7,000 Clams : A Novel

Rating:
Summary: A Rollicking, Hardboiled Story of the 1920's
Review:
What's as much fun as a barrel of monkeys? Well, you might try 7,000 CLAMS, the first novel by college history professor Lee Irby. And that's "clams" as in bread, dough, scratch, jack, moolah and dinero. Seven thousand of which was a pretty good chunk-of-change in 1925 at the height of Prohibition, the era during which this story is set and which is depicted with accuracy and lavish detail by the author. A few pages into this book and you will hear the rattle of a Tommy gun, the throaty roar of a Model T down-shifting as it careens around the corner making its getaway and, last but not least, smell the booze being dispensed from hundreds of local speakeasies in blatant contravention of the Volstead Act. So hop up on the running board and hold on tight, you're in for one wild and entertaining ride!

Frank Hearn is just an ordinary guy trying to make an honest living. Well, as least as honest a living as is possible for a bootlegger in Asbury Park, New Jersey during the roaring Twenties. Set to make a big score on a shipment of top-shelf hooch, Hearn is double-crossed and his booze is hijacked. Frank finds the mug that set him up but it's too late to get either his liquor or his money back. What he does get, however, is an IOU for $7,000 in gambling debts signed by none other than the great Babe Ruth himself. With his prospects looking pretty dim up North, Hearn decides to make the trek to St. Petersburg, Florida where the mighty Yankees are set to begin spring training. There he hopes to brace the Babe and force the slugger to pay up before Frank goes public with the story. Along the way Hearn hooks up with ex-torch singer Ginger DeMore, a dame with curves in all the right places and the guts to use the gun she packs in one of the few places she has that doesn't curve.

7,000 CLAMS is both entertaining and evocative. Irby's guys and molls not only talk the talk but they walk the walk as well. Most impressive is the manner in which the author subtly portrays the schizophrenia of the era - a façade of morality and law and order covering a situation rapidly deteriorating into anarchy and lawlessness. Portrayed here is a country of seemingly limitless possibility but one which is at the same time beset by a palpable sense of desperation. Those larger cultural issues of the day are deftly reflected in the chaotic personal lives of the characters in this story. All of those elements more than make up for the places in this novel where the plot - which takes a long time to get rolling in the first place - nearly grinds to a halt.

That being said, anyone looking for a good, old fashioned hardboiled story set in an era when the men did what they had to do to get by and the women were as dangerous as they were glamorous will enjoy this novel. Irby expresses a special interest in the 1920's. The quality of his stylish first effort -a few minor blemishes notwithstanding - should leave most readers hoping that he will return again to that same era in subsequent books. (James Clar - MYSTERY NEWS)




Rating:
Summary: Great characters, fast-paced, transports to the roaring 20s
Review: I really enjoyed the characters and the writing style. Irene, the flapper, and Ginger, the moll, remind us that ours isn't the first era of strong, intelligent, and interesting women! Usually my reading stays on my nightstand. This book followed me all over the house--I couldn't put it down!

Rating:
Summary: A Rollicking, Hardboiled Story of the 1920's
Review: What's as much fun as a barrel of monkeys? Well, you might try 7,000 CLAMS, the first novel by college history professor Lee Irby. And that's "clams" as in bread, dough, scratch, jack, moolah and dinero. Seven thousand of which was a pretty good chunk-of-change in 1925 at the height of Prohibition, the era during which this story is set and which is depicted with accuracy and lavish detail by the author. A few pages into this book and you will hear the rattle of a Tommy gun, the throaty roar of a Model T down-shifting as it careens around the corner making its getaway and, last but not least, smell the booze being dispensed from hundreds of local speakeasies in blatant contravention of the Volstead Act. So hop up on the running board and hold on tight, you're in for one wild and entertaining ride!

Frank Hearn is just an ordinary guy trying to make an honest living. Well, as least as honest a living as is possible for a bootlegger in Asbury Park, New Jersey during the roaring Twenties. Set to make a big score on a shipment of top-shelf hooch, Hearn is double-crossed and his booze is hijacked. Frank finds the mug that set him up but it's too late to get either his liquor or his money back. What he does get, however, is an IOU for $7,000 in gambling debts signed by none other than the great Babe Ruth himself. With his prospects looking pretty dim up North, Hearn decides to make the trek to St. Petersburg, Florida where the mighty Yankees are set to begin spring training. There he hopes to brace the Babe and force the slugger to pay up before Frank goes public with the story. Along the way Hearn hooks up with ex-torch singer Ginger DeMore, a dame with curves in all the right places and the guts to use the gun she packs in one of the few places she has that doesn't curve.

7,000 CLAMS is both entertaining and evocative. Irby's guys and molls not only talk the talk but they walk the walk as well. Most impressive is the manner in which the author subtly portrays the schizophrenia of the era - a façade of morality and law and order covering a situation rapidly deteriorating into anarchy and lawlessness. Portrayed here is a country of seemingly limitless possibility but one which is at the same time beset by a palpable sense of desperation. Those larger cultural issues of the day are deftly reflected in the chaotic personal lives of the characters in this story. All of those elements more than make up for the places in this novel where the plot - which takes a long time to get rolling in the first place - nearly grinds to a halt.

That being said, anyone looking for a good, old fashioned hardboiled story set in an era when the men did what they had to do to get by and the women were as dangerous as they were glamorous will enjoy this novel. Irby expresses a special interest in the 1920's. The quality of his stylish first effort -a few minor blemishes notwithstanding - should leave most readers hoping that he will return again to that same era in subsequent books. (James Clar - MYSTERY NEWS)