Yes, I created my hitman character Quarry fifty years ago. The life he’s led since has been both violent and unexpected.
In the late ‘60s, I’d set my ambitions to be a private eye writer aside to follow the Richard Stark example and write Bait Money, in which the mono-named thief Nolan and his sidekick Jon had one criminal adventure that led somehow to a number more. Nolan was meant to be an homage to Stark (Donald E. Westlake) and his antihero Parker, a one-off; but the publisher wanted more, and Don Westlake gave his blessing, so off and running we went.
But from the start I wanted to come up with something of my own, even if it was bound to reflect the hardboiled likes of Richard Stark, Mickey Spillane, Dashiell Hammett, James M. Cain, Jim Thompson and Raymond Chandler. I’m fuzzy on whether I was, somewhere in my young psyche, wanting to write a novel that could lead to sequels.
I’ll say this: I never have believed in writing a novel consciously designed to do that. It’s too presumptuous and leads to bad decisions – I always have written one book at a time. And with Quarry (originally published under the unfortunate title The Broker) I left my hitman in an untenable position, one from which it was unlikely he might survive.
Of course he did anyway.
I’ve spoken of this before, but I wanted to get away from the Stark/Parker approach that included only other crooks getting killed – no civilians. And, in part because I already felt I had a knack for it, utilize my gift for first-person narration to write about a bad guy in his own voice. To me, much as I liked Stark’s Parker, the character and his world presented in third person gave the reader some protection.
I wanted to tear that wall down, to confront readers with just who they were identifying. Additionally, I wanted Quarry to be in many ways normal, so you could go for long stretches and not have to deal with who and what he really was. I wanted him to be good company. He was damaged goods, but in many ways was just like us.
Also, I knew I had to do something original (again, within the hardboiled spectrum) to really make my mark in my chosen field. The way Spade, Marlowe, Hammer, Bond had. And Quarry seemed just the ticket. Nobody had written that character before, not in the first person, anyway.
So some part of the young me felt I’d found the thing that would set me apart, and my mark would be made. Except…no. The four Quarry paperbacks I wrote for Berkley Books generated scant sales; yes, a few nice reviews and some fan mail, but…when the fourth book came and went, so did Quarry.
And Nathan Heller, with his historical approach and first-person narration, became how I really made at least some sort of mark in my chosen field.
Enough so that a publisher approached me about doing whatever novel I wanted to…and I took that opportunity to write a fifth Quarry, to see if I could jump-start the series. The novel was well received (Primary Target aka Quarry’s Vote) but no further novels immediately followed. A few short stories did, however, and one of them (“A Matter of Principal”) generated a short film.
From there, Quarry just kept coming. Editor Charles Ardai at Hard Case Crime, in the early days of that line, gave me the opportunity to wrap the series up with The Last Quarry. But somehow that led to The First Quarry, and now the novels number eighteen…and somehow he’s been around since 1976. Along the way there has been a movie I wrote plus a single season of a Quarry TV series.
Actually the character was created at the University of Iowa’s Writers Workshop around ‘72, but it took a while for me to finish the novel and get it sold.
In November the 50th anniversary Quarry novel will be published by Hard Case Crime: Quarry’s Reunion. Reviews have started to appear and they’ve been positive. Take a look at Publisher’s Weekly on the novel:
Trade Paperback:
E-Book:
Max Allan Collins. Hard Case Crime, $18.99 trade paper (224p) ISBN 978-1-83541-646-4
Aging ex–hit man Quarry is in fine form in the pulse-pounding sequel to Quarry’s Return from MWA Grand Master Collins. At 71, Quarry is trying to lead a tranquil life in Minnesota. He jumps into action when he’s approached by Jenny Means, an attractive 40-something who’s the spitting image of her mother, Mary Ann—Quarry’s high school sweetheart. Jenny, who’s recently experienced a series of strange accidents and been shot at, fears someone is out to kill her. The police have dismissed her worries, attributing the gunfire to random gang violence, but Quarry returns to his hometown of Fair View, Ohio, where Jenny lives, to investigate. He arrives just in time for his 50th high school reunion, and finds several people who might want Jenny dead. They include her half brother, Alex, who’ll benefit financially if she dies before him, and Quarry’s former classmate, Caldonia Jackson, who has a fraught history with Quarry and has become Alex’s mentor. As in other series entries, Collins complements the brisk, pulpy plot with plentiful sex scenes, resulting in a gritty adventure that lives up to series standards. Collins’s fans will be well pleased. (Nov.)
