Frederick Nebel (1903–1967)

Early Nebel, when he was working in a style very similar to Black Mask's most popular writer, the stolidly awful Carroll John Daly. The dialogue rivals Daly's for sheer clunkiness, especially when a female character breaks into sobbing hysterics: "No--no! I won't! You can beat me! You--can--beat--me! I won't tell! Oh-o-o-o!..." But, unlike Daly, Nebel could write page-turning action scenes that were quite entertaining despite the unimaginativeness of these stories. I would even venture to say that, with the exception of Dashiell Hammett (see "The Gutting of Couffignal" and "The Scorched Face"), none of the other pulp detective authors could write a shootout or a chase scene as well as Nebel.

But then there are the really, really nasty anti-Italian slurs to contend with. I'm vehemently opposed to cancel culture, but my intent here is not to "cancel" Nebel: simply to let you know what you're getting. Mystery writer Michael Grost rightly observes that "Raw Law," the first story in this collection, "is among the more offensively racist works in pulp fiction history." Even the most hard-bitten reader will wince a time or two, and I'm not exaggerating. The politically correct scolds who have waged a futile campaign against the work of H.P. Lovecraft would have a field day with Nebel, if only they were aware of him. (They aren't, because they haven't read widely enough.) Examining the author's photograph, looking at the long, sneering face and domed forehead, it is of course impossible to determine the origin of his prejudice. A general arrogance is evident, and one wonders if Nebel ever expressed his racial views beyond the safe confines of the printed page. Hopefully it got him punched a time or two, if so.

In 2007, the first five of these stories were published back to back (in The Black Lizard Big Book of Pulps) as The Crimes of Richmond City, a kind-of novel. Given their general saminess, however, I wouldn't recommend reading them as a novel; there's nothing resembling suspense or plot development, just cops versus robbers and/or corrupt politicians in story after story. They work better as individual pieces, and are fun in a limited sort of way when you're in the mood for something like Hammett's Red Harvest or Raoul Whitfield's Green Ice. Nebel became a better, more fully rounded writer in time, and the later MacBride & Kennedy stories are among the high points of his career.… (mehr)

Solid if unremarkable collection of stories by first-generation hardboiled crime author Frederick Nebel, who was no Dashiell Hammett or Raymond Chandler but knew how to write a fast-moving action yarn. These tales, featuring New York private eye Donny Donahue, are packed with stolen diamonds, gunplay and tough-guy dialogue which sounds fairly realistic next to that of some of Nebel's peers (like Raoul Whitfield). Not quite as good as the Kennedy & MacBride stories also penned by Nebel (the best of these, "Winter Kill," appeared in Ron Goulart's indispensable pulp anthology The Hardboiled Dicks), but still entertaining. My only real complaint about Black Mask Online's 2005 reissue of this anthology is the apparent lack of proofreading; the numerous typos were annoying and occasionally rendered a sentence incomprehensible.

My rating: three and a half stars for the stories; one star for the poor editing and formatting.… (mehr)