Customer Reviews

The First Quarry (Hard Case Crime)

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Crime and suspense novelist Max Allan Collins has been writing about a professional hitman codenamed Quarry for forty years. I picked up the first book back in my teens and fell in love with the hard-hitting sparse style and the no-nonsense approach the author has with the character.

Quarry, real name unknown, served in Vietnam and came home to find his wife in bed with someone else. Rather than kill his wife, Quarry killed the guy by kicking the jack out from under the car he was working on. After the trial and the decision to get him off the front page because he was a returning vet, Quarry got recruited and codenamed by a man he knew only as the Broker.

In 2006, Hard Case Crime books gave readers the last book in the series. It was the first new Quarry novel in years. Not only was the book a success, but it created a demand for more Quarry novels and it reignited Collins's passion for the character. Unfortunately, there was that whole business about it being the "last" Quarry novel.

Thankfully, Collins decided to take us back to the other end of the spectrum and deliver THE FIRST QUARRY to Hard Case Crime. The novel details the first actual hit-for-hire that Quarry accepted from the Broker.

The time is 1970. The Vietnam War still rages. Long hair and bell bottoms are still in fashion. Civil Rights movements still fill the news and the streets. No one has a cell phone. And the Mafia still has the toughest crooks on the street.

That last becomes important as the novel progresses.

In the beginning, Quarry is assigned to observe and kill a university professor who's committing adultery every chance he gets. With free love still in the air and AIDS a thing of the future, the professor gets a lot of chances. In fact, his dance card stays so full that Quarry has trouble figuring out a time to punch the guy's dance card once and for all.

I love Collins's first-person narrative in the novel. Quarry is a stone killer even at the outset of his career, but he's packing a lot more one-liners and biting sarcasm this time out. I found myself chuckling and laughing out loud as Collins's showed Quarry responding to an unexpected situation/threat or unleashing a poignant piece of reflection on people and society. I could tell Collins was just having a blast while writing this novel.

And he had fun making Quarry's life difficult, which made the read even more entertaining for me. Every time Quarry thinks he's got a lock on the hit and has a time to take advantage of, a new twist occurs (or a man steps into the room with a pistol - and old noir standby that Raymond Chandler often espoused to beginning writers). I enjoyed watching Quarry scramble like a broken field runner as he had to deal with other women, a crooked private eye looking to make money on a blackmail scheme, a pair of African-American crime hitters, and the Mafia.

The novel is a short read and I consumed it in a couple sittings. The pacing and dialogue just make it impossible to put down. And I was intrigued at each new wrinkle Collins added, kept wondering how Quarry was going to smooth out each one. I wasn't disappointed. Quarry keeps working each problem he has or discovers, and he keeps up the patter to the reader, breaking down that fourth wall till readers will feel they're standing in Quarry's shadow.

THE FIRST QUARRY is one of the best books I've read all year. Short and tight, elegantly paced and plotted, the novel blew me away. I can only hope that since the series has been bookended, that just maybe Collins will dip back into Quarry's life at some point and pull out a few more contracts. THE MIDDLE QUARRY, anyone?

Fans of hardboiled detective fiction shouldn't miss a book in the Hard Case Crime Series. The series releases classics from the past as well as fresh new fiction from today's best writers. THE FIRST QUARRY is a new book from Max Alan Collins. Collins recently released THE LAST QUARRY, a tale about the assassin Quarry's final assignment. In this book, we learn about his first assignment.

Quarry is young and fresh out of Viet Nam . His wife cheated on him, so he left her (after dealing with the other man). The "Broker" offers his a job using the skills he picked up in Viet Nam . Quarry is sent to Iowa to kill a college professor and then to burn the manuscript he's been working on. The assignment gets much more complicated with all the people coming and going from the professor's house, and then the professor's wife shows up.

In a story dealing with adultery, violence and the mob, there is plenty of sex, murder, bad language and plot twists. Collins writes with a quick wit and the fast-paced story is a lot of fun.

Max Collins' "The First Quarry" is hardcore noir at its best! Kudos to "Hard Case Crime" for publishing some of most outstanding hard-boiled crime novels on the market today. Hard Case recreates the spirit of the pulp fiction of the 1940s and '50s. The covers feature original art done in pulp style by artists such as Robert McGinnis and Glen Orbik. The collection includes both hard to find books from the pulp era and new novels. There are seven novels in the author's "Quarry series," which precede this one. I wish Hard Case would republish the earlier books as I would like to read them in order, and the prices for the original publications are sky-high.

