Two
Trains Running, Andrew Vachss. New York : Pantheon. 2005. $25.00 (hc)
1-4000-4381-6.
Vachss’s latest novel is set in 1959 in the town of Locke City.
Once a thriving factory town, the factories are now gone, and the only
thing that has kept Locke City from becoming a ghost town is the fact
that it has built a border economy on prostitution, gambling, and vice
of all sorts. This is largely thanks to Royal Beaumont, a handi-capable
killer who rules the town, along with his sister and a trusty, though
somewhat slow confidant.
Unfortunately for Beaumont , he’s doing a little too well, and
the Chicago mafia, along with some Irish gangsters, is trying to muscle
in on his racket. Enter Walker Dett, a cold-blooded killer hired by
Beaumont to pinch hit. But when Dett gets to town, he starts warming
up to a local waitress, and suddenly, his only real desire is to tell
his story to the one pure soul he can find.
Basically, this is a political thriller. The mob and the Irish want
a sympathetic president in the upcoming election (clearly implying JFK).
Therefore, they want to control the votes in Locke City and the surrounding
areas, and Beaumont just wants to be left alone. Add to the mix Dett,
whose haunted past has led him to believe that there are two trains
trying to reach the station, and if he can slow the bad one down just
enough, then the good one can make it.
Vachss novel is down and dirty, dealing with issues of race and corruption
in a familiar but not overdone setting. He’s not afraid to ask
the hard questions, examining JFK’s mob connections and questions
of racial equality. There are visionary moments, mostly involving Detts,
and some of the interplay with Beaumont and his organization (especially
his sister) are inspired. The novel clocks in just shy of 450 pages,
but Vachss keeps the complex plot moving, employing short chapters and
a running-clock structure. All in all, it’s a good read. I’ll
keep an eye out for more of his work.
-CL Bledsoe