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Payback is Forever
Miller thought it was the perfect heist: Five minutes to hit the cash room of an amusement park, then another two minutes to the getaway car, then gone. As a professional thief, he'd done jobs like that dozens of times. But Miller’s partners had other ideas. When things go bad and bloody, Miller is forced to flee back to familiar territory: New York City’s West Village, where even the target of a nationwide manhunt can hide out amidst the freaks.
But Miller’s refuge might prove even more dangerous. Approached by an old friend about a shady protection job, Miller finds himself thrown into a bizarre world of pint-sized gangsters, aging war criminals, and shady government agents… all of whom are pursuing a prize beyond imagination.
But Miller’s refuge might prove even more dangerous. Approached by an old friend about a shady protection job, Miller finds himself thrown into a bizarre world of pint-sized gangsters, aging war criminals, and shady government agents… all of whom are pursuing a prize beyond imagination.
172 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 25, 2022
3 people are currently reading
44 people want to read
About the author
Nick Kolakowski
66 books119 followersNick Kolakowski is the author of several horror and crime novels, including “Absolute Unit” (Crystal Lake Publishing) and “Where the Bones Lie” (Datura Books). His short stories and nonfiction essays have appeared in various anthologies and magazines, including House of Gamut, Mystery Magazine, Shotgun Honey, Rock & A Hard Place, and (upcoming) Best American Mystery & Suspense 2024. He lives and writes in New York City.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
July 5, 2022
PAYBACK IS FOREVER reads as an homage to the Gold Medal/Fawcett/Pocket Books crime paperbacks of the early 1960s, and in particular the Donald Westlake stories about Parker, the ultra-professional thief with little personality and even less of a past. I also see shades of Harry Whittington, Peter Rabe, Day Keene and Dan J. Marlowe in there, all talented but uneven purveyors of prolific hardboiled tales of professional criminals on collision courses with darker organized forces and plucky but inexperienced civilians swept up in the mayhem.
PAYBACK IS FOREVER, like most of those novels, is enjoyable and disposable in equal measure, which sounds like an insult but isn't. It's a piece of professional craftsmanship on par with the output of the aforementioned names, who often wrote several books a year under assorted pen names to stay professionally and financially viable. Nick Kolakowski's writing here has that same feeling, that of a talented writer pounding typewriter keys like a factory worker punching a press, making literary piecework to order out of pure survival instinct.
The main character is a familiar type from those late 1950s and early 1960s paperback: Miller, a war veteran, puts his wartime skill set to work as a professional criminal, a thief who's willing and able to but not necessarily eager to kill when necessary. The plot involves Nazis iand federal agents n New York in search of a lost submarine and a gold shipment somewhere in the nearby Atlantic, and I felt there was too much of that, because I'm generally drawn to such stories for what they develop and reveal about character. Miller is a version of Parker who occasionally peeks around the hard edges of his professional persona and ponders the possible human being beneath, especially as he considers where he stands with a woman who might be willing to be something permanent to him but only to the extent that Miller will allow himself to contemplate permanency, and it's in those too-few moments that PAYBACK IS FOREVER is at its most interesting. For instance, after a phone call with his would-be woman: "He hung up and walked cross-town, doing his best to dodge the river of commuters pouring from the direction of Penn Station. The passing faces bloodless and haggard, as if dead already. He could never live in such a way, shuffling the endless loops between office and home, youthful dreams fading by the day. These folks would outlive him, but at what cost?" That's a nice little subversion of the Parker trope, the trope of the man who's unknowable even unto himself.
Apart from that, there's a number of nuggets of nicely hardboiled prose that make Kolakowski not only a skilled purveyor of period homage but a talent in his own right, including a great opening line: "While the shootout paused so everybody could reload, Miller wondered whether the clown was still alive."
Other favorites include:
"He regretted not carrying a flask of whiskey, because Chinese food and a couple shots of high-proof was the breakfast of champions."
"Books and movies always suggested violence hardened you up, made you a more effective killer, and yet Miller had seen nothing in real life to prove that idea. Having ripped his way across Europe, Bob wanted to hide from his demons in a forest of books and art. Miller understood."
"‘Little scrub, you have two choices in life. You can either be the cow, or the man with the sledgehammer.’"
