LIONEL WHITE'S RUN KILLER, RUN

Run Killer, Run is both heist master Lionel White's first and sixteenth book. Originally published in a digest version in 1952, under the title Seven Hungry Men, it was revised and retitled seven years later for Avon Books. It shows how well he had the genre down from the beginning.

The first half of the plot and structure hit many familiar yet fun beats. Career robber Rand Coleman gets sprung from prison by lawyer and mastermind Borgman, who has a plan for a two million dollar armored car job. They put together a crew including a hefty wheelman and junkie gunman. Also along for the ride are two dames, Pam, Borgman's nymphomaniac girlfriend (there was almost as many of them in fifties crime stories than gunmen.) and Kitty, a woman who blackmails herself in when she picks a up on the plan.

Usually White gives the planning, execution, and fall out of the heist equal time, but here he spends more pages and dramatic conflict on the third act. The robbery doesn't go exactly as planned with a cop catching a bullet, but they get out with the loot in an intense action packed passage. They make it to a ship that provides escape to the Florida Keys and that's where the trouble really starts.

Rand is stuck on the boat with the money, caught between the women, and the salaried players who want a cut of the pie. Pam plays off everyone and makes a play for Coleman in away that could put im in trouble with Borgman. Even the boat's skipper and first mate prove untrustworthy. The constricted space of the boat and extended time creates a pressure cooker you can bet will explode before it reaches The Sunshine State.

While reading, this was the first time I noticed how White deftly constructs his characters. He sketches them just enough for them to stand out and understand where they are coming from. However, his lack of going much deeper than the surface makes them more engematic than flat You can't predict where they could go. Each of them carry a burden of desperation and so much of the story relies on how each deal with them.

Run Killer, Run shows Lionel White knew how to write a heist novel as he was practically inventing it. He delivers all the goods we want and expect, while executing the task from another angle. He is as professional as most of his criminals.