Devil in Dungarees by Albert ConroyMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
After a great first chapter that sets the stage as we meet two doomed (no spoiler, this is noir after all) protagonists - Walt Bonner, a cop planning a bank heist, and Peggy Jennett, the devil in the dungarees, leading him on with herself as bait - the story slows down a bit as we meet the other robbers involved in the heist. At this point the narrative also shifts from Walt's POV to what will become an omniscient POV. What we lose with the close identification with Walt is repaid with a much broader sense of the action. And action is the key, because from the moment the robbery starts there is no let up until the end. Conroy (a pseudo of Marvin H. Albert) adds a new complication every couple pages with the classic plotting technique of pose a problem, solve it, create another problem, and keep it up to the last page. As a page-turning, action-packed, crime-noir novel, this has all the goods. Would have a made a great movie.
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