When I did get my hands on the first Quarry, I read it quick and guess what? I liked it a lot then the series sorta became one of the ones that I decided to "savor" waiting for the right time when I needed a sure-fire treat. Since I'm still getting over the reading slump I was in that I talked about in the last review I wanted some sure-fire hits. And I don't think I'll be waiting too long to tackle any more of them.
The Broker's Wife has Quarry, a mid-western hitman who is in quasi-hiding after being around when his boss, The Broker got dead. He's mostly just bored, so when two hired killers come and try to take him out, he's relived to be back in the fray. Along the way he tackles with more killers, shady lawyers and, obviously, the titular Broker's Wife. This is a clean book man; everything works and isn't showy about it. Max's style is sparse and wryly funny. The twists are laid out before and waiting for you to remember about when he lets you in on the REST of the story. Never fails to make you smile.
Quarry himself is a lot fun too. He's a tough guy, sure, a 'Nam vet who has no qualms about murdering people for money, but it doesn't mean he doesn't have a sense of humor. The humor element is a little stronger here and I think it grows a little more as the series goes on. All-in-all, you just sorta like Quarry, he seems like a good guy to have a soda pop with, as long as you don't cross him.
So, The Broker's Wife (also published as Quarry's List) is a fun time, halfway through I paused my reading and watched The Last Lullaby, a feature film based on the Quarry short story A Matter of Principle. The movie was written by Max and stars Tom Sizemore as Price (Quarry) who does a pretty good job, his Quarry isn't quite as relatable/funny but its solid casting. The movie is an indie joint so adjust your expectations. It's a sturdy adaptation with some flair and really nice acting by Tom and Sasha Alexander. It also seems to take a little from the ending of The Broker's Wife, so I could sorta see where this book was going after a bit. Didn't affect the enjoyment any though.
So, this one's got like the easiest and highest recommendation. All the Quarry books are easy to get too with Hard Case Crime republishing and publishing the new adventures of Quarry, which isn't always the norm in the books I review here. So, you got no excuse not to pick one or all of them up.