“Cheer up. There’s a lot of opportunity in doom.”
"His own lockpicking skills were subpar. He was much better at driving, shooting, and persuading people to talk."
“Such a nice night, even the dead decided to take a stroll.”
"Maybe he had this thievery thing all wrong. Give someone a gun, and they can rob a bank—but give someone a job in banking or government, and they can rob the whole world."
PAYBACK IS FOREVER isn't perfect. It has its share of hacky constructs, like the non-disabling shoulder wound, the conceit that the enemy's shooting is always worse, and that the even more cringe-inducing conceit that the enemy will always, foolishly, linger too long over an anticipated kill as if they were all James Bond villains. There's also an off-the-rack "dark half" for Miller who's willing to do his pal's precision wetwork on short call, a particularly pervasive irritant common the crime genre, even if it's intended to be a wink-and-a-nudge Easter egg for the paperback audience.
But, in sum, PAYBACK IS FOREVER just like those paperbacks to which it pays homage: it's a painless and pleasant enough way to pass a few hours, and I for one am glad there's still room for those kinds of stories in 2022.
PAYBACK IS FOREVER, like most of those novels, is enjoyable and disposable in equal measure, which sounds like an insult but isn't. It's a piece of professional craftsmanship on par with the output of the aforementioned names, who often wrote several books a year under assorted pen names to stay professionally and financially viable. Nick Kolakowski's writing here has that same feeling, that of a talented writer pounding typewriter keys like a factory worker punching a press, making literary piecework to order out of pure survival instinct.
The main character is a familiar type from those late 1950s and early 1960s paperback: Miller, a war veteran, puts his wartime skill set to work as a professional criminal, a thief who's willing and able to but not necessarily eager to kill when necessary. The plot involves Nazis iand federal agents n New York in search of a lost submarine and a gold shipment somewhere in the nearby Atlantic, and I felt there was too much of that, because I'm generally drawn to such stories for what they develop and reveal about character. Miller is a version of Parker who occasionally peeks around the hard edges of his professional persona and ponders the possible human being beneath, especially as he considers where he stands with a woman who might be willing to be something permanent to him but only to the extent that Miller will allow himself to contemplate permanency, and it's in those too-few moments that PAYBACK IS FOREVER is at its most interesting. For instance, after a phone call with his would-be woman: "He hung up and walked cross-town, doing his best to dodge the river of commuters pouring from the direction of Penn Station. The passing faces bloodless and haggard, as if dead already. He could never live in such a way, shuffling the endless loops between office and home, youthful dreams fading by the day. These folks would outlive him, but at what cost?" That's a nice little subversion of the Parker trope, the trope of the man who's unknowable even unto himself.
Apart from that, there's a number of nuggets of nicely hardboiled prose that make Kolakowski not only a skilled purveyor of period homage but a talent in his own right, including a great opening line: "While the shootout paused so everybody could reload, Miller wondered whether the clown was still alive."
Other favorites include:
"He regretted not carrying a flask of whiskey, because Chinese food and a couple shots of high-proof was the breakfast of champions."
"Books and movies always suggested violence hardened you up, made you a more effective killer, and yet Miller had seen nothing in real life to prove that idea. Having ripped his way across Europe, Bob wanted to hide from his demons in a forest of books and art. Miller understood."
"‘Little scrub, you have two choices in life. You can either be the cow, or the man with the sledgehammer.’"
“Cheer up. There’s a lot of opportunity in doom.”
"His own lockpicking skills were subpar. He was much better at driving, shooting, and persuading people to talk."
“Such a nice night, even the dead decided to take a stroll.”
"Maybe he had this thievery thing all wrong. Give someone a gun, and they can rob a bank—but give someone a job in banking or government, and they can rob the whole world."
PAYBACK IS FOREVER isn't perfect. It has its share of hacky constructs, like the non-disabling shoulder wound, the conceit that the enemy's shooting is always worse, and that the even more cringe-inducing conceit that the enemy will always, foolishly, linger too long over an anticipated kill as if they were all James Bond villains. There's also an off-the-rack "dark half" for Miller who's willing to do his pal's precision wetwork on short call, a particularly pervasive irritant common the crime genre, even if it's intended to be a wink-and-a-nudge Easter egg for the paperback audience.
