Hard-Boiled Immortal

Hard-Boiled Immortal (The Immortal Chronicles #2) by Gene Doucette

Gene Doucette has the rare quality of consistency. He consistently turns out product that entertains. His stories hit the ground running. The quips and bon mots are well times. The story hums with action. There is an ending that ties up the loose ends. In this day and age, those features deserve acknowledgment.

This book is a short story in Doucette's “Immortal” stories. The main character of the series is Adam. Adam is around 60,000 years old. He doesn't age. He doesn't get sick. He doesn't have superpowers. He is just a guy who has been around since the beginning of human pre-history who has a lot of practical experience and makes up for the boredom with a lot of drinking.

Doucette has around six novels in the main series. He has written a fair numbers of short stories set in odd moments in Adam's life. This story is set in Chicago in 1942. Adam is a bartender at a dive frequented by losers. One of the losers, however, is working on “piles” at the University of Chicago, which enmeshed Adam in espionage, nuclear secrets, and a red-headed succubi FBI agent.

It is all played for fun and very entertaining. This a short read that provides from some nice diversion.