Scratch Fever

A Nolan Novel

Return of a femme fatale.

Beautiful, homicidal Julie has one lethal solution for every problem. And now Nolan and his sometime sidekick Jon have gotten on Julie's “problem” list. If a pair of out-of-town hitmen can't do the job, Julie will do it herself.

©1982, 2012 Max Allan Collins (P)2022 Skyboat Media, Inc.

Another fun Nolan

4/5 A bit of a change for Nolan in this fun book in the series. Nolan has changed. He’s retired and in a relationship. That’s a first for him. We will see if that’s the case In the next one.

One of Max Allan Collins best

This follows on after Hard Cash in the Nolan series. Hard Cash is good, and this one is even better. The setup, a dead femme fatale who comes back, sets up a great revenge story. Collins writing about bands in the early 80s comes across as authentic. The minor characters are getting more well-rounded, quirky, human and interesting. In particular, Collins conveys a coldness in the antagonist Julie that is tremendous. She’s a potentially more dangerous opposition to Nolan than we’ve seen before. There’s also quite a bit of human pathos in the minor characters. Overall, one of Collins best books. Highly recommended. Great narration by Stefan Rudnicki.