tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15371200635676833852024-03-20T22:23:25.057-04:00Vintage Hardboiled Readsa nostalgic journey backAugust Westhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11797743144228505958noreply@blogger.comBlogger148125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1537120063567683385.post-41113249121650159412011-07-16T11:33:00.000-04:002011-07-16T11:33:36.605-04:00The Khufra Run by James Graham (Jack Higgins)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY_ajjwppZ31atkbT-WDyPgG5ZkRPzQSjAtg2YT2PVkce86iC6UrUSz_gULjKkkAfLR1b6XeaJ-LkIJ72LdeiTMuZDV-cuGA-tmin0Y4sdUARgHSv5mFKYpT0OBsUDTXezgLr8OzUYC1OG/s1600/Khufra.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 198px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY_ajjwppZ31atkbT-WDyPgG5ZkRPzQSjAtg2YT2PVkce86iC6UrUSz_gULjKkkAfLR1b6XeaJ-LkIJ72LdeiTMuZDV-cuGA-tmin0Y4sdUARgHSv5mFKYpT0OBsUDTXezgLr8OzUYC1OG/s320/Khufra.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491536054610753058" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">The Khufra Run by James Graham (Jack Higgins)<br /></span> <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">MacMillan Hardcover</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Copyright 1972</span><br /><br />Published in 1972, <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">"The Khufra Run"</span> is another adrenalin-filled adventure that was written under the author's pseudonym of James Graham. In his early writing days, Jack Higgins took the reader to different locations and in this one we start in Ibiza, Spain. Ex-'Nam pilot Jack Nelson runs a charter floatplane service there and he has been known to take a job or two on the illegal side when cash is low. Along with Harry Turk, an American ex-Marine that Nelson befriended when both were captured by the Viet Cong, they stumble on an opportunity to retrieve a loot of sunken treasure in the Khufra Marshes. But of course it won't be easy to accomplish. An abstruse nun, who Nelson saves from being raped, only knows the exact location of the treasure. A violent group is after her for the secret and her life is constantly in jeopardy. As the nun gains knowledge that Nelson and Turk have commando skills that can even the score against a formidable enemy, she allows both men to protect her and help recover the treasure for a share. As in most Higgins novels the action starts quick and never lets up. Nelson's plane is destroyed, there are more attempted attacks to stop them, and with a small cache of weapons the race is on to the Khufra Marshes.<br /><br />Higgins is a master at narration. The trek that Nelson, Turk and the nun take to the marshes is an intense ride for the reader, all captured in a group of explosive chapters. Throw in an aging Hollywood starlet who may have a stake in the outcome, illegal drugs, bad weather in a hostile environment, explosions and constant dodging of automatic gunfire- and "The Khufra Run" becomes one of the best novels that I have read by Jack Higgins.<br /><br />Jack Higgins wrote four novels under the name of James Graham. All take you on a deadly adventure that is packed with action between pages of a darn good plotted story:<br /><br />A Game for Heroes (1970)<br />The Wrath of God (1971)<br />The Khufra Run (1972)<br />The Run to Morning (1974)August Westhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11797743144228505958noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1537120063567683385.post-49337434768982540692011-07-05T08:20:00.000-04:002011-07-05T08:20:50.877-04:00The Man From Limbo by John D. MacDonald<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOxmBYzd2_8KyH9H_cSurk44w1kj3Y36F1Wkw1WrNjbHqd1Z5l9lcCTo-LzWHqF2M5GgkxtR3zPmrBLiDkw_-wSpY0Sd9kQheP4JY9ju-fjiaOltSElYqXkV16ZYTzd_o-n7pMh10Yc473/s1600/DimeDetective-Limbo.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 233px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOxmBYzd2_8KyH9H_cSurk44w1kj3Y36F1Wkw1WrNjbHqd1Z5l9lcCTo-LzWHqF2M5GgkxtR3zPmrBLiDkw_-wSpY0Sd9kQheP4JY9ju-fjiaOltSElYqXkV16ZYTzd_o-n7pMh10Yc473/s320/DimeDetective-Limbo.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491534890414750370" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">The Man From Limbo By John D. MacDonald</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Short Story, Dime Detective Magazine</span> <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><br />April 1953</span><br /><br />Like many of the successful post-war American mystery novelists, John D. MacDonald got his start writing for the popular pulp magazines. There are some who believe here is where you'll find his best work, and I might agree with that statement. Try reading stories like "Finders Killers" or "In a Small Motel," and you'll find characters and plots with smothering situations that explode from the pages. "The Man From Limbo" appeared in the Apr. 1953 issue of <span style="font-style: italic;">Dime Det</span><span style="font-style: italic;">ective</span>. It may not be the best MacDonald short story, but it sure is a fascinating one. The story starts with shell-shocked ex-GI Dolph Regan, struggling within his inner darkness and fears, being constantly tormented by events from the war. He takes on a job as a traveling salesman, which lands him in a town where he finds his old platoon sergeant is running for mayor. Before we know it, Regan is on the run for a murder rap and his war buddy is out to kill him. All this has to do with the future control of corruption in the town and an amnesiac mystery from the past. Along the way he bumps into a couple of dames, one is out to help him and the other is there to harm him. MacDonald creates a hell of a setting and scraps it all together into a quick ending.<br /><br />I do have favorite novels by John D. MacDonald, they are the non-Travis McGee novels. And it was through the pounding on that typewriter, writing for the pulps, that rooted those novels and made them extraordinary.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-WCveXtXBYU-LzW9trW_bjqYBwClIkEP4cDOPdbqkyLt7xfKXJw0iOfnvDFvQvB9Ppf_qdhrReGS_dE2wOpOzbnmqtsZriE22tkiNV_z4yHrG27_3efElbCITOkBDDuiEOdLwK-krBv2S/s1600/HB+det.+.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 131px; height: 194px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-WCveXtXBYU-LzW9trW_bjqYBwClIkEP4cDOPdbqkyLt7xfKXJw0iOfnvDFvQvB9Ppf_qdhrReGS_dE2wOpOzbnmqtsZriE22tkiNV_z4yHrG27_3efElbCITOkBDDuiEOdLwK-krBv2S/s320/HB+det.+.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491535031573257202" border="0" /></a>"The Man From Limbo" can also be found in the 1992 crime anthology containing 23 <span style="font-style: italic;">Dime Detective </span>Magazine stories titled, HARD-BOILED DETECTIVES.August Westhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11797743144228505958noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1537120063567683385.post-17216491261679032862011-06-30T10:11:00.003-04:002011-06-30T10:13:43.318-04:00A Man Called Shenandoah<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJaOJ4q_qEbm3a6IiJUeijDy-nhhYkN9grCuytfaaHb7XYjMyp9W82OszqHMtmZ81AcVrX4wdd9QJhgHMCiYRR3bp2Y7-NcGYz4YmeGOLiGKyD9S5sEgTXC6g8PezfVwvxUdj8z9yRDbxn/s1600/ManfromShenandoah.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 208px; height: 208px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJaOJ4q_qEbm3a6IiJUeijDy-nhhYkN9grCuytfaaHb7XYjMyp9W82OszqHMtmZ81AcVrX4wdd9QJhgHMCiYRR3bp2Y7-NcGYz4YmeGOLiGKyD9S5sEgTXC6g8PezfVwvxUdj8z9yRDbxn/s320/ManfromShenandoah.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5623998360312927106" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-weight: bold;">A Man Called Shenandoah </span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-weight: bold;">TV Series 1965-1966</span><br /><br />Talk about underrated TV Westerns from the 60s!<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">A Man Called Shenandoa</span>h starred Robert Horton as a shot up, near dead survivor found on the prairie. Once healed, he realizes he has amnesia and is destined to roam the Western frontier to discover his past and who he was. The doctor who helped mend him gave him the name Shenandoah. (which means "land of silence")<br /><br />Due to stiff competition from the other networks, (and the fact that there was an abundance of Western action shows on TV at the time) <span style="font-style: italic;">A Man Called Shenandoa</span>h lasted only 34 episode. But the well written and original scripts with Horton getting in many tight spots make this series a lost treasure. A big bonus is the notable performance by Robert Horton throughout the short-lived series. I remember it as a haunting and extraordinary portrayal. The past big name Western shows get most of the recognition now, but it is these quality little gems that appealed to me way back then. <span style="font-style: italic;">A Man Called Shenandoa</span>h needs to be released on DVD. I only have a couple of episodes. I'm on the hunt to get them all.<br /><br />Robert Horton had a fine voice and sang the title song for the series. He also cut a LP and if you have it, you're in luck.<br /><br /><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Ca7znLdjFIc" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="349" width="425"></iframe>August Westhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11797743144228505958noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1537120063567683385.post-53068006008566828142011-06-27T08:43:00.000-04:002011-06-27T08:43:09.054-04:00The Cage by Talmage Powell<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9tbKTLXpxlBOeIU-1y0A-wsuUdENq_iZlaCiHvMfOFja_aokwbDWHL5uRkEUzzGv14dp68mXL_qScDmrR2jxMAlsiYVzhnZs-bI1QGpPzivCCw-IP55svm7_br425IaUMptV9no9gG63r/s1600/Cage.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 190px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9tbKTLXpxlBOeIU-1y0A-wsuUdENq_iZlaCiHvMfOFja_aokwbDWHL5uRkEUzzGv14dp68mXL_qScDmrR2jxMAlsiYVzhnZs-bI1QGpPzivCCw-IP55svm7_br425IaUMptV9no9gG63r/s320/Cage.