Customer Reviews

THE FAR CRY.

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THE FAR CRY was first published in 1951, and is considered one of Fredric Brown's best mystery novels, which is saying something indeed, considering how many great ones he penned. Slightly different from his famous "Ed and Am Hunter" series of novels about a uncle and nephew team of Private Eyes, THE FAR CRY is more of a downbeat noir type of thriller, dwelling as it does on the main character's growing depression regarding his own marriage and career, coupled with a burgeoning obsession on his part with the mystery surrounding an 8 year old murder of a girl he never knew, but whom he has become compulsively attracted to.

George Weaver is a middle aged Kansas City real estate man, unhappily married, father of two, and recovering from a nervous breakdown. His doctor recommends a summer of peace and relaxation, away from his business and family concerns. To achieve this he rents a small primitive house a few miles outside of Taos, New Mexico. The only problem is that the same house was once the scene of a grisly murder. Eight years previously a young woman named Jenny Ames had come to meet a man who she thought wished to marry her. Instead the same man, an aspiring artist named Nelson, killed Jenny with a kitchen knife and then buried her body a quarter mile from the house, the very house that Weaver is now renting.

Try as he might, Weaver can not get the events of 8 years previous out of his mind. He begins to investigate the murder and the mysterious events leading up to it. At first he believes that he will write an article and profit from it, also that investigating it will help detour his thoughts from contemplation of his own unhappy marriage, but as the summer progresses he finds himself more and more obsessed with the young Jenny Ames. To tell any more of the plot would be a spoiler, simply suffice it to say that Brown delivers as usual. I definitely recommend this one for those who like their noir dished up with believable characters and suspense.

It's really sad to see this book out of print, and I hope Black Lizard or another reprint series will consider reviving it. This is a masterpiece of low-key suspense. Frederick Brown uses great subtlety to gradually introduce the mystery and draw the protagonist into it. The murdered woman in the story has a ghost-like presence; but the way she haunts the tale is much more credible than a supernatural tale.

The protagonist is fascinating because he seems so banal. He's no hero, and seemingly no villain, but a man forced by circumstances and finances to endure a bland, lonely, meaningless existence. It is this vacuum of meaning in his life that draws him to be obsessed with this murder victim from the past.

This is one of my all-time favorite mysteries.

Brown's other books are also quite worthwhile, especially MY NAME IS DEATH and THE FABULOUS CLIPJOINT.

An alcoholic, middle-aged businessman takes a summer vaction in a remote part of New Mexico, on the advice of his doctor. George Weaver is recovering from a nervous breakdown brought on by overwork and the tensions of his unhappy marriage. He rents an abandoned house where a murder took place a few years earlier, and is urged by a writer friend to research the unsolved crime and write an article about it for a true crime magazine. What begins as a mild curiosity and the need to keep busy result in Weaver becoming completely obsessed with the case, and the murder victim. He becomes involved with the details of the young woman's tragic death to the point that it takes over his life completely, made worse by his increasingly heavy drinking. He is not pleased to learn that his wife is planning on joining him soon, and makes careful preparations so that she will not find out what he has been up to. In effect, he is having an affair with the memory of the murdered girl. To say more would be to spoil a truly gripping story. The book's readers will find themselves drawn into the strange story of the murder and Weaver's obsession with the same desperate eagerness to investigate that the character feels. One becomes totally involved in the mystery and the potential madness that Weaver risks succumbing to. Brown creates a fascinating mystery and peoples it with quirky but believable characters. The Taos setting and the mountains are vividly described. The geography and landscape become integral parts of the story. Weaver is a very flawed and unhappy man, but Brown makes him interesting and sympathetic enough for readers to identify with his strange quest. This is truly an unforgettable story, and it is surprising that it's not better known. For a compelling, unusual tale that will hold the reader in thrall from beginning to end, I cannot recommend The Far Cry enough.

There are few today who recall author Fredric Brown, and those that do probably are more familiar with his work in science fiction rather than mystery (Among many other works, he was the author of "Arena", a short story that inspired many TV show interpretations, from The Outer Limits to the original Star Trek to Space: 1999).

The Far Cry is my favorite Fredric Brown authored story and one of my favorite crime stories, period. As already mentioned in other reviews, the plot involves George Weaver, an man recovering from a nervous breakdown. He takes up temporary residence in a small New Mexico town and, while there, stumbles upon a years-old mystery involving a "lonely hearts" killer. This mystery proves incredibly engaging to Weaver, and Mr. Brown uses this to paint a picture of a (then) modern man in serious decline. For George Weaver's life is filled with disappointments both large and small and this unsolved murder becomes an obsession. As Weaver's obsession grows, so too -deviously- does the reader's interest. In typical Fredric Brown fashion, the novel's conclusion is equal parts incredible, unexpected, and shattering.

Highly recommended.