Frank Bonham (1914–1988)

Dogtown is a neighbourhood of a larger city, like Los Angeles. It is a rough area made up of small, poor houses, surrounded by hills that cut it off from the main city making it its own world. The world of Buddy, Ralphie, Little Pie, Cool and Rich; known as the Oak Street Boys.

The Oak Street Boys Club is where the local boys can swim, workout, play sports and hangout. But problems of rats, cockroaches, and deterioration of the structure itself keeps it constantly on the verge of being shut down. If this were to happen, the only place left for the boys to be is on the streets. Streets that have their own dangerous and bad elements.

Mr. Hannibal is the manager and jack of all trades in keeping the club open. When word is received that the building is to be condemned, Mr. Hannibal and the boys decide to send out another request for donations for money to repair the building and get rid of the vermin.

While going through the list, Ralphie is rattling off names and addresses. Ralphie is Buddy's younger brother who is autistic but has a fantastic memory; a memory that contains the complete list of Boys Club donors. The name of 'the Estate of Harriett Adkins' is mentioned, and brings up the subject of Buzzer. Buzzer is Harriett Adkins' cat and was the beneficiary of her half-million dollar estate when she died. The cat lives on the property with a live-in caretaker and a high priced vet on call. When Buzzer dies, the estate then goes to the Boys Club. The question is "is Buzzer still alive?" No one has seen the cat and he is quite old by now. This becomes the mystery in the story.

The estate is on top of one of the hills surrounding Dogtown, and is enclosed by high fencing and gates. The only know visitor is the vet. Otherwise no one sees or hears of the cat. The lengths and methods the boys go to to solve this mystery shows ingenuity, creativity and humours.

The action is good and I enjoyed the writing. The action keeps moving with progress and a few setbacks. There is humour and lessons to be learned.… (plus d'informations)

The novel opens with Whit Jackson in a Texas penal work camp. Soon we learn he is innocent of the crime of which he was convicted. Initially it seems as if the camp warden is going to help him because he has Whit train a horse for his daughter. When the warden detects that his daughter is developing some feelings for whit, he makes life difficult for our hero.
Seeing no chance of obtaining parole, he steals a hose with the assistance of his lawyer. Once he is in Mexico, he works at proving the wealthiest man in the area organized his downfall. With the assistance of his lawyer's daughter, Lucha, he brings the legal system into play against his opponent but as in all good westerns, there is a brief gun battle in which his tormentors, the wealthy rancher and the cruel prison guard, die.
A quick read in which Bonham doesn't follow the usual scenario of these stories. For example, the warden's daughter disappears from the narrative early even though it appeared she was going to be a major part. The towns people joined Whit's cause very quickly rather than showing the usual hesitancy. They do express fear of the consequences as would be normal behaviour but they do the right thing immediately.… (plus d'informations)

This short noir novel, published by Monarch, is more explicit than similar Gold Medal books and is quite a bit of fun to read, though more for the characterization and dialogue than for its plot. The main protagonist is a Nisei (Japanese American) detective in a corrupt part of town, who works with a new Captain and another detective, also an interesting character, to clean up the drugs and prostitution trade and solve a murder or two in the process. Bonham seems to have mainly written westerns and a few juvenile books. I wonder if there are any more in this series?… (plus d'informations)