The Pawnbroker Books

There are many "How to" books on the market, in every field of endeavor, but this book is truly unique in the pawn business. There has, to my knowledge, never been a more comprehensive explanation of the pawn business offered to the general public. This tightly-controlled business usually is reluctant to share insider information with anyone outside the industry. But Taylor-Fletcher's entertaining work opens the door for public awareness with never-before revealed insider information about buying and pricing tactics, and determining the value of everything from jewelry to guns, as well as detailed information on how to run a profitable shop - even down to how to arrange the merchandise to maximize sales.

Pawn pros will value its content for its accuracy and fresh new ideas; the public should value it for its clues on how to effectively deal with a pawn shop when purchasing used merchandise. Everyone will enjoy it for its light-hearted approach to a serious business.

My own personal interest is jewelry, and I discovered just what a neat place a pawn shop really is for great finds on beautiful rings and precious stones for just pennies on the dollar. Once I started making the rounds of the local pawn shops searching for bargains on jewelry, I began to realize just how many items can be found in these stores at great prices. As a result of reading this book, I now know just what to look for and how to negotiate my purchases. If I ever decide to open a shop of my own, this book will provide the blueprint I'll need to make it a success. Its just like having your own personal consultant right at your fingertips. A valuable book and a fun read!

From the back cover:
"V. Alexander Cullen shares his experience and knowledge of the extremely lucrative pawnbroking business, sometimes referred to as the "world's second oldest profession." When people need money fast and can't get it from a bank, they turn to their friendly neighborhood pawnshops. ...

By following Cullen's straightforward plan, you can save thousands of dollars in choosing the perfect location, evaluating merchandise, extending loans, advertising, establishing a reputation for honesty, making your shop secure, and much more. He also includes sources for wholesalers, used merchandise dealers, appraisal guides, and many other useful services and equipment."

Includes black and white photos of store displays.

It's an interesting story, and very sad for much of the novel. But this is what Wallant wanted - a real person - not some literary hero larger than life, but a real person who has been pushed to every extent imaginable and merely desires to stay alive and keep moving, nothing else.

Wallant, unfortunately, died early, in his mid 30's of a sudden heart attack. Had Wallant lived and continued to write for decades, we - this country - would most certainly have a much deeper respect and appreciation for this man and for his craft. He was a writer of unmatched precision and empathy. Read this book.

This is a rich work whose central theme is the meaning of true humanity. It is the story of a Jew who knows the worst inhumanity in the destruction of his family in the Holocaust( Shoah) and is tested as to the possibility of coming back to life through his meetings in the new world. It is a tightly written and in a way poetic narrative, troubling and moving. A very highly recommended work.

This is a gripping tale of one mans loss of humanity and his regaining of it.
Mr. Wallant's untimely death cut short what would have been a brilliant writing career, although he did manage to write three other books before this one.
I am a great fan of the film, starring Rod Steiger in his breakout role, although many of the characters are the same in the film as in the book. There is great plot development from the onset, and the story really keeps you riveted to the book.
My one qualm with the authors writing is that he uses very, for lack of a better term, "poetic" descriptions of places and emotions which I found just a bit tedious.
Barring that, this is a read that I would highly recommend to anyone that wishes to explore the depths of misery and redemption.

Showing how one man endured the worst nightmare during World War II and how it affects him and his mind throughout his life, "The Pawnbroker" is a gripping story about loss, acceptance, family, and sacrifice. It is also a story about "moving on". It's an exceptionally well told story and a fine addition to literature and fictional prose regarding the holocaust and the lives of those that nightmare affected.

This is not a book I would've picked on my own. It was a selection in a local book club. Wallant is able to describe the undescribable...holocaust, horror, longing, as well as the everyday, "...in the hallucinatory foyer before sleep..." Perfect. I'm glad that the book club has introduced me to this powerful novel, and to an author of this caliber.

Even though this is a children's book, it immediately grabs the reader's attention. This young boy is forced to flee his horrible family and crosses paths with a mysterious man who helps him. The good elements of this book is the release of secrets that haunt people in difficult circumstances. This book is about giving someone a second chance by allowing them to let go of these secrets once and for all. God is also mentioned in this story, but not in a preachy fashion. The only preacher mentioned in the story is a coward and a fraud. I didn't care for the end where it mentions the "three sisters of fate" and that they have something to do with how one's future is determined. The book is somewhat enjoyable, but also creepy and some characters are utterly evil. I also don't understand why the book was entitled as the black book of secrets, why black? Black illustrates death, darkness, and evil. This is the author's first book, but it's more of a mystery than anything else.

