I hopped on the way back machine looking for something new to read, something I didn't have to buy, because at this point my audio library is large enough.  Still, I was looking for something new. At the same time, I wanted to do some 'research' into American crime fiction before 1970 for the Agatha Christie read, which is focusing the side reads on American authors for the coming year. The result was the start of a hard-boiled noir marathon, with more to come in the next few months.

 

 

The Moving Target c.1949
by Ross Macdonald (read by Tom Parker aka Grover Gardner)
Audible Plus

 

Publisher's Summary
The first book in Ross Macdonald's acclaimed Lew Archer series introduces the detective who redefined the role of the American private eye and gave the crime novel a psychological depth and moral complexity only hinted at before.

Like many Southern California millionaires, Ralph Sampson keeps odd company. There's the sun-worshiping holy man whom Sampson once gave his very own mountain, and the fading actress with sidelines in astrology and S&M. Now, one of Sampson's friends may have arranged his kidnapping.

As private eye Lew Archer follows  the clues from the canyon sanctuaries of the mega-rich to jazz joints  where you can get beaten up between sets, The Moving Target blends sex, greed, misdirected love, and family hatred into an explosive crime novel.

Wait! There was S&M in this book? Really? Where? Well, maybe Tom Lehrer was right, "When correctly viewed, everything is lewd." I guess I didn't view it right.

I liked the book. It was a quick entertaining read Yes, it was full of the typical misogyny, objectification of women, racism, antisemitism, bigotry, violence, etc. that you find in this genre but I tend to ignore that baggage. I think of it as the macho version of the romantic fantasies that Harlequin peddles. It reminds me of how things used to be -- and will be again if things continue the way they are going.

Lew Archer is an interesting dude and I expect that I will be reading a few more before I give up completely on the series -- especially if I can find more read by Tom Parker, who is in reality Grover Gardner. When I first heard the narrator's voice, I recognized it immediately. I've heard it enough times. But it said 'narrated by Tom Parker" in the details and I said, "No, no, no! There cannot be two people with that same voice." A little research proved me right; that voice has multiple names.

 

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The Big Bang
The Lost Mike Hammer Sixties Novel
By: Mickey Spillane, Max Allan Collins
Narrated by: Stacy Keach
Audible Plus

 

Publisher's Summary

In midtown Manhattan, Mike Hammer, recovering  from a near-fatal mix-up with the Mob, runs into drug dealers  assaulting a young hospital messenger. He saves the kid, but the muggers  are not so lucky. In a New York of flashy discotheques, swanky bachelor  pads, and the occasional dark alley, Hammer deals with doctors and drug  addicts, hippie chicks and hit men, meeting changing times with his  timeless brand of violent vengeance.

Originally begun and  outlined by Spillane in the mid-sixties, and expertly completed by his  longtime collaborator Max Allan Collins, The Big Bang is vintage  Mike Hammer on acid—literally. Hammer and his beautiful, deadly partner  Velda take on the narcotics racket in New York, just as the streets have  dried up and rumors run rampant of a massive heroin shipment due any  day.

On the other hand, The Big Bang was a complete disaster. I wanted to read a Mickey Spillane but I made the mistake of choosing this one. This one was started by Spillane in the Sixties and finished by Max Allan Collins a few years ago. It was a stupid choice to begin with. How could I ever get the feel for Spillane if I didn't know what was Spillane and what was his not-quite-ghost writer. The more I read, the more it drove me crazy. How much of this is Spillane and how much of this is Collins? And how much of this is Collins get his jollies writing things that he would not get away with saying in one of his own novels?

Life's too short! DNF after a few chapters. I'm looking for one that is 100% Spillane; they are hard to come by on audio.

 

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The High Window c. 1942
by Raymond Chandler (read by Scott Brick)

 

Publisher's Summary
 
A  wealthy Pasadena widow with a mean streak, a missing daughter-in-law  with a past, and a gold coin worth a small fortune - the elements don't  quite add up until Marlowe discovers evidence of murder, rape,  blackmail, and the worst kind of human exploitation. 

I like Chandler and this one has been in my wish list for a long time now. Before I was able to buy it, Audible lost the rights to it. It was only recently that a new version was recorded and ended up in a sale pile where I could see it (and buy it). Glad I finally got my hands on it.