I've enjoyed other books in the Harlem Cycle and was quite prepared for Himes's blacker than black hardboiled Noir serving of extreme violence and racism, soulless criminals and murderers, white racist cops using the 'N' word, corrupt politicians (in this case married and sleeping with young men), whores, easy women and weirdos of all kinds, with Harlem's tough detective duo Coffin Ed Johnson and Gravedigger Jones in the lead, and truly madcap plotting; a combination that made me squirm in the past, but which was served up with plenty of humour and made the whole mix work for me somehow. But this story, centred as it was around a community of gay black men with everything to hide and plenty of homophobic digs made me especially uneasy. The plot was as madcap as ever and more than ever confusing to me. There were men posing as women and a women posing as a men which made it all the harder to follow, and if there was humour there I failed to detect it. Still, it was Chester Himes, and he knew how to keep a story going, so I cannot say it ever got boring, which kept me from feeling like I was wasting my time. Seems I've been listening to them out of order since Audible and GR can't agree on that, but I'll keep going with this series and see where else he goes with it. The audiobooks narrated by Dion Graham are excellent. ( )

It's crazy, man. Crazy. ( )

There are some things about Himes' novels you can always count on: unusual characters; witty, snappy, very colourful dialogues; a lot of action. "All Shot Up" is no difference and this is why I enjoyed it. I enjoyed it in spite the story was in fact quite disappointing.

I'm sorry to say this, because I seriously love Himes' work, but the plot was very sketchy and didn't really stay together. There are a lot of places, especially in the first part of the novel and up to its middle, where you get quite a lot of breathtaking action (like the chasing of the joker on the sidecar), but that action adds nothing to the story. Which is really a shame.

Past the middle of the novel, the plot seems to straighten up. Characters took up a sense, and they became more like the characters I know Himes can create: tough, weaked, ruthless. I like how all the characters play their own game, knowing fully well what game all the other characters are playing. This was one of the things I liked the most. But then the plot resolves in something quite unlikely. Many threads seemed to end into nothing. Yes, you can reconstruct what happened, but I wasn't all that sure it made a lot of sense.
Really a shame.

But it was an engaging read, if not fully satisfying. I'd just say, if you've never read any of Himes' novels, maybe try another one first. "Rage in Harlem" is fantastic. ( )

A good mystery with great Harlem atmosphere. ( )

Cette Cadillac-là semblait faite d'or massif, sauf le toit, tendu d'un fin tissu brillant. Elle voguait sur la chaussée comme un paquebot de rêve, illuminant sur son passage la rue tout entière. Au volant, Davy Crockett, avec son bonnet de fourrure, et, à côté de lui, la reine de Saba en personne.