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Enter Without Desire
I sat there, waiting in this dull Bronx back yard, the gun in my right pocket, safety off. It was simple ... wait till he was on top of me, one shot in the heart ... then run across the lot to the car. Sid had an ordinary looking heap; nobody would notice it, or the license number. The license number—that was one of the chances I had to take—one of the too-many chances.
But this would work, if my luck held out. IF... IF... Damn, I hoped to hell he didn't have a wife and kids, looked too young for that, but even if he did — I had a wife and kid, too. God knows I didn't want to kill this detective, but I was caught in this web, had to do it. Had to...
No point in thinking about that—more important to think of some way of disposing of the gun. Couldn't pull the same gag about losing it on Tony again. Well, have to work that out, somehow. Sloppy thinking on my part not to plan ... Hell with plans, no time for it. Not like the other one.
Marshal Jameson, the promising young sculptor, sitting on his butt in a strange Bronx back yard on a sunny afternoon... carefully planning his second murder.
I grinned, a sour, nervous grin—I was damn near bawling. Me, who'd never hurt a fly, waiting with a gun for a ...
I heard a car stop in front of the house. It was five to three. The dick was on time. I stood up and peered around the corner of the alley. He was alone.
I waited: no running from this, no backing out. Or was killing the easy way out for me?
But this would work, if my luck held out. IF... IF... Damn, I hoped to hell he didn't have a wife and kids, looked too young for that, but even if he did — I had a wife and kid, too. God knows I didn't want to kill this detective, but I was caught in this web, had to do it. Had to...
No point in thinking about that—more important to think of some way of disposing of the gun. Couldn't pull the same gag about losing it on Tony again. Well, have to work that out, somehow. Sloppy thinking on my part not to plan ... Hell with plans, no time for it. Not like the other one.
Marshal Jameson, the promising young sculptor, sitting on his butt in a strange Bronx back yard on a sunny afternoon... carefully planning his second murder.
I grinned, a sour, nervous grin—I was damn near bawling. Me, who'd never hurt a fly, waiting with a gun for a ...
I heard a car stop in front of the house. It was five to three. The dick was on time. I stood up and peered around the corner of the alley. He was alone.
I waited: no running from this, no backing out. Or was killing the easy way out for me?
136 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1954
About the author
Ed Lacy
106 books10 followersEd Lacy was the pseudonymn of Leonard (Len) S Zinberg, who was born in New York City on 25 August 1925. After his mother and father had divorced and his mother remarried, he spent his early years living in relative affluence in the outskirts of Harlem.
During the late 1920s, he attended the College of the City of New York and then, in the 1930s he travelled throughout the United States where he had a variety of odd jobs, including working as a butcher, to support himself. In the early 1940s, he returned to New York, where he married and resided for the rest of his life.
Back in New York, he was a freelance writer and some of his early published work emerged in literary journals, such as a short story titled 'A Leaner' in 'Story Magazine' in November 1936. He was also a member of the League of American Writers, on whose committee, 'Keep America Out of War Committee', he served in January 1940 during the period of the Hitler-Stalin pact.
During World War II he was Private First Class Len Zinberg, serving with the Allies’ 1943 push into Fascist Italy. As PFC Zinberg he had a story titled 'Timing' in the men’s magazine, 'Sir!' in October 1942 and his early detective story 'Pay Telephone' appeared with James M. Cain in 'Popular Detective' in October 1943.
In addition, in the 25 October 1943 issue of 'The New Republic', he won a Soldiers' Prose competition and published a war sketch. His war sketches also appeared in 'Yank', whose motto was 'written by the men ... for men in the service'.
He was later promoted to Sergeant and as such he wrote the scathing satire 'Welcome Home' about a GI returning to his childhood home and a second 'Yank' article recorded the reception in Rome on VJ-Day where 'most people were merely smiling quietly.'
And it was probably the contributions he made to such as 'Yank' and 'The New Republic' that paved the way for his 18 New Yorker pieces, published between 1945 and 1947, which in turn were instrumental in promoting his professional writing career.
As a marketing ploy he adopted Steve April as a pseudonym and he was able to
sell more stories to markets such as 'Esquire' and 'Colliers'. As Steve April he also wrote text for comic strips such as Ranger Comics (1946) and Fight Comics (1951) and a novel, Exit 13 (1954).
The Ed Lacy pseudonymn came about when the original paperback (rather than historic reprints) boom hit America and this presented him with a more lucrative writing opportunity as he turned dedicatedly to detective fiction.
His first published crime and detective novel, 'The Woman Aroused', followed in 1951 and this began an output that totalled 28 novels as well as many short stories, his 'New York Times' obituary suggested 'many hundreds', until his early death in 1968. He also wrote on boxing, both in his novels and historically.
