Review: "Out Like A Light" [Malone 2] by Garrett & Janifer (1960)
Posted on February 12th, 2008
My comments on the "Malone" series in general can be found here in the review of the first story of the series.
This is the novella version of the second entry rather than the novel version. Ever-lucky Agent Kenneth J. Malone begins this story with a pleasant daydream after getting coshed on the noggin while checking out a red Cadillac.
Malone was assigned the red Cadillac investigation by Director Burris because it is an odd case, and odd cases are Malone’s specialty after all. Illustration Malone is in full fashion effect with his Mohawk and furry fringed jacket, while Text Malone is again sedately dressed in more normal FBI garb.
Malone plods along as is his wont, gaining occasional help from the Queen and fellow agent Tom Boyd again, although he and Tom are not forced to wear clothes of the Court this time around. Malone finds that he is facing a gang of teleporting juvenile delinquents when one of them snaps his fingers and disappears from an interrogation room while being questioned.
Malone is rightly at a loss at that point, so he plods around a bit more until a tip falls in his lap. He eventually captures the gang after manifesting some extraordinarily strong psionic abilities of his own. Note, however, that the novel version of this story describes instead a mundane method of capture, eschewing the fantastic even though the third novel picks up assuming Malone possesses the described ability.
Garrett & Janifer kick the humor up a notch in this one, and portray Malone as more of a comedic James Bond/dime novel detective than in the first. Compared to the first and third, this middle tale is light on plot, but it does show Malone developing into a stronger, more confident character even with all the weird stuff happening around him. Just to complete that image, he of course again manages to get the girl in the end.
Recommended. You can read it online here or psionically download it from Project Gutenberg in a couple formats or Manybooks.net in more.
Tags: Review
Filed under Free Stuff, Garrett, Randall, Janifer, Laurence M., Psionics, Review, Science Fiction & Fantasy (SFF) |
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