Review: Welcome to the fifties
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 04 9, 2014
Michael Avallone was one of the most prolific of the crime novelists of the 1950s and 1960s, sometimes producing a book in a single week. He came out of a background in the pulp magazines of an earlier era and this first book in his long running PI series starring Ed Noon has the feel of a pulp story. Lots of action and snappy dialogue. Avallone's stories often featured a large collection of interesting, if not outright weird minor characters and this novel is no exception. There's a beautiful amazon circus performer, an ex doctor who runs a sleazy nightclub, a couple of Abbot and Costello cops and a hooker with a heart of gold.The plot centers on a search for a half million dollars in stolen diamonds. A couple of dead bodies pop up along the way and the whole thing adds up to a lighthearted romp through the early 1950s. Not a bad read for the beach or a long airplane trip.