Gun Work

The experience of reading Gunwork is more akin to watching an action movie than reading a crime novel, this book's fast pace and energy makes for good weekend reading. David Schow's novel of kidnapping, torture, betrayel and revenge has a great noir vibe, and his style is both dark and amusing; and keeps you reading (and maybe even gussing a few times as to what will come next). Setting the tale in Mexico pays off quite well, with Mexico City's poverty and squalor creating some rather formidable and vicious villains for the oddly named hero, Barney, to face (stark contrast to Hard Case Crimes earlier foray into Mexico with Wade Miller's "Branded Woman" from the 1950's, which featured a much more elegant Mexico). But Schow's Mexico is not a place of silly caricatures and cliche's. He also shows the good side of the Mexican people who are caught between ramapant street crime and a kidnapping epidemic on one side, and a corrupt or ineffectual police force on the other. One critcisms would be Schow's reliance on coincidence to move the tale along, and there may be a few instances of implausability here and there, but suspend your disbeleif and enjoy (This isn't a documentary, after all!). Gun Work is Great Weekend reading if you are looking for pure entertainment value and one of HCC's better original offerings. Pick it up!

Gotta love that cover. Be sure to read this in public so others can admire your fine taste in literature. Very precisely rendered, too. Count his fingers. I've read about 20 in the Hard Case Crime series and this is far and away the most violent. Like gunfights? You've come to the right place. Like femme fatales. This one's a doozy. Curious about guns? You'll learn a lot. And if you look up "tough guy" in the dictionary, you'll see Barney's picture. Masked Mexican wrestlers, too.

I bought this novel because of the author DJS, I am a big fan and read all of his work. Gun Work is a bit of a departure for him, ( and me as it is my first hard case crime novel) as he usually writes off beat, or splatter punk horror (DJS is in fact credited with coining the term 'splatter punk'), but the razor sharp prose that defines DJS is here and glistening. The story is not one that over all will go down as highly original, but the characters, the clever turn of phrase, and the page turning veracity with which the story unfolds will keep it in the mind of all genra readers and should put it at the top of their must read list. I loved almost everything about this novel. I found the story engaging, the characters where so cleverly written that they where brought off the page and the story...in classic DJS fashion will keep you guessing right till the end...no matter how much pulp fiction you have ingested.

I don't know if it started with Richard Stark (a.k.a. Donald Westlake), but there is a certain type of crime novel I always think of as a Parker novel. In Stark's books, Parker is a thief, a man with little in the way of emotions or emotional ties who shouldn't be interesting but somehow is: it's his purely professional nature, his methodical approaches to problems and his coldly ruthless (but never malicious nature) that is--in the capable hands of Stark--compelling to read about. The main character in David Schow's Gun Work has certain Parker-like qualities. He is a man without ties who operates outside of the law when necessary. Barney is not a thief but, when necessary, he can be a gunman. For Carl Ledbetter, an old war acquaintance, Barney's skills are necessary. Carl's in Mexico City, where his wife has been kidnapped for $1,000,000 ransom. To get his wife back, Carl enlists Barney. Barney comes to Mexico City, where he quickly suspects that there is more going on than a mere kidnapping. Unfortunately, what's really going on will not become apparent until it's too late. Betrayals will occur and Barney will become a prisoner himself, subjected to torture and slated for gangland execution. Of course, it wouldn't be much of a story if he didn't eventually get free and seek revenge against those who wronged him, and Schow does deliver the goods. This is the first time I've read Schow and I had fun reading Gun Work. This is not classic literature filled with multiple levels of meaning and symbolism, but it's not meant to be. Instead, it is intended to be pure entertainment, a lean mean crime story, and as such, it works perfectly. If you enjoy the Parker books, this one should be a good read.

Reviewed from the Advance Reading Copy... A gripping tale of betrayal and revenge. As the plot comes together, you'll be suprised at the mastermind at the end. It's a fun book especially when the bullets fly. Another great read from Hard Case Crime!