Oh man, this one was hard to get through! This was one of the most difficult times I've had reading something that I was actually interested in. I was attracted by the reputation of pulp author Peter Rabe, the nifty title, and the awesome cover. The story of a gangster who's lost the taste for the bad life and having to fight to get out from under his mob bosses isn't the most original of plots, but if done well, could be pretty great. But jeez, all the shady deals with crooked politicians and pages-long talks about wards and taxes and properties just bored me to tears. And the book is only like 150 pages! I feel like I'm getting increasingly impatient while reading now that I've seen what could be done when great, efficient writers take the helm, and this book might be an unfortunate victim of that impatience. To add to that, the writing was glaringly awkward, clunky, dated, and sometimes downright confusing. I read a review where someone mentioned that Rabe learned English as an adult and knowing that now, that might be a big factor in the writing style. Granted, the problems that I had got better as the book went on but ultimately it still wasn't very enjoyable. But Rabe was a very popular pulp novelist and a Gold Medal star and I have some other attractive books by him, so I'll give his work another try. Maybe this wasn't the one to start with...
GRADE: D-
I agree with you on this one. It was an easy book to put down and not pick up again to finish. I did like Kill the Boss Goodbye though. And I love the title one this one, but I don't think Rabe came up with it.
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