Black Mask 6: The Bloody Bokhara: And Other Crime Fiction from the Legendary Magazine

by Otto Penzler Narrated by Richard Ferrone, David LeDoux, Jeff Gurner, Peter Ganim

Overview

From its launch in 1920 until its demise in 1951, the magazine Black Mask published pulp crime fiction. The first hard-boiled detective stories appeared on its pages. Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler, Erle Stanley Gardner and John D. MacDonald got their start in Black Mask. The urban crime stories that appeared in Black Mask helped to shape American culture. Modern computer games, films, and television are rooted in the fiction popularized by “the seminal and venerated mystery pulp magazine” (Booklist).

Otto Penzler selected and wrote introductions to the best of the best, the darkest of these dark, vintage stories for the collection The Black Lizard Big Book of Black Mask Stories. Now that collection is available for the first time on audio.

Includes:

“Body Snatcher” by Theodore A. Tinsley; read by Richard Ferrone

“Murder on the Gayway” by Dwight V. Babcock; read by David LeDoux

“The Key” by Cleve F. Adams; read by Jeff Gurner

“The Bloody Bokhara” by William Campbell Gau< read by Peter Ganim 

Editorial Reviews

Joseph Wambaugh

All top-shelf thrillers. . . . Hard-boiled fiction fans are in for loads of fun as this series is proving to be one great listening experience after another. HighBridge, keep ’em coming!”
—Library Journal [starred review]

Library Journal - Audio

Volumes 5 and 6 in this ongoing collection (see LJ 3/1/12, p. 56) offer a hit/miss mix. The Ring starts strong with Carroll John Daly's "Knights of the Open Palm," which dates to 1923 and is considered the original hard-boiled detective story. Gruff PI Race Williams's signature lines like, "When I'm gunning, I'm a bad man," are delivered in a slow, syrupy, matter-of-fact tone by narrator Eric Bergmann. This set is dominated by Rainbow Diamonds, a series of six stories by Ramon Decolta featuring Filipino detective Jo Gar, which, alas, are the least satisfying of the lot. The program ends strong with the title tale, whose teen protagonist is captured in a perfect gee-whiz tone by reader Dan Bittner. Containing only four stories, The Bloody Bokhara collection makes up for quantity with quality. The title story along with Theodore A. Tinsley's "Body Snatcher," Dwight V. Babcock's "Murder on the Gayway," and Cleve F. Adams's "The Key" are all top-shelf thrillers. Oddly, only "The Key" features a true detective, as Tinsley and Babcock offer reporters doing the crime-solving, and "Bokhara" stars a carpet salesman sleuth. VERDICT The assorted narrators are well matched to their pieces and do ample justice to the material. Once again, hard-boiled fiction fans are in for loads of fun as this series is proving to be one great listening experience after another. HighBridge, keep 'em coming!—Mike Rogers, Library Journal

Product Details

BN ID:	2940171333089
Publisher:	HighBridge Company
Publication date:	04/10/2012
Series:	Black Mask , #6
Edition description:	Unabridged

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