Real Cool Killers [Paperback]

Chester Himes (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 4, 1975

The night's over for Ulysses Galen. It started going bad for the big Greek when a knife was drawn, then there was an axe, then he was being chased and shot at. Now Galen is lying dead in the middle of a Harlem street. But the night's just beginning for detectives Grave Digger Jones and Coffin Ed Johnson. Because they have a smoking gun but it couldn't have killed Galen, and they had a suspect but a gang called the Real Cool Moslems took him. And as patrol cars and search teams descend on the neighbourhood, their case threatens to take a turn for the personal.The Real Cool Killers is loaded with grizzly comedy and with all the raucous, threatening energy of the streets it's set on.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

To detectives Coffin Ed Johnson and Grave Digger Jones, it looked like an open and shut case. After all, Sonny Pickens was still standing over the body of Ulysses Galen, smoking gun hanging from his hand. Only one problem: Sonny's gun was loaded with blanks. There were plenty of people who wanted Galen dead, but who was responsible? Sonny? A jealous husband? Or one of the street toughs from a gang calling themselves the Real Cool Moslems? Coffin Ed and Grave Digger pound the mean streets of 1950s Harlem in search of the Real Cool Killer. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Review

He belongs with those great demented realists ... whose writing pitilessly exposes the ridiculousness of the human condition --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Signet (March 4, 1975)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451063589
• ISBN-13: 978-0451063588
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,555,755 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Chester's Best, September 28, 2003

By 

J. D Suggs (Atlanta, Georgia United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Real Cool Killers (Hardcover)

Chester Himes stands a bit apart- and perhaps a bit above- most of the mid-century crime and suspense novelists that this re-issue series collects. The action and the energy level are the equal of any writer in the genre, and for pure readability he's one of the most entertaining. But there is clearly some valid literary intent here as well, and as a result bookstores have never been quite sure where to place the few novels he wrote about Coffin Ed Johnson and Gravedigger Jones.

Himes' background as a black ex-convict (and eventual expatriate) add to his interesting perspective as he tries to capture- or, more accurately, caricature- the violence and the "comic chaos" (his phrase) of the Harlem Renaissance. Coffin Ed and Gravedigger are two ruthless detectives caught between their own people and the white law that employs them; they really don't fit into any group other than themselves. They are outsiders who believe strongly in order and in the guns they carry, but are often conflicted, and occasionally even divided.

This is probably the best and the tightest of Himes' stories with these characters; it is a fabulous read and one I will return to often over the years. The world Himes conjures is savage and disturbing, and the characters are eccentric to the point of being circus freaks, but are always believable and compelling. This is the kind of book that will leave you trying to describe scenes to your friends.

Coffin Ed and Gravedigger may be the greatest individual creations of a very rich genre. I'd say start here.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Harlem Noir, July 7, 2004

By 

Thomas Stamper (Orlando, FL) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Real Cool Killers (Paperback)

These mid-century crime novels are a favorite genre of mine, but I didn't know much about Chester Himes before picking this one up. The mystery itself is interesting but secondary in importance to the setting of Harlem and the many characters that live there. Himes has a great style and he uses dialect just enough to give us a sense of setting.

Gravedigger Jones and Coffin Johnson have names that sound like a couple of cops that don't mind putting the occasional criminal under the grass -- and they do. They're introduced shortly after the opening murder and they prove themselves immediately tough and competent.

Gravedigger and Coffin learn that the mystery goes deeper than one shooting. (It usually does in these kinds of novels). What's interesting is the way the people of Harlem respects these black cops, but still don't trust them. Their ability is even respected by the white cops that don't mind uttering the frequent racial slur towards the casual citizenry. Gravedigger and Coffin are in a world between the white establishment and the everyday people of Harlem. The conflict creates the same kind of tension that Marlowe and Spade have with the regular police.

You can also give Himes credit for not stereotyping any of the characters black or white. The white cops aren't all corrupt and the blacks aren't all angels. The book made for a quick and interesting getaway.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant, gritty crime fiction, June 13, 2000

By 

Gordon R Cameron - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Real Cool Killers (Paperback)

Based on this book (the only one of his that I have read so far), Himes is an excellent stylist. The prose is tough and muscular, rough-hewn and perfectly suited to the subject matter. In its own way, it equals the prose of Jim Thompson. Himes' view of a morally-decrepit urban setting is the standard stuff of noir, but seen through a kind of angry be-bop lens. Excellent symbolism is present as well, particularly in the character of the old grandmother, who haunts me still.