Customer Reviews

Fade to Blonde (Hard Case Crime)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Ray Corson is a wannabe-screenwriter, ex-boxer, and odd job man. Now he's about to get involved in his oddest job yet: protecting ex-porn actress Rebecca LaFontaine from Lance Halliday, pretty-boy mobster, stag film producer, and lye enthusiast.

Max Phillips is the co-founder of the Hard Case Crime imprint, but any publishing house with an eye for the future would have taken on Fade to Blonde. When an author like Phillips -- who usually writes meaningful mainstream fiction like The Artist's Wife and Snakebite Sonnet -- tries his hand at hard-boiled genre fiction, the end result is either going to be a joke or a classic. My wager is on the latter.

Rebecca LaFontaine turns out to be one of the more interesting femmes fatales I've met lately, if only because she's so full of surprises. Just when you think you've got a bead on her, Corson discovers something else about her -- or she confesses it, and this girl just aches to confess things, especially if they're only tangentially related to the truth and will assist in her use of her physical attributes to get her way -- that changes key perceptions about her character. (For another take on this type of sexually manipulative woman in a different setting, and from her own viewpoint, see the abovementioned The Artist's Wife.)

You can tell Phillips is a literary novelist because that little piece of story I described at the beginning is just that: the beginning. In the course of Corson's travels, he comes across more people and gets himself involved in more difficult situations than should be able to fit in these 220-odd pages. What keeps Fade to Blonde from being 500 pages is Phillips' economy with words (I'll skip the Hemingway reference, though, if you don't mind). This keeps the story moving because there are often two or more things going on at once; even when Ray is just sitting on a stool in a restaurant -- or holding one of Rebecca's marketable breasts in his hand -- dialogue (and often money) is being exchanged that moves the plot forward.

Everything eventually comes together, though in a typical "mystery" ending, where Corson discovers the mysterious thread that ties all the information together. In the end, when he goes back to his previous way of life, it's a little disappointing, but you know that he isn't likely to keep minding his own business for long. Fade to Blonde may be a little high-toned for the average pulp aficionado, but those who appreciate it will enjoy Phillips' depth of characterization and especially his ability to stick to the rules of the genre while giving it his own stamp of intellect.

So, I picked up the first pair of Hard Case Crime novels (this and Block's Grifter's Game), expecting a good read. Let me tell you, brothers and sisters, I more than got it.

This is a fast read, a white knuckle story of gangsters, hoods and a femme fatale who all suck the loner/outsider protagonist into a tough underworld. It is a trip to hell.

One of the main strengths of the novel is its author's voice, who brings something of a modern sensibility to material that could otherwise be dated. Still, the book has a vintage feel to it. The piece works and works well. If you like James Ellroy's Bop Quartet, you'll probably dig this.

When I was a child I used to sneak and read my father's pulp novels. Max Phillips has written a book that can stand in with the best of them. The hero, Ray a would be writer, has had a knock around life. He's a tough guy who doesn't mind doing what needs to be done but only if it squares with his personal code of honor. Rebecca LaFontaine is one of the most interesting heroines I've read about in a very long time. She's got so many sides to her character and all are complicated. The more Ray learns about her, the more he wants to know.

The side characters are all what you'd expect from a 1950s crime novel. There are gangsters, small time hoods, wise cracking girl Fridays, world weary loyal friends and of course, stooges. All of these characters are written beautifully. None of this is cliched or fake. I kept looking at the copyright page to find the orignial publication date and was amazed to find that this is a newly published original novel. THis is an exciting book that never lets up the suspense. You will be shocked by the ending. It's the last think you'd suspect. I had a lot of fun reading Fade to Blonde and I'm going to look for more in this series.

Set in a Hollywood of second-raters and also-rans (think Horace McCoy)and narrated by a sensitive tough guy not adverse to horrific violence (think Dashiell Hammett), Fade To Blonde moves like lightning yet never stinges on character or place, and the plotting is a marvel of clarity. It's impossible to finish this book and not want to stock up on Max Phillips and Hard Case Crime.

If the names John D. MacDonald, Cornell Woolrich, Mickey Spillane, Jim Thompson, James M. Cain, Fredric Brown, David Goodis, and Dan J. Marlowe mean nothing to you, then Fade To Blonde is not your cup of tea. BUT if hearing these names make your fingers twitch to clutch a slim, dog-eared, brittle paperback with a colorful, lurid cover, then Hard Case Crime publishers has your poison and Fade To Blonde is a healthy dose. Hard Case Crime burst on the scene in September 2004 with the goal of bringing back the classic days of pulp, paperback originals. Every month there are 2 offerings: A classic (and I do mean classic) novel from the past and a new book from the current torch bearers. Fade To Blonde is the brightest star so far in this excellent line. The action is tough, gritty. The plotting tight and sharp enough to shave with. And Mr. Philips captures the tone and feel of those classics of yesteryear absolutely flawlessly. The book could well have been written 50 years ago. If you didn't look at the copywrite page, you'd think it had been. The book moves like a rocket. The characters stay with you long after the last line has seared your retinas. It is one of the best crime novels I have ever read. I give it my highest recommendation. All hail Hard Case Crime! And Fade To Blonde. An instant classic.

