Umbrella Man by
Swanson,Doug J. Swanson
pbk out March 00
(No Exit Press)
at £6.99
This is the first time I’ve come across Swanson and once again I’m indebted to the wonderful No Exit Press for bring this to my attention and, once again I’m going to be out of pocket whilst I go about getting the earlier books in the series. No Exit seem to be doing a line in the good old ‘comic caper’ what with the wonderful “Whacking Jimmy” earlier in the year and perhaps there is an opportunity here to coin a phrase: ‘comic noir’. I’m only partly joking here because like “Whacking Jimmy” this is comedy with a dark edge. And there’s another No Exit theme here as well: the Kennedy assassination. This is a funny and pacey take on the whole thing with the possibility of a black and white film showing a second gunman, the “umbrella man”, on the grassy knoll.
Its just Jack Flippo’s luck to stumble onto the possibility that the film exists. No sooner than you can say “conspiracy theory” a whole host of nutters and odd balls - which Swanson does very well - are in on the deal. The whole thing is great. I loved it.
Umbrella Man by
Swanson,Doug J. Swanson