The Insane Train: A Hook Runyon Mystery

In Russell's outstanding second Hook Runyon 1940s historical (after 2009's The Yard Dog), Hook's boss at the Santa Fe Railroad gives the railroad security agent (or "yard dog") a herculean assignment. Hook must insure the safe transport of the survivors of a horrific fire at the Baldwin Insane Asylum in Barstow, Calif., that claimed dozens of lives to a facility in Oklahoma. This group includes dangerous inmates who'd been housed in the asylum's security ward, one of whom may have started the fatal conflagration. Hook recruits four down-on-their-luck ex-army men, reduced to living under a train bridge, to help him, but their assistance may not be enough when a killer strikes en route. Russell imbues even bit characters with personality, and presents a rough-edged view of the world that will be familiar to fans of classic hard-boiled writers such as Chandler and Hammett. (Nov.)