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491538652970624850" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">The Cage by Talmage Powell<br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Avon G1346<br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Copyright 1969</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Sykes touched his bleeding ribs. "That's good. Let him pay! Let the sun, the flies, and the buzzards have him, while me and you tear up a Mexican town with his five thousand dollars!"</span><br /><br />Webb Cameron returns to his ranch after a tiring day of pole-setting and wire-stringing to find his wife brutally beaten, raped, and left mentally in a vegetable state. Showing no signs of improvement and unable to control his wife, Cameron builds a cage to keep her from harming herself. Vengeance is on his mind and the trail that is left by the culprits leads into the sun-scorched badlands. With no one to tend to his wife, Cameron locks her in the caged wagon and heads out after them. He believes that if she confronts those who ravished her, she will be will be cured and return back to normal. So his journey begins and along the way we meet a down-and-out prospector, an obscure couple what has a few skeletons in their closet, a band of half-starved renegade Indians, and the two mean bastards that Cameron is pursuing.<br /><br />This is more than a revenge Western novel. There are some complex characters at play here and a shock or two awaits the reader during Cameron’s hunt for the abusers of his wife. Little subplots are in the novel. Lost honor and brutal survival are hopelessly demoralizing the not-so-merry band of Indians. The ranch couple goes along with Webb Cameron, not to help him, but mainly to restore a personal dignity that was lost. Whenever the story shifts to the villains, Sickly Sykes (who is white) and Columbus George, (who is black) it gets kicked up a notch. They are ruthless and savage boys lacking any sense of humanity, but they will arouse the attention of the reader. The main character Webb Cameron was the least appealing to me, but the others compensate plenty for him. Written in 1969, “The Cage” is a bit different from your traditional Western novel. I liked it – a good dusty story, merciless action, and an excellent ending. Not bad for a 127 page Western novel.<br /><br />And written by the author that gave us those wonderful PI Ed River novels.August Westhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11797743144228505958noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1537120063567683385.post-31756620113299340142011-06-11T16:00:00.000-04:002011-06-11T16:01:18.529-04:00The Looters by Albert Conroy<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTES82o4xkN11BQUy4jRt6Kn8UiHt8JeigKJOn9AfiLi_Stznjgf8v9FESTqyRXpN51d1hlizdXOZ1EPKJvVZEJ-XVAiNEXjYK1GuvTHGLZDAZExhyaaZzo3LI2PR8cNKkWKtSQbs4LxWS/s1600/lootlers.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 190px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTES82o4xkN11BQUy4jRt6Kn8UiHt8JeigKJOn9AfiLi_Stznjgf8v9FESTqyRXpN51d1hlizdXOZ1EPKJvVZEJ-XVAiNEXjYK1GuvTHGLZDAZExhyaaZzo3LI2PR8cNKkWKtSQbs4LxWS/s320/lootlers.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491539920611795746" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">The Looters by Albert Conroy<br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">Crest s431</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">Copyright 1961</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Colonel Targo studied her thoughtfully. Finally he shook his head. "You talk much too quickly, lovely one. I must make sure that you speak the truth. And there is only one way to be sure."</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br />He went to the wall and took down a leather strap. There was a cruel lust in his face as he returned to her, and began...</span><br /><br />Albert Conroy is one of many pseudonyms used by prolific author Marvin H. Albert. I’m a big fan of his novels and he never disappointed me. No matter if it’s a mystery, western, adventure, or detective story, in less than 200 pages he can package a thrilling narrative where the plot sails tirelessly and the lead character is truly magnetic. Written in 1961, it’s evident that the events in Cuba inspired the setting for Marvin Albert to craft “The Looters.”<br /><br />Having his fill of prison and crime, retired safecracker Sam Morgan seems content scratching a living working on charter fishing boats in Florida. That all changes when he is offered a proposition by beautiful Colleen O’Hara. She needs him to open a safe on the Caribbean island of Caribo and is willing to pay highly for it. Well, Morgan refuses and ends up shanghaied to the island, where he learns more about the heist and accepts the offer. The corrupt dictator has his personal loot (millions of dollars in gold) stashed in a vault under the Fortress del Rey and two forces are willing to team up to get it. One is Colleen’s father -who happens to be an ex-gangster, and the other is Kosta -the leader of the underground rebellion. There’s plenty of action that takes place throughout the novel. The jungles are swarming with government men hunting down members of the revolution, which now includes affable Sam Morgan. Colleen and Morgan barely escape the pursuing soldiers, during which they witness the horrors of a ruthless dictator. Finally the time to act arrives and they siege the well protected Fortress del Rey. Kosta buys time holding off wave after wave of government soldiers as Morgan fights his way down into the vault and attempts to get at the loot.<br /><br />Those familiar with Marvin Albert’s work may recognize some similarities in “The Looters” with the four high intrigue adventure novels he authored in the mid-70s under the pseudo Ian MacAlister. The story takes place in a volatile location, it features a likable protagonist who has in the past been known to dabble on the opposite side of what society deems is right, there is always an attractive girl involved, and the ending is filled with explosive combat. In fact, the take over of the fortress by Morgan and Kosta’s rebels, with them violently holding it in an Alamo-like manner, is a page turning thrill ride. I’m not going to say that “The Looters” is better than the outstanding Ian MacAlister books, but written 15 years before them, it doesn’t miss by much.August Westhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11797743144228505958noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1537120063567683385.post-17692182700047272722011-06-04T08:12:00.000-04:002011-06-04T08:13:07.766-04:00Luke Malone - Manhunter<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1wvml2Sh4k2NVeZT1hJCCIWZ13U1hwhiZwrYDOy9HD0lkhZFWWms-MgcZnOkENCWzofnPvkWYG4CS4DQtsVSbICX3Ts3GeT9rhkqYcyZjKTXy5dHSos8B4R1Gn3TeE_cU3H6mFryDKGDr/s1600/LukeMalone1.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 208px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1wvml2Sh4k2NVeZT1hJCCIWZ13U1hwhiZwrYDOy9HD0lkhZFWWms-MgcZnOkENCWzofnPvkWYG4CS4DQtsVSbICX3Ts3GeT9rhkqYcyZjKTXy5dHSos8B4R1Gn3TeE_cU3H6mFryDKGDr/s320/LukeMalone1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491536502073852978" border="0" /></a>In 1975, Atlas Comics - a little known comic book publishing company, released a three issue run featuring a rugged San Francisco private eye named Luke Malone. <span style="font-style: italic;">Luke Malone-Manhunter </span>was the back story in the comic book series called <span style="font-style: italic;">Police Action featuring Lomax NYPD</span>. Created and drawn by artist Mike Ploog, Malone is an ex-city detective who hits the bottle after his wife is killed in a botched bank robbery in which he was called on. Thrown off the force, Malone can be found crawling through dirty gin-joints and in the street gutters of Frisco. It is there where he mopes around with a “I don’t care” attitude. He is content being a violent rummy until a friend tells him that the mastermind of the bank robbery is still on the loose and convinces Malone to try his hand at being a P.I. Now he is on the prowl and hits the streets to settle the score. Tough-talk dialogue and fine artwork make <span style="font-style: italic;">Luke Malone-Manhunter</span> a surprisingly good hard-boiled comic<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr_HWAuCfFCj0VG1Ul1B62eI_cchbmxSv40JR71CJQZdQL8LIt0Aju_K34FerEphnhKrPmf5QtGAakyVr_FQZadgdFmsxpVelGa8ggwJOtcc-eLn5eVxUd6BP5tsRIho08EVmf9ZcBUYcv/s1600/LukeMalone2.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 206px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr_HWAuCfFCj0VG1Ul1B62eI_cchbmxSv40JR71CJQZdQL8LIt0Aju_K34FerEphnhKrPmf5QtGAakyVr_FQZadgdFmsxpVelGa8ggwJOtcc-eLn5eVxUd6BP5tsRIho08EVmf9ZcBUYcv/s320/LukeMalone2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491536402931503842" border="0" /></a>I have the first two of the 3 issue run of the series. The first one is called "Requiem for a Champ" (February 1975) and has Malone solving the murder of a skid-row bum who was once a lightweight boxer. The P.I. starts interfering in police business which takes him to an old burlesque queen, mob men, and on the receiving end of thumps on the head. The second issue is "<span style="font-style: italic;">Whatever Happened to Luke Malone?</span>" (April 1975) and this is an origin story about how Malone came to be a P.I., which I briefly outlined above. These are quick scripted stories, containing plenty of creeps as bad guys and violent 1970s action that fulls up every frame.<br /><br />If you like detective stories that are told and illustrated in comic books and graphic novels,<span><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span><span>you'll </span><span>find</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> Luke Malone-</span><span style="font-style: italic;">Manhunter</span></span> to be up your alley. It is unfortunate that <span><span>the comic book character</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span></span><span>had a short run,</span><span> </span><span>because the plots are tightly packaged and </span><span>the Luke has a hard-edged vigilante </span><span>soul inside him. </span><span>When Luke Malone steps in to play ball, he turns it into a mean game. </span><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span>August Westhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11797743144228505958noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1537120063567683385.post-13900408392033219732011-05-30T08:33:00.003-04:002011-05-30T08:33:00.362-04:00The Boy Who Invented The Bubble Gun by Paul Gallico<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGRFKi6VtaXyDY2PeMrUShNXaggHExhaXCGaIm6HP6s2kBuntxb_phwRXJCquW6x1Xzk9b9ldnch1g1dsDelyOYRzjjzd5ab8t31dsd9hNusfYlfApDEldq3H2uhij28dDgo0cv811GdKC/s1600/BoyBubbleGun.