by Mike Barry (Barry N. Malzberg)
1973, Berkley Medallion
Burt Wulff continues his war on drugs in San Francisco. He kills a dealer, rescues a junkie, and fights off assassination attempts before he sinks a ship, stealing the cargo of heroin. The horrible prose of the first novel has improved dramatically. Not only is it more readable, it gains some depth in places, though sometimes Malzberg climbs up his own ass for a few pages. Drug distribution networks are like franchise fast food joints. And fast food is kind of like a drug, when you think about it. Yeah, man.
Better action scenes, better plotting but only barely. His assassins just know where he is, while the mob boss pulls a Bond villain and tells Wulff where the shipment is coming in because he plans on killing him anyway.
Best of all, Malzberg manages to evoke a mood, of Wulff being a walking dead man, driven but with no real purpose, like a more nihilistic version of early Mack Bolan.
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