Customer Reviews

Nothing Burns in Hell

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

 

 

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!

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.

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

What Farmer has done is to stage a complex mystery along the lines of Raymond Chandler's BIG SLEEP in the pocket universe of Peoria, Illinois, where he has lived most of his 80-odd years. There is a lot of deliberate humor, and it seems clear that a number of the characters are real denizens of Peoria, depicted with their permission. As for plot, a private detective gets mixed up with one of the wealthiest families of Peoria, and finds himself matched against a ruthless murderer who will stop at nothing to exterminate the whole family. Farmer has deliberately and successfully striven for a level of continuous action matching the pulp detective fiction of the 1930s. About the novel's only failing is a final summing up that (as in THE BIG SLEEP) makes little sense and leaves more loose ends than a mop, and I suspect this is Farmer's deliberate choice.

Hopefully Farmer will write more books about the dark side of Peoria. This is a hillarious, action-packed, witty book, filled with the bizarre Farmerian characters that his readers have come to expect. It's apparent that Farmer has created an ingenious Peoria geneaology just as complex as his intriguing Wold Newton family (the latter including Tarzan, Doc Savage, Sherlock Holmes, and Captain Nemo, amongst many others), which I would love to see developed in future books. Buy this book!

Phillip Farmer's "Nothing Burns in Hell" is a fresh, quickly paced mystery/suspence thriller that has the feel of an old fashioned film noir. This is one part "Pulp Fiction," One part "Deliverance", and one part "Sherlock Holmes." Filled with imagination and colorful characters. A classic!

PJF said that before he died he wanted to write a Tarzan novel and a Detective Noir novel. We should all be grateful that he was able to do both. Though this is not a 'true' noir, Farmer does a great job of developing the characters and the mystery, and bringing it to a satisfying denouement.

Why isn't it a noir?? First of all, it seems to always be sunny, and most of the action happens in and around a rich guys mansion. Second, his damsel in 'distress' is really a ninety-two year old ex-flapper who spent the twenties in Paris. Third, it's set in Peoria, Peoria!!!!. Fourth, he's married and faithful. Fifth, he really doesn't have a great wit, though he does have a knowledge base that would get him on Jeopardy. Enough said.

I'm glad that Farmer seems to have spent many happy years in Peoria and that he has a good feel for the character (though we never really see the "unseemly" side) and history of the city; but it doesn't play in a detective noir and therefore weakens the book.

As to the story, it has all the twists and turns you would want except that the people are so cliched that he missed the following: dwarf, midget, clown, police or politician on the take, mean black (either criminal, pimp, pro-athlete or drug dealer), latino (either criminal, pimp, gang member or drug dealer), jewish lawyer, doctor, judge or accountant, italian mafia don or enforcer, yakuza or asian mafia, russian mafia.

Though in the end, it's a fun read for those of us who have read his Sci-Fi for years.

I liked this book a lot. I thought it was really funny. I also liked the semi-complex plot.

I love books, I read almost any story, not all are good. However most are interesting or informative. This one is something else? In the first few pages your introduced to 8 different characters with nonsensical names: Mister Katzinwinter, Mimi Rootwell, Glinna Heithbarn, Simon Grettison Alliger, Sheridan Mutts, Selinda Tuneball, Cindi Wickling and our hero whose name is given as he answers the telephone....Alexander Bell. Now this is the high point of the adventure. Our 80 year old author quickly drops the story to looking up at the bottom side of confusion. If your an incurable insomniac, purchase this book. Miracles do happen and it should put you to sleep. In all other cases try last weeks newspaper. If I could grade with less then a star, I certainly would.

On the inside of the dust jacket, the publishers say this book should be a good read for fans of Quentin Tarantino. It is a BIG lie. The publishers must have owed this author a favor. This book is just not good.

However, having said that, I am not upset I spent my time reading it. If you like crime-noir, read Ellroy. But, if you have this book, and have to spend a few hours on a plane or waiting to be picked for jury duty, then give it a try.