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At first glimpse, the central storyline of Brad Smith's
One-Eyed Jacks--an aging boxer looks for one last score--seems a mite trite, but
One-Eyed Jacks is a masterful work, crammed with vividly colourful characters, all lovingly portrayed in tough yet poetic prose. Despite suffering from a potentially fatal aneurysm, prizefighter Tommy Cochrane decides on one more fight to raise cash to save the family farm. Meanwhile, his girlfriend, street-smart torch singer Lee Charles, has her own fundraising scheme in mind. When the pair has to deal with a number of small-time hoods with their own agendas, Tommy's loyal sidekick, T-Bone Pike, may just prove their trump card. The shadow of the impending fight looms ominously over the proceedings, but
One-Eyed Jacks is more about double-crosses than right crosses.
Toronto has only rarely been used as a backdrop in noir fiction, but Smith does it real justice. Set at a time (1959) when the city was known as "Toronto the Good," Smith's story probes the city's placid surface, uncovering a hotbed of vice. At a time when every second crime writer is compared to Elmore Leonard, Smith actually deserves the compliment, and it comes as no surprise that the book was shortlisted for both the Hammett Prize and the Arthur Ellis Award for crime fiction. As Tommy, T-Bone, and Lee head off into their respective sunsets, the reader is guaranteed to feel a desire for their return. That's always a sign of a job well done. --Kerry Doole
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
The Globe and Mail
'[An] absorbing story of Toronto in the fifties with some good sex, bad beatings, stupid thefts, and senseless killings. But it’s also a good novel about friendship that gets closer to the spirit of Charles Dickens than a lot of mainstream middlebrow doodling ... Brad Smith reminds us, as good novelists always do, that two hearts can beat as one.'
--This text refers to the
Mass Market Paperback
edition.
