Hush Money

Nolan #4

by Max Allan Collins

Book by Collins, Max Allan

Genres: Crime, Noir, Audiobook, Fiction

180 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1981

About the author

Received the Shamus Award, "The Eye" (Lifetime achievment award) in 2006.

He has also published under the name Patrick Culhane. He and his wife, Barbara Collins, have written several books together. Some of them are published under the name Barbara Allan.

Book Awards
Shamus Awards Best Novel winner (1984) : True Detective
Shamus Awards Best Novel winner (1992) : Stolen Away
Shamus Awards Best Novel nominee (1995) : Carnal Hours
Shamus Awards Best Novel nominee (1997) : Damned in Paradise
Shamus Awards Best Novel nominee (1999) : Flying Blind: A Novel about Amelia Earhart
Shamus Awards Best Novel nominee (2002) : Angel in Black

Japanese: マックス・アラン・コリンズ
or マックス・アラン コリンズ

Reviews

[Eric_W · Rating 4 out of 5]

Continuing my reading of all the Nolan series books. In this 4th installment, Nolan plays a very different role, that of moderator. Nolan doesn't even make an appearance until about a third of the way into the book. The relationship between Jon and Nolan deepens and their wordplay is occasionally quite funny.

Members of the Des Moines DiPreta mobster family are being assassinated and the Chicago family, knowing of Nolan's connections with both families, if somewhat tenuous, in addition to knowing the possible shooter, wants him to intercede and stop the bloodshed.

If you enjoy the Parker series, you'll like Nolan as well, although, Nolan, getting older and looking for some kind of quiet retirement, becomes more likable and human. Note, there is enough back story to irritate those who have read the series so far, but also enough to make it a stand-alone.

Now on to the next one, Hard Cash.

[Ed · Rating 4 out of 5]

#4 in the Nolan series. This 1981 series entry by author Max Allan Collins was actually written in the mid-1970s, accounting for the Vietnam era references. Nolan is a criminal, though sympathetic and possessed of a moral code. His genesis owes a debt to Donald E. Westlake's Parker character. Enjoyable to read although due to a saga with the publishers, The third and fourth books were published almost a decade after being written and the series was not written with a series in mind. Murder, mayhem and plot twists galore.

Someone is targeting crooked businessmen for death, and the Chicago Family turns to Nolan for help.

[Randy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nolan had grown bored running the motel for the "Family" and was looking for something else. As he was part of their legitimate arm, he was forbidden from pulling any "jobs", though he slipped on the sly and kept it quiet.

He has an opportunity to buy in on one mobster's night club who, over worked and headed for a third stroke, offers Nolan a buy-in.

Along about the same time, the "Family) comes calling. They need a man of his knowledge to broker a cease fire between a suspected shooter and the DiPreta family, associates of the "Family." Not really mobsters. but crooked businessmen, there was a need to get it settled before things got out of hand. An offer of $100,000 was made, which dovetailed nicely with Nolan's needs. Money that he could use for the buy-in without recrimination.

So he took the job.

But things weren't as they seemed.

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Hush Money” continues the story of Nolan and his buddy Jon from where the story left off in “Fly Paper.” It is not necessary to read the stories in order, but the author has indicated that the stories do fit together in one long saga. Nolan is an ex-mafia guy who, after having his differences with members of the family, went off on his own for some years, getting involved in heists and robberies, well-planned, well-executed heists for that matter. Nolan was considered the best in the business and had never ended up behind bars. Jon is about as unlikely a guy to be paired with as Nolan could imagine, but their sometimes-partnership works well. Jon’s uncle was known as “The Planner” and, under the cover of being an antiques dealer, the Planner would case jobs and put together packages for jobs consisting of plans and contacts. That is, he did this prior to getting killed when some thieves broke into his antiques shop and stole the $800,000 that Nolan and Jon had reaped from their first job together. Jon is a twenty-one year old baby-faced kid with little experience in the life. He collects comic books with a passion few could imagine and has as his life’s dream becoming a comic book artist. He hoped that his first job with Nolan would finance his way to pursuing his life’s dream, but it didn’t quite work out that way. Jon has looked up to Nolan as the personification of his action hero fantasies.

When this part of the story begins, Nolan and Jon are sort of retired from the life. Nolan is managing a motel for the Outfit. “He had his freedom again, with no one in particular trying to kill him, but it was an empty freedom. He was on a desert island with Raquel Welch and he couldn’t get it up.”
This volume (“Hush Money”) is a Nolan/Jon tale, but it also features quite strongly a host of other characters, including the DiPreta brothers, Joey, Vince, and Frank, a family with many interests in Des Moines, including a construction company, discount stores, and other businesses of a more questionable nature. The Dipreta fortune was originally tied to bootlegging, protection, and loansharking. They were rumoured to be a mafia-style crime family, but, although connected to the Chicago Outfit, were not necessarily a part of the Outfit. Vincent had been known as Vincent the Burner in his earlier days, specializing in arson insurance scams. He “had been a handsome fat man, a round, jovial, eminently likeable man,” but now the years had not been kind to Vincent and his “flesh hung on him like a droopy suit, loose and stretched from years of carrying all that weight around.” Joey was the youngest of the brothers, an amateur golfer, and man about town. Frank was the only one of the brothers to still carry heat. Someone has declared war on the DiPreta brothers and not in a nice, gentle way either and Nolan and Jon walk into the middle of this war. Jon, in particular, has little idea of what is going on, except that Frank DiPreta’s eighteen-year-old platinum blonde daughter is the answer to all his adolescent fantasies.

While this volume in the story does not focus as tightly on Nolan and Jon as other books in series, it is a great read because of all the other characters who are more tightly developed here. The story moves quite swiftly. It contains all the gritty elements of other Nolan books and Nolan’s terrific sense of humor in the face of even the craziest situation.

[Pepijn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favourite of the series so far and currently at the bottom of my personal tier list.

This installment of the Nolan Series has Nolan try to figure out who is killing of members of the infamous DiPreta family. While the DiPreta's are on their way to become more above board, some guy seems to hold a grudge, waging a personal war on the mob family.

Of course, it's not that simple and people feel Nolan should be involved again, which cannot happen without also dragging my boy Jon in. Nolan is still a grumpy, cranky, shut up and drive kind of fella and Jon is comic book crazed and horny as ever.

I don't like that Nolan seduced Diane and I hate that Jon cheated on Karen. This novel didn't do much for character development, it was pretty poorly paced and boring at times. In addition, the tragic twist towards the end felt disappointing and only seems to serve as a set-up for book 5.

Let's hope that one is better.

[Michael Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good Nolan entry. Nolan was played but managed to get retribution.

[Bruce Nieminski · Rating 4 out of 5]

7.5/10
180 pages

Nolan # 4

[David Highton · Rating 4 out of 5]

an other Iowa based episode for Nolan and his relationship with the Family in Chicago

[Trevor · Rating 2 out of 5]

The previous ones were more entertaining

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5 another fun quick story. Nolan doesn’t have my luck again except with the ladies. This one took have the book building up and didn’t disappoint.

[Jay Rothermel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Max Allan Collins spells out the human disaster implicit in the plot for a "war against the Mafia" type thriller


Contains some solid female characters.

[Twistedtexas · Rating 3 out of 5]

5.5/10 - Not bad but not very memorable either. Who knew Des Moines, Iowa could be such a hotbed of crime in the 1970's?

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nolan continues to have a throwback kind of charm

[Douglas Castagna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a strong entry in the series. Was forcing myself to get through this one.