Review: Superb Stripped-Down Streetwise Suspense
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 07 3, 2014
Sometimes novelists gets so tangled up in theme and character development and richness of setting and moral messaging that they forget to TELL A FREAKING STORY.This is definitely not the case with Max Austin, whose DUKE CITY SPLIT is a lean, mean, no-frills, chopped-and-channeled, low-to-the-ground street racer of a crime story. The author demonstrates perfect mastery of pace and tone as he tells the tale of two Albuquerque bank robbers taking on a score they should steer clear of but find too sweet to resist. Of course, it all goes wrong, and the next thing they know, brawny Mick Wyman and schlubby Bud Knox are trying to sidestep local cops, FBI agents, a greedy bank guard and his greedier girlfriend, a Chicago mob enforcer, and a couple of local thugs looking to strong-arm their way into a piece of the $3 million take.Everything makes sense, everything unfolds at a fast trot, and everything's entertaining as hell even as the bodies stack up like banded bank bills. The sentences are crisp, the dialogue sparkles, and the action never takes a back seat to the relationships between characters of sly depth. DUKE CITY SPLIT is the sort of book that would make a great Republic B movie in the late '40s, all snappy banter and sinister clouds of smoke, with Robert Mitchum and Richard Widmark out in front. It's great noir that doesn't strain for effect in the hands of a laid-back, supremely confident storyteller in pitch-perfect command of his craft. If you love crackling hardboiled crime in the vein of Joe R. Lansdale, Johnny Shaw, Sean Doolittle, George Pelecanos and Don Winslow, DUKE CITY SPLIT is for you.Can't wait for Max Austin's next DUKE CITY outing. I am an enthusiastic acolyte.