Cocktail Talk: Killer Take All, Part II
First, before taking in all or even another word, don’t bypass the Killer Take Call Cocktail Talk Part I, to not only find out more about this pulp-tastic thrill and kill ride by James O. Causey (an author I didn’t know before reading this page-turner, but who I am excited to track down more from), but to also find a stitch more about (and be pointed to even more information about) the book that shares a spine with this in my version, The Deadly Pick-up by Milton K. Ozaki. That’s right, I myself picked up a double book book with both of these deadly delights! Which somewhat describes the bar below, too, where the narrator (who gets in a whole peck of trouble, and then more of the same, in the book) orders of all things a Pernod, not something found in too many pulp fictions.
The bar was a murk of red light and cigarette smoke. The erotic sob of invisible violins counterpointed hushed giggles from the booths. It was like a hall of mirrors, the garish light distorting expressions, accenting the slyness, the moist smiles, the shamed hunger.
The bartender drifted over, soundless as a snake. He looking like the doorman’s twin brother.
“Pernod,” I said.
He gave me a half-moon grin and moved down the bar. That order had branded me as one of the boys. I belonged.
–James O. Causey, Killer Take All