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 193px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGRFKi6VtaXyDY2PeMrUShNXaggHExhaXCGaIm6HP6s2kBuntxb_phwRXJCquW6x1Xzk9b9ldnch1g1dsDelyOYRzjjzd5ab8t31dsd9hNusfYlfApDEldq3H2uhij28dDgo0cv811GdKC/s320/BoyBubbleGun.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491540654122158002" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">The Boy Who Invented The Bubble Gun<br />by Paul Gallico<br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Dell 0719</span> <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><br />Copyright 1974</span><br /><br />Nine and a half year-old Julian West is an innovated kid. He came up with his own little invention, a toy gun that shoots bubbles, and he is pretty excited about it. Shunned by his father, Julian sneaks out one night and with $150, he hops onto a Greyhound bus going to Washington to get a patent for his “bubble gun.” Well, the adventure begins and along the way we see it unfold through the eyes of the young boy.<br /><br />The novel is subtitled <span style="font-style: italic;">An Odyssey of Innocence</span>, and Paul Gallico beautifully captures that inevitable moment in life, when a young boy realizes that childhood is over and discovers what the world is really like. During Julian’s passage, he touches the lives of an odd assortment of characters. He meets up with two love-struck teenagers, a cat-and–mouse drama between the KGB and CIA, an immigrant musician looking forward to a new life in America, and there is even an unstable killer who attempts to hijack the bus. But its the bond between Julian and a disillusioned Vietnam veteran named Frank Marshall, that brings the reality of the existence of the unfair laws of human nature to him. Marshall takes to the kid, protecting and befriending him. Julian looks up to Marshall, who comes to symbolize many things in a world that can be both awe-inspiring and dangerous. And it is because of the trip and the time he spends with Marshall, that allows in the end, Julian’s relationship with his father to develop.<br /><br />This is the second time that I read “The Boy Who Invented The Bubble Gun,” the first time was when it came out in 1974. The story of a nine year-old traveling alone across the country and some of the interactions between the characters, may be a bit unbelievable today. But I enjoyed it in 1974, and again in 2009. Paul Gallico was a remarkable writer. (If you ever read “The Snow Goose,” you'll know what I mean) It doesn’t matter that the novel was written 35 years ago, Gallico’s writing touches your heart and the maturing of Julian West will be long remembered.<br /><br />“The Boy Who Invented The Bubble Gun” is a compelling story that takes us on a journey that is both heartwarming and inspiring.August Westhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11797743144228505958noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1537120063567683385.post-50650947412269753632011-05-14T15:39:00.007-04:002011-05-14T15:45:26.368-04:00Flashpoint by George La Fountaine<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXGGxJUmQ0Sl-UvCMHHFHAj_tgVCPqjXDF8fFMA_2LxLAWRxlQKx9qNw8MxEIuugFyy6b1mP2MrIIdg9uX0u7a0Caj8lucrcrevtjUM5xdLz7g1xwcKJRDTd3PJXTrge0429X-TSrCspRX/s1600/Flashpoint-crop.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 192px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXGGxJUmQ0Sl-UvCMHHFHAj_tgVCPqjXDF8fFMA_2LxLAWRxlQKx9qNw8MxEIuugFyy6b1mP2MrIIdg9uX0u7a0Caj8lucrcrevtjUM5xdLz7g1xwcKJRDTd3PJXTrge0429X-TSrCspRX/s320/Flashpoint-crop.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5606653466230682242" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">FlashPoint by George La Fountaine</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Fawcett 2-3644-7</span> <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><br />Copyright 1976</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">"But who in the hell can we trust to ask about it? We can't just walk into a bank and ask if this is counterfeit; they might be looking for numbers or something."</span><br /><br />Ernie Wheeler and Bob Logan are best friends. They do everything together - eat, booze it up, lure the ladies to their bachelor pad-everything. They also work together, they are 1970s Border Patrol officers along the dry South Texas barren lands. Things are changing for them. The computer age is stepping in and they see the threat of their free-roaming job being replaced with one sitting behind a computer desk. They talk of chucking it all away and live high, but you need cash in the bank for that and they don't have any. Opportunity knocks one day when Logan discovers an old half buried jeep in a desert wash. Inside the jeep is a skeleton and $850,000 . The bills are dated back to the early 60s and since there is a rifle and other odd items in the jeep, Logan and Wheeler decide to secretly investigate into why it was there and who the bones belong to in the jeep. They later learn there is much more to this mystery than they ever thought. Deadly more....<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Flashpoint</span> is one of those fast paced thrillers that filled the book racks in the mid 70s. I had a hunger for them back then and this one slipped under my radar. I'm glad I caught up to<span style="font-style: italic;"> </span><span>the paperback</span>. It contains all the ingredients for a violent, mysterious novel and as I was racing through it, I was always wondering on how it was going to end. It has a climatic finish which if you don't pay attention to the little clues that George La Fountaine provides throughout the novel, you might be very surprised. Logan and Wheeler are two well developed characters. They come off as semi-tough guys and show sympathy for the flight of the illegal immigrants. The only problem I had with them was they were a little too close of friends. A lot of interesting government intervention makes the mystery deepen. As the cover states, George La Fountaine wrote <span style="font-style: italic;">Two Minute Warning </span><span>which was a huge success for him</span>. <span>For me</span><span>,</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> Flashpoint</span> stands up right along side it.August Westhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11797743144228505958noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1537120063567683385.post-28283197895449752472010-10-16T10:10:00.001-04:002010-10-16T10:11:28.662-04:00Eight Million Ways To Die by Lawrence Block<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2nGaZERtgj28hIuXh-ygudWJi1T2TwMjOh_pQfRNCArl1kIxZSe7A_NWAK8vwugWa4WtvB959kfVf42Q9UdC5a-_8Db-BZdRsDjLhJyVxPi_OzbDM3ol56Wng4S2s6iU6Jzd1lFzmE0Xg/s1600/eightways.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 212px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2nGaZERtgj28hIuXh-ygudWJi1T2TwMjOh_pQfRNCArl1kIxZSe7A_NWAK8vwugWa4WtvB959kfVf42Q9UdC5a-_8Db-BZdRsDjLhJyVxPi_OzbDM3ol56Wng4S2s6iU6Jzd1lFzmE0Xg/s320/eightways.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528607563900482514" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Eight Million Ways To Die by Lawrence Block</span> <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><br />Arbor House Publishing<br />Hardcover edition</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">, </span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Copyright 1982</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">My life was a ice floe that had broken up at sea, with different chucks floating off in different directions. Nothing was ever going to come together, in this case or out of it. Everything was senseless, pointless, and hopeless.</span><br /><br />This is the fifth novel in the Matthew Scudder series and it's been hailed as the one that propelled the character and the series into wide notability. But if you read the previous novel<span style="font-style: italic;">, A Stab in the Dark</span>, you could see it started there. In <span style="font-style: italic;">Eight Million Ways to Die, </span>the "unlicensed" NYC PI does really breakout and Lawrence Block gives us one of the best detective mystery novels that was published in the 1980s.<br /><br />As he sits in <span style="font-style: italic;">Jimmy Armstrong's</span>, his favorite watering hole, ex-New York cop Matthew Scudder doesn't take every case that walks through the door. He picks and chooses, and it has to "feel right." The money feels right when call-girl Kim Dakkinen hires Scudder to talk to her pimp about freeing her from his stable. After finally locating the elusive pimp that goes by the street name Chance, Scudder finds that this case is easy money because Chance has no problem letting Kim go. For him, there are girls getting off the bus every day in NYC that he can hustle. But when Kim Dakkinen is found brutally slaughtered in a hotel room the next day, all fingers point to Chance. Though still a suspect, he has an air-tight alibi and with the police lose interest in solving a prostitute's death, Chance wants Scudder to investigate into her murder.