Mad Money (Two books in the Nolan series) by Max Allan Collins

Hard Case Crime completes their re-publishing of all of Max Allan Collins’ “Nolan” books with this Mad Money two-fer. I’ve enjoyed every one of the Nolan yarns, but this dual entry may, in fact, top the list.

The first book in this volume is Spree which comes in as the longest of the Nolan stories. Many readers consider this one the best and I probably find myself among them, although I hesitate to take anything away from the others as all of them are just absolutely top-notch.

Spree is the penultimate Nolan novel, at least as far as chronology is concerned. Nolan finds himself in a comfortable place, having gone straight as owner/manager of his own restaurant/club, located in the Brady Eighty shopping mall during the 1980s. His relationship with Sherry is solid and appears to be headed to a more long-term commitment. Meanwhile, his sidekick, Jon, is finally tasting some minor success with his lifelong dream of writing and drawing his very own comic book series. Unfortunately, that notorious family from the past, the Comforts, have reared their head again, this time led by Coleman Comfort and his son Lyle. Coleman, seeking revenge for several deaths of his family members at Nolan’s hands, makes his play, forcing Nolan to mastermind a truly ambitious heist of the entire 50-store Brady Eighty mall. A wonderful heist story, this one also reaches deep on an emotional level, with some wonderful new characters as well as several intensely dangerous scenes.

The second book in this volume, Mourn the Living is, reportedly, Max Allan Collins’ very first novel, written when he was an undergrad in 1967 or ’68, although it wasn’t published until 2001. I had always heard that the entire Nolan series was MAC’s tribute to the “Parker” series by Richard Stark (Donald E. Westlake), and I could really see the style similarities here. This one is pure Nolan with no Jon, no Sherry, and, in fact, acts as Nolan’s origin story. Previous novels have made reference to the events depicted here, especially how Nolan finds himself refusing to carry out an order from “The Family” and has to go on the run. The plot stems from an old friend from the Family named Sid Tisor. Sid’s daughter is dead, the victim of a long fall from a rooftop. Sid wants Nolan to investigate to see if she actually fell…or was pushed. It’s likely LSD and/or heroin was involved. This story is largely one of Nolan acting as PI, investigating and solving the mystery. A nice twist at the end that I should have seen coming, but didn’t, makes this one another fine read.

Together, these two books make a fine pair of bookends for the series, although MAC did provide a follow-up in 2020 with Skim Deep. I still have that one to read but I will add that these books, for the most part, read very well in this Hard Case Crime publication order. I am glad, however, that I saved Skim Deep until the final one, since it was written last and takes place after Spree. I don’t know if there will ever be any more Nolan stories written but if so, I plan to be first in line for my copy, regardless of when it takes place in the timeline.