Fortunately for me, "The First Quarry" is a good place to start, as this is really a prequel to the later books and concerns professional hit man Quarry's first job. It also contains fascinating background material about him.

Quarry, and that's the only name we are given for our protagonist, is contacted by a mysterious man, the very suave Broker, who offers him a job with his "team" - an "unusual money-making opportunity." The Broker, a sort of middle man in the murder business, had researched Quarry and knows his bio backwards and forwards, including info about his recent stint in Vietnam as a sniper, and his failed marriage. When Quarry returned from the war he found his wife in "flagrante delicto" with a mechanic. He walked out on his wife, and the mechanic, subsequently, had a very serious accident. Anyway, the money is good, Quarry's a pro at the work - after all, he is being offered big bucks for what he did in Nam for free - and he is at a low point in his life. So, of course, he accepts.

Usually the jobs involve a two man team - one man gets the necessary information through "established surveillance techniques." The second man makes the kill - a "surgical strike without any collateral damage." However, on this first job, Quarry is to work alone.

This is a test run, so to speak, and earns him a fifty thousand dollar advance. Not only is he to eliminate the target, a libidinous college professor, but he must find and destroy some documents in the soon-to-be victim's possession. The professor makes a habit of sleeping with his students and as Quarry watches, the girls who parade in and out of the house make for a 3 ring circus. It also makes it very difficult for Quarry to get his quarry alone to do the dirty deed.

As the history behind this complicated kill becomes apparent, I became so hooked that I read the novel in one sitting. Just couldn't put it down. There are many layers to be uncovered here, surprising x-factors, and much action, violence and sex...so be forewarned. I was totally amazed by the denouement.

In contrast to the lurid subject matter, the novel contains some terrific humor. The sarcastic Quarry runs a wry inner dialogue which can be really funny. His obsession with music made me laugh also.

"The First Quarry" was originally published as "The Broker" in 1976 and reprinted by Foul Play Press, 1985, as "Quarry." This is an absolute must read for fans of hard core crime! OUTSTANDING!!!!
Jana Perskie

The Last Quarry (Hard Case Crime)
Angel in Black
True Detective (Frank Nitti Trilogy)

Max Allan Collins is prolific, especially in the area of movie/TV novelizations and novels based on the characters in same. This is one of the few original Collins novels I've read (and I've been reading him for a couple decades). Except for the language being a bit more explicit, the style took me back to the Mike Shayne and Mickey Spillane books I read in the 50s and 60s. If you like that genre (and I do), I would recommend his Quarry novels, but would read this one first. Although it is the latest in the series, the story predates the ones in the other books.

In my opinion, the lowest form of fiction writing is the novelization, followed by the "shared world" genre (e.g., Star Trek novels). For the writer, it is principally a mercenary act, one motivated by the easy sales associated with a movie or TV series and requiring a minimal amount of creativity; after all, the characters and setting are already provided, if not the plot itself. For the reader, no real imagination is required: why imagine what a character looks or sounds like when you already have one given to you?

The reason for this minor rant is Max Allan Collins, who has made a living off such books. Normally, this would give me a negative view of the writer (though many decent authors have done this type of writing), but he has also written his own works as well. One such series features the assassin Quarry. I'd never read any of the Quarry books before, but the most recent one was still a good place to start: The First Quarry deals with the hitman's first paid job.

Quarry fits into the same mold of characters that is most notably depicted by Donald Westlake/Richard Stark's Parker: the cool professional who has little in the way of emotions or conscience. Quarry is not quite the stoic that Parker is, but he comes close. A sniper just returning from Vietnam (the story takes place in December 1970), Quarry has been hired to kill a professor. It's his first job working for the mysterious middleman known as The Broker, who provides a level of insulation between client and killer.

What should be an easy enough task is complicated by a second task that's required: the professor is working on a manuscript that must be destroyed. And though Quarry would like to avoid collateral damage, the professor is usually in the company of a shapely coed. It's just after Christmas, and in the small college town that the professor works, there are so few people that Quarry will have encounters with both the professor and people associated with him. All of which makes an easy job all the tougher.

