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Joker Poker |
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 Joker Poker byRichard Helms Writer’s Showcase Press/ an imprint of iUniverse.com 261 pages, 2000 ISBN 0595089798 Reviewed by PJ Nunn Read our author interview Pat Gallegher is a good, old-fashioned gumshoe. A private investigator without a license. A bear of a man who does questionable favors for friends and straddles the clean line of the law as much as he crosses it. Honing his skills as a musician, Gallegher has to make a living somehow. The idea of finding a rich, middle-aged woman’s missing boy-toy isn’t very appealing, but then again, neither is providing muscle for the local mob. Besides, how hard could it be? He soon finds out. His previously predictable lifestyle is soon inundated with surprises that lead him right into the middle of a big frame up. He knows he didn’t slice the throat of his client’s husband, but everyone else sure thinks he did. Helms is obviously a fan of the Chandler, Hammett, Spillane version of the PI novel and he’s captured the genre well. His protagonist and the supporting characters have a hard edge and a cynical approach to life, making it easy to concoct a tale in which no one is above suspicion. Joker Poker may seem formulaic to some, but if you love the formula of the past masters, it’s a hard-hitting good time. |
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