F. Book Reviews 7

F24. The Last Match

• Adler, Dick. “Have a Very Noir Halloween.” Paperback Mysteries, October 23, 2006. http://paperbackmysteries.blogspot.com/2006/10/have-noir-halloween.html [Editor’s note: no longer available online]
      “… the typescript … sat in an archive until recently, when a librarian discovered it and sent it on its way to Hard Case – who by now have performed enough resurrections to qualify as a religion.”
• Allan, Paul Goat. Ransom Notes Reviews (Barnes & Noble), October 2006. http://www.barnesandnoble.com/newsletters/newsletters_cds2.asp?pid=806&z;=y [Editor’s note: no longer available online]
      “An unexpected treat for pulp noir aficionados: more than 30 years after the passing of David Dodge … a previously unpublished novel lost among his papers after his death and unearthed decades later by a research librarian …”
• Berrett, Jesse. What I’m Reading, November 6, 2006.  https://jesse_berrett.typepad.com/what_im_reading/2006/11/wiprud_stuffed.html
     “… as interesting for its backstory as its plot … Makes you want to read a biography of someone so in command of such useful information.”
• Clarke, Craig. Craig’s Book Club, November 10, 2006? http://www.geocities.com/craigsbookclub/lastmatch.html [Editor’s note: no longer available online]
      “A fine example of Dodge’s writing … this book displays the easy flow of a writer who is very comfortable behind the typewriter.”
• ———. “Dodge’s Last and Best.” Epinions.com, November 18, 2006. http://www.epinions.com/content_280755342980 [Editor’s note: no longer available online]
      Reprint of the author’s Craig’s Book Club review; 5 stars.
• Crider, Bill. Bill Crider’s Pop Culture Magazine, October 21, 2006. https://billcrider.blogspot.com/2006/10/last-match-david-dodge.html
      “If you’re a fan of Gold Medal Books, you might like this one … Besides the novel, there’s an entertaining afterword by David Dodge’s daughter. She clearly inherited a bit of her dad’s writing ability.”
• Fortier, Ron. Pulp Fiction Reviews, November 17, 2006. https://pulpfictionreviews.blogspot.com/2006/11/last-match_17.html
      “Dodge amps the speed to a roller-coaster finale just as taut and suspenseful as any thriller I’ve ever enjoyed. This book is a treasure and kudos to [Hard Case Crime] for bringing it to us at long last.”
• Goldberg, Lee. “Another Reason to Love Hard Case Crime.” A Writer’s Life, August 14, 2006. https://leegoldberg.com/another_reason_-2/
      “… echoes of TO CATCH A THIEF … a sprawling international adventure …”
• Gorman, Ed. “What Ed Read.” Bookgasm, ed. Rod Lott. October 6, 2006. http://www.bookgasm.com/reviews/thrillers/what-ed-read-10606/ [Editor’s note: no longer available online]
      “The word ‘picaresque’ is taken from a form of satirical prose originating in Spain, depicting realistically and often humorously the adventures of a low-born, roguish hero living by his/her wits in a corrupt society. This is the only word I can find to adequately describe THE LAST MATCH …”
• Graff, Kier. The Booklist 103, no. 6 (November 15, 2006):33-34.
      “[The Last Match] remained among his papers until a professor [!] brought it to the publisher’s attention … good fun.”
• ———. “Unbound Galleys Revisited.” Likely Stories (Booklist Online), 2006. http://blog.booklistonline.com/2006/08/10/unbound-galleys-revisited/ [Editor’s note: no longer available online]
      “The plot is a little wacky, but it keeps moving, and the language is full of zingy patter … a real find.”
• Hartlaub, Joe. Bookreporter.com, December 30, 2010. https://www.bookreporter.com/reviews/the-last-match
      “Hard Case Crime aficionados should rejoice at this new offering … an entertaining addition to the collection by an under-appreciated author who left us too early and with too little.”
• “Lost Crime Novel Surfaces by Author of To Catch a Thief.” Infomonkey.net, December 31, 2006. http://www.infomonkey.net/ [Editor’s note: no longer available online]
      “Compulsively engrossing, The Last Match might just be the mystery book find of 2006.”
• Montgomery, David J. “David Dodge – The Last Match (2006).” Mystery Ink, October 2006. http://www.mysteryinkonline.com/2006/10/dodge_david_the.html [Editor’s note: no longer available online]
      “An entertaining and fun read. This isn’t the best we’ve seen from Hard Case Crime, but … still a worthy find.”
• ———. “Review of David Dodge’s ‘The Last Match.’” Crime Fiction Dossier, October 3, 2006. https://www.crimefictionblog.com/2006/10/review_of_david.html
      Reprint of the author’s Mystery Ink review.
• Moore, Jed. “Thrilling Novel Tough to ‘Match.’” The Badger Herald (University of Wisconsin-Madison), November 30, 2006. http://badgerherald.com/artsetc/2006/11/30/thrilling_novel_toug.php [Editor’s note: no longer available online]
      “The novel hits us on a gut level, with a punch that’s all heavyweight.”
• Pierleoni, Allen. “Between the Lines: Pulp Fiction – The Real Deal.” The Sacramento Bee, October 14, 2006. http://www.sacbee.com/107/story/38645.html [Editor’s note: no longer available online]
      “The manuscript of ‘The Last Match’ was completed in 1974, shortly before Dodge’s death, but was lost among his papers until its discovery last year.”
• Publishers Weekly (August 14, 2006): 185. https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780843955965
      “The on again/off again flirtation between the callused American swindler and the saucy British beauty is the delicious meat of the book.”
• Reasoner, James. “The Last Match/David Dodge.” Rough Edges, October 12, 2006. https://jamesreasoner.blogspot.com/2006/10/last-matchdavid-dodge.html
      “Dodge’s breezy, fast-paced style is an absolute joy to read, and the scenes of local color on the Riviera and in South America are excellent.”
• Vicarel, Jo Ann. Library Journal 131, no. 10 (June 1, 2006): 97.
      Prepublication notice.
• Winter, James R. “Review: The Last Match by David Dodge.” North Coast Exile, October 27, 2006. http://jamesrwinter.typepad.com/northcoast_exile/2006/10/review_the_last.html [Editor’s note: no longer available online]
      “Entertaining as hell.”