Status Updates From The Black Lizard Big Book o...

The Creeping Siamese by Dashiell Hammett: a looot better written than the previous one. Has much snappier dialogue that moves the story forward. Not a fan of how it wraps up. 90% of these are probably shorter than they should be to be truly satisfying but that’s just the nature of pulp

One, Two, Three by Paul Cain:
I don’t expect much from most of these pulp stories. I’ll be going through this big ass collection slowly. This first story is a taste of what’s to come. Most of it reads as quick descriptions of steps. I went to this building, I talked to a guy, he didn’t know anything, I ate Chinese food, I love Chinese food. I did not expect the ending. It all amounts to a punchline

So far a great pulp detective / hard boiled crime collection from mostly Black Mask and Dime Detective magazines. Dashielle Hammet’s Continental Op story The Creeping Siameese (1st of 3 Hammett stories) was pretty good. Raymond Chandler’s novellette Red Wind ( a Phillip Marlowe story) was excellent. Earl Stanley Gardner’s Honest Money is basically a Perry Mason story with character’s names changed and is great.