a thought -go to the kindle store and for 99 cents finish the book. Or if not -there another page and a half of my highlights visible. Your choice.
I can see why Westlake (think Stark/Parker) liked him so much… Rabe creates energy in his lead character, Fell -the boss (although bosses have bosses and there’s the rub). With Tom Fell, it’s psychic energy - the guy’s manic. A little shock treatment and a month stay in a sanatorium, puts him back in control… kind of. For me it was the 1st 1/2 of the book that really stood out. The shock treatment, the shrink and Fell managing his head, his wife -and moreover his work responsibilities, which is San Pietro CA, and the racing business for the Outfit. Trying to stay ahead of the bosses above, and underlings below… stay and on top of the heap. Rabe knows the ponies, the bookies and how racing/gambling/organization connects with the politicians, the law and merchants… aka, the local economy. I follow, but don’t know the racing business details- guessing Donald Westlake loved the details, and the energy of this book. Here’s some selected highlight to give you a taste…
It’s a Raid. “They went straight through the kitchen in back, to the corridor, because that was the shortest way to get where they wanted to go. When the door in back had swung shut after the last of them Pearl turned back to the counter and said, “What kinda business? You know them?” “Do I know them!” said Phido, but he said it more to himself.” — “He could see the room with the telephones, the blackboard where the odds were posted, and it could have been the quotation room of a broker’s office except for Phido’s buddies against the wall, the police captain, and the sheriff who had come along just for good measure.” —“the sheriff put a seal across the door lock and then he left too. They hadn’t bothered Phido. They nodded at him because they knew him, but since he hadn’t tried stopping them they had left him alone.” — “A raid, Phido? How come they raided – ” “I don’t get it,” said Phido, saying it several times over till Pearl interrupted him. “Better do something, Phido. Call Mr. Fell. Better tell him they got one of his places!” “Call Fell! How’m I gonna call him? If Fell was around you think this coulda happened?”
2nd in Charge. Fell was- “the kind who didn’t have to push his weight around to make an impression – but Pander didn’t follow that train of thought, because it didn’t make sense to him. What made sense was that Fell wasn’t here and that he had left things with Pander.” — “ Fell was gone, and Pander was ready. Up in L.A. they were watching how smart he would be. “I’m in,” said Pander. “We’re gonna move.” … “Listen, you mean they didn’t even say what about Fell? Didn’t they say where he was?” “Hell,” said Aaronson. “They thought for sure you’d know.”
Fell’s wife. “Janice took a shower… She remembered being skinny at twenty, full-bodied at thirty, and now – five years later – exactly the same. Why think about it? She was tall and well-built, and Fell liked it.” A visitor to the house- want coffee? “He turned, looking belligerent. “Don’t you think it might be more important than coffee when I take the risk and come to this house?” -“All right, where is he? What’s going on?” Sutterfield sounded nasty. “Herb, don’t you think I’m worried too?” — “came down here myself. Did you ever hear of a police commissioner making a call like this himself?” “Now I’ll explain something to you, Janice. He depends upon me as much as I depend on him. Where is he?” “I can’t tell you.” “You won’t?” “He’ll be back, Herb.” “When? By the time this town blows up in his face? — “Herb, if you need some money … ” “You seem to have no idea how much Tom pays for protection.” “No, and I don’t care. Go and speak to somebody in the organization.” “Why don’t you see Pander? He’s in charge,” she commented. “That clown?” “Janice shrugged. “Or see Cripp. Tom and Cripp are very close.”
Cripp Jordan. “got out of the car and with a peculiar swing of the arms walked toward the building. It was a shock to see him walk, his whole body making a spastic jerk each time the twisted leg took a step. That’s why they called him Cripp.” But Crip knows where- “What about Fell?” he said. “You’re the doctor,” said Cripp. “How is he?” “Coming along very well. Very well. You may see him, of course, but please remember the rule of the house. Keep him calm, happy, untroubled.” Dr. Emilson again made his smile. “He’s got to come back.” said Cripp. Emilson thought for a moment, because he rarely said yes or no. He said. “You mean leave here?” “Mr. Jordan, the only important business is Mr. Fell himself. That’s why he’s here.” “You said he was doing fine. I’m glad. But his other business isn’t.” “I got to see him about this.” Emilson wasn’t sure how to handle this matter. It confused him. “Out of the question,” he said, sparring for time. Cripp went right on. “Let’s ask him. You said he’s better, so he ought to decide himself.” “When you brought him in he was suffering – to use your language – from a nervous breakdown” “This type’s got a name, Jordan. Fell’s a potential manic!” — “fast-moving, cheerful guy, lots of laughs, lots of drive, and no end to what he might do” … “He’s got the makings to just take off into space, laughing or not laughing. And once he does that, once he cuts off his mooring, everybody better scatter because Fell isn’t going to wait around and apologize.” — “Cripp saw Fell. He had never seen Fell wearing anything but a business suit, so Cripp hadn’t spotted him right away.” — “Fell turned to Dr. Emilson. “Let me have my bill,” he said. “I’m checking out.”