<br /><br />There is really two stories (or three) going on in <span style="font-style: italic;">Eight Million Ways to Die. </span>One of course is the<span style="font-style: italic;"> </span>mystery surrounding why Kim Dakkinen was butchered and who did it. Block actually gives us all the clues, but we miss them because we are absorbed by the second storyline in the novel, and that is Matthew Scudder's battle with alcoholism. On the wagon and falling off it, the day to day punishment to stay sober bleeds through the pages towards the reader. It's remarkably well done. Down church basements to sit in the back at AA meetings and never participating, Scudder is really alone fighting off this demon that has plagued him. It's powerfully written and I found it more interesting than the fine whodunit plot in the novel. Another thing Block excelled on was creating a NYC where the streets are gray, dismal and violent. He throws this at us by having Scudder reading from the papers or talking with a befriended cop about the amount of relentless murders that are occurring in the City. And this bleak atmosphere goes directly in parallel with the inner conflicts tormenting Matthew Scudder's life. Scudder finds himself not immune to this violence also. There is an outstanding scene where he is pushed into a dark alley, mugged, and has to battle with his attacker. After all he is one of the eight million living in New York City.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">All I wanted was an excuse to walk through the door of that bucket of blood and put my foot upon the brass rail. I closed my eyes and tried to picture the place, and in an instant I was recalling everything about it, the smells of the booze and stale beer and urine, that dank tavern smell that welcomes you home.</span><br /><br />I wasn't sure is I was rooting for Matthew Scudder in this one or feeling sorry for him. I do know that when I first read this novel it played with my emotions. I never read anything like this in a PI novel before. The novel is filled with well developed secondary characters, the best being the pimp Chance and his small harem of prostitutes. Add Matthew Scudder and great storytelling, and <span style="font-style: italic;">Eight Million Ways to Die </span><span>becomes a monumental PI novel</span><span style="font-style: italic;">. </span><span>It is that.</span><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br /></span> If you are going to read just one Matthew Scudder novel, this is the one you want to read. But beware, I guarantee after this one you will want to read more.August Westhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11797743144228505958noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1537120063567683385.post-52911697108102426632010-10-10T09:26:00.005-04:002010-10-10T09:33:40.053-04:00Mackenna's Gold by Will Henry<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik6Ib8OYi4Ow3yRMVzmR8XfzjW4kP8hQU8NwX1EghjWHPbXExIkvB4dEQlANP4vK_ZZTc4GG7i-oWYIDcCzsv8z_27paWTFv9rWRSD_3vTVcfkJXj8Sw0VuHY4dkS-Hn_tdglaMjyt8NWo/s1600/McKGOLD.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 191px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik6Ib8OYi4Ow3yRMVzmR8XfzjW4kP8hQU8NwX1EghjWHPbXExIkvB4dEQlANP4vK_ZZTc4GG7i-oWYIDcCzsv8z_27paWTFv9rWRSD_3vTVcfkJXj8Sw0VuHY4dkS-Hn_tdglaMjyt8NWo/s320/McKGOLD.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491537277264526114" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-weight: bold;">Mackenna's Gold by Will Henry</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-weight: bold;">Copyright 1963</span><br /><br />For comforting an old Apache during his last dying hours, prospector Glen Mackenna is bestowed with the secret location of the <span style="font-style: italic;">Lost Canyon of Gold</span>. Called Sno-ta-hay by the Apache, the canyon is a sacred place where mass amounts of gold are protected by ancient spirits. After memorizing the map even though he believes this is just a fable, Mackenna is then captured by the ugly renegade half-breed Pelon Lopez and his band of outlaw Indians. Pelon wants Mackenna to lead them to Sno-ta-hay and to persuade him to do so he holds a white girl hostage. Well, the adventure begins and along the way there are plenty of killings, a cavalry of Buffalo Soldiers hunting them down, forced alliances with nasty villains, and the truth about the legend of the Lost Adams Diggings at the Canyon of Gold.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">What might lie ahead for his companions, he could not begin to imagine. What lay ahead for himself, he did not dare to think about. For the moment, only one thing was to be regarded as absolute certain: in such a company of human animals as that with whom he now loped through the desert night, death was no farther away than the nearest member of the pack.</span><br /><br />Written by Will Henry (Henry Wilson Allen) in 1963, <span style="font-style: italic;">Mackenna’s Gold</span> packs quite a bit of action in an evenly-paced Western novel. Though not a masterpiece, the plot that is spun around the quest for the gold is very good. In reality, there is a legend of the Lost Adams Diggings (a man named Adams boasted of finding the gold-filled canyon in 1864) and even today fanatics search for this legendary lost canyon. The Adams tale is the driving force in <span style="font-style: italic;">Mackenna’s Gold</span>. And when you mix in the ragtag pursuit for the gold, Will Henry spins a decent Western story here. But I did have a few problems with the novel, most of them revolve around the characters. Mackenna comes off like a cream puff, he toughens up at the end but his image is cast early in the story. The hostage white girl is never really developed by Will Henry and only seems to be in the story as an excuse to force Mackenna to show the renegades the way. And Pelon is a total enigma. At times he is a vile, violent, ignorant killer and then later he acts almost Shakespearean as he rants to Mackenna about compassion and fate. It’s the pure-blood Native American characters in the story that captivate the reader. Pelon’s mother and sister, who are along on the quest, are the most intriguing of the group. Henry details their past and they play important roles in the outcome of the story. Another Indian called Hachita, who shows compassion towards Mackenna, extends to the reader a sense of the lost wonders of the American Indian way of life. <span style="font-style: italic;">Like a heart that has been touched by the sound of the water and the songbirds in the canyons</span>, Hachita portrays a stature of honesty and morality when compared to all the other characters in the novel. I really liked the Hachita and Henry did a good job with the character.<br /><br />Overall, I liked “Mackenna’s Gold.” Will Henry always has something going on in the story. The book has an underlying theme about the craze for gold and the consequences of tampering with sacred legend. And the history surrounding the Lost Adams Diggings is so damn interesting, it keeps the reader glued to the pages.<br /><br />Not perfect, but it still is a good Western adventure.August Westhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11797743144228505958noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1537120063567683385.post-71008544868390515572010-10-02T10:03:00.001-04:002010-10-02T10:04:40.990-04:00The Body Lovers by Mickey Spillane<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTOu6ugSZJ7TDQb9h37wjLw0Kqnz-Vbeh7WAzJ1UVs9X-0DA8LAdV6gUlR_M4HAijHN8HwsUgJ1ddnsvalVXqXFYQUl9N8gikVZJKkjF7Wwf621l12LOg9aBo5ag0T34a1HfSY2Wru1MAS/s1600/TBL-Spillane.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 192px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTOu6ugSZJ7TDQb9h37wjLw0Kqnz-Vbeh7WAzJ1UVs9X-0DA8LAdV6gUlR_M4HAijHN8HwsUgJ1ddnsvalVXqXFYQUl9N8gikVZJKkjF7Wwf621l12LOg9aBo5ag0T34a1HfSY2Wru1MAS/s320/TBL-Spillane.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523225536333458658" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-weight: bold;">The Body Lovers by Mickey Spillane</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-weight: bold;">Signet P3221</span> <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-weight: bold;"><br />Copyright 1967</span><br /><br />Spillane's <span style="font-style: italic;">The Body Lovers</span> was written when Mike Hammer came out for round two. Round one being the six explosive Hammer novels from 1947-1952. In the 60s, the toughest fictional PI reappeared in five more novels. Some say they fall a step behind when compared to the first ones, but to me <span style="font-style: italic;">The Girl Hunters </span>(1962) and <span style="font-style: italic;">The Twisted Thing</span> (1966) didn't miss a beat. As for <span style="font-style: italic;">The Body Lovers, </span><span>I will agree </span><span>that it's not even</span><span> near being one of top novels</span><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span></span><span><span>that feature</span></span><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span></span><span>Mike Hammer</span><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;">. </span></span><span>But it still is a Mickey Spillane novel, and it still has the violently vindictive Mike Hammer reeling out his own ways of justice, and it still is entertaining as hell.</span><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;">But it wasn't her he was seeing. It was me he was watching. I was one of his own kind. I couldn't be faked out and wasn't leashed by the proprieties of society. I could lash out and kill as fast as he could and of all the people in the room, I was the potential threat. I knew what he felt because I felt the same way myself.</span><br /><br />Bang page one, Hammer stumbles upon a body of a beautiful girl that was whipped to death. From his cop buddy Capt. Pat Chambers, he finds out that other girls have been found tortured and killed. The only lead is that all were found wearing exotic negligee. Mike stays out of this one, even though most of the press and the public believes otherwise. But not for long, because a crook that Hammer sent to the slammer hears about the murders and hires Mike to locate his missing sister. The sister knew the dead girls and might be next. Quickly Hammer is setup for a hit, botched of course with him blasting the hood to kingdom come. The trail leads to the high fashion world and shady UN delegates. And when Velda, Hammer's full-time secretary and part-time associate, gets caught in the action and Mike discovers her missing, not only does he pulled back his snarly grin, the hammer on the .45 gets cocked and he is ready to release his rage.