14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Funny and suspenseful, February 28, 2006
This review is from: Say It with Bullets (Hard Case Crime) (Mass Market Paperback)
"At the overnight stop in North Platte, Nebraska, Bill Wayne didn't copy the other tourists in the party when they bought postcards to mail to friends. He was running a little low on friends these days. Once he had classed five guys as friends but they had picked up a habit of doing things behind his back, like shooting at it. The only wish-you-were-here postcard he wanted to send them was a picture of a cemetery." -- from Say It With Bullets
Bill Wayne is on a bus tour of the Old West, but he's not in it for the advertised relaxation. Conveniently, the Treasure Trip makes stops in the five cities where his five Army buddies live. At least, they were his buddies until one of them shot him in the back and left him for dead.
Now he's going from city to city (Cheyenne, Salt Lake City, Reno, San Francisco, and Los Angeles) to talk with each of the men (Russ, Ken, Frankie, Cappy, and Domenic) to try and find out who did the shooting. Of course, if the first one doesn't spill, Bill will just have to kill him, and each one in turn until he gets to the bottom of things. A pretty simple plan, really.
It's too bad he didn't take into account pretty blonde tour guide Holly Clark, a girl from his past who is very interested in getting reacquainted. Interested enough to dog his every footstep, and observant enough to eventually put some pieces together.
And if that weren't bad enough, Holly's latest suitor is Cheyenne deputy sheriff Carson Smith, who has taken to following her throughout the tour. How is a man supposed to get anything done in this kind of situation?
Author Richard Powell (A Shot in the Dark and the Andy and Arabella Blake series) is not Dick Powell the actor, but Say It With Bullets would have been an ideal vehicle for the actor in his heyday (see Murder, My Sweet and others). It has a great blend of humor and tension in almost equal amounts (Bill Wayne is a terrific narrator, very self-aware and quick with a quip) that more than makes up for its somewhat predictable conclusion. And the characters all have wonderfully human foibles, including a dash of unexplained jealousy that even the jealous person doesn't quite fathom.
A descriptive taste of each of the cities adds to the experience, and Say It With Bullets is also incredibly fast-paced. In fact, I had intended on it being my current coat-pocket paperback, savoring it intermittently in waiting rooms and in line at the checkout. But Richard Powell's tale, to paraphrase a pop standard, "made me [finish it]. I didn't want to do it. I didn't want to do it...." (My only quibble has to do with its being the fifth reprint in a row to come from the Hard Case Crime archives. I preferred the previous mix of old and new -- even though they're all new to me.)
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I rate this one 5 bullets out of 5, March 11, 2006
This review is from: Say It with Bullets (Hard Case Crime) (Mass Market Paperback)
Hard Case Crime successfully recreates the excitement of a time when print was the primary source of entertainment. The covers, the design, and the engaging stories, take the reader back to a time when crimes were solved by guts, brains, brawn, and the occasional beauty mixed in just for inspiration. I can't wait until the end of the day to escape into the shadows these writers imagined so well in these stories.
Richard Powells "Say it with Bullets" is not only gripping, and entertaining, but the author has a sense of humor that just doesn't quit. I found myself chuckling and laughing out loud as I made my way through the mystery.
Turn off the television and get comfortable for this one. you won't want to put it down.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A True Classic! Just Optioned By Hollywood!, May 30, 2006
This review is from: Say It with Bullets (Hard Case Crime) (Mass Market Paperback)
Say It With Bullets is one of those books mystery lovers have talked about since it first appeared 50 years ago. Because it has been out of print so long, copies were extremely hard to come by, making this one something of a Holy Grail among mystery fans.
Well, now, courtesy of Hard Case Crime, the book is back in a handsome paperback edition. This is a great story of revenge yet told with many humorous touches. Bill Wayne, the avenger of the story, returns to the States to determine which of his army buddies shot him in the back and left him for dead. On a bus tour through the states, he tracks down each of his friends and has his revenge. The only problem is he has to cover his tracks from a nosey sherrif and the tour guide whom he is falling in love with. The tension builds nicely in this one, there are moments of great humour although the novel is not the comic romp it is touted as being, nor does it intend to be. The return of Bullets has already garnered much attention. In fact, Hollywood has just optioned it as a movie. So, don't miss this one. If you're a mystery fan, this one will scratch you right where you itch.
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