Fell’s back in town. “He had seen the signs earlier, Pander, probably – only Pander wasn’t alone in this. Perhaps they were just trying Pander out, the front office sending him a problem just for the hell of it. But they didn’t do a thing just for the hell of it, always for a reason. To see if Fell was losing his grip.” — “Has it been hot back home?” Cripp answered, “Plenty hot.” “That’s good,” said Fell. “Nothing like a lot of early heat for a good track when the season starts.” “ It wasn’t going to be easy breaking it all to Fell, all the bad news and the storm warnings.”
Fell explains. “They lay you out and put wires on your head,” Fell said. “Then they feed you the juice.” “Electroshock. They gave me a series of them. Man,” he said, and Cripp could hear Fell breathe in the back, “did I used to wake up confused.” “I had that,” said Fell, “and then those talks with Emilson.” Fell laughed” — “It’s like with this cigarette,” said Fell. “That first drag tearing down your throat used to be really something. A real pleasure.” “It’s like they took the edge off of things,” said Fell, “and everything’s toned down.” “That’s a cure?”
Back to Business. “Let’s have all you know. Pander, and so forth.” “He’s got a lot of new faces in town, but most of those guys just hang around.” “That figures,” said Fell. “His own hoods.” “Here’s the next thing. We had some raids.” “Sutterfield must be nuts. That creep must be absolutely nuts.” “That’s what I figured, until I found out why. He hasn’t been getting his protection money.”
Home. “the lawn. It had a dark and juicy look in the low light, and it smelled moist. Like Desert Farm, he thought, like the hothouse lawn in the desert out there. I’m going to let this one go natural. I’m going to shut off the damn sprinkling system and let this one go just the way it wants … A shaft of light fell across the lawn and made Fell’s face show sudden lines and hard creases.” — “Janice. She saw him stand for a moment, and then saw how his face became softer” — “He pulled the tie off and threw it toward a chair. “Always the same spot,” said Janice. They both laughed and looked at the tie lying next to the chair legs. “And remember,” he said, “no practice for over a month.” He sat down next to her and put his arm around her waist. “A whole month! No ties at the sanatorium. Suicide risk.” — “The whole room reminded him of her. The room of the past month had reminded him of nothing. Perhaps that had been part of the cure, too, to be reminded of nothing; but what it made him remember most was this room and Janice.” Talk. “You don’t have to stay here, you don’t have to keep at it. We – ” “If I only knew what I have to do -” And later. “Strength had come back to him and it felt like nothing that he had felt since the time he had left.” -“all pressure but without an object; as if Janice weren’t enough, as if nobody were enough. There was only an aimless pressure.” …
Backstory. “his whole brazen history, starting with the time he had run away from home for no good reason, for the reason of running, for the joy of running, starting with the hobo jungles, and then his first winter in big, cold Chicago. And then the break. The police picked him up -never been in jail before. He was regular, the cons said. He didn’t take any gaff but he didn’t have a chip on his shoulder, and when he got out on parole somebody was waiting for him. “ – because the boss thinks you’re regular. You don’t talk, you got spunk, you didn’t squeal on the guy what done the job.” “He stuck. For the first time he saw a clear line showing him where to go.” - “there were no more loose ends and no more running around. Almost everything had a system. Join the combine, run your section, move west because the combine was spreading and they needed a good man with experience, stick to your racket and grow big.” … “Fell had run San Pietro for fifteen years before anything started to bother him again. That’s when it started. When he had the town in the palm of his hand he still had pressure left and nowhere to put it.” — “He didn’t like to think about it because it didn’t help.”
Ok, 1/4 the way in …enough. Here’s a thought -go to the kindle store and for 99 cents finish the book. Or if not -there another page and a half of my highlights visible. Your choice.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 16, 2020
A power play and manic depression in the Californian underworld.
