Let me assure you at the outset of this review that Quarry does not get killed, the title and its fetching cover notwithstanding. I’m not giving anything away here, so no spoiler alert. In his Author’s Note, Max Allan Collins is quick to point out that while the Quarry series is sequential, his writing of the novels and their subsequent publication (by the absolutely indispensable Hard Case Crime imprint) are not. Thus, he notes, KILLING QUARRY takes place before the previously published QUARRY’S VOTE.

The trick here is to weave sufficient suspense into a story where readers know that everything is going to be all right. Collins pulls this off, and quite successfully. Of course, there are heaping doses of violence and explicit sexual situations peppered throughout the book, as if we needed incentive to keep going (we certainly don’t).

"[T]here are plenty of twists, turns and double- and triple-crosses as we head toward an explosive conclusion... At just under 200 pages, this instant classic has something for everybody."

For those unfamiliar with the series, Quarry, formerly a Marine sniper in Vietnam, uses his skill set in the book’s present --- the latter third of the 20th century --- as a paid hitman. He started off in the service of a mysterious entity known as the Broker, but eventually terminated their agreement (along with the Broker) and became a freelancer, utilizing the Broker’s files anonymously for his own benefit and creating his own clientele.

Quarry is in the middle of scoping out a new target, a fellow assassin, when he discovers that he himself has been targeted. This sets up all sorts of intriguing situations, including one in which Quarry is reunited with an old and deadly flame who he cannot entirely trust, though it does not hinder either of them from giving that fire an extra flicker or two. It also allows Collins to set up a few scenarios that border on the fantastic, but in their setting --- ’50s-style pulp noir --- are not out of place at all. In addition, readers are provided with a lot of deep and interesting background into Quarry’s home and the surrounding environs.

Along the way, there are plenty of twists, turns and double- and triple-crosses as we head toward an explosive conclusion --- which, for the reasons noted above, Quarry survives, though not everyone else does.

At just under 200 pages, this instant classic has something for everybody. And I’d be remiss if I didn’t give a shoutout to Paul Mann, who designed the front and back covers and whose talent is exceeded only by his own imagination. I wouldn’t mind a bit if this series, which harkens back to a past and better era, went on forever.