While wandering around the library back in the ‘80s, I saw a detective book written by an author I knew from comics. The book was called True Detective and the author was Max Allan Collins. Back then, I had thoroughly enjoyed the Ms. Tree comic series that Collins and artist Terry Beatty created. It was a fresh, new take on the hard-boiled detective adventure. This new book was another new approach to the genre too.

True Detective featured a Chicago cop, Nathan Heller, who had just left the force to become a private detective. The twist was that this this fictional character interacted with real historical figures. This novel, thoroughly researched, claimed to tell the “real story” of what happened beyond the headlines. Collins featured the Chicago celebrities including criminals like Al Capone and Frank Nitti and heroes like Elliot Ness. (Although I had to re-learn their stories, as the old Untouchables TV show had stretched the truth a bit) . The novel also showcased folks I was less familiar with: boxer Barney Ross, actor George Raft, and exotic cancer Sally Rand.

This novel, and the many subsequent installments in the series, were the perfect way to learn about history. For example, whenever I’d travel to Chicago, I felt that much smarter knowing a bit about the man whom Cermack Road was named after.

I was hooked from the beginning and enjoyed all the novel, and that leads me to this new audio drama. Slightly renamed as True Noir, this is an audio drama adaptation of that old novel. Actually, the full title is: True Noir: The Assassination of Anton Cermak (from the Casebooks of Nathan Heller). Continue reading “With Further Ado #383: Max Allan Collins’ TRUE NOIR” →