Do You like book The Real Cool Killers (1988)?
The opening of the novel is one of the most puzzling and challenging I've ever read. Things happen and they seem absurd. People shout at each other, wound each other terribly, a man is shot to death, and there seems to be no reason for this.But as the novel unfolds, reasons start to surface. By the end, we know there was nothing absurd in the opening scene, but everything happened for a reason. Reasons tightly entwined with human passions and twists.For me, this is the most fascinating aspect of the novel.I love Chester Himes. I love his visceral, powerful way to handle his characters, the way he drills reasons and passions inside them. The way they talk, the way they act. His characters always seem so real, they always act in response to inner desires and outside pushes, so that they seem real even when they act absurd - or seem to.Still, this second novel set in Harlem it's not as powerful as the first one (`Rage in Harlem'). The action only spans a few hours, but while the investigation (lead by Grave Digger Jones) is tight, with a strong logic leading it, and with strong characters populating it, the parallel thread regarding the kids' gang is not as strong. The two threads meet at the end, but in the apartment where the kids hide nothing relevant seems to happen. The action meanders a little, there seems to be no real purpose but to take time while the investigation has its course. I didn't get bored because of Himes' incredible ability to create situations and his mastery in creating dialogue, but I did enjoyed the investigation more, and I did look forward to go back to Grave Digger when I was reading the kids.In spite of this, I enjoyed it. A lot.
—Jazzfeathers
Second of Chester Himes crime stories. This time "Coffin" Ed Johnson and "Gravedigger" Jones spend the night chasing the killer of white man in Harlem. It's as anarchic, gruesome and farcial as Himes other novels. Dumb racist police, dumb aggressive criminals and our two detectives intimidating everybody in sight.This story is slightly different from his first novel A Rage In Harlem as this story is more darker in tone - the villains being more evil and exploitative and people being beaten and killed simply for the thrill. No one comes out of it a saint.Himes started writing these pulp crime novels for the entertainment of white readers and this is pulp stripped to it's basic thrills - sex, violence and casual racism. At one point Gravedigger says he's making Harlem safe for the white man what Himes does is similar giving the white man a vicarious thrill ride through Harlem safe between the book covers.
—Iain
This is the 2nd book in Chester Himes's Harlem Cycle and it's just as absurd and insane as his previous masterpiece in the series, A Rage in Harlem, which I loved. The plot starts almost immediately and moves at a breakneck pace. Just like in A Rage In Harlem, the story is so crazy, and the writing so sharp, that it's hard to stop reading. Something that sets Chester Himes apart from so many others is his ability to inject a mix of witty comedy and social commentary into his work, as well as astute observations about living in Harlem in the '50's: "The white manager stood on top of the bar and shouted, 'Please remain seated, folks. Everybody go back to his seat and pay his bill. The police have been called and everything will be taken care of.'As though he'd fired a starting gun, there was a race for the door." The super-hard-boiled Harlem detectives, Grave Digger Jones and Coffin Ed Johnson, are back on the job again when a big Greek dude gets shot and killed by a fake gun in the middle of a crowded street in Harlem, causing all hell to break loose. After Coffin Ed gets suspended for blasting his .38 all over 128th Street when some little gangster throws perfume at him (Coffin Ed had a little run-in with some acid a while back), Grave Digger investigates the case solo. Throughout the course of one night, he discovers that there is more to the case that he originally thought, and it seems like all connections lead to some young hookers and a gang that calls themselves the Real Cool Moslems.Himes's descriptions throughout the novel are richly evocative with his usual playfulness. Should he be considered the James Brown of Crime Fiction? There, I coined it first! You can practically smell, hear, and taste his wicked version of Harlem. Check out this gem: "The joint was jammed with colored people who'd seen the big man die, but nobody seemed to be worrying about it.The jukebox was giving out with a stomp version of 'Big-Legged Woman.' Saxophones were pleading; the horns were teasing; the bass was patting; the drums were chatting; the piano was catting, laying and playing the jive, and a husky female voice was shouting:'...you can feel my thighBut don't you feel up high.'Happy-tail women were bouncing out of their dresses on the high bar stools.Grave Digger trod on the sawdust sprinkled over the bloodstains that wouldn't wash off and parked on the stool at the end of the bar." Once again, an entertaining read from the great Chester Himes.
—Richard Vialet
