Publisher's Weekly
The publisher may be what Thompson characterized as ''playing the 'small con'the hype and the smack and the tat'' when he calls these three short 1950s novels ''all classics in the ranks of Hammett and Chandler.'' In the word of Nero Wolfe, pfui. When he was good, Thompson (Hardcore was closer to Mickey Spillane at moving a plot along but no better at characterization. ''The Ripoff'' is a silly story about a poor writer whose rich fiancee may be trying to drive him crazy. It makes no sense at all. ''Roughneck'' is a loose, sentimental autobiographical segment that holds some interest in its depiction of Depression life in the West and Midwest. ''The Golden Gizmo'' begins marvelously: ''It was almost quitting time when Toddy met the man with no chin and the talking dog.'' But the story of a small-time conman dealing in then-illegal gold degenerates into complicated unbelievability and farce that's occasionally intentional. ('' 'And keep your hands out o' your pockets,' gritted Donald.'') Fans of Hammett, Chandler, Macdonald and Spillane will wisely look elsewhere.

Library Journal
A genre writer who has achieved cult status as a serious author, Thompson wrote detective novels notable for their psychological probing of the criminal mind and all-pervading sense of moral squalor. This miscellany collects shorter pieces written throughout Thompson's 50-year career, from the early crime reporting and character sketches, to later short stories, biographical essays, and unfinished novels and novellas. There are some gems here, such as the Poe-like tale of guilt, ''The Threesome in Four-C,'' the desperately exhilarating con games of ''The Cellini Chalice,'' and a harrowing, bitter novella, ''This World, Then the Fireworks.'' Much, however, will interest only the avid fan and scholar. Lawrence Rungren, Bedford Free P.L., Mass.