Jonathan Craig is one of the great underrated writers of the great pulp era of the 1950s and early 1960's. It's unfortunate that more of his books aren't available in e-format. His books are generally easy to read and throughly pulpy.

Originally published as Alley Girl, Renegade Cool is filled with lots of pulpy goodness including the corrupt cop who plants evidence and preys on suspect's wives, the woman who is so gorgeous that no red blooded man can resist her charms, the innocent man being forced to confess, and the young drunken broad who can never seem to keep her clothes on. At the heart of the story is the juxtaposition between the good Boy Scout type cop and the corrupt bruiser type which reminds me of James Ellroy's LA Confidential which was written decades later.

This book is a solid, quick read but just misses being really good. The characters are great archetypes but could use a little more complexity. Overall, a thoroughly enjoyable read. ( )

Jonathan Craig is one of the great underrated writers of the great pulp era of the 1950s and early 1960's. It's unfortunate that more of his books aren't available in e-format. His books are generally easy to read and throughly pulpy.

Alley Girl is filled with lots of pulpy goodness including the corrupt cop who plants evidence and preys on suspect's wives, the woman who is so gorgeous that no red blooded man can resist her charms, the innocent man being forced to confess, and the young drunken broad who can never seem to keep her clothes on. At the heart of the story is the juxtaposition between the good Boy Scout type cop and the corrupt bruiser type which reminds me of James Ellroy's LA Confidential which was written decades later.

This book is a solid, quick read but just misses being really good. The characters are great archetypes but could use a little more complexity. Overall, a thoroughly enjoyable read. ( )

Craig tells a compelling tale of a very bad cop, who thinks nothing of threatening to send an innocent man to the electric chair to get his wife to sleep with him, or accepting bribes, or pretty much whatever comes his way. He also never turns down a drink. In the opening chapter, he wakes up hung over, has two beers for breakfast, takes a mid morning break for three more drinks, has a few more drinks over lunch with the DA...and then I lost count. There's a murder mystery along the way, but its resolution is straight out of the less-enlightened 1950s. The real story is the bad cop and what happens to him. The book is full of way too many coincidences to be at all believable, but Craig writes pretty well, except for the occasional foray into grand statements that seem out of place, so the end result is quite enjoyable. And this is a free download from one of the world's greatest web sites, www.munseys.com.

(This book was later retitled Renegade Cop.) ( )