3 out of 5

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There’s not a sentence in ‘Bullets’ that isn’t well worn; there’s not a character you haven’t met; there’s not a twist you won’t have guessed from when its pieces are first lain before you.  Richard Powell follows some strict smoking gun narrative rules in terms of not mentioning an odd detail unless it’s important later, so’s you know that out-of-the-way mention will roll back around in a few paragraphs.  He also uses some clunky tricks to navigate that – with characters deciding to ‘re-observe’ a moment in the middle of an action just so we can have something specific redescribed to us.  And yet… the book still manages to be incredibly fun.  And incredibly readable.  A lot of the pulp writers are an easy read, so it’s not just that, but that Powell keeps things going, breaks up the story beats rather perfectly, and doesn’t sweat all the small stuff.  It’s why we can reread the same story rewritten by a million authors – because every voice has the opportunity to add (or subtract) its own unique something to (from) the mix.  Perhaps Powell’s addition isn’t to break any new ground, but his skill seems to come from honing in on a fat-free version of the formula.  We know the scowling but well-intentioned Bill Wayne from having seen his character template elsewhere, and the same goes for girl-next-door Holly Clark and boo-at-the-screen deputy Carson Smith (whose mustache a’twirled you can replace with a Stetson), but they’re all great in their roles, and we feel exactly what should be hoped for each character.

Still, the smoothness with which the text passes by doesn’t overcome the main giant hurdle – that the core concept feels a little shaky.  Revenge is a general crime / mystery trope, sure, but Bill Wayne’s plan of trying to blend in with a tour group to visit five friends who might’ve been responsible for an attempt to off Mr. Wayne in Philadelphia grows more and more questionable as he / the narrator gives us the backstory supporting the Why, as well as Why Bill is now jumping immediately to shoot-first-ask-questions-later mode.  Powell tries to divert us from thinking about it too much by throwing tour guide Holly into the mix – who happens to know Powell from school, he of her schoolgirl crush – and plays Ms. Clark as the devil’s advocate, constantly questioning Wayne on what he’s doing.  She flip-flops a bit between helpless dame and whip-smart when its convenient, but I like that Powell avoids having either Bill or Holly fall into completely typical pulp roles, Bill’s forced attempts at getting her to leave him alone and Holly’s insistence on foiling his aloneness canceling out any cute or tropey ‘she had legs that went all the way up’ kinda stuff.  Bill has his plan and wants to remain on target.  The introduction of cad Carson Smith is the next necessary wrench, investigating the mishaps that seem to start happening in Wayne’s wake, and the ire Bill feels toward him (and his advances toward Holly) help, again, to keep us from thinking too hard about things.

But we do have to return to the plot on occasion, and so we do get the villain exposition and the ‘let me say out loud what I’m thinking’ moments.  They do what they’re supposed to do, I suppose, and then Bill makes a joke and you turn the page.

There are some good one liners, and ‘Say It With Bullets’ moves at a desirably quick pace.  It’s not the most original or mind-blowing book on the shelf, but Richard Powell writes it especially effectively so you don’t feel like you’ve wasted a single moment flipping through the popcorn fun… even while shaking your head at the obvious plot-point-a-comin’.