Blood and Thunder [Paperback]

Max Allan Collins (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1996

Journeying to New York to protect a controversial presidential candidate from a death threat, Nate Heller is unable to succeed in his task and confronts the local authorities as well as the political elite during his investigation. Reprint. K.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This time politics absorbs Chicago series shamus Nate Heller, whose adventures (in Carnal Hours, etc.) place him in the middle of the century's most dramatic crimes. It's 1935, and the dogged, skirt-chasing Nate is working as a bodyguard for populist Louisiana loudmouth and political loose cannon, Senator Huey Long. Long is tough and brash, and his lengthy list of enemies includes former employees, the oil industry and anyone ever subjected to one of the verbal shellackings for which he's famous. Trouble is, when the "Kingfish" is shot, his psychotic henchmen open fire with a vengeance, making it hard to tell exactly where the fatal bullet came from. At the urging of Long's widow, herself aglow with thoughts of double indemnity, Nate matches bullets to guns and guns to trigger fingers, all the while playing house with one of Huey's canny concubines. As always, Collins's sense of place and time is unerringly acute, and he happily indulges in re-creating Long's fiery stump style. Although Collins has carved out a mystery subgenre that he occupies nearly alone, he and his detective would be a tough act to follow even if they did have a serious rival or two.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Some think Louisiana governor Huey Long is akin to Hitler and Mussolini, but others believe he's just a good ol' boy trying to help the common man. The president and sole operative of Chicago's A-1 Detective Agency, Nate Heller, doesn't care. His job is to protect Long against an assassination attempt. Despite Heller's best efforts, Long is murdered by a lone gunman, Dr. Carl Weiss. A year later, Heller is summoned back to bayou country at the mutual request of Mrs. Long and her husband's life-insurance carrier. She feels the governor may have been accidentally shot by one of his own trigger-happy bodyguards. If so, the insurance company would not be able to claim its homicide exclusion. Both Mrs. Long and the insurers have agreed to abide by Heller's independent investigation. What Heller discovers is a mild-mannered ear, nose, and throat specialist in Dr. Weiss whose family integrity may have been undermined by the ruthless, manipulative Long. Another excellent historical mystery in which Collins provides a plausible "alternative" solution to real-life crime. Highly recommended. Wes Lukowsky --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Signet (September 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451179765
• ISBN-13: 978-0451179760
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,189,486 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Max Allan Collins is a New York Times bestselling author of original mysteries, a Shamus award winner and an experienced author of movie adaptions and tie-in novels. His graphic novel ROAD TO PERDITION was made into a major motion picture by Tom Hank's production company, Playtone.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderfully entertaining historical fiction, May 19, 2003

By 

Lawrence Meklemburg (Solon, OH United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Blood and Thunder (Hardcover)

Most of the Nate Heller books are good. This one is very good. I enjoy the characters and the ties to history. Basically, a Forrest Gump/Spencer type of read.

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nate Heller tries to stop Huey Long from being killed., May 16, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Blood and Thunder (Paperback)

It was an excellent book. A little bit too much language. It got crazy on pg. 140 (read that page). It had a whole bunch of explosive sex. And a whole lot of bloodshed.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wonderfully Diverting, March 13, 2011

By 

Athanasius (NYC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Blood and Thunder (Paperback)

I'm a years-long fan of Max Allan Collins' Nathan Heller novels. I can't and won't place Collins in the same league as Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, and Ross Macdonald, but I love the way he melds actual historical personages and events with fictional ones; wonderfully imagined and executed.

My only objection to these novels pertains to Heller's gratuitous and tiresome sexcapades. I'm not a randy teenage boy, and I would prefer not to be distracted by the jejune and irrelevant. Also, there are a couple of issues specific to "Blood and Thunder". On page 70: "There was no time to bathe; I threw some cold water on my face, quickly shaved, nicking myself a couple times, threw my things in my valise, got into the white suit, snugged on my Panama. Within three minutes of Seymour's call, I was at Alice Jean's room, knocking." Bushwa. Also the fight described on page 305 is poorly choreographed and described. While tied to a chair, Heller slams forward into one thug, then rams backward into another. Really? Moreover, Collins suffers from amnesia when writing this section. Although the chair to which Heller had been bound was broken to pieces, Collins makes clear that Heller's hands are still tied behind his back. Yet we read on page 308 that Heller lost his balance "and fell back splatteringly into the water, arms waving." Hmmm.

I'm harsh, I know. Still, I'm happy to acknowledge that Heller's adventures make for enjoyable reads.