I found this book in my hunt for a good story. I was excited over the look of the book as well. It is a very eye catching book. It started off excellent, it makes the reader want to finish it quickly just to discover the mystery in it. However, about the last 100 pages it starts to lose the thrill. And the ending is not fullfilling at all. It was flat. I was disappointed in the book after finishing it due to it starting so strong. It is dark, mysterious, quite a page turner but leaves you saying in the end, wow what a let down. I won't read the sequel. If you are looking for a mildly dark book this is for you. If you are looking for the story to keep it's momentum to the end, avoid this book.

The storyline intrigued me. A pawnbroker who pays money for secrets, Why? What is he going to do with it. The story was a bit diapointing for me. Maybe just because I like magic swords, dragons in the books I read. I love mysteries too but the mysteriousness wasn't intriguing enough. I enjoyed it enough though to want to read the sequel, but I wouldn't stand in line for 15hrs to get it.

The power of the first page. A lot of authors don't respect it these days. They'll scribble down the first two mildly exciting sentences that pop into their brains, usually blowing the central conceit of their novel within the scope of a single paragraph. A good first page, particularly in a children's book, needs to suck you in, grab you the throat, and throttle you slowly enough that you're inclined to read more (if only to get your breath back). Okay. That's a terrible metaphor, but the point that I'm trying to make is that this F.E. Higgins type person, this author
from some distant country called En Gland (sounds unpleasant)* has created the best first page of a children's book in 2007. Whether the rest of the book is worthy of its opening gives us room for debate. Call it good, call it bad, or call it ugly, the one thing you cannot call "The Black Book of Secrets" is boring. Not on your life.

When he wakes up, Ludlow Fitch is lying on the filthy floor of a makeshift "dentistry" room. His parents are going to sell their only son's teeth off while he's still awake and then profit off the results. Somehow Ludlow manages to escape, though the nature of his flight is not fully explained, and in his panic he gets a ride on a carriage going to the remote and tiny village of Pagus Parvus. Once arrived, he meets a fellow traveler by the name of Joe Zabbidou who intends to set up his pawnshop right there in town. He hires Ludlow practically on the spot, and it isn't long before the boy starts to get the sense that something isn't right. Pagus Parvus, you see, is a hole in a wall and it's held under the iron grip of the nasty Jeremiah Ratchet. Ratchet knows everyone's secrets and is willing to blackmail his fellow citizens to get what he wants in the end. As it happens, Joe is also in the business of secrets, but his interest is quite a different sort. For a nominal fee Joe will pay you good money for the secrets you hold near and dear to your heart. As Ludlow marks these secrets down in the Black Book, he finds himself torn. Can he trust Joe, a man he knows absolutely nothing about? Will his own secret stay buried or find its way into Joe's very black book? And will the townspeople, who now see Joe as their saviour, tolerate him if he refuses to go head to head with the nasty Mr. Ratchet?

Higgins has a natural affinity for a well-played name. It's the kind of talent that most people squander. Many times an up-and-coming author will go on a kind of Dickensian/Rowling-inspired naming spree. The result will inevitably lead to names that are either too obvious or too silly for even a child reader to approve of. Higgins, I am glad to say, doesn't have this problem. Look at the names in this book. Ludlow Fitch. Jeremiah Ratchet. Obadiah Strang. Stirling Oliphaunt. Okay, that last one's a bit nutty, but for the most part they're purely enjoyable. And as for the book itself, it's always nice to know that your author is paying attention. How often have you read a story where a character is alone in a deep dark woods and somehow has the ability to look about themselves as if it were noon on a hot May day? Higgins isn't asleep at the wheel, as it were, and while this may seem like a little thing, it's important.

The story itself was interesting and I liked the moment when the townspeople suddenly turned on their supposed savior. Very ... well ... New Testament of them. Hm. I'm hardly the first person to notice this. When the Telegraph in London asked Ms. Higgins if the book was a religious allegory of sorts she denied the claim, saying instead, "What I hope the book does do is to convey my belief in natural justice, in the idea that there is a rhythm in life that dictates that from chaos there should come order, and that what you give in terms not just of money, but of time and yourself, you will get in return." All well and good, except that the final "justice" meted out in this story may not sit well with the reader. Joe commits an act near the end of the book that I never felt was ever fully justified, even when it is explained away later. He leaves a man believing that he has murdered someone, then lets it go without comment. And even though the man later learns that this was not the case, Joe doesn't know that the man finds this out. This gives Joe a coldness and moral lassitude implicated by the act itself that I'm sure the author did not intend. And here's another point: Suppose that a person puts himself or herself unknowingly in harm's way and you do not stop them (though you yourself know what danger they are in). Are you blameless if something bad befalls them? Apparently so. I understand that Higgins had to rid herself of her villain somewhere in the story, but her method of doing so seemingly goes contrary to the lessons she's trying to impart.