His early books often had lurid titles and he was known to remark, 'Yes, the title made me grit my teeth, too' and the often sexy cover art perhaps did not do these books the justice they deserved as professionally they were regarded as being well written and solidly plotted.
By the mid-1950s, however, he realised he had established a strong presence in the paperback original market so in 1955 he was able to sign with the more prestigious Harper to bring out his works in hardcover and 'The Best That Ever Did It' (1955) gave him his first solid recognition as the book went into a second printing.
Included in his novel output were three separate series of detective novels featuring Dave Wintino, Toussaint Moore and Lee Hayes. A white American himself, Lacy is credited with creating 'the first credible African-American PI' in American fiction, Toussaint "Touie" Marcus Moore. His first novel featuring Moore, 'Room to Swing' (1957) won the 1958 Edgar Award for Best Novel and this clearly marked the high point of his writing career.
His short stories continued to be reprinted in Ellery Queen's Magazine and in var
During the late 1920s, he attended the College of the City of New York and then, in the 1930s he travelled throughout the United States where he had a variety of odd jobs, including working as a butcher, to support himself. In the early 1940s, he returned to New York, where he married and resided for the rest of his life.
Back in New York, he was a freelance writer and some of his early published work emerged in literary journals, such as a short story titled 'A Leaner' in 'Story Magazine' in November 1936. He was also a member of the League of American Writers, on whose committee, 'Keep America Out of War Committee', he served in January 1940 during the period of the Hitler-Stalin pact.
During World War II he was Private First Class Len Zinberg, serving with the Allies’ 1943 push into Fascist Italy. As PFC Zinberg he had a story titled 'Timing' in the men’s magazine, 'Sir!' in October 1942 and his early detective story 'Pay Telephone' appeared with James M. Cain in 'Popular Detective' in October 1943.
In addition, in the 25 October 1943 issue of 'The New Republic', he won a Soldiers' Prose competition and published a war sketch. His war sketches also appeared in 'Yank', whose motto was 'written by the men ... for men in the service'.
He was later promoted to Sergeant and as such he wrote the scathing satire 'Welcome Home' about a GI returning to his childhood home and a second 'Yank' article recorded the reception in Rome on VJ-Day where 'most people were merely smiling quietly.'
And it was probably the contributions he made to such as 'Yank' and 'The New Republic' that paved the way for his 18 New Yorker pieces, published between 1945 and 1947, which in turn were instrumental in promoting his professional writing career.
As a marketing ploy he adopted Steve April as a pseudonym and he was able to
sell more stories to markets such as 'Esquire' and 'Colliers'. As Steve April he also wrote text for comic strips such as Ranger Comics (1946) and Fight Comics (1951) and a novel, Exit 13 (1954).
The Ed Lacy pseudonymn came about when the original paperback (rather than historic reprints) boom hit America and this presented him with a more lucrative writing opportunity as he turned dedicatedly to detective fiction.
His first published crime and detective novel, 'The Woman Aroused', followed in 1951 and this began an output that totalled 28 novels as well as many short stories, his 'New York Times' obituary suggested 'many hundreds', until his early death in 1968. He also wrote on boxing, both in his novels and historically.
His early books often had lurid titles and he was known to remark, 'Yes, the title made me grit my teeth, too' and the often sexy cover art perhaps did not do these books the justice they deserved as professionally they were regarded as being well written and solidly plotted.
By the mid-1950s, however, he realised he had established a strong presence in the paperback original market so in 1955 he was able to sign with the more prestigious Harper to bring out his works in hardcover and 'The Best That Ever Did It' (1955) gave him his first solid recognition as the book went into a second printing.
Included in his novel output were three separate series of detective novels featuring Dave Wintino, Toussaint Moore and Lee Hayes. A white American himself, Lacy is credited with creating 'the first credible African-American PI' in American fiction, Toussaint "Touie" Marcus Moore. His first novel featuring Moore, 'Room to Swing' (1957) won the 1958 Edgar Award for Best Novel and this clearly marked the high point of his writing career.
His short stories continued to be reprinted in Ellery Queen's Magazine and in var
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
April 18, 2021
"Enter Without Desire" is a brilliantly-conceived 1950's pulp where Lacy takes a classic crime story and tells it in kind of an inside out way. For Lacy, this story, probably titled by some fool of a publisher who never read it, is all about the lead character and his motivations. Indeed, there's barely a hint of the crime fiction aspect of the story until you get about seventy percent through it. But, there is a hint that something dreadful is coming, a hint in the form of the lead character's dying thoughts as he bleeds out into a world full of regret.
