Review: A Perfect "Ten Dime" Novel
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 02 19, 2012
Back in the day, this would have been a classic "dime novel," small enough to fit in your back pocket and printed on the cheapest pulp paper the publisher could find. Those tales were action-packed, straightforward entertainment with enough juice in them to make you come back for the next in the series.Mr. Bell delivers. The only way times have changed is this is now a "ten-dime novel" and my Kindle doesn't quite fit in my back pocket. However, the fun and thrills are still in abundance. The story of Irish Jimmy Gallagher puts you in the ring of a "smoker." The fight action is graphic and the circumstances are just a bit lurid (just what scheme does the gangster have up his sleeve?) I also love the descriptions of 1950s LA before it became a paved over series of strip malls and suburbs. Since I can't get my WayBack machine to work, I have to depend on writers like Mr. Bell to transport me to a time when men wore hats and wore them well.Fast-paced, well-written, and has a wry touch of social commentary. No need to be a boxing fan, Bell shows you what you need to know. Just press the clutch, put in into gear, and enjoy the ride. I can't wait to read the second story "King Crush."