The Action Man

1961, Avon edition

Author: Jay Flynn

First Published: 1961

Ebook Publisher: Stark House Press
Ebook Date: February 2019

A second Stark House Press eBook in a row for me. This one is the double-header of heist thriller books by Jay Flynn, who also wrote as J. M. Flynn. It contains 1961's The Action Man and 1959's Terror Tournament. This review will cover the first, which concerns the meticulous planning and execution of a $2M bank robbery in Peninsula City (there are references to Fishermans Wharf and San Francisco, so I suspect its supposed to be a fictitional place around the Bay Area?).

John M. Flynn was born in 1928, in Massachusetts. He worked many jobs, such as a newspaperman, bartender, editor, security guard and bootlegger. His first novel, The Deadly Boodle was published by Ace in 1958. His most popular books were those starring McHugh, all five released between 1959 and 1962. He passed away in 1986 of cancer at the age of 57.

In the very interesting introduction to the Stark House edition, Bill Pronzini opines that Flynn was a man made up of "all the schizophrenic contradictions that make up most of us". I found this book mirrored that distracted nature as well. Part bank-robbery caper story, part noir drama, it flits crazily between the two with the archetypal anti hero of Denton Farr trying to hold everything together. Flynn sounds like a character out of a mad-cap novel himself, the introduction is peppered with fantastic insights; I love this one:

One night during a heavy rainstorm, drunk on white-lightning or the like, he noticed that the ceiling of his furnished room was bulging strangely. Maybe he thought he had the DTs and demons were coming after him; maybe he was just too drunk to know what he was doing.  In any event he grabbed up his revolver and pumped five shots into the ominous bulge. Whereupon the entire ceiling collapsed and the ensuing deluge of trapped rainwater knocked him flat, broke his leg, and almost drowned him.

The Action Man refers the central character of bar owner Denton Farr. He runs a couple of places, The Loving Cup and a more prestigious establishment, The Tack Room. The Cup is co-owned by his lover Bette Vout. Its located opposite the local bank, and Farr has had his eye on the bank from Vouts bedroom window above the Cup for a little while when the tale begins. As well as having a realtionship with Bette, he is also married to the sweet Mary Jean, who he readily admits he married purely out of spite. You see, Mary Jean's former suitor was a TV front man named Burt Thomaston, who put paid to one of Farr's illegal schemes a few years back. He was swindling people of their money in a scam to supposedly pay for a motor racing set-up that never amounted to much - other than bucks in Farr's pocket. Thomaston interviewed an overconfident Farr on live television and put paid to his get-rich-quick caper. Marrying Mary Jean was Farr's extreme way of getting back at his nemesis.

This is a central character who isn't easy to like.

Denton sets his sights on his 'annual' crime event. You see, he's not into it for the money, he's very comfortable already. For him, its the action that attracts him, the planning, the recruiting, the adrenaline rush of the event, and then the satisfaction of having gotten away with it. This is what drives him.

His interest is peaked when he learns that the bank is responsible for holding the payroll for the local military base. This means that it holds close to $2M in its vault on a regluar basis. Could he work out how to rob the bank, steal the cash from under the noses of the Police and the Army, all within a few yards of his own bar? Its too tempting to resist, so he sets his sights on a massive heist.

Flynn writes with panache and grit in spades. His characters are full of anger, lust, envy and teetering on the edge of violence, especially Farr. The book is all about Farr. The women in his life are either sluts or whiter-than-white virgins (even thought they clearly aren't). He wouldn't think twice about bumping them off in order to ensure the robbery goes to plan. He is obsessed with not losing face.

Flynn takes the reader through the planning of the crime in detail, his character is meticulous to the extreme. For me, the book dragged a bit once it was beyond the set-up stage. I just wanted Flynn to concentrate on Farr and his team. To get down to the actual robbery and to find out if it was going to end the way it was planned. Unfortunately, I think Flyyn got distracted, we have a bit too much of Farr's complex relationship with Mary Jean and Thomaston thrown in, when I wanted more planning and recruitment for the robbery to play out.

Don't let this put you off though. I enjoyed reading The Action Man. Flynn populates it with great side characters. There is Farr's accomplice "Whispering" Jim Oxford; drunk mechanic, Johnny Emery and Mob representative, The Commissioner to name a few that add a touch of spice to the story. If you can accept Denton Farr as a central character, you will have some fun.