Run Man Run

By Chester Himes

Book Overview

In this knockout standalone crime novel from the acclaimed author of the Harlem Detectives series, a white cop's murderous outburst leads to a pulse-pounding chase to silence a witness

It's early morning in New York, a few days after Christmas and bitter cold. A white detective named Walker accuses the black workers at a luncheonette on 37th Street and Fifth Avenue of stealing his car. He's been drinking--a lot. By the time he corners Fat Sam in the refrigeration room, he's raving mad, and his .32-caliber revolver goes off. But who would believe it was an accident? Two other men work in the luncheonette, and in his fuming, psychotic state, Walker is determined to take out these witnesses. One of them, Luke, he kills in cold blood. But the other, Jimmy, gets away by the skin of his teeth. As Jimmy tries to stay one step ahead and desperately pleads with the authorities that the killer is on the force, Walker closes in until the chase culminates in an explosive conclusion.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0593686721
• ISBN13: 9780593686720
• Release Date: October 2024
• Publisher: Vintage Crime/Black Lizard
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.1" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

Tough look at racism

Here's a tough crime novel by Chester Himes without Coffin Ed Johnson and Gravedigger Jones that takes an uncompromising look at American racism in New York City. Though published in 1966, it has a strong '50s feel that comes through in the language and the cultural references both.Himes' dialogue and language can be occasionally stilted, but there are chase scenes here that will make you sit up and take notice, and the focus on black-white relations is especially good. It's the story of a white cop who accidentally on purpose shoots to death two black 'porters' (workers who unload trucks for a restaurant) and then goes after a third, Jimmy, who manages to survive the cop's onslaught.The depiction of the cop as sometimes conflicted by his actions is well done and his liaison with Jimmy's black girlfriend is strong stuff indeed. There's a somewhat uneasy mix here, though, of academic and street thinking. Jimmy is studying at Columbia University and shows it in his speech, but when other characters speak, it sometimes sounds like they're struggling to catch up to Jimmy's psychology and often it doesn't feel right. Nevertheless, what makes this compelling is, as mentioned, the focus on race relations and racism, the chase scenes, and the cop's wacked psychology. An interesting read.