Lacy initially build this one on seemingly a similar foundation to McCoy's "They Shoot Horses, Don't They" as Marsh Jameson, a down in his luck, beatnik sculptor living in a barebones shack on the beach heads into rainy New York City on a New Year's Eve whim and impulsively to get out of the rain joins a radio show trivia contest. Partnered with Elma, who he can't take his eyes off of, they leave the contest with their heads in the clouds, get a hotel room, fall in mad passionate love, and decide to marry the next day, New Year's Day. It is, on the surface at least, a touching love story.
But, then, Lacy walks us backwards and gives us the biographies of Marsh and Elma, primarily Marsh's intriguing story, of growing up in a nowhere mill town, seeking a football scholarship, and making it to college on the scholarship only to be pitted against opponents twice his weight and suffering a career-ending concussion. He drifts along, eventually joining the military, and becoming an artist at painting camouflage and drawing army materials and illustrations as Europe is liberated from the Nazis. Drifting about on his return, he becomes an artist drawing for an advertising concern until he punches out the boss. And, suddenly, he's a sculptor living in a small beach studio. None of which has much to do with what happens, but sets the stage as Marsh has little going for him till he falls for Elma. Of course, that eventually proves his undoing as their love affair comes crashing into the heaviness of reality and is just as star-crossed as that of other famous couples.
What Lacy does so right here is he doesn't let the reader know till the last third of the novel what's at stake and where it's all going. Rather, he deliberately and slowly develops his characters so when it's time to get into the action we know and understand their desperation and why they have to do what they do.
Lacy initially build this one on seemingly a similar foundation to McCoy's "They Shoot Horses, Don't They" as Marsh Jameson, a down in his luck, beatnik sculptor living in a barebones shack on the beach heads into rainy New York City on a New Year's Eve whim and impulsively to get out of the rain joins a radio show trivia contest. Partnered with Elma, who he can't take his eyes off of, they leave the contest with their heads in the clouds, get a hotel room, fall in mad passionate love, and decide to marry the next day, New Year's Day. It is, on the surface at least, a touching love story.
But, then, Lacy walks us backwards and gives us the biographies of Marsh and Elma, primarily Marsh's intriguing story, of growing up in a nowhere mill town, seeking a football scholarship, and making it to college on the scholarship only to be pitted against opponents twice his weight and suffering a career-ending concussion. He drifts along, eventually joining the military, and becoming an artist at painting camouflage and drawing army materials and illustrations as Europe is liberated from the Nazis. Drifting about on his return, he becomes an artist drawing for an advertising concern until he punches out the boss. And, suddenly, he's a sculptor living in a small beach studio. None of which has much to do with what happens, but sets the stage as Marsh has little going for him till he falls for Elma. Of course, that eventually proves his undoing as their love affair comes crashing into the heaviness of reality and is just as star-crossed as that of other famous couples.
What Lacy does so right here is he doesn't let the reader know till the last third of the novel what's at stake and where it's all going. Rather, he deliberately and slowly develops his characters so when it's time to get into the action we know and understand their desperation and why they have to do what they do.
May 1, 2019
Trước khi gặp Elma, tất cả những gì Marshal Jameson có chỉ là một cuộc hôn nhân thất bại và đam mê mãnh liệt với nghệ thuật điêu khắc. Sau khi gặp nàng, anh có được tình yêu của đời mình, một sự nghiệp đầy hứa hẹn cùng một mối đe dọa lơ lửng trên đầu. Và một người đàn ông, với trái tim đong đầy tình yêu và một âm mưu giết người nung nấu trong đầu, sẵn sàng ra tay để được ở bên người yêu dấu mãi mãi.
Một tác phẩm đầy tiềm năng xuất bản ở Việt Nam, nếu không bị cú twist cuối truyện đạp thẳng xuống vực. Mình sẽ nói rõ về vấn đề đó sau. Đầu tiên, bản thân “Enter Without Desire” đã là một tác phẩm văn học rất khá với nửa đầu được viết như tự truyện của một điêu khắc gia mới vào nghề đang loay hoay tìm kiếm cái tôi nghệ thuật của bản thân. Đây cũng là phần mà mình thích nhất vì chất văn và nội dung thú vị. Nửa còn lại, bắt đầu từ lúc nam chính gặp nữ chính, là điệu van-xơ nồng cháy của tình yêu xen lẫn với điệu tăng-gô dồn dập của tội ác.