<br /><br />A little less hard than you'll find in other Hammer novels. But when I comes, it comes. The best by far is when Hammer is looking for a pimp named Lorenzo Jones. He locates Roberta, one of Jones' whores. Roberta agrees to tell him where Jones is hiding but on one condition, Hammer must take her along to watch him kick the crap out the pimp. It's Spillane at his best. <span>In </span><span style="font-style: italic;">The Body Lovers</span>, Hammer comes off a bit older. He even realizes it. At one point he talks about dissection thinking and missed clues in this head, <span style="font-style: italic;">"Little voices, I thought. They were saying something, but were too far away to be heard. It wasn't like the old days any more. I could think faster then."</span> But when he's ready to cut down the evil that has spread throughout the city, our revenge seeking white knight doesn't fail the reader.<br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span><br />This one has all that makes Mike Hammer novels a fun read. Including Hammer's (and Spillane's) views about commies, diplomatic immunity, bleeding-heart liberals creating loopholes in the justice system-they are all here. The reader is never disappointed. You can't go wrong picking up a Mickey Spillane novel. He was an American icon and created one of the most memorable private detectives in fiction.<br /><br />Every now and then you have to get your Mike Hammer<span style="font-style: italic;"> fix</span>.<br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span>August Westhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11797743144228505958noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1537120063567683385.post-73461690508320524002010-09-24T16:29:00.001-04:002010-09-25T07:51:13.540-04:00The Deep End by Owen Dudley<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcZpGLEoEhpOYlWem81xdNkCOMhjbGjw7Hd9i5deqYc3qKNS9AS7RmVDquOwM84vW4tku9I6ohi9K5gkkZzLy7uLFKiDRdOLUmrUdAAKuN6bizm-8Qz-i9q58AeMcbEQ4MLTJ5Cn8-wPFs/s1600/TheDeepEnd-ACE.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 210px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcZpGLEoEhpOYlWem81xdNkCOMhjbGjw7Hd9i5deqYc3qKNS9AS7RmVDquOwM84vW4tku9I6ohi9K5gkkZzLy7uLFKiDRdOLUmrUdAAKuN6bizm-8Qz-i9q58AeMcbEQ4MLTJ5Cn8-wPFs/s320/TheDeepEnd-ACE.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5515991211621140850" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">The Deep End by Owen Dudley</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">ACE D-195</span> <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><br />Copyright 1956</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">But you don't shoot cops. That's the end, if you do. The real deep end.</span><br /><br />Pete Summer lost his memory from a plane crash over Mexican waters. As his memory returns, he decides to hide out in a quiet Mexican town for a year. And for good reason. Back home in California they believe he killed the man that he was flying to South America on a mineral deal. Everyone thinks Pete Summer is dead until a visitor arrives bringing back bad memories. He learns that his gorgeous wife is now married to an ex-gangster. Not only does Pete miss his wife, he is totally obsessed with her. So he decides to head back home to reclaim his wife. And that may not be such a great idea.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">His face hardened. "Let's not kid ourself. You've got a beautiful pan hooked onto a terrific body. But there's nothing behind the face. You just do what I tell you and keep your mouth shut."</span><br /><br />Owen Dudley is just one pseudonym that author Dudley Dean <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">McGaughey</span> used. He wrote plenty of novels and short stories, and Westerns fill the bulk of his work. But he did churn out crime mysteries and even some movie novelizations. (my favorite is <span style="font-style: italic;">End of the World</span> for the 1962 Ray <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Milland</span> film <span style="font-style: italic;">Panic in Year Zero</span>!) He's a darn good storyteller and his early Gold Medal Westerns are some the best that they published. As for <span style="font-style: italic;">The Deep End</span>, it's not the best Dudley Dean book that I've read, but it has a interesting little plot going on.<br /><br />Pete Summers is a veteran of two wars,WWII and Korea, and that helped mold him into a tough hombre. But the odds are stacked against him from the start. Once word gets out that he is alive and in town, just about everyone is out to get him. Pete's brother-in-law has positioned himself to benefit having Pete presumed dead. Pete's arrival has jeopardize that. His wife's new husband has three thugs hanging around, ready to get their hands on Pete. And then he discovers that the man who bought his old ranch has been bedding his wife for years. After being left for dead in an old sewer hole, Pete really sets out to clear his name from the murder charge and <span style="font-style: italic;">even it up</span> against those who wronged him.<br /><br />It's a story that has been told before, it even includes that young girl character who had a crush on Pete growing up and is willing to help him through his quest. I liked the Mexican tie-in and having an ex-gangster as his wife's new husband. There a bit about the old guy having trouble satisfying his wife and resorting to hormone ejections. (No Viagra in the 1950s fellas!) It's a hardboiled read and it has plenty of action, but there are really no surprises in the end. But that doesn't make it one that should be written off. Even though the cops and others are gunning for Pete, it really isn't a "man on the run" novel. Pete seems free to roam about as he uncovers secrets and lies from the past, many involving his wife who was everything to him. The novel zips along at a fast clip, and it has to because these ACE paperback novels rarely get beyond 150 pages. Overall a fairly decent job.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxonk8UehYRK2KV6ZI2W-bdNmyHuQDS6F_2thyBickH7zIqGoRfDTD-froPg0fTucMrQTfJAWaynQ7uh97aEfL6q6geZqQMnlb2GYy6tY54FW5w0mbkmcxqP-uzZn95xDeqYPg8ogsTU3D/s1600/TheQuakingWidow-ACE.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 168px; height: 261px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxonk8UehYRK2KV6ZI2W-bdNmyHuQDS6F_2thyBickH7zIqGoRfDTD-froPg0fTucMrQTfJAWaynQ7uh97aEfL6q6geZqQMnlb2GYy6tY54FW5w0mbkmcxqP-uzZn95xDeqYPg8ogsTU3D/s320/TheQuakingWidow-ACE.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5520568330125800514" border="0" /></a>What is real good about this ACE Double paperback is the flip novel, <span style="font-style: italic;">The Quaking Widow</span> by Robert Colby. Colby <span style="font-family:Georgia;">never got the fame and recognition that he deserved.</span> Besides his outstanding Gold Medal paperbacks and his fine short stories, he had four novels published by ACE. I've read them all and <span style="font-style: italic;">The Quaking Widow</span> is the best of the four.August Westhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11797743144228505958noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1537120063567683385.post-65070954010724630292010-09-11T09:33:00.000-04:002010-09-11T09:34:22.828-04:00Day Never Came by Steve Fisher<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcuVsf8MKLzUyDYqS_Xxy-fM12D0fH7FwPqZmvq4G7ZJlv6nfkdsuVlHhaGPy6qYei_BLbaIf5TGWID7uhYru9jBxAM5AAiFFGQNYDni2O560uy63eyVli7UgWBgapAfuHjKcmiDMkzrig/s1600/EQ-OCT1953.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 230px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcuVsf8MKLzUyDYqS_Xxy-fM12D0fH7FwPqZmvq4G7ZJlv6nfkdsuVlHhaGPy6qYei_BLbaIf5TGWID7uhYru9jBxAM5AAiFFGQNYDni2O560uy63eyVli7UgWBgapAfuHjKcmiDMkzrig/s320/EQ-OCT1953.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5514620617914167058" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Day Never Came by Steve Fisher</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Copyright 1938</span> <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><br />Short Story in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine,</span> <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Oct. 1953</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-style: italic;">He had no fear. If he died, then he died, and that would be that. But as long as he lived, he was looking out for himself. He took his living and his world without the hurrah of emotion.</span><br /><br />Steve Fisher packs a lot in the pages of this short psychological thriller. <span style="font-style: italic;"> Day Never Came</span> is a bleak and dark story of a psychotic killer who gets a little too clever for his own good.<br /><br />Set in prewar Shanghai as the Japanese are bombing the city, a isolated American Marine station waits for orders with a handful of jailed service members awaiting court-martial. Most involve petty stuff, but the Navy prisoner called Clark is in for espionage and as for moral principles, he has none. There is a witness out in the city and his only hope is to get to her before the trial. Clark plans and executes an escape which involves secretly murdering a guard. Dodging bombs he makes his way to the girl's apartment. The kicker is that the girl loves him, but that's a one way street for Clark and he ends up strangling her to keep her from testifying. Without being seen, Clark quitely sneaks back into the Marine brig and thinks he devised a solid alibi. Of course you can be a little too clever, and Clark surely is ... as we waits in his cell.<br /><br />Readers of Steve Fisher's work know that he was a highly influential author in his day. Pulp, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">noir</span>, and lives lost in the seedy underworld - his novels and stories are filled with a gritty, raw, (and yes, a romantic) edge on them. <span style="font-style: italic;">Day Never Came</span> has all those. Unseen love, which Clark doesn't realize until it's too late. Madness, as he kills without remorse to save his neck. And pain, sadness, and a lost chance-as he sits in his locked cell at the end. For a short story it's very atmospheric and "the nasty's" what go around in Clark's head are oddly appealing. For me this short story came up as the best of the bunch in this fine 1953 edition of <span style="font-style: italic;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">EQMM</span></span>.