拳よ、闇を払え

2002年11月30日　拳よ、闇を払え (ハヤカワ・ミステリ文庫)

It's 1948, an era when newspapermen were stars -- and San Francisco sportswriter Billy Nichols is no exception. Known as Mr. Boxing throughout the city, he is the West Coast's answer to Damon Runyon -- an insider's insider who plucks and polishes his pearllike stories from the nonstop hustle of the city's nightclubs, gambling dens, and ringside seats. Billy Nichols is right where he wants to be, until he stumbles onto a shocking crime scene. Heavyweight boxer Hack Escalante has killed his manager, and for reasons Billy doesn't fully understand, he makes a spur-of-the-moment decision to protect the prizefighter. Soon Billy's in too deep, caught in a conspiracy of desire, deceit, and betrayal, and he sets off a chain of events whose consequences may cost him his beloved career -- and his life. As Billy himself struggles to escape suspicion, he must square off against relentless police detective Francis O'Connor, carry on business as usual with his colorful cronies in the boxing world, and resist his overwhelming passion for a woman he dare not love. Billy soon discovers that he's not the only yarn spinner in this nefarious netherworld: many of the characters inhabiting his well-honed newspaper columns have crafted their own alternative life stories, hiding scores of secrets. Whose story will emerge as "truth"? As richly ambient as James Ellroy's "L.A. Confidential," this debut novel brilliantly brings to life another time -- when pride and professionalism are sometimes more important than life itself. --このテキストは、絶版本またはこのタイトルには設定されていない版型に関連付けられています。 出版社からのコメント Starred review from KIRKUS REVIEWS: "The man on the living room floor is obviously dead, the man looming over him obviously responsible. The thing that's never obvious to Billy Nichols is why he decides to take a hand. The year is 1949, and Billy--"Mr. Boxing" to the sporting fraternity--has it made. "Through the Ropes," his column in the SAN FRANCISCO INQUIRER, is the manly art's bible, and he exults in the celebrity he's earned through talent, diligence, and integrity. As everybody in his often shady world knows, Billy plays square, which is probably why Hack Escalante phoned him, begging for help, moments after realizing he'd accidentally killed his snake-in-the-grass manager. Billy is fond of Hack, a local heavyweight of modest talent, but he's never considered him a serious friend. Instead of offering to get the kid a good lawyer, though, he finds himself helping to bury the body. "Sometimes what you do, there's no explanation for," he tells himself later while acknowledging how dumb and dangerous his decision has been. Soon enough a smart, persistent homicide detective is a fixture in his life. So is Claire Escalante, as dubious as she is desirable. Hack's downhearted frail of a wife lies as expertly as she makes love. Some good people get hurt, some die, and Billy himself suffers hard shots to the heart in the process of learning what it takes to go the distance." "Pungent, poignant, wonderfully atmospheric--an absolute knockout of a first novel. If it doesn't get at least short-listed for an Edgar, the fix is in." --このテキストは、絶版本またはこのタイトルには設定されていない版型に関連付けられています。 (「BOOK」データベースより)