By Ben Boulden
The
Nameless Detective series has been active since 1971 and it is still strong—in
sales and quality alike. The protagonist—Nameless, who isn’t as nameless as he
once was—has aged and matured in almost real time. He was young and full of
fight throughout his appearances in the 1970s and 80s, but with age he has
mellowed with creaky bones, aching muscles, a wife and an adopted daughter.
The
thirty-second title, published by Forge in 2005, is Nightcrawlers and
while it, and all of the recent titles, is different from the early Nameless
stories it is still pretty damn terrific. In many ways the latest releases are
better—there is more nuance, the execution is tighter and Nameless—or Bill—has
developed into something more than he was. He is a living, breathing,
believable character that is not only sympathetic to the reader, but downright
likable.
Nightcrawlers is a personal journey
for Nameless. There are three storylines that run parallel, and not one of them
ever crosses another—there are no hokey connections or ridiculous coincidences,
but rather there are three stories (mysteries) compressed with superb execution
and sharp prose into one very enjoyable novel.
Nameless’
detective office is a three-person operation now. Nameless has semi-retired,
Tamara Corbin is a full partner and Jake Runyon is the main operative. The
location of the office has also moved—it is now just south of Market instead of
the old O’Farrell Street location.
Business
is slow; Tamara is taking care of what seems to be a small skip-trace on a
deadbeat dad, Jake is pursuing a non-paying case in an attempt to stop a string
of brutal beatings in the Castro and Nameless is doing a personal favor for a
dying pulp writer—Russell Dancer who appeared in at least three earlier
Nameless novels (Undercurrent, Hoodwink and Bones),
and is based on the pulp writer J. M. (Jay) Flynn.
The
skip-trace turns out to be more than it first appeared and not because of the
case itself, but rather something Tamara stumbles across as she is working it.
Unfortunately Tamara never gets the opportunity to tell either Nameless or
Runyon her suspicions before she disappears, which acts as the catalyst for the
climax of the novel.
Nightcrawlers is damn entertaining. It
is written in both first and third person—Nameless acts as his own narrator and
the chapters in the perspective of Tamara and Jake are in third person. It
works very well. It broadens the scope of the story without diminishing its
personality. The perspective changes from chapter to chapter are easily
detected (beyond the note at the top of each chapter) by subtle shifts in style
and vocabulary. Tamara has the easy flow of the street, Jake is hardboiled, and
Nameless is just Nameless.
Tamara: “Now
that she was here, out on a field job, she began to feel a little stoked.”
Jake: “The
man himself was in his late thirties, short, dark, and cynical. The cynicism
showed in his eyes, the set of his mouth, his voice.”
Nameless: “Russ
Dancer, dying. Cirrhosis and emphysema. Refused to quit drinking or smoking,
refused hospitalization or treatment beyond painkillers and an oxygen bottle
that he carried around with him.”
The
prose has the deceptive feel and flow of simplicity, but, in its stark hardboiled
style, it is vividly saturated with the essence of the characters and their
city, San Francisco. The setting is developed well and described in a fashion
that it makes the reader feel like she is in San Francisco moving between
Market and Castro and all points between. The story builds upon itself with
each page and chapter bringing with it a dry and edgy suspense.
Nightcrawlers is the real thing and a
terrific entry in the series. Find a copy, read it, and pass it on because more
people should be exposed to both Bill Pronzini and his other “Bill,” known as
Nameless.
This
review originally went live May 7, 2012. It was the first review I wrote
for Gravetappingafter a long hiatus, and I decided it was worth
running again. Nightcrawlers was the first “modern” Nameless
novel I read, and since then I have been reading each title as it is released.
I have even reviewed a couple: Strangers, and Nemesis.
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