Fifty-to-One (Hard Case Crime Novels)

Fifty To One by Charles ArdaiTo celebrate the publication of Hard Case Crime's fiftieth book, Ardai, the erstwhile founder of Hard Case Crime and author in his own right, decided to write a pulp novel that paid homage to all of the previous forty-nine books Hard Case Crime had already published. He also decided to pay homage to the some of the masters of pulp fiction by including them in some manner in his book. The result is a book that is part tongue-planted-firmly-in-cheek parody and part terrific pulp novel. It is hard enough to do one of these and no one knows how hard to do both of these things at once. Hats off to Ardai for successfully pulling this clever feat off and writing a truly thrilling tale that was extremely hard to put down until one reached the end.This is the third Ardai book that I have read in the last two weeks, the previous two having been published under his pen name Richard Aleas. I wholeheartedly recommend all three of these books to the pulp reader (Little Girl Lost, Songs of Innocence, and Fifty To One). Besides terrific covers and terrific writing, what do these three have in common? Ardai focuses all of these stories on a young, innocent small-town hick as his protagonist. This young innocent hick comes to big bad New York City and encounters strippers and mobsters and, with the entire city seemingly against this protagonist, solves a deepening mystery.This book (Fifty To One) opens with Patricia Heverstadt arriving from South Dakota with two suitcases and a typewriter out to follow her older sister's footsteps in New York City. Of course, her sister tells her to go home and, within moments of arriving, she is conned out of most of her funds by some sharp talking New Yorker. She, still carrying her bags, follows the address on the business card left her by the con artist to an office building where she auditions for a dancing part. Having no money left, she asks the producers for an advance and they give her a place to stay in the "Chateau," which turns out to be a converted office next door with bunks for a dozen would-be starlets. Trixie, as she now calls herself, finds no other than her con man on the same floor and he is none other than "Charlie" who is running a new publishing house, Hard Case Crime and is also running from a beating by none other than Mickey Spillane. Could "Charlie" be an alter ego for Charles Ardai? Hard to tell.In addition to her dancing career (at a club run by mobsters, of course), it seems Trixie is an aspiring novelist who writes a novel (using the pen name "anonymous") telling the story about a how a famous mobster is robbed of $3 million. Since truth is always stranger than fiction, it turns out that the mobster was actually robbed of $3 million and, of course, Trixie is the prime suspect since she bragged about it in her book.With that as a backdrop, Ardai takes the reader on a journey through late fifties New York and pits Trixie and Charlie against a mobster determined to get his money back.Ardai had a little fun with this one, throwing in odd bits of parody throughout the book. He also named each chapter after a Hard Case Crime book. The title refers not just to the book's number within the ranks of Hard Case publishing history, but also to a card game that a mobster likes to play. One card is removed from the deck and the odds are fifty-to-one that the player can now guess the top card. Guess it and maybe you live a little longer. Fail to guess it and there might be a new bullet hole in your chest.It's a great fun novel to read in and of itself and the bits of parody that Ardai throws in actually do not take away from the finished product. I really enjoyed reading this one.

The premise suggests a gimmick. Charles Ardai, renowned crime novelist and publisher of the Hard Case Crime series, wants to celebrate the fiftieth publication in the series. He toys with the idea of a collection of short stories by the series' authors but instead decides to write a novel with fifty chapters, each using the title of one of the fifty novels (in sequence) in the series.This results in certain challenges, particularly with regard to plot and tone. The bottom line, however, is that the chapter titles are cute and fun, but do not really shape the book. The book stands on its own merits and it's a veritable gem.Paricia Heverstadt, aka Trixie, aka Tricia, has come to New York from South Dakota, following her sister Coral. Coral has found work as a dancer and so does Tricia. Discovering that she works for a Gotham criminal she also encounters Charles Borden, erstwhile publisher of `Hard Case Crime' books as well as some cash cow pornography. He's looking for material and Tricia supplies a heist novel, the mark being her crime-family boss. Then, lo and behold, it happens that the heist has actually been pulled off and Tricia's being threatened by `Uncle Nick', the crime boss as well as a host of subsidiary characters she encounters in her attempts to elude Nick, find the stolen swag, free her captured sister and her potential partner, Charles Borden and . . . well, you get the point.This is a breakneck romp, a tour of Gotham with lots of blood and lots of smiles. One of the high points occurs at Aqueduct, where Tricia--good girl of the northern plains that she is--escapes the bad guys on a race horse which she promptly rides through the not so mean streets of Queens.Maintaining the balance between suspense, violence and lighthearted humor is the real challenge here, not the chapter titles, and Ardai succeeds beautifully. One of the jacket blurbs suggests that the best writer in Ardai's (aka Richard Aleas) stable is Ardai himself. That may just be true, but he's also enough of a pro here to feature a cameo appearance by Block and Westlake, two of his star authors. Their appearance comes at just the right moment and in just the right, unanticipated fashion.Fifty-To-One is longer than the vast majority of Hard Case Crime novels and every page is a delight. This is a don't miss. And Charles--thanks for the series; how about a sequel for Tricia?

Not normally my genre of choice, I was pleasantly surprised in reading this mystery. There are quite a few comments that will discuss the author's ability to expertly tie in all the themes from the other 49 novels. The story has lots of twists and turns. I actually think the author - a male - did an amazing job at creating a very believable, spunky, incredibly likable female heroine.However, what makes this really different is that the book itself actually succeeds as a comedy. There is a certain wit that charms the reader and has him smiling and intrigued throughout this piece. It is an easy read without being brainless, which is really not that easy to pull off. For someone who normally is not thrilled about mysteries, this one is quite digestible.If you're considering this book, go ahead and go for it. You get a mystery and comedy rolled into one.

Charles Ardai is the founder of Hard Case Crime and is an excellent writer in his own right. I purchased the deluxe limited and signed edition (500 numbered copies) for $45 and it is well worth the price as well as the read. The book also includes mini-covers of the first 50 copies of the Hard Case Crime novels. If you are a collector, you will be inspired to purchase them all. As usual, the dust jacket illustration by Glen Orbik is outstanding. Highly recommended.

This is a cheesy book with cardboard characters and a meandering plot. I loved every page. Boy, did this book take me back to mom buying her mystery book at the grocery store. Enjoy.

A longtime fan of Hard-boiled Crime stories, I like them to read fast and furiously and not slow and sluggish. "Fifty To One" is slow and sluggish. I kept putting it down, forgetting that I was reading it.

Fifty-to-One is a very special book for Hard Case Crime fans, marking the press's 50th release. Rather fittingly, then, it's the story of a down-on-his-luck publisher commissioning the wrong book and finding himself in all sorts of trouble with the mob, the cops and just about everyone else he runs into. We follow the author of said book and wannabe dancer, Trixie, for most of the story, Ardai's style and mood very much like the pulptastic Gabriel Hunt series he edits (and occasionally writes within) as opposed to the darker, neo-noir of his Richard Aleas persona. It's the perfect vibe for this book, a light-hearted homage to the noir and pulp that Hard Case Crime has celebrated since its conception back in 2001. There have been another 50 since then, and some. And here's to many more from HCC!

Charles Ardai came up with this brilliant idea of writing a 'hard case crime' novel that would use the titles of his company's first fifty, published books, as chapter headings. He's an excellent writer, using his wit and humour to keep us rolling along with the unlikely heroine of his story. Fifty To One is a sure bet. Buy it! And, while your at it, check out Ardai's website, [...]

Not as good as I expected.The book was given lots of kudos in advance,but methinks it was `cause of the author.If it was anyone else,it`d have got a lukewarm reception - which was all it deserved.