Killing Quarry by Max Allan Collins * Publication Date 11/12/19 * 5/5 stars * Published by Hard Case Crime
Everyone’s favorite professional killer is back in Killing Quarry, the 15th adventure of the Vietnam sniper turned hitman by Max Allan Collins.
This adventure falls into the “list” era of Quarry adventures when he is searching out other professional killers and eliminating them — for a fee. It’s a return to the early days of this series that first started in the 1970s, but with a twist. When Quarry tracks this killer, he ends up following him back to his Wisconsin stomping ground and finds that he is the target. It seems someone has figured out his scheme and is tired of their killers and clients getting offed.
As I wrote that last paragraph, I realized just how absurd this premise is. It requires a pretty big suspension of disbelief to accept that Quarry would just happen to track the right killer at the right time. In fact, that points to just what a skilled writer MAC is at this point. Yeah, it bothered me a little at the back of my mind as I read, but the story was moving at such a pace, it’s easy to toss that aside and follow the story.
A female killer from Quarry’s past shows up at an opportune time to help Quarry, and there’s the typical death and sex to keep you reading. Still, what appears to be a relatively straightforward tale has enough twists and turns to keep the story going to a satisfying conclusion.
The decision to have Quarry as the target pays off in some nice ways as it leaves Quarry off his game throughout the book and ups the stakes for our hero(?). That helps to keep the book feeling fresh, something that’s never easy to do in a series that has extended across this many books and more than 40 years.
Brick Pickle Media 