Hell Up In Houston is a Hell of
a Good Read by Wayne D. Dundee
This second title in the Jack Laramie
series is another intriguing entry that slams the roaming PI up against some
mighty hard edges and spins him around in a number of deft plot twists. The
pace never lets up and, even though you know Jack is going to get his bearings
and do some hard pushing back before it's all over, you're driven to keep
reading in order to find out how and also learn the answers he needs before he
can settle all scores.Spawned by David Cranmer's popular Cash Laramie westerns, Jack is the grandson of ol' Cash who --- in place of his grandfather's U.S. Marshal star --- has taken up the plastic badge of a PI during the early post-WWII years. Unbound by a standard office in a particular city, however, Jack roams West Texas and surrounding areas hunting up cases where he finds them. He covers the miles in a hard-driven old DeSoto, pulling a horse trailer that serves as a mobile office and, as needed, his living quarters. This concept gives the overall series a nice distinction right from the get-go.
In this tale, returning to Houston is just about the last thing Jack wants to do. The last place he wants to be. But misfortune, in the form of a blown radiator on his DeSoto, plants him there ... and, by the time he's ready to leave, he has even more reasons for never wanting to go back
Recommended.
