Review: Pulp Crime Noir done well
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 04 5, 2013
If you are new to the Beat To A Pulp (BTAP) line of books you probably haven't heard of Cash Laramie the Old West lawman who was raised by Arapaho. There are some references to the heritage of the main protagonist Jack Laramie which don't make or break the story but do add some colour.This story is set after the war (WW2) . Jack Laramie is an ex-gunner in the Airforce and is a new Private Detective. For a variety of reasons he can't seem to find a niche in the big cities and decides to take his talents on the road and find work as he goes. This is the clever bit. The character makes it sound like he's doing this because of the competition but the mentioning of his Arapaho roots gives this a feeling of being a subconscious return to the nomadic lifestyle of his fore-bearers.  Pretty soon Jack gets tangled up in a web of deceit and played by his client. Eventually Jack sees through the ruse and saves the day. It is a simple plot but the characters are deceptively deep for a short story.I'm looking forward to reading another one of these stories soon.