A top mobster takes a month off from the rackets to deal with his bipolar disorder in a mental health clinic out of town, only to come back to a bad situation where his right hand man has tried to take over completely and shut him down and out.
This was an original and interesting take on an old, familiar plot line. Rabe creates a vivid image of mobsters, gambling and molls in 1950s L.A and he does it well.
Peter Rabe also writes with insight, knowledge and sensitivity about Bipolar Disorder, despite the fact this novel was first published in the 1950’s when depression wasn’t wholly accepted or acknowledge by the general population.
4/5
A top mobster takes a month off from the rackets to deal with his bipolar disorder in a mental health clinic out of town, only to come back to a bad situation where his right hand man has tried to take over completely and shut him down and out.
This was an original and interesting take on an old, familiar plot line. Rabe creates a vivid image of mobsters, gambling and molls in 1950s L.A and he does it well.
Peter Rabe also writes with insight, knowledge and sensitivity about Bipolar Disorder, despite the fact this novel was first published in the 1950’s when depression wasn’t wholly accepted or acknowledge by the general population.
4/5
July 10, 2017
I liked Rabe's writing. The plot was so-so. Far too many details about gambling on horse racing for me to be interested.
September 13, 2024
The boss, in this case mob boss Tom Fell, has disappeared. No one seems to know where he's gone and his second-in-command, Pander, wants to make the business his own. But if that's his goal, why is he letting things fall apart? The cops are getting cocky and making raids--that would never have happened under Fell.
We find out mid-way that Fell, a borderline psychotic, had checked himself in for a "rest cure." When his most trusted lieutenant (not Pander) comes to give him a report on business (not good), he declares himself cured and checks himself out of the clinic. But the ruinous results of Pander's "leadership" threatens to push Fell completely over the psychotic border and anyone who tries to stop him from regaining control over his empire of vice may see just what a psychotic rage looks like.
So....this is definitely not my usual thing. The book was part of an allotment of books I bought on eBay (along with vintage mysteries I was actually in search of...) and, being the bookworm I am, decided to keep it and give the story a try. Again...this is not my usual thing. I'm not a big fan of noir or crime syndicate type stories. Shoot-em-ups among gangsters with no real mystery involved just don't do it for me. There is an interesting look at Fell's character and descent into madness, but that's about all this has going for it.
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block.
We find out mid-way that Fell, a borderline psychotic, had checked himself in for a "rest cure." When his most trusted lieutenant (not Pander) comes to give him a report on business (not good), he declares himself cured and checks himself out of the clinic. But the ruinous results of Pander's "leadership" threatens to push Fell completely over the psychotic border and anyone who tries to stop him from regaining control over his empire of vice may see just what a psychotic rage looks like.
So....this is definitely not my usual thing. The book was part of an allotment of books I bought on eBay (along with vintage mysteries I was actually in search of...) and, being the bookworm I am, decided to keep it and give the story a try. Again...this is not my usual thing. I'm not a big fan of noir or crime syndicate type stories. Shoot-em-ups among gangsters with no real mystery involved just don't do it for me. There is an interesting look at Fell's character and descent into madness, but that's about all this has going for it.
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block.
March 12, 2018
Fabulous noir stylings in a tale about a power struggle within a crime syndicate. The writing is so right and tight and spare--glorious. In fact, the writing itself outshines the plot, which burns brightly then begins to dim partway through. Overall, a short, sharp shock.
July 19, 2024
This one was originally published in 1956, and it feels dated…in ways both good and bad.
For the good, there’s a sense here of organized crime before the Godfather structure settled in – in some ways before most observers even imagined there was a set of crime “families” (mostly Italian-American) – that parsed out control and ran everything.
Instead, we get a ground-level operation. Tom Fell is a tough guy who’s built up the show in San Pietro, a mid-sized city obscurely out west. He’s done it piece by piece, paying up to “Chicago” and worrying about “Los Angeles,” but mostly doing his thing with the loose backing of a syndicate somewhere. He’s nobody’s employee, and he runs the town – “runs it” in a way that Godfather-style narratives generally neglect to describe. He has bookies to direct, a chief of police (who’s quasi-secretly his brother-in-law) to pay off, and rivals for his seat in the boss’s chair to keep at bay.
In other words, we see more of the business of organized crime and less of the mythology of a secret society imposing its rules and ethos on everyone else.
