A Robert Bloch Two-for-One

By Joe Hilliard

We've taken a couple of looks at the Hard Case Crime line over the course of this column. We've noted their devotion to the distinctive branding they use on their books. The crown and automatic emblazoned in a yellow ribbon, the title bright red against stark white – their spines jump out of the bookshelf like their Gold Medal predecessors. In recent months, they have taken on a different 50s model, the Ace Double paperback. Spanning science fiction, western and mystery, the original brightly colored Aces with their twin titles and red topped spines, are a real pleasure to behold. Names like Pete Rabe and Lionel White in the mysteries, Philip K. Dick in the science fiction, Louis Trimble in the westerns grace these books. They're so beautiful, I've been known to get stuck hours just looking at them. But these quick novels also deliver fast furious reads. They encapsulate the best of 50s mass-produced fiction production.

In April 2008, Hard Case Crime released a twofer Robert Bloch that looks a lot like those old Ace Doubles. There have been previous attempts to revive the form; I remember picking up Charles Willeford's High Priest of California and Wild Wives in lurid green from Re/Search Publications in the late-80s. Here, Hard Case gets it right. The choice of Bloch as the first double foray is inspired. Much like his contemporary Frederic Brown, Bloch is an author who trampled over genre lines. Science fiction. Horror. And mystery. And like Brown, while not his most famous work, it's these hardboiled novels where you see some of Bloch's strongest writing. Hard Case pulls two of Bloch's earliest novels together here, two short mystery gems. What's particularly interesting is their view of contemporary 1950s Los Angeles and Hollywood. It's not the poetic Los Angeles of Raymond Chandler. It's not the more picaresque Los Angeles of Ross MacDonald. It's not the depraved cynicism of Nathanael West. It's a strange amalgamation of all of these, dipped in Bloch's own breezy, self-deprecating manner.

"All I'd actually learned today was that it isn't safe to direct strangers to the LaBrea Tar Pits." – Shooting Star

In Shooting Star Mark Clayburn, an unemployed, one-eyed literary agent and part-time private eye has hit the bottom. His career is in shambles. He has a small office on downtown Los Angeles, about as far from working Hollywood you can go. No money. No one returns his calls. A has been. Until old friend Harry Bannock walks in trying to solve a months old murder of a two-bit cowboy actor mixed up in violence and narcotics. What Clayburn discovers is a nest of Hollywood players more intent on their own livelihood than on the truth. Bloch peppers the book with insights into the Hollywood system of the time and a convoluted mystery where all the suspects keep on turning up dead. The anti-drug message of the novel is particularly strong, but never falls to the level of preaching. It's a quick, deadly mystery that Bloch wraps up nicely. It's not great, but it is really good.

The great got saved for the other half. In Spiderweb, Eddie Haines, an unemployed, two-eyed actor has hit bottom. His career has never started. No money. No one returns his calls. Not even a has been, a never were. Detecting a pattern? Until he meets Professor Otto Hermann, Ph.D. and his psychic racket. Eddie it seems would be the perfect man for his next scheme – that of self-help guru to the wealthy and the famous. What Eddie discovers is a duplicitous world of blackmail and greed, complete with phony psychics and jaundiced players. Eddie finds himself knee deep in murder, blackmail and plans within plans. Only the love of an honest woman offers him a lifeline to get away. This is a really wild, exciting, fun read.

Bloch manages to find redemption and hope in his two protagonists, as beat down as they are. It wasn't what I expected going in, but they work perfectly in the context. It's Hollywood – everyone deserves a happy ending. Check out this twofer.

I can only hope this means that Hard Case will release other doubles later in their run. Shooting Star/Spiderweb is available at bookstores now. They have none listed on their website at the moment, which covers the releases into 2009. Check out their website at http://hardcasecrime.com/, their recent releases have been very strong.

Check out my previous Hard Case Crime reviews: Grifter's Game by Lawrence Block, Fade to Blonde by Max Phillips, and Top of the Heap from Erle Stanley Gardner and Dead Street by Mickey Spillane.

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