Quarry's Choice

I have a lot of memories of the late 1960s and 1970s, and most of those memories are tied to books I read in those years. I discovered Tarzan of the Apes, Doc Savage, the Shadow, and others. Those books became the building blocks of my own writing career. I learned a lot about plot and characterization.Back then I was a sucker for the tough guy hero. In many ways, I still am. Sam Spade and Phillip Marlowe and Robert B Parker’s Spenser were my hard boiled heroes. But I read Mack Bolan and the Destroyer as well as many other series in the plethora that Pinnacle Books put out in those years.I discovered Richard Stark (Donald Westlake) and his anti-hero thief Parker and loved those books. It wasn’t long before I discovered a writer named Max Allan Collins. Al, as he is known to his friends, created two of my favorite hardboiled anti-heroes: a professional thief named Nolan, and a professional hit man named Quarry.In the early books (publication wise, and that will be explained as we go along), Quarry is a truly hard guy, someone who was amoral on the surface, but a guy who had his own rules. He also has a wicked sense of humor, which definitely appealed to the younger me.For a time, Quarry went away and Al went on to write a great many other books. Or many other great books. Those statements are interchangeable. A couple more Quarry books came out a few years later, but it wasn’t until Hard Case Crime came into being that Al’s hit man anti-hero down renewed life—at the expense of other, unsavory people. Now getting a new Quarry is almost a yearly event, and I’m happy about it.And this “renewed” series, Quarry’s life is open for revelation. So far we have seen Quarry’s last hit, his first professional hit, met his ex-wife whose betrayal started our anti-hero down this path, and adventures in between.The latest book is more of the same that longtime readers have seen, but it’s got an interesting twist as well. There are a lot of shenanigans and double-crosses and the Dixie mafia to deal with. Quarry is up to his eyebrows in sudden death, a sex kitten, and southern fried lethal intentions.Quarry’s trademark humor is in play as well as his deadly skill set. But the thing I enjoy the most these days is the way the Al makes those days come alive. Throughout the narrative, music is mentioned and becomes a soundtrack to the story. During different scenes, those songs played through my head. I was at once in my chair reading, and transported back to the 1970s, not only in Quarry’s story, but also bumping up against my own memories.Quarry’s Choice is a compact book that rolls right along, filled with danger and surprises. I enjoyed seeing Quarry in his element in watching the relationship develop with the Broker. I hope Al eventually digs more deeply into the Broker and, eventually, the Broker’s wife. There are still a lot of good stories to tell, and I’m looking forward to them.Now, if only there could be a new Nolan novel…

Quarry is back for his 11th novel. The opening hook this time is that someone tried to kill his boss, The Broker, so Quarry is dispatched to the Mississippi gulf coast to go undercover and execute a retaliatory strike of his own. (This opening gambit does not go very far in establishing any sort of emotional resonance, by the way, since readers of the series know Quarry has never trusted nor even much liked Broker. Their relationship goes south later in the chronology.)The plot mirrors QUARRY IN THE MIDDLE more than a little. Quarry finds himself in a turf war between two men trying to control a small backwater vice operation. You just know within a few chapters that Quarry will eventually have to play both sides against each other—then shoot his way out in the end.I’ve read all the Quarry books and I thought the 10th one, THE WRONG QUARRY, was the best. It had the hardboiled violence and femme fatales readers have come to expect, but at its heart was an interesting mystery with compelling characters. I was hoping it marked a deepening and maturing of the series. QUARRY’S CHOICE represented a return to previous form. It was entertaining enough in its own way, but it lacked the maturity (relatively speaking, at least) of its predecessor.That being said, the story was quick, violent, and had enough plot twists to hold my interest. I really like the character of Luann. I was reading this book by the pool on a Saturday afternoon and was interrupted before I could read the final chapter because I had to host a dinner party. I spent the entire evening debating whether Quarry should kill Luann. On the one hand, she was a complete innocent who was clearly in love with him, but on the other she was also a witness to his murders and a “loose end” that needed to be dealt with. I won’t spoil the ending, but suffice to say I have to give props to any author that can make me care that much about a minor character..Enjoyable but not the best in the series.

Set in the early 70’s, the newest addition to the Quarry saga is one of the earliest, chronologically. Quarry is a hitman whose work is directed by an individual called the Broker. When the Broker narrowly escapes an assassin’s bullet, he hires Quarry to take out the person who has attempted to kill him. Make that ‘putatively attempted’ to kill him. The man is a hard case named Jack Killian who directs the vice operations in Biloxi, MS. His partner, the seemingly kinder/gentler ‘Mr. Woody’ is concerned that Killian is out of control, expanding his business to the Tennessee border (and beyond) and leaving too many dead competitors, hookers, gamblers, local soldiers and tourists in his wake.Quarry arrives in Biloxi and Mr. Woody provides him with a hooker/companion to wile away the hours until he can rub out Killian. The hooker is barely an adult; hence her professional name, Lolita. Her actual name is Luann and as she and Quarry grow closer she reveals to him that Mr. Woody is harsher, cruder and nastier than he seems. Having seen some of Quarry’s work by now, she asks Quarry to kill him.The plot arc is clever. Quarry has the opportunity to dispatch Killian when we are only 60% of the way into the novel. We wonder what will happen next, but we don’t have to wait long to find out.Quarry’s Choice is fast-paced, intense and not for the faint of heart when it comes to sex and violence. Prepare yourself for the blowtorches and ball peen hammers. While not quite as strong as Road to Perdition (how many books are?), this installment would still make an excellent crime film. The period details are interesting (though MAC is quick to point out that it is not a historical novel), as is the Biloxi setting. Yet again we are in the debt of Charles Ardai and Hard Case Crime for bringing us an excellent piece by MAC.Highly recommended.

This is the latest in the series about contract killer Quarry. This time Mr. Collins have placed the story in the 1970s.As usual we meet a very cold hearted contract killer with a background as sniper in the Vietnam War. Quarry is a person that has no problems killing both men and women as long as he gets paid. Somewhere inside him there is the residue of a moral process but it is so deep inside of him that it seldom comes to the surface and interferes in his "job".The Story is about infiltrating the Dixie Mafia and as a result of that kill initially one but as the story progresses there are several more "tasks".It is very well written in the typical hard style that suits the story. The Story flows along very well and the people in the story are believable.The Only problem I have with Quarry is that he never misses a shot no matter how difficult a target and if you want to know how to overcome two armed gangsters if you are naked and the only "weapon" you have is a tiny light bulb, try to remember how Quarry did it!I hope this series continues.

It's HCC so it's going to be a good read.

Always a good read!

Fun read. Hard to put down.