But, from the other perspective, there’s a crudeness to the mental illness that’s eating away at Tom. We overhear diagnoses from the doctor treating him at a sanitarium, and they’re all too pat. He has a liver disease that’s draining his energy. He has a manic personality disorder – not manic-depression, which is cyclical, but rather a condition that (we’re told) will ruin him if he ever gets pushed too far over the edge.
He’s already over the edge when the book starts. He’s been in the sanitarium for a month, and his interim boss, Pander, has decided to try to take over. Pulled back into the saddle too soon,
It’s hard to sort all that confusion out, in part because Fell becomes an increasingly unreliable point-of-view character, in part because the vernacular of noir has changed in 60 years, and in part because we’re expected to intuit motives from what we seen of these surface characters.
There’s a powerful story buried just beneath that surface. I suspect it hit more dramatically when it was first published, so it’s lost much of its original power. At the same time, it’s an intriguing time-capsule look at the way we used to look at gangsters.
For the good, there’s a sense here of organized crime before the Godfather structure settled in – in some ways before most observers even imagined there was a set of crime “families” (mostly Italian-American) – that parsed out control and ran everything.
Instead, we get a ground-level operation. Tom Fell is a tough guy who’s built up the show in San Pietro, a mid-sized city obscurely out west. He’s done it piece by piece, paying up to “Chicago” and worrying about “Los Angeles,” but mostly doing his thing with the loose backing of a syndicate somewhere. He’s nobody’s employee, and he runs the town – “runs it” in a way that Godfather-style narratives generally neglect to describe. He has bookies to direct, a chief of police (who’s quasi-secretly his brother-in-law) to pay off, and rivals for his seat in the boss’s chair to keep at bay.
In other words, we see more of the business of organized crime and less of the mythology of a secret society imposing its rules and ethos on everyone else.
But, from the other perspective, there’s a crudeness to the mental illness that’s eating away at Tom. We overhear diagnoses from the doctor treating him at a sanitarium, and they’re all too pat. He has a liver disease that’s draining his energy. He has a manic personality disorder – not manic-depression, which is cyclical, but rather a condition that (we’re told) will ruin him if he ever gets pushed too far over the edge.
He’s already over the edge when the book starts. He’s been in the sanitarium for a month, and his interim boss, Pander, has decided to try to take over. Pulled back into the saddle too soon,
It’s hard to sort all that confusion out, in part because Fell becomes an increasingly unreliable point-of-view character, in part because the vernacular of noir has changed in 60 years, and in part because we’re expected to intuit motives from what we seen of these surface characters.
There’s a powerful story buried just beneath that surface. I suspect it hit more dramatically when it was first published, so it’s lost much of its original power. At the same time, it’s an intriguing time-capsule look at the way we used to look at gangsters.
July 27, 2022
While the cat's away, the mice will play--or at least in this case, they will try to take over your criminal enterprises. San Pietro is a city of three hundred thousand people, although reading the story, the city seems a lot smaller. The city's crime boss is a guy named Tom Fell, and as the book opens we learn that Fell has been mysteriously missing for a few weeks. Only his wife and his closest henchman apparently know where he is, and they aren't telling. In the meantime one of Fell's ambitious underlings, a guy named Pander, is getting ideas about maneuvering Fell out of the way and taking over the organization.
We learn fairly quickly that Fell has been in a sanitarium where he is apparently being treated for paranoia. Upon learning that his operation is falling apart and that Pander is attempting to replace him, Fell checks himself out of the sanitarium, against his doctor's wishes, and returns, apparently with the intention of reasserting control over his criminal operations.
Or maybe not.
In truth, it's hard to determine what Fell is actually attempting to accomplish, and one gets the sense that Fell doesn't know either. For a while, the reader (or at least this one) gets the impression that Fell is playing a very clever game against his rival, Pander, who is too dumb to realize that Fell is playing him. After a while, though, the reader begins to wonder if this is really true or if Fell is really so damned sick that he has no idea what he's doing.
Peter Rabe was one of the better writers of the golden age of pulp fiction, and this book was first published by Gold Medal in 1956. But this is not one of the author's better efforts and only a fairly dedicated fan of the genre would probably want to seek it out. There's nothing that much resembles a plot here and there's very little tension. The climax, when it comes, is not very satisfying and a less-than-charitable reader might suspect that Rabe simply hit his word count for this book and decided to wrap it up with the first idea that came to mind. Rabe was a pretty good master of this genre, but this one feels like it might have been phoned in.
