Corey Bradford used to be a cop. A crooked cop, at that, which is why he lost his badge and his wife and has now come to rest at the bottom of a gutter, a drunken nobody not worth a second glance. But tonight, Corey changes all that by jumping two gunsels taking aim at local big-shot Walter Grogan in his own gambling den. In return for saving his life, Grogan offers Bradford $15,000 to track down whoever’s out to get him. Shortly thereafter, Bradford is picked up by members of the Night Squad—an entire police squad of loose cannons and psychotics—who want Bradford to put Walter Grogan behind bars. His desire split between the money and redeeming his tarnished honor, Corey walks a thin line as he tries to handle both jobs at once…In most of Goodis’ novels, his downtrodden protagonists don’t want to be, often don’t deserve to be, in the situation they’re in. It’s their desperate flailing that causes their inevitable doom, like watching someone floundering in quicksand. In Night Squad, Corey knows full well that it was his choices that made him who he is today—and rather than wallow in its misery, he basks in it. He shows a sadistic pleasure in his fall to the bottom of the Swamp, losing his badge and his wife and his worth as a man; he still has vestiges of civilized society in him, but he’s become a part of the grimy shadow world and doesn’t seem to care how far he’s fallen. Which makes him an ideal candidate for the Night Squad, a group of psychotic detectives who root out the worst the Swamps bring forth.Thus, it’s interesting to read Night Squad since it’s so similar yet divergent from Goodis’ earlier novels. Corey Bradford willingly accepts his crime and takes his downfall in stride, and while his story is dark and has no contrived happy ending, it hints that Corey’s life may finally start heading upward towards redemption. Compare his deliberate choices to Goodis’ other protagonists, wrongfully condemned or accused misfits, whose panicked flailing in vain attempts to free themselves only furthers their eventual demise. David Goodis is still not an author you read because you want to see good things happen to good people—even though it’s more of a detective novel, it is still a Goodis novel—but compared to the last Goodis I read—The Wounded and The Slain—Corey Bradford’s life was peachy.I wouldn’t say Night Squad is the best thing David Goodis ever wrote, but I found it a capable detective story and a very likable novel. The evocative setting and twisty-turny plot are standouts, and make up for those more repetitive and internalized “have a chat with my badge” sections. It’s a great entry drug into David Goodis for fans of detective/crime fiction, dipping into the dark and misanthropic waters of Corey Bradford rather than diving into the crushing depths of, say, Down There. Night Squad is not Goodis at his best—that would probably be Dark Passage or The Burglar—but if this excellent read is Goodis at his worst, it showcases just how damn good he was. His jazzy prose and rich atmosphere are hard to beat.
A very interesting noir piece by a writer whose troubled soul (and alcoholism) kept him from securing a place in the pantheon of pulp writers who achieved recognition beyond the genre. (His book, "Dark Passage," was made into an unusual Bogart/Bacall film in 1947.)A down-and-out, disgraced ex-cop surviving in his netherworld community of darkness, rain, water, and despair is contracted by the local criminal boss for a mysterious task that the ex-cop must slowly deduce. The pay-off? $15,000. Then he's "recruited" by the boss of the police department's special unit, "Night Squad." And this boss has very special and personal reasons for wanting the criminal boss eliminated. They're all here -- broads, bimbos, and courtesans; cons, crooks, and grifters, all uniquely drawn and brought life. It's all here -- booze, "tea," gun battles, brawls, lust, and hot pursuits. In the end, Goodis's talent, like Chandler's or Hammett's or Cain's (to name a few), was not giving us any happy endings for any of these characters. Even the police boss's revenge is tinged with vinegar. Darkness prevails.
What do You think about Night Squad (1992)?
This is crime noir of the darkest sort. Busted from the force for bribery, Corey Bradford is drafted into service by both a local gangster and the head of the Night Squad, an aggressive police unit as bad as the criminals they hunt and often kill. Caught between those two elements, he is pursued by a third force, a punk who wants to make a big score. The novel takes the reader into the dismal and poverty ridden slums of Philadelphia in the late 50s. Threading all those dangers, Bradford at times seems to be concerned with just staying alive until he drink himself to death. For fans of this gritty genre, this book is gold.
—Ralph
Goodis’ penultimate novel, Night Squad, is a hardboiled cop novel starring Corey Bradford as the fallen, disgraced cop. The crime tale is set in a South Philly gritty locale known back then (1961) as The Swamp, a geographical feature that’s used in a fairly tense chase scene. Night Squad is a serviceable effort, but I’ve read better Goodis novels. For me, there’s too much introspection, a lot of it set off in italics, done here by Bradford. His mental conflicts, especially over the questions of morality, strike me as overdone if not a bit repetitive. Therefore the narrative pace bogs down in places. He makes for a credible world-weary ex-cop with a “lazy smile,” cussed nature, and hard fists. I suppose he might qualify as a cliché, although he’s pretty complex and well-drawn. Goodis captures the exact mannerisms and subtleties of his characters. I loved the sharp, often ironic dialogue. The setting was descriptive. Colorful minor characters like the impish runt Carp, the luscious femme fatale Lita, and remorseless crime boss Grogan help to rescue the novel from mediocrity. I remain a big Goodis fan, but this isn’t a title by him I’d consider rereading. He just wrote better novels, Street of No Return and Nightfall are two for instance, that deserve it more.
—Ed
While I can't simply pick a favorite book by David Goodis, for some reason this is the one I've read the most. Andrew Vachss said of Goodis, "An obsessed genius who didn't last long, but he could put Jim Thompson on the trailer anytime he wanted."I agree. I personally like Goodis much more than Thompson, though I have to admit Thompson is quite astounding.Corey Bradford, Night Squad's protagonist, is someone I relate very much to, though, whether it's a good or bad thing (maybe it's just a thing), I relate almost too closely with all of Goodis' characters. Lean, mean and insightful, this is crime fiction and existentialism blending and working miraculous magic. If you've read Goodis in the past and liked him, you'll definitely like this one.
—Trent Zelazny