But, in sum, PAYBACK IS FOREVER just like those paperbacks to which it pays homage: it's a painless and pleasant enough way to pass a few hours, and I for one am glad there's still room for those kinds of stories in 2022.
April 18, 2022
PAYBACK IS FOREVER is a fast paced, tightly plotted bit of NYC noir. Set in the early '60s, the main character is a WWII vet who has turned to a life of crime - setting up violent heists and always with one eye on the exit and the other on his co-conspirators. Miller is a hard case of a man, hard drinking between jobs, with an apartment any monk sworn to poverty would be proud of.
Kolakowski populates the novel with a memorable cast of characters, be it Miller's brother-in-arms turned bookseller Bob, or the go-between-with-a-ventriloquist Scott. The action also moves along at a steady clip, with plenty of gun play and other violence to keep the reader going, with just enough quiet moments before the action rises again.
SLIGHT SPOILER FOLLOWS:
All that said - at the end of the book the reader is left questioning the reality of what occurred and whether the events happened as depicted or were part of a simulation. In some ways it detracts from the more visceral noir aspects (if death is cheap and can be undone - what are the stakes?), but it does provide a unique aspect to PAYBACK IS FOREVER that keeps it from being just another crime novel.
Kolakowski populates the novel with a memorable cast of characters, be it Miller's brother-in-arms turned bookseller Bob, or the go-between-with-a-ventriloquist Scott. The action also moves along at a steady clip, with plenty of gun play and other violence to keep the reader going, with just enough quiet moments before the action rises again.
SLIGHT SPOILER FOLLOWS:
All that said - at the end of the book the reader is left questioning the reality of what occurred and whether the events happened as depicted or were part of a simulation. In some ways it detracts from the more visceral noir aspects (if death is cheap and can be undone - what are the stakes?), but it does provide a unique aspect to PAYBACK IS FOREVER that keeps it from being just another crime novel.
April 23, 2022
Video Review:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFJY-...
“Payback is Forever” is my first dive into the world of Nick Kolakowski. It’s a world of crime, blood, and fights for territory. Oh, I almost forgot. We get to cheer for the bad guy. These kind of stories are always fun and interesting. I almost feel a little dirty, a little naughty cheering a thief. Makes me feel…invigorating. OK, that is a little bit of a stretch, but we do get an interesting story of a man named Miller, in the middle of two different Devils on his shoulders, both trying to steer him in their direction.
Miller is a WWII vet, who has turned to crime, with high pay-outs. Always the kind of guy looking over his shoulder, trusting very few, and friends of even less. After a job goes sideways and Miller realizes the partners may have other ideas, he is forced back to a familiar area, finding himself in the presence of an old acquaintance looking to hire him for some sort of odd protection job.
We find there is a little more than a backstory here, involving a debt Miller is obligated to pay, forever. And so starts a journey, or an adventure for our pal Miller. He is quickly wrapped up with a list of oddball characters, including a…ventriloquist. This may be my first crime story involving a ventriloquist.
We get this pulpy ‘60’s crime story, with a feel of 1970’s noir cult classics. “Charley Varrick” comes to mind. Or even “Dog Day Afternoon.” A little of a stretch, but just the feel. The grittiness overall.
Great character building throughout, as we get glimpses of the real Miller, a man who you get the sense wants to break free of this life of crime so he can settle down with his love interest. But something keeps pulling him back in. Never being able to really leave the life of crime behind.
Kolakowski is able to keep the whole story very streamlined. Fast paced from beginning to end, giving us just enough to keep us invested in not only Miller, but the whole plot. He makes us want to know what the mysterious protection job is all about and what kind of shady deal was made.
The story is not short on action, and blood, and the harshness of shoot-outs, leaving a trail of shell casings behind, leading us up to a tightly wound ending, with a few twists, shocking us like an exposed live wire.
Good choice in the use of payphones through the story to help give it the proper time-period and tone. Something that simple, yet so crucial, because without mentioning payphones, this could very well be taking place today.