We learn fairly quickly that Fell has been in a sanitarium where he is apparently being treated for paranoia. Upon learning that his operation is falling apart and that Pander is attempting to replace him, Fell checks himself out of the sanitarium, against his doctor's wishes, and returns, apparently with the intention of reasserting control over his criminal operations.
Or maybe not.
In truth, it's hard to determine what Fell is actually attempting to accomplish, and one gets the sense that Fell doesn't know either. For a while, the reader (or at least this one) gets the impression that Fell is playing a very clever game against his rival, Pander, who is too dumb to realize that Fell is playing him. After a while, though, the reader begins to wonder if this is really true or if Fell is really so damned sick that he has no idea what he's doing.
Peter Rabe was one of the better writers of the golden age of pulp fiction, and this book was first published by Gold Medal in 1956. But this is not one of the author's better efforts and only a fairly dedicated fan of the genre would probably want to seek it out. There's nothing that much resembles a plot here and there's very little tension. The climax, when it comes, is not very satisfying and a less-than-charitable reader might suspect that Rabe simply hit his word count for this book and decided to wrap it up with the first idea that came to mind. Rabe was a pretty good master of this genre, but this one feels like it might have been phoned in.
June 1, 2025
Imagine a Twilight Zone episode where The Sopranos and Analyze This have the same grandfather. Kill The Boss Good-Bye is an uneven noirish pulp fiction that centers around a local crime boss, Tom Fell, who controls gambling and assorted rackets in a town near the Texas/Mexican border. Of course, the local pols are all in his back pocket. In reality, he is a puppet to a larger outfit in Los Angeles whose big shots are getting a bit uneasy with his mental instability after he checks out of a sanitarium and wants his action back from a once underling and now contender for his power. Of course, the levers of power are controlled elsewhere which becomes poor Tom’s undoing. As with any corrupt organization, controlling events is near impossible. Larger and less compliant law enforcement agencies move in and our friend Fell is unable to fix it. Politicians are arrested and start singing. The head honchos in LA are fed up and Fell ends up where most mobsters do: dead. This novel is advertised and reviewed in a few places as a mental health saga. Not really. It touches on Fell’s condition but never really goes into detail of exactly what his ailment is. The story flows smoothly over 150 pages which is good because any longer, and it would have lost its steam. The plot is simple and the characters interesting. Don’t expect much out of this read but then again, it never pretends otherwise.
May 30, 2020
Too much build-up for too little payoff
Crime boss Tom Fell is gradually losing his grip after a nervous breakdown. Reads almost like senility and dementia setting in ... as his decisions place the mob's income at risk, jeprodizing his standing, the players watch him carefully while trying to decide their next move.
Unfortunately, the author spends more chapters dwelling on odd behavior quirks and detached conversations over the clash between Fell and Pandor, the gambling boss trying to unseat him. By the time the town heats up, I was scrolling past paragraphs and pages to reach the conclusion.
Crime boss Tom Fell is gradually losing his grip after a nervous breakdown. Reads almost like senility and dementia setting in ... as his decisions place the mob's income at risk, jeprodizing his standing, the players watch him carefully while trying to decide their next move.
Unfortunately, the author spends more chapters dwelling on odd behavior quirks and detached conversations over the clash between Fell and Pandor, the gambling boss trying to unseat him. By the time the town heats up, I was scrolling past paragraphs and pages to reach the conclusion.
August 5, 2020
I've passed up on Rabe for years after getting stung by one of his novels. But, based on assurances by no less than Donald Westlake that while Rabe's batting average wasn't the best, he could still hit it out of the park, I gave this one a shot. And I was not disappointed. Reading like WR Brunett's paperback-writing cousin, this spare, excellently written tale of a gambling boss coming back from a nervous breakdown is top notch. Rabe builds up sympathy for his boss as he slowly re-establishes control, even as his mental illness threatens to bring it all crashing down. When Rabe's at his best (as he is here) he easily ranks with the cream of the Gold Medal writers.
May 19, 2023
A numbers racket gets raided, and Fell, the top boss, is missing! What to do, what to do…
Well, other guys want to be on top, so… when the cat’s away, the mice will play. This started out pretty good, with guys muscling up to try to take over the local bookie business. But it started to unravel for me with the horse racing sub plot and then I got totally lost when Fell started buying up properties and building on them. I understood the ending though, and it ended as it probably should have.
Well, other guys want to be on top, so… when the cat’s away, the mice will play. This started out pretty good, with guys muscling up to try to take over the local bookie business. But it started to unravel for me with the horse racing sub plot and then I got totally lost when Fell started buying up properties and building on them. I understood the ending though, and it ended as it probably should have.
