Book Review: A Coffin from Hong Kong by James Hadley Chase

“What did she have in it, shamus, that tempted you to kill her?” he demanded finally.

There was never anything subtle about Retnick. But there’s plenty neat and sublime about Mr James Hadley Chase. And with A Coffin from Hong Kong, JHC delivers one of his very best.

The Story:

Private eye Nelson Ryan tries to resolve the murder of a Chinese girl at his private office but ends up getting framed for this murder. Things turn interesting when Ryan visits Hongkong to sort things out. A series of twists and turns, riddles and double crosses keep the readers gripped till the very end. Standard PI stuff, huh? Not exactly.

What’s So Good:

Like a typical Hadley Chase novel, A Coffin from Hong Kong features sharp dialogues. Particularly, the dialogues between Ryan and Inspector Retnick are neat and snappy with a twisted sense of humor.

Most JHC novels usually have a standard story line – the protagonist commits a crime, tries to get away and is brought to judgment. This simple frame is presented in an extraordinary way. A Coffin from Hong Kong is an exception with a quite intricate and multilayered plot, which keeps the readers guessing till the final pages. Much like Sheldon’s thrillers, it leaves you hanging off a cliff.

This thriller again deviates from the standard JHC approach with its dexterous characterization. While most of Chase’s characters seem to be talking alike, the ones here are different. The police fella Retnick has to be one of my favorite JHC characters. The protagonist seems macho, confident with a cheesy sense of humor. This isn’t Jane Austen stuff but it’s more than acceptable.

The thriller is brilliantly action packed, seductive and detailed. And yes, JHC has a nose for titles. A Coffin from Hong Kong is straight from 1980s B-grade world.

What’s Not So Good:

The sleazy, semi moral protagonists: you either love them or you hate them. Aren’t they pulpy? The soft porn cover reinforces the feel. But then, isn’t that the point?

Faint trace of racism. Grrrrrrr ….

Should you read or skip it

This was the very first JHC thriller I read so my review could be a bit biased. But personal feelings aside, along with No Orchids for Miss Blandish, this is a first rate thriller from Mr Chase. Is it a timeless noir classic like Maltese Falcon? Definitely not. But it holds you like a magnet and leaves a considerably long lasting impression, which is so deliciously satisfying. Highly recommended.

Download PDF:  A Coffin from Hong Kong by James Hadley Chase

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Cover art: Panther Books, April 1964 Continue reading →

Treasure Hunt at Local Book Fair

Merry Christmas and a very happy new year in advance.

During this time of the year, we have a local book fair hosted in my part of the city. This is a kind of warm up to the International Kolkata Book Fair (world’s largest non-trade book fair). Bought myself a few bookish presents 🙂

Okay, here’s the lot:

Great Cases of Interpol by Reader’s Digest Association

A top notch collection of real life cases with photos and illustrations. “Not to be read in a single sitting” as my favorite editorial duo Mr Wagner and Mr Wise often suggests for anthologies. Too generous a ration of crime may defeat its intended purpose.

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke

Okay, I admit I haven’t read it.  It has become a bedtime partner since yesterday and seems like a modern Dickensian work. Bought it for what would be about $2.00 in US currency. Can’t stop congratulating myself. The deal itself was worth the delay. Dash it, it wasn’t.

Reader’s Digest Illustrated Story of World War II

Being a history buff, I am rather happy that I bought this one. Definitely not for scholars and provides just an overview of WW II, but makes an interesting presentation with lots of rare pictures.

A Natural History of Ghosts: 500 Years of Hunting for Proofby Roger Clarke

That’s my favorite subject again. Not just a piece of fiction but some real life facts on a creepy topic. Not sure how this would turn out, I have not read any non-fiction work on the supernatural. Keeping my fingers crossed.

The Jungle by Upton Sinclair and Under Western Eyes by Joseph Conrad

Any bookish party is incomplete without vintage, fragile penguins. So here they are. Haven’t read them, but they are already my favorites.

So what do you think of the lot? What have you bought this Christmas?

 
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The Deadly Bookish Tank

To celebrate World Book Day on 5th March, Raul Lemesoff — an artist from Argentina — has created what he calls “Arma de Instruccion Masiva” or Weapon of Mass Instruction. This is a travelling library he intends to use to combat ignorance and spread knowledge. For this campaign, Raul has visited remote, impoverished towns in Argentina where almost half the children do not have the privilege of going to school.

