Moving from pre-World War I to the inter-war period, Dashiell Hammet's 1929 masterpiece "Red Harvest" is narrated by his frequently-used character "The Continental Cop". Originally serialised in four instalments in the magazine "Black Mask", thankfully this Anaconda Road Massacre-inspired novel is available to be read as one - as, once you find out the last honest citizen of Poisonville has been murdered, you will not want to put it down until Continental Op has finished his mission of punishing those responsible (and he alone murders 20 people, showing bloodshed is never more than a few pages away). Hammett draws upon his own experiences as an operative of the Pinkerton Detective Agency in Montana to highlight the violence, corruption and lack of morals in some parts of the American West in the 1920s - and shows the dangers that can be brought about by revolting miners... Interestingly, in addition the Coen brothers' 1984 film "Blood Simple" takes its title from this line in Red Harvest in which the Op tells Dinah Brand: "This damned burg's getting me. If I don't get away soon I'll be going blood-simple like the natives." The writing throughout is just as emotive.
NUFC editor for WhatCulture.com/NUFC. History graduate (University of Edinburgh) and NCTJ-trained journalist. I love sports, hopelessly following Newcastle United and Newcastle Falcons. My pastimes include watching and attending sports matches religiously, reading spy books and sampling ales.