“Payback is Forever” is a raw, gritty, pulpy piece of noir literature starring a main character that is not really a good guy. Once he shows his true colors, you can’t help but to be in his corner. The story has the proper depth needed to keep you involved, with a few odd tidbits sprinkled in making you grin without realizing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFJY-...
“Payback is Forever” is my first dive into the world of Nick Kolakowski. It’s a world of crime, blood, and fights for territory. Oh, I almost forgot. We get to cheer for the bad guy. These kind of stories are always fun and interesting. I almost feel a little dirty, a little naughty cheering a thief. Makes me feel…invigorating. OK, that is a little bit of a stretch, but we do get an interesting story of a man named Miller, in the middle of two different Devils on his shoulders, both trying to steer him in their direction.
Miller is a WWII vet, who has turned to crime, with high pay-outs. Always the kind of guy looking over his shoulder, trusting very few, and friends of even less. After a job goes sideways and Miller realizes the partners may have other ideas, he is forced back to a familiar area, finding himself in the presence of an old acquaintance looking to hire him for some sort of odd protection job.
We find there is a little more than a backstory here, involving a debt Miller is obligated to pay, forever. And so starts a journey, or an adventure for our pal Miller. He is quickly wrapped up with a list of oddball characters, including a…ventriloquist. This may be my first crime story involving a ventriloquist.
We get this pulpy ‘60’s crime story, with a feel of 1970’s noir cult classics. “Charley Varrick” comes to mind. Or even “Dog Day Afternoon.” A little of a stretch, but just the feel. The grittiness overall.
Great character building throughout, as we get glimpses of the real Miller, a man who you get the sense wants to break free of this life of crime so he can settle down with his love interest. But something keeps pulling him back in. Never being able to really leave the life of crime behind.
Kolakowski is able to keep the whole story very streamlined. Fast paced from beginning to end, giving us just enough to keep us invested in not only Miller, but the whole plot. He makes us want to know what the mysterious protection job is all about and what kind of shady deal was made.
The story is not short on action, and blood, and the harshness of shoot-outs, leaving a trail of shell casings behind, leading us up to a tightly wound ending, with a few twists, shocking us like an exposed live wire.
Good choice in the use of payphones through the story to help give it the proper time-period and tone. Something that simple, yet so crucial, because without mentioning payphones, this could very well be taking place today.
“Payback is Forever” is a raw, gritty, pulpy piece of noir literature starring a main character that is not really a good guy. Once he shows his true colors, you can’t help but to be in his corner. The story has the proper depth needed to keep you involved, with a few odd tidbits sprinkled in making you grin without realizing.
April 29, 2022
A Hardboiled Loop de Loop
Miller is what he is. Nothing more, nothing less. He takes scores as a professional thief. A life filled with rough allies and rougher enemies. After a double-cross heist, Miller hides out in his West Village neighborhood hoping his turncoat partners don’t track him down. He gets a peculiar job offer from an old acquaintance and takes it to pad his pockets.
Miller does what he does when the job goes pear-shaped. Maul anyone who gets in his way. In his path, this time is mini-assassin, Nazi spies, and government agents. Don’t worry about Miller. He has cunning and bad intentions on his side plus a ventriloquist. That’s right. A ventriloquist with a doll. Kolakowski’s hardboiled novel takes you down a familiar genre path and then kicks the reader into the dark. This book is a smooth but wild read that you don’t want to miss.
December 24, 2022
Nick Kolakowski writes hardboiled as if he was born in an old-timey Underwood. I confess I like these fast-paced stories that seem ready-made for black and white films. “Payback is Forever” has it all: the fedoras, the cigarettes, the Nazi spies hiding in plain sight in New York, and a hero from the wrong side of the letter and intent of the law. This is pulp fun at its best. The writing is impeccable and doesn’t take itself seriously, and the reader knows the writer is winking from the other side of the room. Joy.
March 26, 2022
If you're a fan of heist films, old-school crime fiction, and/or the Parker novels, PAYBACK IS FOREVER is right in your wheelhouse. Kolakowski knows his craft, always keeps things fresh, and never disappoints.
April 17, 2022
PAYBACK IS FOREVER is a fast-paced, pulpy, noir book full of action and snappy dialog that makes for a fun read with a nice surprise hidden within. Highly recommended for fans of the hard-boiled mystery genre.
