
I
had to chuckle when I read the first two sentences: “It was night. It
was hot.” (So, basically it was a dark and not-so-stormy night? Aren’t
we writers cautioned not to start a book with the weather?) Nonetheless,
I read on.
Pulp fiction is known for
its pace. Old movies—film noir and others—are also known for their pace.
It’s fast. Nowhere but in pulp fiction and old movies do men and women
fall in love on sight. It happens to Swen Nelson, a sailor with $12,000
in hand and dreams of a life on land on a farm in Minnesota.
But before he can get there, he meets Corliss Mason, the owner of the
Purple Parrot bar-and-hotel establishment. He falls for her, she for
him. They are all set to get married and move to the heartland when one
thing leads to another and they have to get rid of a body.
Keene’s
Nelson drives the story and faces plenty of questions. One character
keeps imploring Nelson to go away while he still can. A man threatens
Nelson to stay away from his wife. And, through it all, Nelson puts away
an astonishing amount of rum. The book takes place over four days and
he’s drunk most of the time, a fact that almost every other character
comments on. How does Nelson function with so much booze in him? Must be
the sailor DNA.
In my review for The Guns of Heaven,
I commented on some of the asides written out and how they really
didn’t serve the story like I expected them to do. Well, the opposite is
true for Home is the Sailor. There’s an aside, just some conversation
between two characters, that comes back around like a boomerang and hits
you between the eyes. An astute reader will put two-and-two together
before the characters do (I did, at least) but it still makes the story
fun.
One sad thing I noticed is the paltry number of Keene books available. Other than this one by Hard Case Crime, there are only two modern reprintings of Keene’s books at Amazon. Guess I’ll have to start the hunt in used bookstores. I found a great site with a good bibliography of Keene’s works and I’ll try to find some more.
Oh, about the ending: Just like Angel Dare in Money Shot,
Swen Nelson gets a chance to really examine himself and ask the
question “Who am I?” And we get the answer in a brilliant last line.
Don’t flip to the end; it’ll ruin it for you. Just go with it. You’ll
enjoy the ride.
What I Learned As A Writer:
The aside I mentioned earlier is important. And, I realized, that it’s a
great way to throw red herrings at the reader, assuming you have more
than one. There was only one but its importance was revealed in layers.
Granted, I was ahead of Nelson for most of the book but that didn’t
disappoint me. Heck, I could’ve been wrong. In my future books, I’ll try
to incorporate some extra asides, some extra little stories the
characters learn, and leave it to the reader to decide which one is
important.
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