obscure-reference - reviewed on 8/1/2010

This was the first book by Max Allan Collins I'd read, having picked it up with a few other titles from Hard Case Crime I found at a local used bookstore. As the title suggests, "The First Quarry" is a 'prequel' to Collins' other Quarry books, telling the tale of how Quarry transitioned from military sniper to professional hitman. While the Quarry books don't have to be read in order, "First" is a good starting point and may be easier to find than the books in the series published earlier. The best compliment I can give to Collins' writing here is that if you didn't look at the copyright page or the blurb on the cover, you'd swear this was a classic, long-out-of-print story from the 1970s! If you enjoy hard-boiled/pulp/noir fiction like Mickey Spillane and Elmore Leonard, you will not be disappointed by this, or the other books from this publisher!

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