Like most of the novels in the Hard Case Crime series of books, this novel is short and tersely written, reminiscent of the paperback mysteries of the 1950s and 1960s, the type of novels that authors like Lawrence Block, John MacDonald and Donald Westlake got their starts with. I typically enjoy that lean style of writing (I'm a fan of all those authors), and Collins does a first-rate job with this book. So the lesson is: even if the author writes potboiler novelizations, that doesn't mean he can't write other, better books as well. It may not always be the case, but with Collins, it is.

Quarry's First fills in the back story on the Vietnam vet, ex hit-man, Quarry, as he returns home, is betrayed by his wife, and then is approached to become a hit man. It then characterizes his first job. And it is a lot tougher job than it first looks.

The plotting is excellent. There are several surprises, and Collins' dead pan prose is as crisp as it has ever been. He fills in just enough character detail to keep the players believable, but not so much it crowds out a crackling fast plot. The result is a true example of the cliche, a page turner. This book really does turn it's own pages and I was disappointed when it ended, only because it ended.

The only other person filling in the back story of an intriguing character these days is Philip Kerr's Bernie Gunther series about a German private eye living in the early to mid 20th century. Both writers are great and occasionally brilliant. Kerr is the more serious writer with more serious things to say. However, looking back at Collins work in the reflection of Kerr, I really got an appreciation for what a skilled writer can get out of very tightly written prose. The genius of Collins is not just his compelling character or his skillful plot. It's how deeply he can draw the reader in with so few words. He really is a great writer.

If you like this book, be sure to check out his Nate Heller series about a Chicago PI who runs into many historical characters in the early to mid 20th century. Those books are also a treat.

This series hasn't had a clunker yet, and like the Nathan Heller series by Collins, once you open it up you won't put it down until the story's been told. The First Quarry gives us an origin story for our erstwhile hitman anti-hero, and the setting and tone of this outing, set in the late 1960s or early 1970s, is spot on. The crimes and capers in this book move along like an out of control roller coaster, and the narrative crackles with sharp dialogue. An excellent outing for Max Allan Collins.

This is actually the first of the Quarry series I read. I enjoyed it much because it deals with the Vietnam era. I have always been fascinated by this time; maybe because my dad served. It is a great read and gives good detail. I always like to know where a character came from and find out how they were in the beginning of their "career". In any event this book delivers through every page and it is a whirlwind of a read. How would you feel in a situation like this one? You come home and find your woman with another man. He offs the guy and then is hired by some unknown which brings him to his life as a hitman. Very fun and exciting. I want to read more. All the titles I have liked very much by Hard Case Crime. It usually is narrated like a Dragnet episode and that is how I like my crime novels. They never leave detail out and as if you are right there smelling smoke or perfume and any other emotion you may feel in situations. Enjoy a new beginning for an old character. Buy this book; you won't be disappointed.

C Max Allan Collins' professional hitman Quarry is one of the most original creation in writing. Quarry is almost as tough as the writing. If this is your first Quarry book, you are in for a treat. Read it, and see why the old kings are the best.

I love Lawrence Block's Hit Man series featuring John Keller. For something completely different (but structurally similar), try Max Allan Collins' Quarry series. Both Quarry and Keller receive their assassination assignments through intermediaries and then adapt to circumstances on the ground. Quarry, however, is no stamp collector. He's a Vietnam vet approached by an intermediary for some serious wet work. He's young, feisty and not in the habit of taking prisoners. The First Quarry tells of his initial recruitment and his handling of a case in Iowa City, where he is asked to kill an arrogant, philandering creative writing professor. The time is 1970 and the tight toreador pants illustrated on the cover are straight out of a key scene in the novel.

The professor has made a nasty set of mistakes. In addition to hitting on his students and being serially unfaithful to his wife, he has recently become involved with the daughter of a Chicago mob boss. When he's not in bed with her (or sprawled across the living room furniture), he's eliciting information from her concerning her father, information which he plans to use in a non-fiction novel. The mob boss wants him erased and he also wants his manuscript destroyed.

As Quarry pursues his mission he encounters a PI hired by the professor's wife, then a pair of black crooks from Chicago whose boss is contending with the previously mentioned mob boss for control of drug turf. What's an assassin to do? Hint: not leave loose ends. Along the way he has some serious sexual encounters, eats a serious number of slim jims and twinkies and makes serious use of an assortment of weapons.

If your taste runs to pulpy, sexy, violent fare, this is a don't miss. Collins is an old pro and having lived in Iowa himself he knows how to make it scary. Highly recommended.