Ed Lacy thể hiện mình là cây viết tài năng trong việc xây dựng tâm lý nhân vật. Marshal Jameson hiện lên một cách sống động qua dòng chảy nội tâm, một kẻ si tình quyết định nhúng chàm để níu giữ những gì mình yêu quý không khỏi khiến người ta đồng cảm. Cùng nhân vật này, ta được trải nghiệm nhiều cung bậc cảm xúc, từ đam mê nghệ thuật cho đến say đắm trong lưới tình và rồi sợ hãi tuyệt vọng. Tuy vậy, Marshal được khắc họa tốt bao nhiêu thì Elma lại được miêu tả sơ sài bấy nhiêu. Chỉ cần một bạn nhảy sảy chân là đủ để phá hỏng một điệu vũ hai người và một câu truyện hay. Tác giả chủ ý dùng Elma để tạo động lực cho nam chính, đẩy cốt truyện lên cao trào và tạo bước ngoặt cuối cùng. Đáng tiếc là cô hiện lên vô cùng nhạt nhòa, khiến mình không hiểu tại sao nam chính lại yêu cô hay cô đã làm gì để xứng đáng với tình yêu vô điều kiện đó. Cao trào của cốt truyện lại bắt nguồn từ một hành động ngớ ngẩn đến vô lý của cô. Và cú twist cuối truyện đã đạp đổ hoàn toàn mọi thiện cảm mà mình dành cho nhân vật này. Đối với mình, đây là một cú twist siêu vô duyên, dở vô cùng tận, khó nhai nhất trong số twist mà mình từng đọc, tệ đến độ kéo tuột mọi công lao xây đắp nội dung từ đầu đến giờ.
Sau nhiều tháng, mình cuối cùng cũng bình tâm lại. Đánh giá một cách khách quan, “Enter Without Desire”, với tất cả những ưu điểm của nó, vẫn xứng đáng để mọi người thưởng thức. Nếu đã xem bài review này, chắc các bạn sẽ phần nào đỡ sốc khi đọc đến cuối truyện.
Một tác phẩm đầy tiềm năng xuất bản ở Việt Nam, nếu không bị cú twist cuối truyện đạp thẳng xuống vực. Mình sẽ nói rõ về vấn đề đó sau. Đầu tiên, bản thân “Enter Without Desire” đã là một tác phẩm văn học rất khá với nửa đầu được viết như tự truyện của một điêu khắc gia mới vào nghề đang loay hoay tìm kiếm cái tôi nghệ thuật của bản thân. Đây cũng là phần mà mình thích nhất vì chất văn và nội dung thú vị. Nửa còn lại, bắt đầu từ lúc nam chính gặp nữ chính, là điệu van-xơ nồng cháy của tình yêu xen lẫn với điệu tăng-gô dồn dập của tội ác.
Ed Lacy thể hiện mình là cây viết tài năng trong việc xây dựng tâm lý nhân vật. Marshal Jameson hiện lên một cách sống động qua dòng chảy nội tâm, một kẻ si tình quyết định nhúng chàm để níu giữ những gì mình yêu quý không khỏi khiến người ta đồng cảm. Cùng nhân vật này, ta được trải nghiệm nhiều cung bậc cảm xúc, từ đam mê nghệ thuật cho đến say đắm trong lưới tình và rồi sợ hãi tuyệt vọng. Tuy vậy, Marshal được khắc họa tốt bao nhiêu thì Elma lại được miêu tả sơ sài bấy nhiêu. Chỉ cần một bạn nhảy sảy chân là đủ để phá hỏng một điệu vũ hai người và một câu truyện hay. Tác giả chủ ý dùng Elma để tạo động lực cho nam chính, đẩy cốt truyện lên cao trào và tạo bước ngoặt cuối cùng. Đáng tiếc là cô hiện lên vô cùng nhạt nhòa, khiến mình không hiểu tại sao nam chính lại yêu cô hay cô đã làm gì để xứng đáng với tình yêu vô điều kiện đó. Cao trào của cốt truyện lại bắt nguồn từ một hành động ngớ ngẩn đến vô lý của cô. Và cú twist cuối truyện đã đạp đổ hoàn toàn mọi thiện cảm mà mình dành cho nhân vật này. Đối với mình, đây là một cú twist siêu vô duyên, dở vô cùng tận, khó nhai nhất trong số twist mà mình từng đọc, tệ đến độ kéo tuột mọi công lao xây đắp nội dung từ đầu đến giờ.
Sau nhiều tháng, mình cuối cùng cũng bình tâm lại. Đánh giá một cách khách quan, “Enter Without Desire”, với tất cả những ưu điểm của nó, vẫn xứng đáng để mọi người thưởng thức. Nếu đã xem bài review này, chắc các bạn sẽ phần nào đỡ sốc khi đọc đến cuối truyện.
