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Post by ripper on Jan 11, 2021 17:48:29 GMT
Crow 8: A Good Day by James W. Marvin (Corgi 1982)
Blurb:
“Know what Crow used to say about livin’ by you guns? Said it made him a kind of alchemist. Said he was the first man in history to turn lead into gold. Yeah. Meanest son of a bitch ever. Crow.”
No other name. just Crow. Dressed in black from head to toe. The meanest man in the bullet-scarred annals of the West. Nobody ever turned their back on him. A cold voice in the shadows, a vengeful angel of death …
Time was when Crow was visiting Fort Garrett. Took a dislike to a young cavalryman named Jonas … and nearly broke every bone in his body … But while they were making up their minds what to do with Crow, a boy disappeared from the Fort, name of Cyrus Quaid … a sadistic sixteen year-old, hated by the Apaches. So they sent Crow out to find him …
This is the last book in the Crow series, all of which were, I believe, written by Laurence James. The blurb quite neatly summarises the plot. Crow arrives at Fort Garrett, gets in trouble, and is given the job of scout when a group of friendly apaches leave the fort to join some renegades and kidnap a young boy who had attacked a squaw. Crow joins a patrol led by an inexperienced officer whose job it is to rescue the boy.
There is no sense of this being the last book, so I presume it was poor sales that led to the demise of the series rather than a conscious decision by the author.
Each book has a 'prologue' chapter where a publisher from the east extracts a story about Crow from the memories of a grizzled old ex-gunfighter in Abilene. Throughout the series, cars and biplanes are mentioned in these chapters, so I would guess that they are set around 1910 or so, though the main stories are set between 1876 and 1878. As befits a PC main character, Crow has a distinctive appearance and set of weapons. We are told that Crow is tall and lean, and dressed entirely in black except for a yellow cavalry scarf around his neck. He carries a double-barrelled Purdey shotgun with the barrels sawn off to 4 inches and the stock also modified, a Colt Peacemaker and a cut-down cavalry sword. Unlike other PC 'heroes', Crow is not a dead-eye Dick like, say, Heren, rather he relies on the Purdey as his main weapon. He is also one of the coldest and meanest in the PC line-up. It's a toss-up whether Crow or Edge win the competition.
Like other books by Laurence James, there are some memorable characters in this one. Cyrus Quaid is not featured much, but James writes the character very well so that the reader gets an instant dislike of him. There is also quite a surprise about him at the end of the book.
This is not one of James's most sadistic books, but it certainly has its moments, particularly when the cavalry patrol raid an Apache camp searching for Quaid, and we stray quite far into Soldier Blue territory at this point.
The first time I read a Crow book, I disliked the character, but as I bought more in the series, he grew on me, and I wish there had been more. There are references to other PC main characters and also to people that James knew, though he doesn't go over the top with this. One thing that I would have liked to see during the PC era would have been team-ups between characters. Terry Harknett wrote 3 books in which Edge and Adam Steele met, and Neil Hunter has written at least one adventure featuring Bodie and Brand, but I would have loved to see a meeting between, say, Crow and Hawk, or Herne and Breed. I suppose there would have been many obstacles to overcome, different publishers, different writers etc, but it would have been interesting.
To sum up, A Good Day is a typical Crow book, with enough action and violence, plus well-drawn characters. If I were to recommend a place for someone to start reading Crow, it would be with book 1, The Red Hills, though you don't need to have read any of the previous 7 in the series to enjoy this one.
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Post by bluetomb on Jan 18, 2021 13:19:55 GMT
I've read of the paperback field in general at that time being in a spot of bother, though probably only someone in the business at the time would really know.
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Post by ripper on Jan 20, 2021 16:02:55 GMT
Many of the Piccadilly Cowboy series seem to come to an end in the early 80s. Edge was, I believe, the last, galloping on until the end of the 80s, though, by then, from the small sample I have read, the books were noticeably less violent than the early ones. As I said previously, some series just ended with the 'hero' riding off with no sense that that was the end, while others, like the Herne and Gringos series, had proper conclusions.
I wasn't really that much interested in westerns when the PC series were originally published, though if I had realised just how violent they were, I may well have sat up and taken notice. I note that the majority of series concluded at a time when westerns on TV and in the cinema were also dying a death.
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Post by andydecker on Jan 20, 2021 16:52:39 GMT
The party began and ended with Edge. From 1972 to 1989 Terry Harknett wrote his series, and the later ones missed the frantic action of the start and were a bit - or or a lot - padded. They also gained on length. No.59 for instance had 174 pages. The early ones used to clock at 127 pages or so. You could say Terry opened and closed this chapter of British paperback publishing.
I once made a list of the PC Cowboys, who did what when, and it is quite interesting. 1974 saw the first addition of three series, Steele, Jubal Cade and Apache. 1976 saw the addition of Breed and Herne, and in 1981 they finally began flooding the market and had 13 different series competing in the bookshops. (Some had already died and were replaced through others.) From 1985 to the end Terry again was riding alone after The Undertaker died an early death. One is tempted to say he just succeded on the momentum of his brand, but he still wrote 26 novels after his collegues lost everything, which alone is a success.
