Kenneth Orvis

Published in 1962, The Damned and the Destroyed is about the Montreal drug trade in an era before the Sixties had really blossomed. Maxwell Dent is a private investigator and tycoon Huntley Ashton hires Dent to rescue his daughter from the ravages of heroin. And, Ashton didn't just want his daughter rescued. He wanted the dope peddlers smashed to pieces. The older daughter, Thorn, fills in the gaps. It is
well written, although at times it feels like a stern anti drug lecture and it feels a little dated. There's a lot of language about dilated pupils and purple scarred arms. And, of course, jazz musicians all have the heroin monkey on their backs. Dent disguises himself and infiltrates the
junkie community.… (mere)