Friday, May 27, 2011

Max Allan Collins's Nolan Series


Just saw this on Paul Bishop's site and had to throw in my two cents.  I was just a kid when I first read these, and Max Allan Collins wasn't much older than me.  He still isn't, but he was already leading the life I wanted and eventually got to.

Some history:  the series was picked up by Pinnacle Books (the first two had been published by another company).  Pinnacle also had the long-running Mack Bolan, Executioner, series and had just lost the title to those.  Some people thought that the NOLAN name was intentionally done to capitalize on the BOLAN audience.  Most readers at that time didn't know the first two books had been out well in advance of the Bolan loss, and only four years after the Bolan series itself debuted.  Collins had written his first book in this series years before this and only sold the books later.

These books were cool.  Nolan was a professional thief, and his young protege, Jon, was into comics and music.  They were different, but worked really well together.  I wish someone would get around to reissuing these books on Kindle.  I'd love to read them again.

And if you happen to find a copy somewhere, pick it up and read it.  If you're a noir or crime lover, you'll enjoy these.

The first two books in the series have been re-released in a single paperback from Hard Case Crime.



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