April 5, 2022
This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
---
WHAT'S PAYBACK IS FOREVER ABOUT?
Miller's a thief, a fairly successful one. This comes in handy because he's not as successful when it comes to gambling. He needs to pay a debt, so he takes a job with a couple of strangers. They betray him, the job goes wrong, and Miller (and the cash) escape without his partners. They don't know his name or home base, so he figures he's safe for a little bit.
He's soon contacted by a figure from his past, Rick Redfield:
With the promise of a large payday on the horizon, Miller's in—and soon finds himself involved with some Nazis who escaped from Germany in the waning days of the war, Nazi hunters, and a few more dead bodies than Miller was prepared to deal with.
SUPPORTING CAST
Miller and most of the characters that he deals with are of a fairly typical sort—you'll recognize the types easily. They're interestingly-drawn and well-used, but they're types.
Then there's Jill Reilly—she's Miller's love interest and is a secretary in the Medical Examiner's office. Given the proper circumstances, she'd probably make a pretty good Examiner herself—but between the education, she'd need, and the rampant chauvinism in the office, that's probably not going to happen. Reilly feels like she's got one foot in the Girl Friday type, but with a rebellious streak that keeps the other foot out of the type.
The other character that stands out as not fitting into a typical mold is Scott, Redfield's friend who acts as a liaison to the outside world when Redfield needs to stay out of the light. He's a timid, uncertain man—who needs to use a ventriloquist's dummy, Colonel Longshanks, to communicate those things that are too much for Scott to handle. Miller has no patience for either of them—but can force himself to work with Scott. The Colonel on the other hand...
There was a moment where I wondered if Scott/Colonel Longshanks would over-take Monkey Man as my favorite strange Kolakowski character. He didn't, but that he was in the running says something about the character development in this short novel.
THE HIDDEN AGENDA
If what I've described seems pretty straight-forward, it is. If anyone's read Kolakowski before, that's not how he rolls. Right?
There is something else afoot here. I don't know that it added much (if anything), but it didn't hurt anything either. Maybe if I was in a different mood when I read this I'd have a more positive take on the "something else," but right now, I can take it or leave it.
The material with Miller, the Nazis, Nazi Hunters is enough to focus on and keep you entertained. If you happen to get the rest of it, that's gravy.
SO, WHAT DID I THINK ABOUT PAYBACK IS FOREVER?
This feels like the kind of pulpy thrillers from the 1960s and 70s I've read—just in a post-WWII setting with a dash of Nathanael West thrown in. It's a surprisingly effective combination, and I'd have read another 200 pages of it without blinking. Although I do think this lean, mean, streamlined approach is far more effective.
Miller's absolutely the kind of character you want in this setting—his morality is stuck in the gray—it's a pretty dark gray, but he's not a full-on villain. And he's thinking about reforming, at least a little.
There were two scenes—or parts of scenes—that make this more than a quick, fun read. There's a visual in the last big gunfight that's so ridiculous, so comical, in the middle of a big action scene that makes you want a film version immediately (but it may be better in your imagination).
Before that there's another scene that I can't describe—you start it assuming X might happen, and yet when X does happen you still sit up and pay attention because you can't believe that Kolakowski actually did that. And then over the next 3 or 4 paragraphs, the shocking scene becomes something so unexpected that you have to read it a couple of times to make sure you read it right. Cackling while you read it every time makes the comprehension a little difficult.
A solid, stylish thriller with Kolakowski's style and sense of character is exactly what I needed to read last week, and Payback is Forever delivered. Do yourself a favor and pick it up.
---
WHAT'S PAYBACK IS FOREVER ABOUT?
Miller's a thief, a fairly successful one. This comes in handy because he's not as successful when it comes to gambling. He needs to pay a debt, so he takes a job with a couple of strangers. They betray him, the job goes wrong, and Miller (and the cash) escape without his partners. They don't know his name or home base, so he figures he's safe for a little bit.
He's soon contacted by a figure from his past, Rick Redfield:
“I’ve entered into an arrangement with some… men of violence, shall we say. Which means I need the services of the most violent man I know. Which is you.”
“I’m no bodyguard.”
“No. You’re capable of terrible acts, and that’s the necessary thing here. Besides, bodyguards ask too many questions.”