The story focuses on Ray Corson an ex-soldier, ex-boxer, ex-bodyguard who's a failed screenwriter to boot. He's working as a roofer on a construction site when bombshell Rebecca LaFontaine finds him. LaFontaine needs Corson to protect her from a scorned suitor. What follows is a wild ride through mob-ridden streets of L.A. in the early 50's.

I couldn't put the book down. It's one of the best I've read in years. I ended up buying a total of five copies, for friends and family.

I hope that Max Phillips has another hardboiled crime novel on his plate. I'll be looking for one.

If this novel is any indication I'll be buying a lot of fiction from Hard Case Crime.

Fade to Blonde is certainly exciting to read at times. Phillips is mostly successful with his use of pulp minimalism. A good scene will be replete with that curious blend of mutual, street-smart empathy and utter distrust between characters that you only seen in noir. And like all good noir characters, when they get stuck, they let the implications and the innuendo fly.

In trying to trim the fat, Phillips sometimes cuts into the meat of the story. The result is a barely believable plot (even for a neo-noir) that resolves far too quickly. The characterization of the protagonist, Ray Corson, is overly constructed as well: He's apparently a well-read, wannabe screenwriter, ex-boxer, former bum, and current day-worker. But he doesn't read (maybe a newspaper) or write anything of substance throughout the novel. And just because someone can box doesn't mean they excel at jujitsu.

I enjoyed this book, and I would probably read more of Phillips' work because he's very good at snappy dialogue. I prefer to have stronger characters and a more believable plot. It's clear this author has a strong grasp on the genre despite the shortcomings of Fade to Blonde.

We have Ray Corson, ex-boxer, a collection of women and thugs, and reliable friends. After being hired to make someone `go away' preferably using a permanent solution, Ray plugs along learning more about the woman who hired him and the men who want to hurt him.

The built up-moving through the first 70 to 80 pages--is slow, but the writing is good. The chapters are short and clean. We learn more about Ray, but once or twice Phillips's protagonist is a `little' on the spontaneously, brutal side, not that that hurts the book, but the motivation is not fully explained. We don't see enough of his disgust, if not hate.

Ray is still likeable. I'd want him on my side. The writing is good and I'll read more by Phillips.

Set in Hollywood in the early 1950's, the main character in Fade to Blonde is Ray Corson, a failed screenwriter doing roofing and other odd jobs to make ends meet. Enter blonde bombshell Rebecca LaFontaine, a failed actress turned hat check girl, waitress, etc.. who wants to pay Corson to protect her from a scorned boyfriend (porn film producer and minor mob character Lance Halliday). As Corson begins to dig into Halliday's background, he finds more than he bargained for, and the result is a wild ride through an LA of drugs, mobs, and violence. A twist at the end makes this Hard Case Crime offering a welcome addition to the genre.

Brand new publisher Hard Case Crime has hit another winner with the suitably hardboiled FADE TO BLONDE, taking us on a rough ride through the more insalubrious parts of Hollywood. Hard Case Crime co-founder and author Max Phillips has produced a quality mystery to kick-start the label very effectively. Suffice to say, if this nugget is an indicator of the quality to come, then hardboiled readers have found themselves a valuable gold mine.

Ray Corson would like to make it in Hollywood some day as a writer, but in the meantime is willing to do just about any job to bring money in and food on his table. He's tiling a roof one day when the beautiful Rebecca LaFontaine approaches him with a plea to help her get rid of Lance Halliday, who has threatened her after their relationship went sour.

It's not a lot to start with but, as I said, Corson is prepared to do just about anything and the chance to help a beautiful woman sounds like a pretty good deal to him. So just how far will Ray go to help a beautiful woman? It initially leads him is into the grim underbelly of the Hollywood scene, crowded with gangsters, porn producing pretty boys, sleazy women and failed actors and he takes it further by working as an enforcer for a drug-dealing gangster.

Starting off with few leads - and those that he has only insubstantial - Corson stampedes his way through the rough underworld with barely a care for his own safety and suffers for it as a consequence. His own recklessness doesn't stop him from delivering a resounding denouement that delivers a superb twist and a satisfying ending.

Max Phillips has captured the mean streets of 1950's L.A. with this hardboiled crime novel that recalls the pulps from the period in which it is set. It's a fast-moving story that passes from high class joints to cheap dives all comfortably filled with an assortment of Hollywood's criminal element.