Two pulp novels by Fleischman originally published a decade apart. Although the first of these two novels feels a bit disjointed, the second book is a perfect pulpy novel that was a terrific read.

"Look Behind You, Lady" is a post-war pulp thriller set in Macao in the midst of the Cold War. Fleischman had tried to earn a living as a magician prior to his writing career and, here, he has a magician as his main character. He fills this tale with nightclub vixens with plunging necklines, strippers, spies, smugglers, crime bosses, and an assortment of strange characters who are all focused on Macao, one of the last vestiges of Colonial Europe abutting Communist China. It's a fun read combining a spy tale, an exotic Asian city, a man-on-the-Run story, sudden passionate romance, and a guy who can't figure out if he's being played for a sucker. On the flip side though, this is not the clearest plot imaginable and, just as the main character is confused about what he's gotten himself involved in, as a reader, you feel a little bit confused about who is on who's side and what it's all about.

"The Venetian Blonde" is a terrific pulpy story first published in 1962 that takes place on the Venice boardwalk in California. In it, Fleischman takes a card mechanic whose hands can't stop shaking and plants him at the edge of the continent on the run from a gambler who thinks he got cheated out of $100,000. He pairs Skelly with a long con scheme involving a medium and a wealthy widow. Throw in a beatnik drifter blonde in a black bathing suit who has nothing better to do than chase seagulls on the beach and a conniving babe with a heart of stone and maybe, just maybe, you've got a pulp classic.
Confidence schemes and grifters are nothing new under the sun, but this one is pure gold. Skelly explains he had come a long way for a guy with nowhere left to go. And that no one would believe the cards had turned to Jello in his hands and had got him an invitation to his own funeral. And when he gets to Venice, he realizes it wasn't the grand carnival of his childhood. He felt he'd been tricked. The amusement pier had been torn down and the fun rides had vanished. Instead all he finds is a walk down desolation row. And who does he meet there? A girl that says "Chow" and a woman in a yellow dress and high heels as sharp as rapiers who claims she can light up a darkened room. Well, Skelly had known women like Maggie who couldn't get through the day without laying down stories, putting the con on everyone from the milkman to the boyfriend. "All she had been able to buy with that lovely golden body of hers was a square mile of Hell." This book was a terrific read from start to finish. It is a fairly short read and flows quite well. And, it's got that pulpy attitude just oozing from every page.

Two mighty fine reads in one cool little package. ( )

Great book. The conversations in the books made me laugh because they were really "hip" -- like Sinatra-style in the old version of OCEAN ELEVEN movie. ( )