<br /><br />But that is not to say that the others weren't very good. Fredric Brown's 4 pager titled, <span style="font-style: italic;">Cry Silence </span><span>is a masterfully written</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span>tale that questions, "was it murder or was it not." Which lines in parallel to the old question, "If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?" Another enjoyable yarn is the retired cop story <span style="font-style: italic;">Before The Act</span>. Thomas Walsh wrote solid cop mystery novels (some involve rogue cops) and after reading <span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://vinpulp.blogspot.com/2008/09/night-watch-by-thomas-walsh.html">The Night Watch</a> </span><span>and</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> Nightmare in Manhattan</span>, I realized I'd stumbled on lost treasures. I enjoy his storytelling and when I come across an anthology with a short story of his in it, I'll but it. And that was the reason I bought this<span style="font-style: italic;"> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">EQMM</span></span> years ago.<br /><br />Here are the stories in this October 1953 edition:<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">High Court </span>by Thomas <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Kyd</span><br /></div><span style="font-style: italic;">Back In Five Years</span> by Michael Gilbert<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The Stroke Of Thirteen</span> by Lillian <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">de</span> la Torre<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Before The Ac</span>t by Thomas Walsh<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Laugh It Off</span> by Charlotte Armstrong<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Day Never Came</span> by Steve Fisher<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Cry Silence</span> by Fredric Brown<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">A Wish For A Cigar</span> by Will Scott<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Ms. In The Safe</span> by Frank <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Swinnerton</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Night Of The Execution</span> by Faith Baldwin<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Helpless Victim</span> by C.G. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Lumbard</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The World Series Murder</span> by Rex StoutAugust Westhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11797743144228505958noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1537120063567683385.post-86877689849273210022010-09-05T08:35:00.004-04:002010-09-05T08:46:25.543-04:00Kill Quick or Die by Stuart Jason<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS005jzSG7DvTCOC5KNBIG9HACW6KGSOLtxn12PxuJomjliGebWq1q8B8Klqrh8OuHHqj13DXFthigNIvrzwBtQG_vLNiq99yp2lcTUEl-aXXgZYEg9Pn9hChY26lRG59h3Dx9Ugtb8a0A/s1600/KillQuickorDie1.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 196px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS005jzSG7DvTCOC5KNBIG9HACW6KGSOLtxn12PxuJomjliGebWq1q8B8Klqrh8OuHHqj13DXFthigNIvrzwBtQG_vLNiq99yp2lcTUEl-aXXgZYEg9Pn9hChY26lRG59h3Dx9Ugtb8a0A/s320/KillQuickorDie1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5513400516511605074" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-weight: bold;">Kill Quick or Die by Stuart Jason</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-weight: bold;">(The Butcher #1)</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-weight: bold;">Pinnacle Books 5<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">th</span></span> ed.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-weight: bold;">Copyright 1971</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">"Like I said before," <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Bucher</span> told him. "With Syndicate scum it's either kill quick or die."</span><br /><br />Thirty seven year old "Butcher" <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Bucher</span></span> has moved up quick in the Syndicate. With his sharp wits, fast reflexes, and concrete willpower-<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Bucher</span></span> was in charge of the whole East Coast Division. But now he is out and quitting doesn't sit too well with the Big Boys. The Syndicate puts an one hundred thousand dollar "death tag" on his head, but <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Bucher</span></span> can handle anything they throw at him. Enter the U.S. Government who sees value in a man who possesses <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Bucher's</span></span> intimate knowledge of Organized Crime. They offer him a job working as an agent for a covert group called "White Hat." <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Bucher</span></span> accepts, he wants to atone for some of the things he did in his grisly past. But he has one condition, he gets to play it by his own rules. And his rules are: <span style="font-style: italic;">There are no rules</span>, just violence and extreme street vengeance for anyone who gets in his way.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Kill Quick or Die</span> is the first paperback in the <span style="font-style: italic;">Butcher</span> series. And for me, these male testosterone adventure series are "hit or miss." I call this one a "hit." Keep in mind you can't take them too seriously and they have as much believability as those conspiracy wackos who still claim that the Apollo moon landings were staged. The story starts in Atlanta where <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Bucher</span></span> is hunting down a Chinese scientist who is attempting to sell his secret plans for a deadly weapon. But this is just a minor event in the plot because what it really is about is having <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Bucher</span></span> ruthlessly (no mercy is spared) eliminate members of the Mafia that cross his path. From Atlanta to Cairo the trail always ends with <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Bucher</span></span> killing Syndicate hoods and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">hitmen</span></span>. None are a match for "The Butcher." He stumbles upon a lucrative business the Mafia has that involves smuggling Arabs into the USA. With the price tag on his head and him nosing around in the Mideast, the Boys go all out to savagely annihilate <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">Bucher</span></span>. Leaving more dead behind, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">Bucher</span></span> is off to Israel and back to Cairo after witnessing the horrifying results of the torture and crucifixion of his beautiful Arab girlfriend <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">Tzsenya</span>.</span> The blood is really boiling now, as he <span style="font-style: italic;"> </span>flies back to Atlanta to seek and brutally destroy the head of this Mafioso operation.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Again <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">Bucher</span> stepped back to view his handiwork. This time he was more satisfied. The big Arab's face was warped out of shape by the broken jaw, his left ear was missing, his nose was a pulpy mess of split cartilage and chopped bone. Shreds of mangled flesh, recently his brows, hung down over his eyes and blood streamed from his face wherever the brass <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">knucks</span> had connected. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">Bucher</span> decided only one thing more was needed. He stepped forward, crashed the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">knucks</span> of his right fist into the blinded Ahmed's mouth. Teeth and splinters of teeth erupted from the mouth when <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">Bucher</span> jerked free his fist.</span><br /><br />Like I said, you don't read these for a credible portrayal of an undercover agent or a man wanting to free himself of his past involvement with organized crime. This is about entertainment and fun. And <span style="font-style: italic;">Kill Quick or Die</span> does deliver on those. The writing style is elementary and it's basically a step-by-step plot here. But the author made <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">Bucher</span> an irrefutable character and I was eagerly looking forward to what happens next in the story. Overall not bad for a paperback found in this for-men-only vengeance genre. As for the series, this is the only one that I've read and I have no idea what <span style="font-style: italic;">Butcher </span>paperbacks are the best. But I might read another.<br /><br />Oh, two things. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">Bucher</span> has this silly inner "spider sense" that warns him when trouble is afoot. (Something that I wouldn't mind having) He also doesn't seem to have a first name. "The Butcher" is his Mafia handle, but his surname is used most throughout the novel-<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21">Bucher</span>. (Like Cher, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22">ahh</span> but not really like her...)August Westhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11797743144228505958noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1537120063567683385.post-1897736584616442102010-08-29T08:44:00.000-04:002010-08-29T08:44:34.637-04:00Too Many Girls by Don Tracy<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9blX3Ru_VnmxPNvneKnTTrdxuLA2cT6ZArsWhp15GIWjaMSmAuvaWhqQU3DMFlGwcP-7pMG7P6qafMqOtf9BxwTldYvI2I7I8wIV0w80FYJsH1XcEX4_1t8fzfyPYJOgFTGHHjICK7jxc/s1600/TooManyGirls1.