September 29, 2021
Hard to believe I almost put this one down. What I at first mistook for parts of the book appearing out of order or pages missing (which is sadly common in these cheap Kindle reprints of old pulp classics) turned to be a formatting oversight, I guess. Anyways, the issue was that at the end of some chapters the narration jumps to the future with no space or asterisk between paragraphs. Once I figured out what was going on there I was able to get into the story and I was glad I did.
This is the fourth or fifth Ed Lacy book I've read, and maybe my favorite so far. He wrote with such compassion and humanity, two things that tended to take a backseat in a lot of old pulps. Sure, some of the dialogue hasn't aged well for current society, but it's clear that Lacy was eons ahead of other pulp writers in terms of social issues like race and gender - a quality that makes his storytelling unique and more readable 60 years later.
As far as the story, well, it's not one that reinvents the wheel. The themes of desperation and lower/middle-class struggles and love obstacles are all there. It's the way that the writer took the formula and told the story that gets it a 5 star rating from me. This is a clever old pulp, surprisingly light on the sex but heavy on suspense and intrigue.
This is the fourth or fifth Ed Lacy book I've read, and maybe my favorite so far. He wrote with such compassion and humanity, two things that tended to take a backseat in a lot of old pulps. Sure, some of the dialogue hasn't aged well for current society, but it's clear that Lacy was eons ahead of other pulp writers in terms of social issues like race and gender - a quality that makes his storytelling unique and more readable 60 years later.
As far as the story, well, it's not one that reinvents the wheel. The themes of desperation and lower/middle-class struggles and love obstacles are all there. It's the way that the writer took the formula and told the story that gets it a 5 star rating from me. This is a clever old pulp, surprisingly light on the sex but heavy on suspense and intrigue.
August 10, 2018
“Enter Without Desire” is a masterful noir novel of the early 1960’s. Ed Lacy builds the story step by step, filling it with unlikely coincidences and strange thoughts of the narrator, an amateur murderer. That narrator is an artist, a sculptor, who is trying to make a living for him and his married, then widowed, girlfriend, then wife. One noteworthy clay sculpture is of two dogs mounting each other: “ . . . it was the best work I did during those months.”
Irony and a subtle humor are skillfully crafted throughout. In fact, this novel is almost like a dark and sophisticated O Henry story, cloaked in noir elements and with a delightful taste of understated violence and sexual innuendo. It is, after all, about murder: “. . . murder is a sickness, a trap, a one-way street with only one possible out -- another murder.”
Lacy uses a few flashbacks which initially confuse the reader. But everything comes together with an odd twist just before the end. The vivid descriptions reach the highest level as the reader is treated to a slow, first-person step-by-step account of dying after being shot. The last several pages are outstanding.
Irony and a subtle humor are skillfully crafted throughout. In fact, this novel is almost like a dark and sophisticated O Henry story, cloaked in noir elements and with a delightful taste of understated violence and sexual innuendo. It is, after all, about murder: “. . . murder is a sickness, a trap, a one-way street with only one possible out -- another murder.”
Lacy uses a few flashbacks which initially confuse the reader. But everything comes together with an odd twist just before the end. The vivid descriptions reach the highest level as the reader is treated to a slow, first-person step-by-step account of dying after being shot. The last several pages are outstanding.
April 30, 2020
The narrator has just spent fruitless months in a literal shack on Long Island trying to accomplish something as a sculptor. With only a buck to his name, he hitchhikes into New York City, where he set a couple friends who invite him to a party. Instead he ends up in line for a radio game show (it is the early 50s). By chance he is picked as contestant, and is partnered with a beautiful young woman. They manage to win some decent money (TAX FREE is the name of the game show), spend the night together and by the next day he decides he's going to marry her. But her situation is more complicated than it first appears, and he is drawn into committing a major crime.
It's a gripping book, even though the crime part of it doesn't come along until nearly 2/3 of the way through, then it turns into a nightmar. The ending is dramatic and scary, and comes with a big dose of irony. Pretty hard to put down, even if some of the first half is a bit tiring, it all adds up to classic noir, though she's not a villain, but triggers awful acts on his part.
It's a gripping book, even though the crime part of it doesn't come along until nearly 2/3 of the way through, then it turns into a nightmar. The ending is dramatic and scary, and comes with a big dose of irony. Pretty hard to put down, even if some of the first half is a bit tiring, it all adds up to classic noir, though she's not a villain, but triggers awful acts on his part.
October 9, 2012
Another fast and fun pulp thriller. Had a nice twist ending that I should have seen coming.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews