Quarry’s Greatest Hits

Author’s Note

This is an unusual collection in that it contains three stories and one novel; further, the novel — in a rather ungainly fashion — appears in the middle of the collection, whereas it might be expected to have the final slot.

But these stories — the novel, too — have a chronology, and are better read in this order.

It had been my intention to do a Quarry collection one day, but somehow I never got around to writing enough short stories about him to do so. Ed Gorman suggested I collect the stories, anyway, and include the little-seen fifth Quarry novel, Primary Target, to round it out.

Quarry remains my favorite of all my characters — or anyway, it’s a close call between him and Nate Heller. I’ve had lots of mail about him over the years, and a few people have been nice enough to notice that he pre-dates similar characters from numerous movies and book series (some by such heavyweights as Lawrence Block and Loren Estleman).

Recently a young filmmaker in California, Jeffrey Goodman, made an award-winning film from the lead story in this collection, “A Matter of Principal.” I wrote the screenplay and executive-produced it. At press time, it has won one festival for “Best Dramatic Short” (the DIY competition in Los Angeles) and been accepted into another major one (Cinequest in San Jose). So Quarry seems to still have some life in him. And death.

Part of what (I hope) sets Quarry apart is the first-person narration. The “crook” books of Richard Stark and W. R. Burnett that had inspired my earlier Nolan and Jon series (professional thieves) were third-person yarns that gave the reader distance. I wanted to ratchet up the anti-hero experience — make Quarry not just a thief, but a killer; and force you inside his head.

I wanted readers to take the ride — and have a good time, but... when the story was over... be unsettled, not quite sure why it was so easy to identify with such a bad man. Thrilled, and a little ashamed...

I hope these three short rides (and one long one) with Quarry will entertain — and unsettle you.

— Max Allan Collins