Skim Deep

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! Nolan! Jon! Mabel "Muumuu" Comfort . . . the gangs all here. Then, there is our old friend Las Vegas with all the casino crime and . . . just a short drive . . . our new friend, the Mushroom Cloud Motel (well, I wouldn't stay there)! Reading Skim Deep is like getting two stories for the price of one. This is another snappy read from Max Allan Collins, by far my favorite writer. Within the pages, you will find upscale honeymoon sexiness, as well as lowbrow humor within hardboiled text. Mr. Collins has given us Ms. Tree, Quarry, Nate Heller . . . the truest-to-form Batman and classic Dick Tracy . . . and along the way, we traveled the Road to Perdition . . . with a host of others . . . and most recently, John Sand was introduced in Come Spy With Me (another highly recommended read). Mr. Collins definitely is the contemporary master of noir fiction . . . but he is also a western, horror, and non-fiction specialist. And Skim Deep is but another defining prose moment . . . just so darn good! I waited over three decades for this tale. Worth the wait? YES! Now, Mr. Collins, could we please have a new Mallory tale?

Collins does his usual top-notch work on this final Nolan story. Collins always delivers a great read, and this is no exception.

The reprinting of MAC's Nolan series is good news for all friends of snark/noir. SKIM DEEP is a followup to the end of the original series, set in 1987. As always, MAC has the material/media culture details down pat. The settings (rural Jefferson City, Missouri, the quad cities and Las Vegas) all come to life and play a nice role in the action. Nolan is about to be married (at 55) to Sherry (young enough to be his daughter, but fortunately not his daughter, Nolan muses with pleasure). They are planning a trip to Vegas for the wedding and initial Honeymoon (later they will go to Europe, or perhaps Mexico). An old confrere has arranged the tickets and comped a room at the hotel where he works. Another old confrere, the musician, Jon, will be there as best man.What Nolan doesn't yet know is that the person who comped the room has other ideas, ideas which involve scooping up the casino's skim, a casino linked to the Chicago mob. At the same time, an old partner who has betrayed Nolan (and paid a heavy price for it) has a Missouri Mom-on-a-walker who wants revenge. Big time revenge. She dispatches her remaining living son to take out Nolan (and probably his new bride) back in the quad cities.So what we have is a caper story, a revenge story and a romantic story (long on the heavy-breathing and short on the roses and chocolates). Nolan is not a particularly likeable character, but compared to those who are up against him he has some redeeming social qualities, not the least of which is a good sense for imminent danger and the ways to combat it. (Hint: also keep an eye out for some Runyonesque minor characters named Bud and Lou and Ozzie and Harriet.)Bottom line: a perfect transcontinental airplane read. Not Dostoevsky but superb crime fiction. Enjoy it and keep an eye out for the reprints of the preceding novels.

I was not familiar with the character Nolan but Collins has never let me down so I picked this up. Read it in two sittings (with only a pause to sleep, just couldn't stay up past 2 to keep reading). A quick read, fantastic, full of double crossing, violence, sexy women, and dangerous men. Part heist, part revenge with enough twists and surprises to make you tear through the pages and stay up late.Loved every page. Will go back and read the other Nolan books for sure.

Nolan is back! He decided to marry his longtime companion Sherry, and thingsgo downhill on their honeymoon. Besides his activities, the adventure continueswhen they get back. Can Nolan stay ahead of the people seeking to do him ill?After 33 years comes this latest episode of Nolan's exploits. Very enjoyable,Max Allan Collins is still at the top of his game! While it may be the last, I hopeit isn't, as the action and adventure were extremely entertaining. The only bad thingwas it took 33 years to get this written.

If Nolan wasn’t such a cheapskate he might have to survive just one treat to his life that comes from the Comfort clan. Maw wants his head in a nicely weaved basket and she dispatches Daniel her youngest and only surviving son to do the deed. While Daniel works up the courage to carry out his grisly mission, Nolan has taken his main squeeze Sherry to Vegas to get married. Nolan probably has the bucks to book a respectable hotel, but to lower the cost he opts for a place with mob connections. The room is comfy and the amenities plentiful. He’s now a respectable businessman. How could he possibly get sucked back into his old life?Four stars because the narrative drags in spots.

I read everything by Max Allan Collins. If you enjoyed the Quarry series you should give the Nolan series a try. Great read, well written, classic noir.

It is long overdue and yet just in time. I started with Nolan and Jon long years ago, and now a mere 33 years after Spree(Mad Money), he comes to the end. And a happy ending it is for the reader, especially those who have been here from the start. Greatly entertaining and well written. Now in the pantheon of the American professional thief in literature, Nolan is a firm second to Richard Stark's Parker. And now both have run their courses. And we're very thankful for both. Thank you, Max!

I really like anything to do with Max Allan Collins - Nolan, Quarry stories. Also completion of Mickey Spillane manuscripts.

On my reading list.

As an introduction to Nolan this works. Though it would appear to be the last in a series. I’ll now wait for the rest of the series to be published in new Hard Case Crime editions. On the whole though an enjoyable heist thriller brought to you by creator of the exceptional Quarry series.