| SF Reviews by Aaron M. Renn | By Author - By Title - By Date Reviewed |
Conclusion: Marginal but Occasionally Funny
I absolutely loved Smith's The Path of Unreason so when I saw this in a used bookstore I had to pick it up despite the steep price tag. That turned out to be a mistake. This book reads like the bad 1950's detective story that it is. A group of drug runners is selling a drug called hellflower. This drug, which takes the form of an apparently normal flower, heightens sensation, especially erotic sensation, but then leaves the victim addicted and with burned out emotions. Charles Farradyne, a disgraced pilot, is recruited to infiltrate the drug runners and promptly finds himself on the run from both sides.
The stereotypical tough guy language and especially Farradyne's treatment of women are so dated as to be comical. The words "broad" and "dame" did not appear in the book so far as I recall, but they might as well have. And half the book seems to be devoted to Farradyne's relationships with and musings about women. Some of this same "throwback" stylism was also present in The Path of Unreason, but for some reason didn't affect my enjoyment of the work as much. Maybe that was because the story was so much better. Both were nominally mysteries that evolved into action stories, but The Path of Unreason was a first class psychological thriller to boot, an element that was almost completely missing from this book. On the whole, I was very disappointed, but lucky for me I read it on an airplane where any distraction is a relief. As for you, I recommend giving this one a pass if you see it on the used bookstore shelf.
%A Smith, George O. %T Hellflower %I Mayflower Books %D 1964 (original publication 1955) %G ISBN N/A %P 192 pp. %O mass market paperback, US$4.00 (used)
Reviewed on 2000-12-03
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