March 18, 2018
Usually love these types of pulp books, but this one loses the thread pretty easily with long digressions into nonsense and long passages about horse racing and gambling. Could have been a lot more fun
August 8, 2018
It was decent, but I have read better in this genre.
June 5, 2018
Tom Fell, A small-time crime boss, checks himself out of a mental institution (against doctor’s orders) and tries to re-assume leadership of his bookmaking/gambling racket. With Tom’s mental stability in question, a power struggle ensues. Plotwise it’s a fairly typical mob story with the added dimension of the protagonist becoming increasingly manic throughout. That dimension gave it some added interest but wasn't enough to pull it up into the category of the great crime writers like Hammett or Cain.
August 11, 2015
Character study of a West Coast crime boss with manic tendencies that focuses upon the point in time when he uses said tendencies to ascend to the pinnacle of power, and how they ultimately cause him to loose his grip shortly thereafter. Rabe has a spare yet thoughtful style that's somewhere between the more psychological, sensitive authors of the hardboiled/noir genres, such as Ross MacDonald, and harsher, more cynical writers like Jim Thompson. Exactly the sort of overlooked work the Black Lizard imprint used to specialize in before it was acquired by Vintage and shifted to more widely recognized "standards" by the likes of Chandler and Highsmith.
August 19, 2012
I am tempted to give this three stars based on the last 1/4 of the book, which I didn't care for much. But the scenes depicting the power struggle between the two main characters were just too good. 4 stars based on that and also one of the best nose breaking scenes I've read in crime fiction.
July 31, 2011
where has this writer been all my life? Great charcterization, the plot seems to peak two thirds of the way through but then it gets even, pardon me, crazier. Quick read at 120 pages or so but so much happens you'd never know it.
December 14, 2008
A tight short thriller. Written in 1956 it isn't anywhere as shocking as it was (I assume) when it first was published. The psychological talk isn't that far out either. It does wind up nicely.
August 19, 2018
Insanity and Bookmaking
Kill the Boss Good-bye by Peter Rabe was originally published in 1956 before the discovery and widespread use of the mood stabilizing drugs that are so prevalent today. It is a story of mental illness and inadequate treatment superimposed on a crime plot. The drama of the mania exhibited by the protagonist, crime boss Tom Fell, predominates as the reader sees him leave the sanatorium against medical advice, the effect of electroconvulsive therapy wearing off, and the escalating manic behavior as he regains and grows his bookmaking empire.
The book starts out slowly and drags at points. It lacks a lot of the typical crime novel elements. There is not much physical violence and just a hint of sex – two elements I often look for. There is even an absence of alcohol – most novels of this genre are saturated with drinking. And it is not very suspenseful, although the author does create and build tension.
It is, however, very refreshing to have a pretty sophisticated depiction of what was considered insanity at the time. And though there wasn’t high suspense and rapid action, the book gives the reader an awkward and unsettling feeling, and I think it is always good when a book makes me so uncomfortable.
There is quite a lot of detail about the bookmaking operation and relationships, both personal and “business.” Interaction among characters is vivid and the characters are well-developed. Overall, a good book, interesting and different.
Kill the Boss Good-bye by Peter Rabe was originally published in 1956 before the discovery and widespread use of the mood stabilizing drugs that are so prevalent today. It is a story of mental illness and inadequate treatment superimposed on a crime plot. The drama of the mania exhibited by the protagonist, crime boss Tom Fell, predominates as the reader sees him leave the sanatorium against medical advice, the effect of electroconvulsive therapy wearing off, and the escalating manic behavior as he regains and grows his bookmaking empire.
The book starts out slowly and drags at points. It lacks a lot of the typical crime novel elements. There is not much physical violence and just a hint of sex – two elements I often look for. There is even an absence of alcohol – most novels of this genre are saturated with drinking. And it is not very suspenseful, although the author does create and build tension.
It is, however, very refreshing to have a pretty sophisticated depiction of what was considered insanity at the time. And though there wasn’t high suspense and rapid action, the book gives the reader an awkward and unsettling feeling, and I think it is always good when a book makes me so uncomfortable.
There is quite a lot of detail about the bookmaking operation and relationships, both personal and “business.” Interaction among characters is vivid and the characters are well-developed. Overall, a good book, interesting and different.
Want to read
September 23, 2018Synopsis: Tom Fell has been mad for some time. While away, his betting empire collapsed. Now he's back.
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