"The Syndic" by C.M. Kornbluth

 This 1953 science fiction novel is a great example of 1950s SF.  

The novel is based on an interesting premise. The US Government has collapsed and has been replaced by two rival criminal gangs, The Syndic on the East and West Coasts, and The Mob in the Middle West and South.

Kornbluth paints a very sympathetic picture of the Syndic, a society controlled by organized crime. People can do what they want. No armies, low taxes and you can indulge as you wish in sex, drugs and booze. His picture is that most people are sensible and things work pretty well. he contrasts it with The Mob, which rules with fear and violence for the sole benefit of the bosses.

The story is a adventure chase tale. Someone is knocking off Syndic guys. They suspect it is the Mob. Charles Orsino, a low level guy in the Syndic, gets sent undercover to figure out what is going on. He has a bunch of exciting adventures.

The novel goes off on great tangents. There a long section of the novel set in a post-industrial Ireland where Celtic tribes have reverted to witchery. Orsino gets stuck between the bad guys and the witches. It is a quick picture of a fascinating world.

There is a love interest. In these books people always fall in love immediately so the plot can get rolling.  We also get sections set in a "1984" type Chicago and a super secret submarine.

These days this book would be the outline for a six novel series. Writers like Kornbluth pumped out novel like this for four of five hundred bucks and then moved on to the next one. Kornbluth was one of the better writers in that scene. He writes interesting characters. He can quickly get across a strange setting. He knows how to build suspense. He is bubbling over with interesting ideas.

This is still worth reading. The hook is that underneath the pulp story, Kornbluth has some intriguing ideas about organizing society and the difference between different types of criminal organizations. The book ends with a wonderful monologue by the head of the Syndic. He refuses to organize an army to go to war against the Mob. He explains that "when anything becomes a matter of life or death to the Syndic, the Syndic is already dead." Organized violence can't co-exist with a free society. Pretty heady stuff for a pulp paperback.  (Michael Reilly, GoodReads)