No Orchids for Miss Blandish by James Hadley Chase

 No Orchids for Miss Blandish by James Hadley Chase


A different version of this note and thoughts on other books are available at:

-              https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEVa4_CsRStSBBDo4uJWT8BSWtTTn0N1E  and   http://realini.blogspot.ro/

This is a stupendous book.
It was included on the Le Monde’s 100 books of the century list, on which I had found The Contempt, Twenty Four hours in the Life of a Woman and some other “real horror show” books, along with some that are not my cup of tea:

-          https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Monde's_100_Books_of_the_Century

No Orchids proved to be a work that I had not only enjoyed thoroughly, but I loved it so much that I…stopped reading it.
It felt like this is the exquisite champagne of novels and as I don’t drink champagne except for festivities, so I have put aside this thriller as a special treat.

In a way, I am upset that I finished it earlier and envy those who just engage with this detective story that kept me on “the edge of my seat”.
The start is fulminating, with a small gang of “two dime thugs” finding out about a very precious necklace that they are determined to get.

Even if it is out of their league, seeing as they had only dealt with small crime so far, the Riley gang try to hit the jackpot.
But things get quickly out of control, as they try to chase Miss Blandish and snatch the $ 50,000 prize from her.

That could be more than one million in today’s money and the lure of such a score proved fatal for the trio of partners in crime.
There is no spoiler alert, but all I will say about this fascinating account will take place only in the first few chapters.

The pace is so fast that there is enough in the first part to get the reader excited and make him keep reading and raise his heart rate.

The car with the hoodlums cuts in front of the expensive and fats convertible in which Miss Blandish and her boyfriend had tried to get away.
There is a scuffle and one member of the gang is punched a few times, until he takes his gun out and shoots the boyfriend dead.

The supposedly simple theft has not turned really complicated, with the perspective of entering the gas chamber for what is now murder.
Riley has what he considers a brilliant idea- to kidnap the girl and ask a million dollars for her in ransom.

After all, Mister Blandish is a millionaire and will pay to see his daughter back, only again the initial scenario does not reflect what happens on the road…
In a gas station, they meet with Eddie Schultz, a member of the feared Grisson gang who understands there is something wrong.

Miss Blandish is the most beautiful woman that any of the personages that encounter her have ever seen…and I thought that somewhat odd.
There is no way that a small time crook like Riley could have anything to do with such a classy woman, even if he pretends she is with him.

Eddie Schultz calls the leader of the group, who is a strong, fat and terrifying woman, “Ma Grisson”, who realizes what had happened.
Riley has snatched the Blandish girl and they are taking her to Johnny’s, which is the only hiding place that he can find.

So the orders are clear and they have to meet with other members of the gang and take the prize away.
The son of the “Godmother” of this criminal organization is the most loathsome and despicable figure in this account.

And he is in the race with other criminals and evil characters from other novels, a murderer who enjoys killing.
He is using the knife, not a gun as his preferred way to dispatch enemies and this shows how cruel the monster is.

When they reach the hiding place, a confrontation ensues, with the less “professional” group trying to convince the enemy that they have no Blandish Girl.
But events have an extraordinary pace and when pressed, Johnny “spills the beans” and shows the girl.

All this is happening, I repeat, in the first pages of this exhilarating narrative and it is difficult to anticipate the next moves of the parties involved.
Miss Blandish suffers right from the start, in an ironical, sad change of fate for a girl born into riches, who could have anything she wanted and falling into the hands of hardened criminals, especially the mental case Slim.

-          What a tremendous story!!

-          “I’m never gonna forget”

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