Frank H. (perryfran) reviewed Quarry (aka The Broker) (Quarry, Bk 1) (Audio MP3 CD) (Unabridged) on + 1178 more book reviews
I have been a fan of Collins for awhile and have read several of his books in the Nate Heller and his Disaster series. This is the first Quarry book I have read and I was not disappointed! I recently saw the TV series on Cinemax based on the Quarry books so I was looking forward to reading this.
This first novel in the Quarry series was first published in 1976 and has now been reissued as part of the Hard Case Crime novels. The book is told from the first person perspective of a hired killer. Quarry is a returned Vietnam vet who learned his trade in the jungles of Nam. In this book, he is hired to kill a rather innocent type who seems to cause no one any problems and who keeps to himself. So why would anyone pay $4000 to kill him? Seems like an easy hit to Quarry but then things turn south. His partner in the hit is killed and the money for the hit is stolen. Quarry turns detective to try to find out who was responsible and why the hit was contracted in the first place. Along the way he meets some interesting characters including the owner of the "Bunny" club who was an ex-Playboy model. Well, of course, some gratuitous sex ensues. But along the way we are treated to a well-written gritty crime novel from a different perspective in the vein of Mickey Spillane or Donald Westlake. In the afterword, Collins credits Westlake (who wrote the Parker series under the name Richard Stark) as one of his mentors. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys a hard-boiled crime novel and I will be reading more in this series.
This first novel in the Quarry series was first published in 1976 and has now been reissued as part of the Hard Case Crime novels. The book is told from the first person perspective of a hired killer. Quarry is a returned Vietnam vet who learned his trade in the jungles of Nam. In this book, he is hired to kill a rather innocent type who seems to cause no one any problems and who keeps to himself. So why would anyone pay $4000 to kill him? Seems like an easy hit to Quarry but then things turn south. His partner in the hit is killed and the money for the hit is stolen. Quarry turns detective to try to find out who was responsible and why the hit was contracted in the first place. Along the way he meets some interesting characters including the owner of the "Bunny" club who was an ex-Playboy model. Well, of course, some gratuitous sex ensues. But along the way we are treated to a well-written gritty crime novel from a different perspective in the vein of Mickey Spillane or Donald Westlake. In the afterword, Collins credits Westlake (who wrote the Parker series under the name Richard Stark) as one of his mentors. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys a hard-boiled crime novel and I will be reading more in this series.
