Dean Ballenger
1973
Ohhhhh man, this was good. I've been on a chase for this for a good while now, first seeing it on the amazing Glorious Trash, then shortly after seeing writer/director Craig S. Zahler review it on Goodreads. I haven't read any of his books yet, but so far I've been enjoying his film output, especially Brawl in Cell Block 99. Naturally, like all things I read about and want, it's terribly rare and expensive. Patience eventually paid off (I wasn't patient; I looked it up almost daily) and eventually a copy surfaced from some random little shop in a different state. Then I said fuck it and dropped way too much money on the other two, but I've convinced myself that it was worth it.Blood for Breakfast is a real anomaly. It's hardboiled crime set in the 70s, but it retains all the wacky character names and slang dialogue from something like Dick Tracy, but with that 70s sleaze and violence you know and love. Some shithead affluent teens rape a young girl, and despite people seeing it, everyone remains quiet like someone behind the scenes is paying some hush money or issuing out threats. Brother Gannon, a real hardass and ex-soldier hears about this from his Dad and gets furious and decides to leave. He tells his boss he'll be back and he's got some stuff to settle, so the boss gives him a pair of spiked knuckles to get some answers.
Gannon comes to town and starts throwing down some hard cash in some seedy places to get some answers, and when people give him shit he starts throwing those spiked knuckles around, tearing flesh off of faces and even ears. Everyone that comes across Gannon talks to him like a prohibition era cartoon thug, but they all concede because he's a fuckin' tiger, which is frequently repeated. In between searches he gets really horny and finds women to have sex with to calm him down, a bad trait he admits to that eventually causes him some trouble. But he can't help himself, like in one scene: "He grabbed a couple handful of boobs, nice firm absolutely no-sag boobs" before leaving her apartment to go hunt down more thugs. A man after my own heart.
This just never lets up; I haven't read anything like it. When I read something like Mike Hammer I'm always sad the sex is off page and the violence is so tame, but in this it gets downright nasty. Which is perfect. Mike Hammer would strongarm people and talk trash, but Gannon busts into an office and calls a lady, which is frequently narrated as a 'lesbian', to "Shut up, you officious bitch or I'll tear off your tits and slap your face with them!"
I won't go too crazy into the plot, but I read almost the entire thing one sitting and didn't want it to end. Hopefully someday these will at least get a digital collection. I'm not counting on it, but maybe Zahler can make it happen if he keeps it up.
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