Wednesday 17 February 2016

BILL PRONZINI - CASEFILE (1983)


Synopsis/blurb….

It was over fifteen years ago when the big, sort-of-sloppy, brew-loving P.I. appeared on the scene, dazzling reader with keen solutions to seemingly unsolvable crimes. And just as his disheveled demeanour gave no hint of the brilliant mind that lay behind it, his lack of a moniker said nothing about his rising popularity with mystery readers everywhere.

Nameless opens up his files on some of his most fascinating cases. Collected here are ten stories and two novelettes, giving Nameless fans a page-turning potpourri of his toughest and most dangerous adventures. CASEFILE holds his greatest hits – a 12-pack to be popped open and enjoyed on an off-duty afternoon. So sit back and spend some time with one of America’s favorite (and most likeable) P.I.’s, who has caught more criminals – and imaginations – than any other gumshoe in recent American fiction.

Not sure about a 12 pack, as my copy of this only had 10 stories in total, but I’m not going to quibble. An interesting collection and for the most part really enjoyable.

We encountered……. an armed robber, a kidnap, a hit and run and blackmail on skid row, a book thief, an anonymous phone caller threatening murder, a reformed alcoholic who's a fall-guy for some reckless cops, a fishing trip that saves a life - all good so far, and least enjoyable of all, a convoluted locked room murder mystery which I can’t help but feel was written to show us all how clever the author really is. The method of murder was a bit of a stretch, but nothing compared to the dying man’s opaque clues which no-one other than Nameless could decipher. Boo and hiss – I hated this particular story.

One story apart - a great collection, with a bit of diversity in our sleuthing.

Great sense of place – San Francisco again…..It was a beautiful city when you saw it like this – all the buildings shining gold in the dying sunlight, the bridges and the islands and the dazzling water and the East Bay and Marin hills surrounding it. It was only when you got down into its bowels, when you came in contact with the people – the few bad ones spoiling it for the rest – that it became something else. A jungle. A breeding ground for evil, a place of tragedy and unhappiness.

I loved that city. I had been born there and I had spent half a century there and you couldn’t have paid me enough to make me move anywhere else. But sometimes, my job being what it was, it made me angry and sad. Sometimes, in a lot of ways, it made me afraid.

4 from 5

Bought copy several years ago.


Back on the trail later this month with Quicksilver, the 11th full length Nameless novel.




14 comments:

  1. Oh, a whole Nameless collection! That sounds great, Col. I'm glad you found most of the stories good 'uns, even with that one exception. And a Pronzini story is always worth the read, I think.

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    1. Margot he's such a great writer, that I kind of notice the stories that disappoint me more than the ones that satisfy me. It's probably really unfair of me.

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  2. Col, it's good that you are making progress on Pronzini and - most importantly - are enjoying them. As he has a new one coming out in a few months, I'll soon be reading last year's entry.

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    1. Thanks Glen - it will take me a couple of years to get caught up, but I'm enjoying the pace of the journey!

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  3. Glen has this one (of course) but I had forgotten he had books of Pronzini short stories so I will be trying some out soon.

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    1. Tracy, 9 out of the 10 were very good in my opinion, so I think you'll have fun reading them.

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  4. Hey! Didn't I read this review over at Goodreads?

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  5. My life became devastated when my husband sent me packing, after 8 years that we have been together. I was lost and helpless after trying so many ways to make my husband take me back. One day at work, i was absent minded not knowing that my boss was calling me, so he sat and asked me what its was all about i told him and he smiled and said that it was not a problem. I never understand what he meant by it wasn't a problem getting my husband back, he said he used a spell to get his wife back when she left him for another man and now they are together till date and at first i was shocked hearing such thing from my boss. He gave me an email address of the great spell caster who helped him get his wife back, i never believed this would work but i had no choice that to get in contact with the spell caster which i did, and he requested for my information and that of my husband to enable him cast the spell and i sent him the details, but after two days, my mom called me that my husband came pleading that he wants me back, i never believed it because it was just like a dream and i had to rush down to my mothers place and to my greatest surprise, my husband was kneeling before me pleading for forgiveness that he wants me and the kid back home, then i gave Happy a call regarding sudden change of my husband and he made it clear to me that my husband will love me till the end of the world, that he will never leave my sight. Now me and my husband is back together again and has started doing pleasant things he hasn't done before, he makes me happy and do what he is suppose to do as a man without nagging. Please if you need help of any kind, kindly contact Happy for help and you can reach him via email: happylovespell2@gmail.com

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  6. I will read more Pronzini some time, but unlikely to be short stories. But glad you enjoyed them.

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    1. Glad to hear it. I'm interested in trying some of his non-Nameless novels as well as continuing this series.

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  7. I will be celebrating the works of a few authors this year and Bill Pronzini is definitely one of them.

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    1. Prashant - I'll be checking your blog to make sure you do!!!!

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