It's a lazy, warm day in May and I'm hanging out with the TV on for background noise and a pile of things to read on the table in the corner and in several bags below it, the most recent being from the Book Sale I was at last month down in Hazlet. I've been dipping in and out of them and finally settled on a few that I've been jumping back and forth with and managed to finish a couple. But That's Not All!! I was looking for something in my back room that I could tie in to Super Hero Day on April 28th when I found a bag of Comic Books that I picked up years ago at a Book Sale in South Amboy and forgot about. You might say that this month's selections are a "mixed bag".
Series
Fer-De-Lance - Rex Stout ($5.50/$4.08. copyright 1934, 285 pages, Paperback)
This is the first in Stout's Nero Wolfe series which are narrated by Wolfe's Assistant Archie Goodwin. Wolfe is a Private Detective who is described as being very large, although the word obese is not specifically used, and averse to any physical activity. He spends his time eating whatever meal Fritz the chef makes, drinking beer, seeing to his orchids with his gardener Horstmann and mulling over whatever problem has found it's way to him. That's where Archie comes in - he does all the leg work. Here, they take on a missing person case as a favor to another Detective they've employed from time to time. While Archie is gathering information, the missing person turns up murdered. then things get interesting. They discover a link to another death - a College President has collapsed on a golf course in White Plains - and that link proves it to be another murder. Archie spends a lot of time with the dead man's family and the people in the golfing party (the Barstows and the Kimballs) and dealing with an arrogant District Attorney (Armstrong). Of course, Wolfe figures it all out. Stout has created an interesting scenario that he throws a great twist into which includes the titular creature. He then lets us see the extent to which Wolfe will go to to solve the case and earn his considerable fee. This includes staging a fake kidnapping and setting up another death. The characters are well defined and their personalities come through nicely. The fact that it's set after Archie has been working for Wolfe for over 7 years allows Stout to skip the usual getting acquainted stuff and get right into things. I enjoyed it.
Free Fall - Robert Crais ($7.99/$799, copyright 1993, 288 pages, Paperback)
This is part of Crais' Elvis Cole series. Elvis is a Private Detective in Los Angeles - one of the wise-cracking but serious, tender but tough guys that have become popular. In this one, a young woman named Jennifer Sheridan is worried about her boyfriend Mark Thurman, a Los Angeles cop who's been recently promoted to an elite Robbery-Homicide Unit. She thinks he's gotten involved in something illegal but Elvis thinks he's just cheating on her. He takes the case anyway and goes about gathering information in a relaxed manner until it starts to look like Jennifer might be right after all. He winds up being pressured by Thurman and his partners so he brings in his partner, Joe Pike. They wind up going up against the Eight-Deuce Gang of South Central and the rogue unit of cops while trying to stay one step ahead of being arrested for murder. Crais has a great feel for LA and he puts a lot into his characters. Although his depiction of the relationship between Elvis and Pike is somewhat similar to the one Robert Parker created for Spenser and Hawke there is more of a personal feel to it. I enjoyed it.
Comic Books
As I mentioned earlier, I found a bag of Comic Books that I'd bought at a Book Sale years ago. I'm not sure why I haven't read them until now but that's what happens sometimes, at least to me. I remember being surprised that they had Comics and took advantage of their "$5 a Bag" offer. I wound up jamming in 100 different ones into a paper bag which came out to $.05 for each one. Definitely a good deal. I've spent a few hours sorting through them and they break down like this:
Indies
13 books from Publishers Dark Horse, Wildstorm, Dynamite, and Vertigo with a Cover Price Total of $38.39. Characters include Midnighter, The Boys, and John Constantine but not Hellboy or Sandman.
Marvel
52 books with a Cover Price Total of $173.75. Characters include The Avengers, Black Panther, Captain America, Spiderman, The Punisher, and Captain Britain but, strangely, no X-Men.
DC
35 books with a Cover Price Total of $95.10. Characters include The Justice League, The Justice Society, The Flash, Green Arrow, Superman, Robin, and Nightwing but, again strangely, no Batman.
100 books for a Cover Price Grand Total of $307.24!
I've started to work my way through these but I'm spacing them out, taking my time. I won't be done with them this month but I can say that I'm really enjoying them.
I've got a lot of free time lying in front of me and a lot of books stacked up to fill it. Next month is June and the weather is already teasing a warm summer. Restrictions are being loosened but it still wouldn't hurt to ..
Wash your hands, wear a mask, and ..
Keep Reading.
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