Mister Justice, 1973. Crammed into half an
Ace double and never reprinted, Mister Justice remains in a class by
itself: hardboiled America, sci-fi style. Here the 2030s appear as
a mutated 1930s, complete with an economic catastrophe that
threatens evolution itself. The Shadow, the Green Hornet, the
Untouchables - they never had what Mr. Justice has going for him.
Sprung from humanity's threatened altruistic genes, this masked
vigilante has the ability to travel into the past, where he can
witness, but not prevent, murders.
He then returns to the present, where he arranges an "eye for an
eye" treatment for the slayers, including full-scale gangland rub-outs. But he can't easily dispose of one Arthur Bingle, global crime
archon who has the same powers as Mr. J. and then some. Bingle feels
about the human race in general what Mr. Justice feels about
criminals, and he plans to thin us out and "empty the world." With
the help of his powers, his syndicates of henchmen and corrupt cops,
and his dreadful lady friend Godiva - she of the constrictor thighs -
Bingle gets the drop on humanity.
But justice is just a matter of time. Piserchia relates this furious
folktale with Chandler soul, Hammett snap, and not a trace of camp.
Jim Trombetta, "The Coolest Sci-Fi," from The Catalog of Cool (1982), edited by Gene Sculatti, p. 87.
My exhaustive, spoiler-ridden explication of the novel is
A new, old review--written in 1982--has been added to the Doris Piserchia Website: My exhaustive, spoiler-ridden explication of the novel is here. Thanks to Joanna for finding the Trombetta review.
- tom moody 2-23-2004 10:22 pm