4 crampons out of 5

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I could’ve sworn this was a modern book, and yet “Two For the Money” combines two Max Allan Collins books published in the 80s – Bait Money and Blood Money – his first two with character Nolan.  This speaks of the timelessness of certain concepts that are popular in crime/noir books, but moreso of the strength of Collins writing, imbuing his stories with very distinct characters and dialogue that you can feel existing in the real world.

‘Bait Money’, about the first half of this HCC collection, is perhaps the more enjoyable half, as it takes its time to set up its premise and characters – Nolan, the heavy, trying to work off some bad blood with the Chicago mob – and John, a friend’s younger cousin who has the bank heist plan that just might do the trick.

Establishing Nolan’s mystique is tricky.  Collins’ wanted a Parker clone and Nolan certainly matches, but that doesn’t mean it’s an easy balance to master.  In his 50s but still threatening, Nolan’s actions make it clear that he’s a serious thug without going too far into moralistic territory so that his actions remain almost strictly logical.  And Collins is smooth with his pacing, giving us just enough about Nolan to flesh him out while still leaving him as the mystery lead.  This careful hand also extends to the rookie John, glimmers of the scaredy cat act when shit goes crazy but enough of a level head that we, as a reader, are allowed to empathize.  Mob boss Charlie is more of a stereotype but a good one, evil through and through, and our side characters – other players in the heist – are developed and roped along to perfect effect for acting as wrenches in the plot machinations.

‘Bait Money’ by itself is almost perfect.  It’s paced excitingly and gives us an Ocean’s 11 type involvement in heist planning and execution.  Collins had planned to kill Nolan and book’s end by rewrote it in a hurry to allow for sequels.  While we can be glad for the continuation of the character, the rewrite is somewhat apparent as the first book ends pretty abruptly, diminishing what might’ve otherwise been an awesome blend of funny, sad, and exciting noir.

‘Blood Money’ is certainly exciting, acting as a direct followup to ‘Bait,’ but as a revenge book – Nolan tracking down a loose ends from the initial book’s bank heist – the emotions are a bit heavier and it’s not as immediately relateable.  It’s still well written though the pacing slackens from book one, our lead chasing down dead ends not quite as thrilling as an immediate followup to a robbery.  Still, Collins’ wanted both books printed together as he now sees them as one story, and rightfully so – ‘Bait Money’ is shorted without ‘Blood’s conclusion and ‘Blood’s characters don’t work without their roots in ‘Bait.’

Collins is a great writer and ‘Two For the Money’ shows that off, balancing hard-boiled and smugness as well as the greats.  The two books put together make for an almost perfect example of well-rounded noir, hitting every high of the genre and giving Hard Case Crime another solid addition.

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