Interesting that you mentioned TV and movies. Most of the classic American western on TV was already cancelled or dying by the early 70s. After the commercial desaster which was Heaven's Gate in 1980 the western was a good as dead on the big screen, not counting a handful like Pale Rider (1985) or Young Guns (1988). For a few years the PC cowboy's books carried the torch of the Italo western which wasn't produced any longer back than alone.
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Post by ripper on Jan 20, 2021 18:51:28 GMT
As I prefer the bloodier westerns, I have tended to avoid the later Edges. I read several, but was surprised how relatively tame they were compared to the early ones. I suppose Terry mellowed as he got older, like James Herbert with those raw Rats books etc and how his later works were much longer and far less nasty. I tried a single Undertaker, but just didn't get on with it at all. As for Adam Steele, apart from one Edge/Steele team-up, I don't think I have read any of his adventures.
Some of those later Edges go for prices I just wouldn't want to pay--the final one in the series I have seen on offer for silly money--you would have to be a dedicated fan to pay what some ask. The first 47 are on Kindle for around £2.60 each, but I don't know if the rest will appear.
Yes, it seems like the PC authors flooded the market in the late 70s/early 80s, and I suppose that so many series just couldn't be sustained through sales. While Edge was first and last, it isn't really one of my favourite PC series. I do prefer Herne, Crow, Hawk and Breed, with favourite writer being Laurence James.
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Post by andydecker on Jan 20, 2021 20:08:14 GMT
The first 47 are on Kindle for around £2.60 each, but I don't know if the rest will appear. I don't think the rest will appear on Kindle. The last one # 52 was published 2018. (Amazon managed to not include 48 up in the line-up, one has to search separately) This seems a long time for the remaining 9 to be delivered. Steele has also stopped. Maybe this ship has sailed, and after Terry's death more so. It is a pity that Malcolm Davey couldn't or wouldn't see it through to the end. I still love Edge unconditionally. But I also prefer Herne, Gringos and especially Hawk over the rest. Steele is a bit complicated. It was always a more grounded character and the first 20 or so are often well done. But the last third or so I have as very tedious in memory. Terry wanted to do something different and let him settle down, which was just not very interesting. (The same reason Peacemaker never worked so well, the drifter is always better than the settler.) The Undertaker never worked for me either. |
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Post by ripper on Jan 21, 2021 13:04:45 GMT
The first 47 are on Kindle for around £2.60 each, but I don't know if the rest will appear. I don't think the rest will appear on Kindle. The last one # 52 was published 2018. (Amazon managed to not include 48 up in the line-up, one has to search separately) This seems a long time for the remaining 9 to be delivered. Steele has also stopped. Maybe this ship has sailed, and after Terry's death more so. It is a pity that Malcolm Davey couldn't or wouldn't see it through to the end. I still love Edge unconditionally. But I also prefer Herne, Gringos and especially Hawk over the rest. Steele is a bit complicated. It was always a more grounded character and the first 20 or so are often well done. But the last third or so I have as very tedious in memory. Terry wanted to do something different and let him settle down, which was just not very interesting. (The same reason Peacemaker never worked so well, the drifter is always better than the settler.) The Undertaker never worked for me either. Yes, doesn't look like those last Edges will appear after so long, which is a shame. I am sure many Edge fans would have liked to read them, especially given the prices that paperbacks can command. Might it be a rights issue? I have just the one example of Peacemaker, the final volume in the series. Agreed that the drifter gunfighter is more interesting than a guy settled in a town. It gives the writer far more scope as to the storylines and settings. I don't think I ever finished my single volume of The Undertaker. I started reading it off the back of a couple of early Edges, and I was expecting something similar, but what I got just didn't hold my interest, and I didn't care for the character. |
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Post by andydecker on Jan 21, 2021 13:59:43 GMT
Yes, doesn't look like those last Edges will appear after so long, which is a shame. I am sure many Edge fans would have liked to read them, especially given the prices that paperbacks can command. Might it be a rights issue? I have just the one example of Peacemaker, the final volume in the series. Agreed that the drifter gunfighter is more interesting than a guy settled in a town. It gives the writer far more scope as to the storylines and settings. Who knows who got Terry's estate? I fear that the rights of his many novels went to limbo. Have you ever read the Laurence James interview done by Steve Holland in 1995? I can't remember where it was posted, but I saved it back then. Seems to be no longer avaiable. Covering a lot of ground, from his beginnings at NEL to his later work. If you - or anyone - is interested, send me a message. |
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Post by ripper on Jan 21, 2021 20:07:39 GMT
Yes, I suppose if the hiatus in the publication of the Kindle Edges is related to Terry's passing then I guess that could be that as far as any more are concerned.
I have not read the interview with Laurence James you mention, Andy. I really like his style of writing. I can't quite put it into words, but it is quite distinctive. When reading, for instance, the Herne series, there is no mistaking LJ's volumes for those of John Harvey. Even his 'Confessions' series seems to have an edginess that the Christopher Wood Timmy Leas just completely lack. Now, in the case of the 'Confessions' I am not sure that slight nastiness is appropriate, but in his other works I do rather like it.
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