The Fury of Blacky Jaguar (One Eye Press Singles) - Angel Luis Colón

fu·ry

: violent anger
: wild and dangerous force
:intense, disordered, and often destructive rage
:extreme fierceness or violence

And that´s exactly the state of mind Blacky Jaguar is in. Of course he has a good reason (or a ridiculous one, depending). His car was stolen and he wants it back, no matter the costs. There is already a nice double-edged word play in the title of the novella as Blacky´s beloved car is a Plymouth Fury. Now why does this remind me of ´Christine´, never mind the different models? Anyway, credit where it is due. Nicely played.

The ex-IRA guy is a bit of a cliché (fish & chips for once) but it works just fine as Blacky Jaguar goes over the top in everything he does. He has no middle ground, and most certainly he doesn´t do gentle or kind. Or subtle.

..."the crazy Irishman that drove a car through the storefront instead of knocking like a normal, sane criminal."

This is rather typical for Blacky, the old ´shoot first, ask questions later´ method. If the guy he wants information from is still alive that is after his encounter with Blacky. What is most surprising is the fine line of career criminal with a reputation of causing major damage, and being a slick, but slight (almost) cartoonish supervillain. Or more surprising is that it works. Blacky has his own code of honor, even his decision making is flawed as fuck, and despite all the cruelty he shows he is instantly likeable. He is not a complete bad guy, and when shit is getting real he has his head screwed on the right way.

As much fun and exciting as a character as Blacky himself is FBI agent Linda Chen. On the outs within her own department she shares a common history with Blacky, even details aren´t really acknowledged, which gives certain parts a hint of a mystery. She is smart and witty, even obviously not quite herself due stressing over the situation she is within the FBI. That she has a chance to arrest Blacky after a long hunt is making matters more complicated, and I am not quite sure what to make of their common scenes. Or maybe I´m just too harsh with the chick, it happens. I do like her though as she comes across as someone who is simply genuine and .. well, nice.

On the one side Blacky is a dangerous criminal and she is reasonable enough to still wanting to do her duty, on the other side she seems reluctant when she faces him. Linda Chen is not without sympathies towards him, even he is a bastard for sure. Still, everything she does is reasonable in any particular situation, conflicted as those may be. Fuck her life indeed.

The Fury Of Blacky Jaguar is a tough guy novella, or more like a ´boys will be boys´ book. A revenge tale by those who didn´t get their sorry little asses paddled when their time was due. Or at least not enough, and now catching up with beating the shit out of each other.

The writing itself is full of charisma and as insane as the story. Fast paced, unapologetically violent and witty. Which does take the edge off of the violent scenes as a lot of it appears to happen with a wink or a grin. Just some good clean fun with genuine laughing out loud moments, even at times there is so much edge I was bleeding from all the paper cuts.