Well, I’m well-pleased, as PW can be tough, and I took a chance with this one, because it’s not a typical Quarry (if there is such a thing). I wanted to explore his past in a way I haven’t before, and I also wanted to do a traditional mystery with a noir approach – something I’ve done a few times, including with Quarry in Quarry’s Cut.
The novel will not be out till November, but I am planning to do a book giveaway in September. I’ll offer ten copies to readers willing to write Amazon reviews. Or if you have a blog and do reviews, and would like a copy, let me know at macphilms@hotmail.com. More about this later.
In the meantime, here’s a terrific write-up from writer Ron Fortier, a real pro:
By Max Allan Collins
Available 10 Nov. 2026
Hard Case Crime
217 pgs
Grand Master mystery writer Max Allan Collins has created a number of series during his long career. He’s given us professional thieves, historical private eyes, retired secret agents and a wonderful small town female sheriff among many others. All were brilliantly written, but we do have our favorites. Topping our list is the Quarry books that tell the story of a Vietnam veteran and his evolution into a contract killer. Why it remains our favorite is primarily because, like Collin’s deadly protagonist, we too are veterans of that Southeast Asian conflict and are now well past calling ourselves middle-age.
Collins allows his fictional character to age like the rest of us. With the past few entries in the series, it has been fun to watch a 70-year-old tough guy deal with new, and always dangerous situations. Never quite sure his body will respond to whatever threats he will encounter; Quarry has to rely on his experience and hard earned survival skills.
In this new story, he is summoned back to his home town of Fair View, Ohio, by his long ago high-school sweetheart, Mary Ann Kemper. After he had left home to join the US Marines, Mary Ann married Bobby Means, the son of the town’s wealthiest family. They had a beautiful daughter named Jenny. After the marriage ended in divorce, Bobby married another local girl, Suzanne Shaw, and together they had a son, Alex. Soon after, Suzanne followed Mary Ann’s history and left him. Despite the scandalous divorces, Bobby’s mother, Virginia Means, refused to abandon her grandchildren and set up a trust fund for them. When turning 50, both Jenny and Alex would receive half a million dollars.
Now, as each is nearing that particular birthday, Jenny is nearly killed in three separate incidents. The police believe them to be nothing by random events, but Mary Ann disagrees. Convinced someone is trying to kill her daughter, she reaches out to Quarry. How and why she does this would involve writing our own lengthy dissertation. Suffice it to say, our protagonist agrees to help her. All this occurs during the weekend of his 50th High School Reunion. Among his surviving classmates are several with possible suspects with motives for wanting Jenny terminated.
Quarry’s Reunion is a fun read watching Collins juxtapose his mystery over the all too familiar nostalgic torture that these gatherings become. It offers us a rare glimpse into Quarry’s origins, his life and aspiration before the world turned upside down and he found himself lost in a jungle half a world away. Again, it was all too easy for this reviewer to nod time and again, as we share quite a few of the old soldiers’ memories. This Quarry is a different character, attesting to the reality that change is the only true constant. Thanks Max, for not being afraid to grow old with us.
M.A.C.
Tags: A Matter of Principal, Bait Money, Nolan, Quarry, Quarry's Cut, Quarry's Vote, Reviews, The First Quarry, The Last Quarry
A new Quarry is always welcome. Of your protagonists, I prefer Nate Heller, but Quarry is always a good read.