Saguaro Riptide [Paperback]

Norman Partridge (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 1997

Welcome to the Saguaro Riptide Motel... It's a seedy little surf joint in Arizona where the not-so-elite meet-for the biggest disharmonic convergence since the invention of gunpower. Ex-boxing champ Jack "Battle-ax" Baddalach will be there. So will Muslim hit man Woodrow Saad Muhammad. Sheriff Wyetta Earp is due as well, she of the black belt and bad manners. And Major Kate Benteen, a bikini-clad war hero who was once an Olumpic diver, is in room 23. Between them, they've got lots of fingers in a two-million-dollar mafia pie. Everyone wants the cash. Everyone's got a gun. And not even a guest appearance by a shotgun-toting Elvis impersonator will keep things from getting ugly...

Product Details

• Paperback: 244 pages
• Publisher: Berkley (May 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425156990
• ISBN-13: 978-0425156995
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,275,985 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Drive-In Seduction, October 26, 2001

By 

"apricotjones" (Fredericksburg Va) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Saguaro Riptide (Paperback)

To anyone suggesting that the Baddalach novels are breezy
and insufficient is to completely miss the point of Norman
Partridge's work.
The two Jack Baddalach novels of Mr. Partridge represent
a very particular type of story for particular type people, namely
those people who love b-films, classic monster movies, surf music
and women in leather. Partridge uses the icons of the Atomic Age
to give SAGUARO RIPTIDE a resonance and power, and like any
highly-skilled, original writer, his references and in-jokes give
the learned, film-literate reader some of the best Drive-In Fiction
since Joe Lansdale.
Both Baddalach novels, including the TEN-OUNCE SIESTA,
are fast-moving, unpretentious studies of criminals, killers, and
cult leaders, in a world of violence and death. Partridge funnels
his series character, boxer Baddalch, through a world of surreal
b-movie iconography, as anything can and does happen at any
moment; all the while, Partridge displays his absolute knowledge and
love for movies, monsters, and tough crime novels, compressed
into Partridge's distinct and completely original novels. When you
read Partridge, you read a lifetime of Partridge's most-cherished
icons all-starring their way through his fiction. Two excellent reads,
and a pure festival for anyone who dreams in Technicolor.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Comic noir caper in the Southwest desert., August 11, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Saguaro Riptide (Paperback)

Are you a fan of the breezy side of Elmore Leonard or Ross Thomas? Check out this original by newcomer Norman Partridge. Jack Baddalach is a decent fellow and professional boxer, who is asked to hang up his gloves and go to work for the local Vegas don. His first job? Track down a missing $2 million of the Mob's money. Jack's search leads him to a showdown at the Saquaro Riptide motel and its unlikely mix of ex-surfers, retired SEALS, crazy women (both straight and gay) and desert rats. Dark, macho and very, very funny

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Ripping Good Read, June 26, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Saguaro Riptide (Paperback)

Norman Partridge's sophomore effort bears a great deal in common with the "Gold Medal" crime novels of the 1950s-a basic plot, a tough protagonists and lots of vicious secondary characters. It's like reading a Jim Thompson novel with Dick Dale blaring in the background. Jack Baddalach is a boxer who has fought his last prize fight. His only remaining prospect is to take a job for an aging Las Vegas mob boss who wants him to track down a guy vanished with two million dollars of the mob's money. Most of the action takes place in the Saguaro Riptide (so named after a forgettable album of 60s beach music performed by the motel's deceased owner) motel where a cast of quirky characters gathers to shoot it out over the money. Partridge's first novel "Slippin' Into Darkness" had a far more intricate plot, but in many ways this one is a lot more fun. The author bio at the back of the book says Baddalach will be back in Partridge's next book. I can hardly wait. In a word-groovy.