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Summary
Author Notes
Bill Pronzini was born in Petaluma, California on April 13, 1943. His first novel, The Stalker, was published in 1971. He is best known for his creation of the Nameless Detective Mystery series, as well as several westerns and novels of dark suspense. He has been a full time writer since 1969. He is also an active anthologist, having compiled more than 100 collections, most of which focus on mystery, western, and science fiction short stories.
He has won numerous awards including three Shamus Awards and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Private Eye Mystery Writers of America. His book Snowbound received the Grand Prix de la Litterature Policiere, as the best crime novel published in France in 1988. Pronzini has established himself as a master of the Western novel as well as earning a name for himself in the dark fiction genre.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (3)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Pronzini's ``nameless'' San Francisco detective and his partner Eberhardt are trying to prove that their client Thomas Lujack did not mow down his business partner with his car. Although he suspects his client's guilt early on, the 58-year-old gumshoe spends three weeks looking for flaws in the testimony of the hit-and-run's sole witness. Then Lujack is found murdered, the witness disappears, and the detective, instead of being asked to step up his investigation, is discharged by the victim's brother Coleman. In full moral outrage, the veteran detective bulldogs his way through the case, uncovering evidence about the brothers' employment of illegal immigrants. Two-time Shamus Award-winner Pronzini ( Shackles ) delivers rapid-fire dialogue, surprising plot twists and even satisfying fisticuffs on a fog-laden rocky beach, but this rambling adventure, its narrator's trademark melancholy weightier than ever, moves readers to the edge of their seats only at the conclusion. (Feb.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
Still suffering residual panic attacks from his kidnapping ordeal (Shackles, Jackpot), ""Nameless"" and best friend/partner Eberhardt are hired to prove that Thomas Lujack did not mow down his business partner Frank Hanauer in a Cadillac Seville, despite what eye-witness Nick Pendarves saw. Then someone tries to run down Pendarves. Would Lujack or his brother be that stupid? Many bar-stops, alley-bashings, and chase scenes later, ""Nameless"" is up to his eyeballs in illegal aliens (the current favorite story material), Lujack is dead in Pendarves's garage (in a silver BMW), and there is further skullduggery working at Containers, Inc., where Lujack's brother Coleman is conniving, foreman Rafael Vega is missing, and the sultry receptionist can't keep her stories straight on where he might be. Then Coleman is murdered. Several punch-ups occur before the border patrol and INS field agents can wrap things up, and ""Nameless"" can finally tell girlfriend Kerry that he loves her. Mid-level Pronzini--for the fast, furious, and violent crowd only. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
For the purpose of cover, his name's Art Canino, and he's pounding Bud Lights in the Hideaway, a low-rent beach tavern near San Francisco. He's actually the Nameless Detective, and he's in the bar to watch another drinker, who just may know something about the hit-and-run death of Nameless' client. It could be a legitimate case, or it could be that Nameless is being set up for a fall. Pronzini's existentialist sleuth has accrued heaps of praise in the past, and this novel isn't likely to change the pattern. Breakdown packs enough fog-ridden beachfront detail, barfly bravado, and sorrowful shamus patter to last most writers a whole crime series. Style is all in these grim, impressionistic adventures of the archetypal loner detective, and Pronzini's retro-hip prose is made to order for the job. ~--Peter Robertson
