Pork City - Hardcover

Browne, Howard

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0491032684 ISBN 13: 9780491032681

Publisher: W.H. Allen, 1988

Synopsis

Howard Browne (April 15, 1908-October 28, 1999) was a science fiction editor and mystery writer. He also wrote for several television series and films. Some of his work appeared over the pseudonyms John Evans, Alexander Blade, Lawrence Chandler, Ivar Jorgensen, and Lee Francis. Beginning in 1942, Browne worked as managing editor for Ziff-Davis publications on Amazing Stories and Fantastic Adventures, both under Raymond A. Palmer's editorship. When Palmer left the magazines in 1949, Browne took over in January 1950. Browne ended the publication of Richard Shaver's Shaver Mystery and oversaw the change in Amazing from a pulp magazine to a digest. He left the magazines in 1956 to move to Hollywood. In Hollywood, Browne wrote for television shows including Maverick, Ben Casey, and The Virginian. His last credit was for the film Capone (1975), starring Ben Gazzara. Pork City - In June 1930 in Chicago, a newspaper reporter, Jake Lingle, is killed in the underground tunnel between Michigan and Randolph streets. Only, as Dion O'Banion, of Chicago's North Side gang says, "There's two kinds of guys you don't lay a finger on - men of the cloth and newspaper slobs." But someone seems to have forgotten this tip. Lingle worked for the Chicago Tribune and McCormick, the head of the paper offers a $25,000 reward for information leading to arrest and conviction. He also sets up his own special staff of police and prosecutors that will report to him -not the corrupt city officials.

About this title

From Publishers Weekly

This thriller is as fast and snappy as a good, old Warner Brothers gangster movie. Ostensibly based on a true 1930 murder, it begins with the shooting, in broad daylight, of a Chicago Tribune reporter. The paper's redoubtable publisher, Col. McCormick, vows revenge on the mob and sets up his own semi-private investigation, headed by Patrick Roche of the Cook County prosecutor's office. Irish-born Roche is one of the few honest cops in town and he starts applying pressure where it hurts: in the breweries, speaks and brothels. Soon the various mob chiefs also join in the hunt for the murderer. First among many complications is the fact that the newshound was no stranger to corruption himself. Contributing to the book's appeal are Browne's description of the workings of both mob and "law enforcement" groups. En route to the bleak, cynical ending we're treated to an action-packed plot, a colorful cast of characters (including Alphonse Capone) and authentic period flavor. TV and screenwriter Browne (The St. Valentine's Day Massacre), uses cinematic quick-cutting effectively and the dialogue crackles. As John Evans, he's written many Paul Pine mysteries. This is a beaut.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: W.H. Allen
• Publication date: 1988
• ISBN 10: 0491032684
• ISBN 13: 9780491032681
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 256