Nothing Burns in Hell [Mass Market Paperback]

Philip Jose Farmer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 15, 1999

This one is for fans of Quentin Tarantino and of the ever-present gratuitous violence of Robert Altman. It is a direct descendant of Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer and the mystery action pulps epitomized by Black Mask. Philip José Farmer, now one of the great living SF writers, who has published many varieties of pulp fiction, who has written novels of Tarzan, Doc Savage, and Oz, now turns his hand to the detective novel, with colorful, violent results.

A self-obsessed private detective married to a sincere wiccan is hired to witness an illegal transfer of money in a rainy cemetery that goes bloody wrong. Chasing the bad guys, he ends up the prisoner of a grusome threesome in their Dogpatchy cabin in the woods. His escape involves nudity, blood, death, and a terrible snapping turtle.

That's how the mystery begins, leading him through all the levels of Peoria society, geography, and history. Absurdly funny things happen continually in the peripheral vision of the story. No violence is left out. Greed, venality and hatred are unleashed. Unpleasant family history is brought to light. All the sex is offstage. The body count mounts steadily, with occasional mutilations. Nothing Burns in Hell is pulp fiction at its most gorgeously excessive.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

The popular sf writer (World of Tiers, St. Martin's, 1996) tries his hand at mystery?with spectacular results. Tom Corbie, a former LAPD detective turned private investigator in Peoria, protects a mysterious woman while she makes a blackmail payment. The transfer becomes violent, the woman disappears, and Corbie is held captive by three dangerously stupid thieves. Just as he seems clear of that case, Peoria's richest man asks him to investigate his son's opportunistic and spendthrift new wife. Intense action, Corbie's in-your-face attitude and Wiccan wife, old-money family secrets, and off-the-track characters make this a joy to read.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

After an extended prologue in which Tom Corbie, Peoria's most marginal p.i., takes $1,000 for backing up an unidentified client who's making a questionable payoff in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night--and then Corbie ends up getting held prisoner by a pair of backwoods lowlifes and their fearsome shared wife--Farmer gets down to semi-serious business. Simon Grettirson Alliger, the moneybags of Peoria's first family, wants a thorough, nasty background check on Diana Alliger, the new daughter-in-law he's convinced is fouling his son Roger's nest. Simon's already edgy because he's barely survived a recent attack by bees, and he fears his allergies would make any encore his last; his wife Alexandra suffers from asthma and a dozen other life-threatening conditions; and his mother Faith, though still sprightly at 92, obviously isn't long for this world. All will die, colorfully, with an escort of several others, and Corbie will end up with a lot more wear on him than any fledgling shamus since Harry Angel. And, yes, in case you were worried, Corbie's anonymous first client will make a notable reentry at just the right moment. Science-fiction veteran Farmer crosses a pair of plots from Raymond Chandler and Rex Stout with a hundred names--Sheridan Mutts, Lemangelo Elseed, Artemis Moondeer--from the Crazytown White Pages to produce some high-spirited, pro forma pulp aimed at readers who wonder how Indiana Jones would've worked as a private eye. -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books; Reprint edition (November 15, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812564952
• ISBN-13: 978-0812564952
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #383,134 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Quirky blend of humor, violence and noir, August 11, 2001

By 

James L. Roberts "Jim Roberts" (Liberty, MO USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Nothing Burns in Hell (Hardcover)

There's shooting, there's cutting, there's treachery, there's a snapping turtle used as a defensive weapon. And then, the violence begins.

Tom Corbie is a private investigator plying his trade on the mean streets of (ahem) Peoria, Illinois. When a simple assignment to backup another operative on a payoff at a cemetery results in gunplay, Corbie finds himself drawn into a circle of escalating mayhem, violence, intrigue and murder.

Corbie's character is unique in the genre. He's married to a practicing Wiccan and carries enough literary references in his head to earn a doctorate degree. While he shoots well, he prefers to talk his way out of most bad situations.

Farmer loves his hometown of Peoria and gleefully presents it and its history to us, warts and all. He also flits in unique philosophical and metaphysical observations while detailing how to arm oneself when slipping into a marshy area to do battle with in-bred hooligans.

NOTHING BURNS IN HELL is a fine example of a dying genre -- hard-boiled pulp fiction. Recommended!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hilarious, mixed up tale, November 27, 2001

By 

"chanella" (Canberra, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nothing Burns in Hell (Hardcover)

Tom Corbie is a private investigator, desperate to make it, picks up a simple assignment to backup another operative on a payoff at a cemetery results in gunplay.

Corbie finds himself drawn into a circle of escalating mayhem, violence, intrigue and murder. The snapping turtle, and his way of talking his way out of things rather than shooting it out.

Laugh your way through this book at times feeling sympathetic for our hero. Enjoyable book to get out of a hectic day at the office.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fast, Fun and very violent, November 6, 2000

By 

Keith Parker (UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nothing Burns in Hell (Mass Market Paperback)

PJF's foray into the realms of pulp fiction is a blast. Away from his normal genre Phil proves he is a very talented writer. Loads of weirdly named characters and some great funny lines fill this book. The plot is labyrinthine but somehow very simple. Phil manages to insert a few ideas which are normally present in his science fiction and fantasy novels... a wiccan, a femme fatale and some deformed humans. Be warned though the book is very light hearted and tongue in cheek it still has one of the most violent scenes ever in a book Buy it. read it and enjoy it