Kinds Of Love, Kinds Of Death (1966) by Tucker Coe (Donald E Westlake)
Pbk., Signet, 141 p.
Donald Westlake wrote a series of five novels as Tucker Coe. The hero of the books is a disgraced ex-cop who does various jobs in the gray world between the police and the underworld. The hero, Mitch Tobin, is unlike any Westlake hero I have read before. He is not the sardonic killer like Parker nor is he the humorous thief like Dortmunder. Mitch Tobin is a bit morose, he only takes on the job for the mob in this book because he hates that he isn't a cop anymore and his wife has to work at a discount store. He is approached by a slick high-level mob boss and asked to investigate the disappearance of his mistress(along with a good chunk of cash).
There is a lot of procedural stuff here but it is still fun because he is doing an investigation not with the resources of the police force but with some serious gangster pull. A cool twist.
I liked this book. It was by no means his best but it definitely made me want to see where Westlake goes with this character for a few more novels.
No comments:
Post a Comment