By the Balls: A Novel by Dashiell Loveless (Bowling Alley Murders) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)If only as much effort and thought had gone into the writing of this book as into the design, Ugly Town might really have had something. The covers and illustrations, the intro pages- heck, even the size and weight- are darn near perfect in exactly the retro way they intended. But the writers have a background which includes scripting comics for Dark Horse, and that's how this reads.
It's a meatless tribute to all things hard-boiled, featuring prose written in a spare (much too spare) style. Descriptions are sorely lacking, and the dialogue, while it talks "tough," is un-creative.
There is really only a couple of instances of good dialogue. Here is one: "There's nothing like a mourning widow. And [she] was nothing like a mourning widow. More like a morning window, and I could see right through her." Not classic stuff, but if the rest had at least attempted this style the book could have attained a kind of punny vitality. But no. It doesn't attempt real spoofery, and it certainly is not authentic.
It's like boys playing in sandbox much too vast for them. Descriptions of drinks and cigars give the impression that the authors just wanted to feel naughty, while a scene where the hero talks his way out of being killed by a thug is especially contrived, obvious and amateurish. Other aspects detract as well, but suffice it to say, Red Harvest this is not.
I really can't see true pulp fans being fooled by this, but give it a try... after you've read Chandler and Hammett and James Cain and Paul Cain and Whitfield and Burnett and Daly and Browne and Brown and Huggins and Brackett and Cave and Whittington and Fischer and Ballard and Bellem and Latimer and Martin and MacDonald and Gault and Spicer and Miller and Dewey and Woolrich and Nebel and Gardner and Adams and Davis and Spillane and Kane and Chase and Albert and Halliday and... you see?
There are much better out there. Lots of 'em. Then check back with the authors of this book after they've gotten some practice. Maybe they should check the above list, too.

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