And don't get me wrong. I mean, it's fun. A romp. And yes, there are some problems with it here and there. For example, there are sudden appearances of Fate and instruments of Destiny near the end of the story that may throw a reader or two for a loop, but it's an enjoyable read. I quibble with the "good guy"'s methods of effecting change. I say it belies his entire philosophy and life's work. On the other hand, Higgins has an even hand and a book that tells a good original story without imitating other styles or seeming overly familiar. A book worth reading, sure. Maybe most ideal if you run a book group and want something that might conjure up a philosophical debate.


* Yes. I am joking. I do that. It's my thing.

THE BLACK BOOK OF SECRETS by F. E. Higgins has one of the most intriguing premises I've seen in a juvenile novel, or an adult novel, in a long time. A quiet man of questionable means moves into a neighborhood where everyone is being bullied by a man who owns everything worth owning. The quiet man, Joe Zabbidou, opens a pawnshop and starts buying what is basically worthless junk from the poor people who live there. Then, shortly after acquiring a young, homeless thief as his apprentice, Joe begins buying the darkest secrets of anyone who will sell them to him during the midnight hour.

I read about the book in a forthcoming announcement and wanted to think about it before I just purchased it. I was in Minnesota over the holidays and stopped in at a bookstore. THE BLACK BOOK OF SECRETS sat on the NEW ARRIVALS shelves. Immediately fascinated, I picked up a copy.

The packaging is as compelling and intriguing as the story's premise. The covers, front and back, are a flat black with the illustration and the back cover copy on them. My eye didn't catch the designs worked into the book until I felt them. The most eye-catching part of the whole package, though, was the black gilt that framed the pages all the way around. I've never seen a book like that. The treatment made the book feel almost...dangerous. And certain foreboding.

I was mesmerized, really. Whether the trade dress (publishing term for how a book looks) was really that good or I was just a soft touch, I don't know. But the book's designer is fantastic. The only real bright spot on the book's cover is that curious and brightly colored frog.

When I opened the book, I found the inside was just as different as the outside. The book's generous margins, clear and easy to read font, and the thin, almost fragile feel, of the pages made me want to turn them.

I read the opening chapter, a short but very intense five pages, and was instantly gripped by poor Ludlow Fitch's predicament. Ludlow lives in the City, but it can't be any other city than 19th century London, and the mean, downtrodden existence he leads is properly Dickensian. His lowlife parents have taken Ludlow to a foul dentist to sell the teeth right out of his head. They strap him into the dentist's chair and the dentist, Dr. Gumbroot - another nice, Dickensian touch, grabs a pair of pliers and latches onto one of Ludlow's teeth. In that scene alone, I was as hooked as Ludlow.

I picked the book up. Due to the work load I've got, I couldn't get back to it until yesterday. I started it to take a few minutes at lunch. Instead, I ended up captivated and read the entire novel. At 260 pages, it's fairly short by today's standards.

But I was swept away through the dirty streets of that neighborhood, got to know all the broken dreams and lost hopes of the people that came to Joe Zabbidou's pawnshop to sell their darkest secrets, and became even more curious about why Joe was buying them. I also discovered that our hero, Ludlow Fitch, wasn't the most reliable person Joe could have trusted.

I'm torn over calling this a children's book or an adult one. I think it plays equally well for both. The novel offers a compelling story with rich characters and a unique time and place that still stands apart from 19th century England in the same way that Joseph Delaney's THE LAST APPRENTICE books do. In some ways it breaks the tenets of juvenile books because it spends so much time with the adult characters. But it never discusses anything inappropriate about their lives or motivations that the 9-12 year olds won't understand.

The building sense of mystery and dread is fantastic, but I have to admit that when everything was said and done, I was somewhat disappointed. After all the tension that was raised, I really expected more at the end. Still, everything made sense and it satisfied.

This is F. E. Higgins's first book, but that doesn't show. Her writing is spare and lean, and not overly descriptive. The narrative pacing is well done - it obviously kept me glued to the book and turning pages till I reached the end, and I'm not always an easy audience. She writes with authority and confidence, and I liked her characters quite a lot because they were so real.

One of the best parts of the book was being a voyeur and listening to the secrets those townspeople came to tell. Each one of them seemed almost like an Edgar Allan Poe short story, filled with twists and turns and surprises.

I don't know yet if the book is going to be a series, but it could. Each Black Book of Secrets could be about a different place, with different secrets. Given the nature of people's curiosity about other people's secrets, I think this is a hook that would make a series work for a while. If Higgins can keep up this kind of quality, I'd definitely read another book or two about Joe and Ludlow.

Higgins does have a second book coming out in March 2008. It's called THE BONE MAGICIAN and sports a blood-red cover with a skull. I'll be picking that one up when it comes out.

This work contrasts with the sanitized view of war in much of modern media. The pawnbroker is an embittered, heartbroken Jewish man who survived World War II. He shouts out in despair: "I don't believe in God, just money!"

With a title this bad, you know the story has to be good. THE SPIDER is out-of-town fighting bad guys again, with the usual twists and turns to the plot, and two bonus short stories from the 1930's to boot.