What exactly is this weapon? It’s a 1979 Ford Falcon that has a rotating turret, a pseudo gun and about 900 books, which include poetry, novels and biographies. Raul offers books for free and his only request to people is to read the book he has given them. Isn’t that great?

Apart from promoting knowledge and education, this symbolic campaign also aims to “to contribute to peace through literature.” Awesome work Mr Lemesoff.

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Book Review: The Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling

Belated happy new year to my blogger friends! Finally managed to sneak out again from the miserable real world to the blogosphere. It had been a great year and hope you had a great one too. For me, the year moved at a break neck speed and The Book Haven was left stranded while its captain was a stranger in a strange land.

The major bookish achievement this year was to finish the Harry Potter Series (yeah, the movies too). Alright, it’s not retro and doesn’t belong to this blog. Also, I admit I was hopelessly prejudiced against the Potter boy and Rowling before taking up Philosopher’s Stone reluctantly. It was one of my friends who argued that it was a rubbish attitude to make fun of something without reading it. I couldn’t answer and decided to make a point by reading the book.

So I finished reading the first book. And had to eat my own words.

Blimey! Why on earth I kept pushing it away for so long? The Philosopher’s Stone was as original as Tolkien’s LoTR. Of course, it lacked the depth of a classic and was not a work of art created by a professor of Anglo-Saxon, but there’s no denying that it was way ahead of most books in the genre.

Movie: 3.5 / 5 (pretty descent stuff)

Chamber of Secrets is possibly the best book in the series in terms of plot. Basilisk and Tom Riddle’s diary were freaking awesome. And who could forget the flying car over Muggle London? God, the series was getting better and better.

Movie: 4/ 5 (Quite quite good)

The Prisoner of Azkaban felt like a letdown though. Sirius Black and Lupin were great characters; the dementors were creepy, but overall the plot seemed weak.

Movie: 2.5/ 5 (Meh! Cool special effects though)

With The Goblet of Fire, Rowling was back in form. The Triwizard tournament was outright genius. I believe, it was from this novel that the series started to take a dark turn. The book had a really eerie beginning and introduced Nagini, Voldemort’s infernal pet.

Movie: 3/ 5 (Not bad)

The Order of the Phoenix had some outstanding moments. Battle of the Ministry is perhaps the best thing about it. Bellatrix murdered Sirius Black – dang, that was a shock (thought he and James were both better than Bellatrix).

I believe it is virtually impossible to invent a character more annoying that Dolores Umbridge. Cool job by Rowling! However, the plot seemed loose and without purpose. Rowling seemed to describe the daily life at Hogwarts without any intention of going further and things fell in line again only towards the end.

Movie: 3/ 5 (Nothing very special here)

Sectumsempra! Aren’t you bleeding yet from the curse invented by the Half-blood price? Fantastic plot, great speed, dark magic, perilous missions, shocking betrayals, and tragic end. Wow!  Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince deserves to be one of your favourite novels in the series. If not for anything else, you can remember it simply because of the ghastly concept of Horcrux.

Movie: 3.5/ 5 (Lives up to the expectations)

The epic conclusion. The Deathly Hollows is my favourite book in the series. This one is truly tragic in tone from the beginning till the end. Incredible action, unforeseen twists, meticulously crafted characters and dialogues make the concluding episode an unforgettable journey. The battle of Hogwarts is nothing short of epic. What a finish. Avada Kedavra!

Movie – The Deathly Hollows Part I: 4/ 5 (Great job)

Movie – The Deathly Hollows Part 2: 4.5/ 5 (Best in the series)

I would rate Harry Potter series at par with Pullman’s His Dark Materials and Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time. It’s not The Lord of the Rings or The Game of Thrones but then it doesn’t need to be. Harry Potter is best the way it is.

The movies could have been better. They were cartoonish to begin with and gradually improved but none of them were like The Two Towers. What a pity!

What do you think of the Harry Potter series?
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Vintage Cover Art (Rowena Morrill): Isobel by Jane Parkhurst

Rowena Morrill is a SF and fantasy artist who has some really great vintage pulp covers to her credit. The above illustration is from the horror novel Isobel by Jane Parkhurst. Even by the high standard of vintage pulp covers, this one stands out as an outstanding example of compelling horror artwork, which has altogether vanished due to some incomprehensible reason. Can you feel the evocation of the dark? Does it give you the creeps?

In his blog  Too much horror fiction, Will mentions that this was Morrill’s first cover art. Too good a debut even for someone too talented!

Here is the front cover of the paperback:

 

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