With the promise of a large payday on the horizon, Miller's in—and soon finds himself involved with some Nazis who escaped from Germany in the waning days of the war, Nazi hunters, and a few more dead bodies than Miller was prepared to deal with.
SUPPORTING CAST
Miller and most of the characters that he deals with are of a fairly typical sort—you'll recognize the types easily. They're interestingly-drawn and well-used, but they're types.
Then there's Jill Reilly—she's Miller's love interest and is a secretary in the Medical Examiner's office. Given the proper circumstances, she'd probably make a pretty good Examiner herself—but between the education, she'd need, and the rampant chauvinism in the office, that's probably not going to happen. Reilly feels like she's got one foot in the Girl Friday type, but with a rebellious streak that keeps the other foot out of the type.
The other character that stands out as not fitting into a typical mold is Scott, Redfield's friend who acts as a liaison to the outside world when Redfield needs to stay out of the light. He's a timid, uncertain man—who needs to use a ventriloquist's dummy, Colonel Longshanks, to communicate those things that are too much for Scott to handle. Miller has no patience for either of them—but can force himself to work with Scott. The Colonel on the other hand...
There was a moment where I wondered if Scott/Colonel Longshanks would over-take Monkey Man as my favorite strange Kolakowski character. He didn't, but that he was in the running says something about the character development in this short novel.
THE HIDDEN AGENDA
If what I've described seems pretty straight-forward, it is. If anyone's read Kolakowski before, that's not how he rolls. Right?
There is something else afoot here. I don't know that it added much (if anything), but it didn't hurt anything either. Maybe if I was in a different mood when I read this I'd have a more positive take on the "something else," but right now, I can take it or leave it.
The material with Miller, the Nazis, Nazi Hunters is enough to focus on and keep you entertained. If you happen to get the rest of it, that's gravy.
SO, WHAT DID I THINK ABOUT PAYBACK IS FOREVER?
This feels like the kind of pulpy thrillers from the 1960s and 70s I've read—just in a post-WWII setting with a dash of Nathanael West thrown in. It's a surprisingly effective combination, and I'd have read another 200 pages of it without blinking. Although I do think this lean, mean, streamlined approach is far more effective.
Miller's absolutely the kind of character you want in this setting—his morality is stuck in the gray—it's a pretty dark gray, but he's not a full-on villain. And he's thinking about reforming, at least a little.
There were two scenes—or parts of scenes—that make this more than a quick, fun read. There's a visual in the last big gunfight that's so ridiculous, so comical, in the middle of a big action scene that makes you want a film version immediately (but it may be better in your imagination).
Before that there's another scene that I can't describe—you start it assuming X might happen, and yet when X does happen you still sit up and pay attention because you can't believe that Kolakowski actually did that. And then over the next 3 or 4 paragraphs, the shocking scene becomes something so unexpected that you have to read it a couple of times to make sure you read it right. Cackling while you read it every time makes the comprehension a little difficult.
A solid, stylish thriller with Kolakowski's style and sense of character is exactly what I needed to read last week, and Payback is Forever delivered. Do yourself a favor and pick it up.
June 16, 2022
Nick Kolakowski doesn’t disappoint in this swift-moving, tight story. The chapters move fast and the storytelling manages to never suffer as a result. While it has a classic crime fiction feel, it’s also fresh and imaginative. Grab this one for sure.
January 2, 2025
A fine addition to the Nick Kolakowski stable of books. A throwback for sure, but then again, maybe it isn’t. Further still, perhaps it’s a combination of both. Either way, fun was had. Go forth, seek out, purchase and enjoy. Tell ‘em another lover of crime fiction sent you.
December 24, 2023
did not like
I hate to do this but I did not like this book. Found it to be dull, not smart and uninteresting.
I hate to do this but I did not like this book. Found it to be dull, not smart and uninteresting.
April 7, 2024
A loving tribute to classic Westlake. Very Parker-esque.
January 21, 2026
Pretty standard noir/crime/heist story. One of my favorite genres. Kolakowski is becoming a go-to for crime for me.
January 3, 2023
I dug it. It's a short read with a lot of action. There's money to be made and some people get shot. It's got what you want in there.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews