Tonight you find me in my cups, and in my books -
I'm trying once again to locate a novel I read once, and cannot recall the author or title.
The premise is as follows -
There is a private detective who drinks (I know, you've read this one before)
He drinks too much (sound familiar?) and occasionally has blackouts (okay, getting out of the politically correct genre mode and) periodically screws up.
In the example I remember, he's been engaged to watch a high school back east - You know, multi storied and basement classrooms as well, we don't do that on the coast)
He's sitting in his car outside watching for the designated bad guy he's been hired to pursue and struggling with alcohol withdrawals and all that, and he sees a GIANT SNAKE, LIKE TRAIN SIZED GIANT SNAKE barrelling down the sidewalk into the school.
He draws his weapon and chases the snake through the school doors, fails to stop or turn in time and launches himself down the staircase into the basement level, gun in hand, and knocks himself unconscious when he hits the floor.
When he wakes up the school principal is there, holding his pistol and looking at him curiously. Our hero realizes what he has done and quickly makes something up.
" It was him - I saw him! "
The principal hands him back his gun and says that nobody else saw the bad guy.
Damn if I can find this book, read it years ago, thought it might be part of an unfinished John Gardner ( " On Becoming A Novelist ") novel but apparently not.
If you know what the Hades I'm talking about, please help me, Obi Wan Kenobi.
