Strictly for Cash
Strictly for Cash is a 1951 thriller novel written by British author James Hadley Chase
Synopsis[edit]
Small time ex boxer Johnny Farrar sets out towards Miami seeking his fortune, thinking the task is a cake walk and that he can become a millionaire, but the spur of the moment acquaintances and events soon push Johnny on the run for life, but he is in for more accidents and surprises that twist the whole world around him, from which he must make his escape.
Plot[edit]
Ex boxer Johnny Farrar sets out to seek his fortune in Miami, and stops over at a cafe in Pelotta, Florida owned by Tom Roche, a recommended acquaintance. Fate has it such that Farrar gets into a muddle and injures a boxer in Roche's cafe, who is supposed to be fighting the weekend boxing match for the local dreaded don Peletti under bet. Soon Farrar is forced to take the boxer's place for the fixed match by Peletti under death threat, with orders to lose the match as it is fixed. Farrar agrees, but in stadium he is prompted by a beautiful woman named Della in the crowds cheering for him to fight back and not lose, and in the spur of the moment he knocks off his opponent and wins the game, much to the annoyance of Peletti, who Farrar knows will now kill him. He immediately goes on the run, with Della and her husband Paul picking him and heading at high speed away from Florida, with Peletti's goons Pepi and Benno chasing them. Unfortunately their car hits against another and topples, and Johnny Farrar is totally knocked out. This happens on the 29th of July.
The tale takes a twist when Farrar returns to consciousness; he finds himself hospitalized in Lincoln beach in the month of September, and the people around him believing that he is not Johnny Farrar but rather John Ricca, and that Johnny Farrar was accidentally killed in a car accident that took place in September, in a different car and with a lady beside found dead. No one accepts Farrar's account of what happened, and to make matters worse, "John Ricca's" cousin visits Farrar, wanting to know about some "hidden cash", saying that a girl by name "Gina" is waiting to marry him and that he (Farrar) cannot make away with the "cash". The shocked and confused Farrar escapes from hospital, even finding that his original clothes have been replaced, and sets about to unravel the mysteries surrounding him.
Farrar soon takes lodging at a motel, discovers that he has got 250000 dollars stored away in a suitcase in his name at a safety luggage deposit building, and he keeps it away in a safe deposit locker facility. Armed with money and ammunition, he finds Gina's address and goes to meet her, where he gets a blackout and flashback begins into his past.
At this juncture, the story comes back to Johnny Farrar at the accident site on July 29. He and Della survived the accident, Paul has died and so has the other car driver. But Della is totally remorseless; she besieges Farrar to work for her, saying that he can grab a quarter of a million and even live happily with her if he does as she says. Farrar learns that Paul was a magnate with Casinos in Lincoln Beach, Los Angeles and Paris run by henchmen managers Nick Reissner, John Ricca and Pete Levinsky ,and now that he is dead, Della being his second wife wants to grab the casino in Miami and get his money, but by keeping the other managers away. She asks him to change clothes with Paul's body and burn the car, and gives Farrar the identity of "John Ricca". They proceed to Paul's Casino in Lincoln Beach managed by Nick Reissner, weaving a cock and bull story that Paul suspects Reissner is stealing funds and has sent Della and "Ricca" to investigate, that they both were mugged on the way and their car was stolen. But Reissner is no fool; he finds out who Farrar actually is, and confronts them, and Della and Farrar accidentally kill Reissner. Della threatens to implicate Farrar in the murder if he tries to escape as the corrupt captain of police Hame knows her well and cannot pin her. She also warns him not to go out with any other girl except herself. Farrar and Della dispose off the body in a den of lions maintained by Reissner in his casino premises. The news of Reissner's "accidental" death spreads, and Paul is "nowhere to be heard of". Inspector Hame is told the same story but doesn't believe it.
Now Della and Farrar alias Ricca take over the Casino. Farrar now begins to hate Della for implicating him in this mess, and looks for ways to outsmart her. Fate such had it that Farrar meets an artist on Lincoln beach, Gina, and falls in love and wants to elope with her. The real John Ricca then appears on scene, asking for Paul. Della tells him about Farrar, and that with Paul's disappearance, she and Farrar want to take over the Miami casino, while Ricca can have the one at Los Angeles. Farrar now knows that he and Gina will soon be found out, and his only option is to somehow steal the quarter million dollars that was promised to him by Della but never given, and break away with Gina to Cuba where he won't be found. He manages to get the safety locker code from Della's fired secretary, and makes away with 250000 dollars which he couriers the same day to himself at a safety luggage deposit building to be picked later. Ricca and Della soon find out that Farrar has been involved with Gina and the infuriated Della throws him out of business. She also rings up Peletti back in Pelotta, and Beno and Pepi arrive to deal with Farrar who betrayed their boss.
Farrar runs, but Della realizes that she had been gypped of the money, and she chases Farrar on road and catches with him as he contacts Gina by phone to get a chartered flight to Cuba. She makes him drive to Miami at gunpoint to be dealt with by Beno and Pepi, but he willfully overturns the vehicle causing an accident, killing Della on the spot,and Johnny Farrar blacks out again.
In the final phase it is shown that Farrar awakens from his flashback of events when he went to meet Gina in September, remembers everything clearly now, and he has been bound in Gina's house and is interrogated by Ricca (who came to meet Farrar as his "cousin" in the hospital) and Benno (who with Pepi was following Farrar from the time he betrayed Peletti), with threats to harm Gina. Ricca says Della is dead (the dead lady found at the car crash site in September) and now he alone shall own the casino and wants the money which Farrar stole. Farrar agrees to give it back. He goes alongwith Ricca to the safety locker facility, where unseen by anyone, he shoots Ricca dead with a .22 automatic previously hidden in that locker. Farrar then returns to Gina's house and kills Benno and frees Gina. But on the scene appears inspector Hame, who wants to encounter them both and make away with the money himself. Farrar knocks him out and tried to leave with Gina, but she now runs away from him thinking he is a criminal. Gina is taken by the cops who arrive at the scene.
The climax reaches a high rise building. Johnny Farrar is now on the run. With a suitcase full of money and nowhere to go he reaches the 22nd floor of a high rise hotel, where cops and people arrive. He climbs out of the balcony into the window ledge with his suitcase and realises that this is the end of the road; and Hame will easily pin him down and get the money. With scores of people and cops watching him, he opens the suitcase and throws down all the money, watching the entire crowd rushing to grab the currency notes, totally mindless of everything else. This moment of triumph is savoured for a short while, and then Johnny Farrar decides to turn himself to the law, come what may, even for Gina's sake. He climbs back into the hotel.
References[edit]
External links[edit]
- https://www.fantasticfiction.com/c/james-hadley-chase/strictly-for-cash.htm
- https://books.google.co.in/books/about/Strictly_for_Cash.html?id=Zg7LoAEACAAJ&source=kp_book_description&redir_esc=y
- http://www.angelfire.com/celeb2/hadleychase/strict_cash.htm
- https://jamesreasoner.blogspot.com/2009/03/forgotten-books-strictly-for-cash-james.html?m=1{James Hadley Chase}}
- https://www.romancewiki.com/Strictly_For_Cash
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