“Killing people with blunt objects isn’t really my style, but then style is a luxury I can’t always indulge in.”

"I hoped I wouldn't have to kill her. I probably would. But I hoped not."

Ahh, big hearted Quarry! He comes into contact with a female version of himself, as he is trying out his new business plan to prevent killers from killing - for a fee! He's still got the Broker's list, and he is hoping he can use it to be in business for himself. This is his first attempt at the new plan. And it's a pretty good read (and quick!), with an interesting ending.

“Maybe next time.” ( )

Quarry’s Deal is set in the swinging seventies and it opens with Quarry enjoying himself at an apartment complex in Florida, one occupied almost entirely by divorced women. Quarry has attached himself to one of these divorcees and has, to put it bluntly, enjoying himself. “This one’s name was Nancy. She was wearing a skimpy black bikini. She had short dark hair and looked like a fashion model.”

But, he is there to do work and he is surveilling a contract killer even when he is lounging around at the pool, eyeing the divorcees in their bikinis. He hopes he won’t have to kill her as he had never killed a woman before and he hadn’t counted on her looking like this. He had “no idea she radiated this aura of some goddam thing or another, some damn thing that made me want to know her, made me uncomfortable at the thought of having to kill her.”

The story takes Quarry back to the Midwest where he finds this killer (a woman no less) and tries to put together what her plan is before it is too late.

The writing is smooth and flows well. Quarry tells his story with a terrific sense of humor. It is certainly set in the seventies with the women wearing pants suits with halter tops. The story has enough action and violence to make it work as an action story. Quarry is not to be trifled with, not by amateurs and not by professionals.

At 188 pages, this book should take a lot longer to read than it does, but maybe Collins just knows how to tell a good story. ( )

As usual, I’m reading the newly re-released Quarry’s out-of-order. No matter, it’s sometimes fun to wander through a book as a prequel.

Quarry has just set himself up as the assassin target’s best friend as he follows the hitman/woman to the target and then offers (for a substantial fee) to remove the hit from the target.

Collins has a sense of humor, and Quarry lists those types of targets who are the easiest for assassins (in order of ease): the self-important man, the man who feels the world revolves around him, e.g. politicians who can’t believe the world will go on without him. “Everybody knows it’s easier for a politician to grasp the possibility of a nuclear war ending the world than to understand that a bullet through his brain, say, could end a brilliant political career.”) Then there is anyone sitting on the board of a corporation, “there isn’t one of those assholes whose last words wouldn’t be, ‘there must be some mistake.’ “ “Religious people are easy marks, too. They all think the fix is in.”

Another quote that I liked: “She had the expression of the disillusioned social worker: compassion slowly curdling to boredom or worse.”

One of the better in the Quarry series, especially as it mixes genders in the hit business. ( )

Another well done Quarry novel. Not much to say that I haven't said before. It's a quick, fun read. I just love the first person voice. ( )