When two hitmen come calling on Canarsie bartender Charlie Poole, he is forced to stand up for himself, and leave Brooklyn, for the first time in his life. Reprint. NYT.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Library Journal
Listen carefully to this story, originally published in 1965, to catch the occasional telltale clues to its age. In this comic crime caper, Charlie Poole works the bar in Canarsie (Brooklyn) for his Mafia-connected Uncle Al, occasionally holding packages for late-night pickup. Suddenly, life gets exciting when two hit men show up to silence Charlie. He manages to escape, but he's on the run, hiding from the organization and at the same time trying to contact the boss to find out what error brought all this upon him. Of course there's a beautiful girl. Nick Sullivan's performance enhances this enjoyable read. Highly recommended.
-Sandy Glover, West Linn P.L., OR
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.
-Sandy Glover, West Linn P.L., OR
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.
About the Author
DONALD E. WESTLAKE has written numerous novels over the past thirty-five years under his own name and pseudonyms, including Richard Stark. Many of his books have been made into movies, including The Hunter, which became the brilliant film noir Point Blank, and the 1999 smash hit Payback. He penned the Hollywood scripts for The Stepfather and The Grifters, which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Screenplay. The winner of three Edgar awards and a Mystery Writers of America Grand Master, Donald E. Westlake was presented with The Eye, the Private Eye Writers of America's Lifetime Achievement Award, at the Shamus Awards. He lives with his wife, Abby Adams, in rural New York State.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of Westlake's First Comic Capers,
By
This review is from: The Fugitive Pigeon (Hardcover)
I'm not 100% sure if this is Westlake's first ever comic caper as am yet to read all his earlier than this work especially novels written under his pen name Allan Marshall. I have been trying to obtain all of Westlake's classic comic capers for a while now, a lot are hard to find, The Fugitive Pigeon is no exception (it was republished in the early 90s but this reprint isn't much easier to find than the 1965 originals). If this isn't Westlake's first comic caper it is very close to it and believe me, it's well worth your time and money.
Just in case you are unfamiliar with the term Comic Caper means, a lot of Westlake's earlier independent storylines were classified with this title by his fans and the media. These books usually have a main character or two who is basically a nice guy/s but not always the most moral or ethical person. This person usually has a sudden monumental hurdle come their way and to achieve their goal or get their normal life back, has to deal with a range of eccentric characters along the way. The majority of these comic capers are crime capers. In The Fugitive Pigeon Charlie Poole is content to do very little with his life. He runs a bar that is a front for drop offs and pick ups by the mafia, something he didn't know when his uncle got the job for him but doesn't really care about either. As long as everyone leaves him alone to run the bar he'll stay out of everyone else's business. So when two thugs from the mafia turn up and give him a card with a black spot on it he has no idea what this means. They explain to him a black spot means he is to be executed for betraying them. Charlie knows he didn't do this and barely makes it out of the bar alive. Since he hasn't really looked after himself his whole life he has no car or any means of living on the run from the mob. Charlie knows his only solution is to find whoever thinks he did something wrong and convince them he didn't so he can get back to running the bar. Only problem is he has no idea what that something is. Along the way of his adventure Charlie happens to be in the wrong places at the wrong time further convincing those who want to end his life he is against them. Throw in his only link to the criminal world, Artie a friend from the past who used to sell drugs when they were at high school together. Artie's beautiful female morning acquaintance Chloe, who drives a car like a rollercoaster, some comical villains and police officers and you've got a very good read. If you haven't already done so check out Westlake's other comic capers. The best four at an absolute masterpiece level are, Smoke, The Spy in the Ointment and a New York Dance (also published as Dancing Aztecs) and Cops and Robbers. Other comic capers also worth checking out are The Busy Body, God Save the Mark, Who Stole Sassi Manoon?, Help I am Being Held Prisoner, Castle in the Air, Enough and High Adventure. Of course you also have to check out Westlake's greatest ever masterpiece The Ax along with his Parker series under his pen name Richard Stark as well!
4.0 out of 5 stars
Homing Pigeon,
By
This review is from: The Fugitive Pigeon (Hardcover)
THE SETUP
At closing time, two mafia thugs enter a bar, with the intention of murdering the bartender Charles Poole. The job had been arranged by Charlies' "Uncle Al", a lower level don. The bar is owned by the mafia and normally operates at just enough profit for Charlie's salary, but is variously used for other purposes. Charlie evades them the thugs, and certain that the "contract" is a mistake, seeks answers. "Uncle Al" refuses to speak to him. Charlie learns that Uncle Al's superior is "Agricola", but Agricola has been freshly murdered when Charlie finds him, and the murder is blamed on Charlie.. Along the way, he teams up with Chloe, with who he develops a romantic interest. THE VERDICT Although no more than light humor,"The Fugitive Pigeon" is a very entertaining, well paced, mystery with a satisfying outcome.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product).
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
