Customer Reviews

Fugitive Pigeon

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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!

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.