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 208px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9blX3Ru_VnmxPNvneKnTTrdxuLA2cT6ZArsWhp15GIWjaMSmAuvaWhqQU3DMFlGwcP-7pMG7P6qafMqOtf9BxwTldYvI2I7I8wIV0w80FYJsH1XcEX4_1t8fzfyPYJOgFTGHHjICK7jxc/s320/TooManyGirls1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5510213955927753154" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-weight: bold;">Too Many Girls by Don Tracy<br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-weight: bold;">Berkley G-182</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-weight: bold;">Copyright 1934</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">I had a hell of a headache when I woke up</span>.<br /><br />So starts this brilliant piece of noir fiction about the exploits of an unprincipled Baltimore newspaper photographer. The actual title (hardcover) is <span style="font-style: italic;">Round Trip</span>, which really sums up the road Eddie Magruder goes down. And maybe the point of the first sentence is to inform the reader that the journey of Eddie was one hell of a headache for him but it's a pleasure for us because this one is special.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><span style="font-style: italic;">I forgot all about everything. For a couple of minutes I was back before I'd met Edith and this girl was a good looking pushover and my hands were inside the neck of her dress and giving her the works</span>.<br /><br />The novel starts with Eddie being sent out on an assignment to snap some photos from the aftermath of a lynching done by Eastern Longshoremen. Here is where we get our introduction of Eddie -tough youth, on is own as a teen, learning the ways of women from the streets, and consuming plenty of booze. The novel then turns into a flashback as Eddie tells us about the events in his life during the last few years. There is the suicide of a female newspaper reporter that he had final contact with and he seems indifferent about. Eddie has the moral nature of a heel with just a snip of compassion. He is willing to earn a few extra bucks taking "dirty"photos for distributors or receiving special favors from women for taking high quality shots so they can get public notice. But that changes when he meets and marries Edith. Eddie finally finds felicity and worth in his life. But the road he is given to go down, isn't level. In a fistfight, Eddie kills Edith's abusive ex-husband and he has to stand trial for manslaughter. It becomes an emotional ordeal for both Edith and Eddie. But after the acquittal, all the despair ends and there is a return to a life of contentment. Of course, Fate stacks the cards against a guy like Eddie and in the end it really crashes down on him.<br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><br />I thought to myself that if they sent me up, I still had a hell of a lot to be glad about. I was a bum when I met Edith and now I wasn't a bum. I was up for killing a guy but I'd done it the right way.</span><br /><br />Block out the meaningless title the paperback publishers gave this one, <span style="font-style: italic;">Round Trip </span><span>is</span> a monolithic hardboiled novel. In Eddie Magruder's world, happiness only gets touched, never embraced. He doesn't self-destruct or have ambitions that lead him down a wanton alley, Eddie is stuck and will forever be because guys like him are always destined to be lured up and knocked down. It's just the way life is....<br /><br />James M. Cain wasn't the only one reshaping raw and gritty noir tales in the 30s. Don Tracy was also right there, he just never got the notoriety that Cain did. A fine example is<span style="font-style: italic;"> Round Trip, </span><span>this tragic novel stands pretty tall</span> with what others were bring to the table at that time. With the exception of Edith's Ex-husband, there are really no evil people in the novel. Most are disillusioned souls lumbering in depression-era Americana and working for a niche in life. With Eddie being swallowed up in all of it. This novel predates Horace McCoy's <i>They Shoot Horses, Don't They?</i> and Gresham's <span style="font-style: italic;">Nightmare Alley</span> and Richard Hallas' <i><span class="searchterm term2">You</span> <span class="searchterm term3">Play</span> the Black and the Red Comes Up, </i>and I'd put<span style="font-style: italic;"> Round Trip</span> right up there with them.<br /><br />A memorable novel. I won't forget this one.<br />It's one of the best that I've read.August Westhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11797743144228505958noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1537120063567683385.post-62865219462499689122010-08-21T10:35:00.002-04:002010-08-21T10:40:22.570-04:00The Long Night by Ovid Demaris<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6tIks9og4nWXzx_xIIliS_q1BTJpK-KTQrznlUCm1a7toKIVgiTXkb2LujLMZWzauPW4PHa7g5z-IE9w6naUg_cTaqo-EuE2lJ2hfTGBDzxDvIIN3nHyVWLNEmFPW1cg7jaXfwoHn1jfj/s1600/TheLongNight.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 193px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6tIks9og4nWXzx_xIIliS_q1BTJpK-KTQrznlUCm1a7toKIVgiTXkb2LujLMZWzauPW4PHa7g5z-IE9w6naUg_cTaqo-EuE2lJ2hfTGBDzxDvIIN3nHyVWLNEmFPW1cg7jaXfwoHn1jfj/s320/TheLongNight.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5507641812020232562" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-weight: bold;">The Long Night by Ovid Demaris</span> <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-weight: bold;"><br />Avon T-372</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-weight: bold;">Copyright 1959</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Their Buick was at least five years old. These boys weren't doing so well. That's the first place the hood spends his loot. A big flashy car. Next on the list is the big sparkler on the little pinkie. These characters had neither.</span><br /><br />He's an ex-Marine who went through hell on Tawara. Then for 9 years he was a LAPD Vice cop until he got kicked out after beating up a hood who he caught in his ex-wife's bed. The last 4 years he's been a P.I., who specializes in locating delinquent debtors and squeezing them to pay up. When it comes to women, he's a "legs and buttocks" man and he doesn't mind getting his "biological needs" from a $5 whore or a classy pickup in a bar. His name is Vince Slader and he's on a hard case, getting little sleep, that involves clearing himself from a murder rap.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The Long Night</span> has a unique start. Slader is in front of a Senate Crime Committee hearing, sassing it up against two powerful senators. It seems that the private eyes in LA have been getting a bit out of control and Slader is the committee's poster boy. He leaves the hearings with warnings that they will be watching him and he better keep his nose clean. Like that's going to happen. Slader is hired by a scumbag casino owner to find a guy called Ben Russell. Russell has a $28,000 gambling debt and Slader gets a percentage if Russell pays up. Russell also has a young wife who has plans of her own, and those include a life insurance scam. Of course P.I. Vince Slader gets caught in it. He first gets setup to be murdered and burned to a crisp in Russell's car, the idea is that the authorities will believe he was Russell. Slader gets banged up pretty bad, but survives. Next he walks in on Ben Russell's actual murder and here is where he gets pegged as the murderer. Along with Mrs. Russell's motives to get her husband's life insurance money, elements of the local crime organization have an interest in this case. So besides the Senate Committee, Slader has thugs and cops after him now.<br /><br />As for a plot, there is really no new ground breaking in this one. It's your typical P.I. being played for a patsy story. But that's OK, it still was an enjoyable read. The Senate Committee angle in the story was different and refreshing. Slader has an ex-con as an assistant called Emilio Caruso, who he kiddingly refers to as his "little wop." I liked the guy, unfortunately he doesn't make it through to the end of the novel. There is a good dose of explosive (and descriptive) gunplay in <span style="font-style: italic;">The Long Night</span>. One of the best takes place in the desert outside of Las Vegas, with Slader having some fun with two hired killers. Slader plays the ladies throughout the story and even with his rough mug, they are attracted to him. He even gets serious with a redhead who helps him survive in the end.<br /><br />Reading the <span style="font-style: italic;">The Long Night, </span>I was wondering if Ovid Demaris was trying to make a Mickey Spillane type of novel here. It's close, but the narrative is less hardboiled and the ending fell a little flat. As for P.I. Vince Slader, I liked him. And with more appearances in novels and a little more development, he could of had a future. <span style="font-style: italic;">The Long Night </span><span>is a</span> good P.I. crime mystery, and it came darn close to being a very good one. As Maxwell Smart said, "Missed it by that much."<br /><br />Here is a taste of some lines that Slader spouts about the fairer sex:<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">I turned and looked her over closely. Her looks were better than average for a barfly, but nothing to get worked up over. She was stacked, and dressed to prove it. I ignored the cleavage. There was nothing there I hadn't seen before.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">She led me into the room, and the calves pumped and the buttocks shook. I didn't know where to look</span>.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">There are only two approaches to women - sweet and tough. And ninety percent of the time the tough will get you farther, quicker than sweet.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">I have never felt much compunction about sex anyway. Women have been conveniently relegated to the role of machines for fornication. This is a hard-boiled attitude, and, like all such attitudes, it's microscopic and bigoted.