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Quercus. This Edition published: June 2008
Reviewed by Sally Roddom
This is the third volume of pulp fiction short stories that have been
mined from various pulp fiction magazines from the 1920s, '30s and '40s.
These were the golden years of pulp fiction, where the men were men and
the women were … well women. The dames of pulp fiction were usually draped
over the front covers wearing low-cut outfits and being menaced by some
burly, scarred and tattooed ruffian. PULP FICTION: THE DAMES has short
stories which don’t only have women on the outside – they have women
inside, too. Reporters, jewel thieves, gangster molls, femme fatales and
tarts with hearts are all represented within these twenty-three short
stories. While there are no female PIs, these broads certainly make their
presence known, stealing the scenes from the males in the stories.
The stories themselves are mixed – some stand out, and others barely raise
a yawn. Some of my favourites were Angel Face, which is about a
stripper trying to save her little brother from the electric chair – he’s
been found guilty of a crime he didn’t commit. A Shock for the Countess
is light-hearted look at the theft of a necklace, and Snowbound
looks at a battle for power between Queen Sue and a drug dealer called
Suds.
Overall this is a good bedside book. You can pick it up, tired and sleepy,
and peruse a story or two before lights out. These are adventure stories
for the most part. None of them are really dull – they may not be as good
as others – but everyone is worth reading. There is lots of action,
gunplay, devious double crossing cynical women and bodies galore. But the
criminals just get on with it while the authors twist the plots, throwing
in sex and violence for good measure. These are noir stories, with
hardboiled detectives and even more hardboiled women.
Nov 2008 review originally published on Murder and Mayhem
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