Bookkeeper
12/30/2012
This book is definitely "Gangs of New York"... on Mars. Gritty hardboiled pulp with lots of violence, frontier politics, unwashed bodies, brothels, a forced wedding, and terse but decent prose. Beneath the dome of the Mars colony. A fast enjoyable read, but definitely less science fiction and more like macho noir. The hero, copper Bruce Gordon, isn't exactly pure and good... at first. Or ever. Nobody's really a saint in Marsport, apparently, except the starving masses and the pretty girls. I got a little lost in the endless parade of men with weapons. Mostly it's corrupt cops beating up thugs, mob violence, gambling, a blonde dame who starts out as a feisty fighter and ends up a nice little wifey who helps Brucie take off his boots after a hard day and cries when he strip-searches her. Probably wicked good stuff if you're a thirteen year old American boy in 1956.