</span>August Westhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11797743144228505958noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1537120063567683385.post-12850210877778146282010-08-14T09:06:00.000-04:002010-08-14T09:06:57.427-04:00Gator Kill by Bill Crider<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEincv4H1jdTWGPDkA-5P1g-Fn50heEgKd3Vjkxa8gFwlgS0J-UUIH_d2wxUN_AJ72cN3-rgGRD-aEO4fQWr9sdHit-l11W-OlCBNSaftFJnjdNJccsYwjd6uEV27vpOMzjreWOfrn8yQiR3/s1600/gator+kill.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEincv4H1jdTWGPDkA-5P1g-Fn50heEgKd3Vjkxa8gFwlgS0J-UUIH_d2wxUN_AJ72cN3-rgGRD-aEO4fQWr9sdHit-l11W-OlCBNSaftFJnjdNJccsYwjd6uEV27vpOMzjreWOfrn8yQiR3/s320/gator+kill.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491538074216932162" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Gator Kill by Bill Crider</span><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Walker Publishing<br />Copyright 1992</span><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br />“You don’t look like much of anything,” he said, “except maybe an out-of-work housepainter.”</span><br /><br />Well, that may not be true. Truman Smith does paint houses to earn a few extra bucks, but he will put to use his past experiences as a detective to perform investigations for a friend in need. In the 90s, Bill Crider wrote five novels featuring the Galveston-based PI Truman Smith. And I found him as one of the most realistic private eyes that came through the pages of mystery crime fiction in the decade of the 90s. Bill Crider portrays Truman Smith as a loner and a bit of an introvert, add this to the depth-lined cases he gets himself involved in, and the results are an outstanding PI series that snares the reader into some capricious surroundings throughout Southeast Texas. My favorite is the second "Tru" novel, <span style="font-style: italic;">Gator Kill</span>. (though I recommend starting with the first, <span style="font-style: italic;">Dead on the Island</span>) I read <span style="font-style: italic;">Gator Kill </span> for the third time this week and I'm glad I did, because reading a Truman Smith mystery is like visiting an old friend.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">There were actually two doorways, one leading to a kitchen and one into a bedroom. The bedroom was where I looked.</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br />That's where the dead woman was. She was wearing a dress that seemed obviously homemade and about two sizes too big. It was some kind of blue material, but</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> it was stained red in the front by blood. There was a small pool of blood beneath her. Most of it had soaked into the floor, staining it black. She looked fail and helpless in death.</span><br /><br />Fred Benton is a tough old cuss and when someone kills and skins an alligator on his land, he’s going to do something about it. Coming off a missing person case that got his name in the news, part-time private investigator Truman Smith leaves Galveston Island to head over to Fred’s marsh property and have a look-see. Though not a glamorous case, to Fred killing the gator is murder and Tru agrees to investigate into who killed it. Of course there is more at work here than a rotting alligator. It first looks like Fred is being harassed and there are rumors that the State will be gobbling up surrounding lands. Then Tru steps into a double homicide and before you know it he becomes the target. Not only is he being shot at, but a tinted-windowed monster 4X4 is out hunting him down at night. But he understands this is the consequences of sticking your nose where people don’t want it. And it all comes to a head one night in a creepy, mosquito-infested swamp, when Fred and Tru drive out to investigate suspicious activities. An unexpected fatal meeting takes place and it's here where Tru puts the pieces of all the mysteries together. But it may be too late for him and Fred, as the eyes of the gators gaze upon them.<br /><br />There’s enough plot twists in this one to keep the reader tightly gripping onto the book. Bill Crider has us going down one road and then he throws the curve. And later he does it again! The novel is filled with an assortment of colorful characters. My favorite is Fred Benton, who is sort of a sidekick in <span style="font-style: italic;">Gator Kill</span>. A man in his 70s who is not afraid to provoke a fight, smokes unfiltered Camels, and has the stamina of a 40 year old. Heck, growing up I remember a guy just like that. There are characters throughout <span style="font-style: italic;">Gator Kill</span> that we can relate to because we have run across types like them in our lifetime. The history behind Truman Smith is so damn intriguing, that we crave for more on him. A man that shuns people, he continues to be haunted by his inability to locate his missing sister. (there's more detail on this in <span style="font-style: italic;">Dead on the Island) </span>When her murdered remains are found, he shoulders the blame and this adds to his unsocial-like state. All of this enhances the likable P.I.<br /><br />This is the way I like my private detective novels. A whodunit that is packed with action, an ending that is just as much horror as it is mystery suspense, and an eerie atmosphere where the muggy nights are filled with rifle shots, mosquitoes, and mean gators lurking in the swamps.<br />Your shirt will be sticking to you when you read this one.August Westhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11797743144228505958noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1537120063567683385.post-59199427598083259842010-08-08T09:11:00.000-04:002010-08-08T09:11:37.120-04:00Murder Doll by Milton K. Ozaki<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS1cH-qWHEK7eYJYYp276F7eXjV7irempaIldthEedVlLqSst0F8uPZBhL4RUomf3wwnVnKHjMsTAPgReEO7nkfTdvz7bzte70YbJnef_J4IRpsfC3Mh4MLV1F_ux_37VVu7YZuXc2ROc0/s1600/MurderDoll4.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 215px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS1cH-qWHEK7eYJYYp276F7eXjV7irempaIldthEedVlLqSst0F8uPZBhL4RUomf3wwnVnKHjMsTAPgReEO7nkfTdvz7bzte70YbJnef_J4IRpsfC3Mh4MLV1F_ux_37VVu7YZuXc2ROc0/s320/MurderDoll4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5502634009448578850" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-weight: bold;">Murder Doll by Milton K. Ozaki</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-weight: bold;">Berkley Diamond D2016</span> <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-weight: bold;"><br />Copyright 1952</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">She fluttered mascaraed eyelashes and laid a hand on my arm. "Has anyone ever told you you're handsome?"</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">"Sure," I said, "my mother. What's your name, baby?"</span><br /><br />Novels containing characters that deliver a hardboiled narrative have always been a favorite of mine. And Milton Ozaki's Chicago P.I. Carl Good definitely fits that bill. Good describes himself as having "features like a fistful of dough and carrying the beginning of a paunch." He then adds in his favor are height and broad shoulders. In WWII, Carl Good was a paratrooper who saw plenty of action and did his share of killing. He's an impetuous guy who likes Scotch and girls, and fancies himself as a rough, tough guy in a fight. He knows the town and has plenty of connections, which is a big benefit for a man in his line of work.<br /><br />Right out of the gates, Carl Good is trying to locate the missing Orville Pederson. Hired by his wife, Pederson has been gone for a few weeks and left her without any spending cash. Good finds Pederson's plaything in a Chicago B-girl joint, but in a few minutes she is dead after taking a poisoned drink intended for Good. He learns that Pederson is connected to the Chicago mob and performs real estate deals for them. And through his many street contacts, Good finds out the the heat has been turn up and this is making things difficult for mob operations. It's causing friction in the ranks that is leaving an opportunity for a Philadelphia kingpin to elbow in. Pisano, the standing boss, offers Good $25,000 to find the identity of the person the Philadelphia boys have sent to orchestrate the takeover. All they know is that it is a woman and she's a looker. Carl Good isn't one to let a financial opportunity go to waste, he adds that job to his plate because this is "real money." Later he realizes that both cases are interconnected and as usual in these PI plots, Good is smack dab in the middle of both of them.<br /><br />As I said, I'm a sucker for hardboiled narrative and <span style="font-style: italic;">Murder Doll</span> has some of the best I've read in a while. Here are a few that I liked:<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">"She's just a hooker," I insisted flatly. "She hasn't got enough brains to file her toenails."</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">I went up the side of a pile of two-by-fours like a scared cat and flattened myself on the rough timbe</span><span style="font-style: italic;">r like juice on a platter.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">She came to me and lifted herself onto my lap. One arm went around my neck and her mouth searched for mine. I felt like spitting after the kiss, but I didn't.</span><br /><br />As for the storyline, the majority of the time you can tell what is going to happen. But there are a few surprises. One is when an enraged Good chokes a thug to death after failing to make the guy talk. Later Good finds out that the thug had his tongue cut out. This didn't seemed to bother the PI at all. There's also a remarkable scene when Good is being hunted down in a lumber yard. In his pocket he happens to have a grenade that he took off a bobby-trap that was setup for him. Removing the firing pin with his teeth and lobbing it at his pursuers makes a satisfying payback. A couple of things come off silly in the plot. One is having a woman organizing the takeover of the deep-rooted Chicago vice organization. The other is a wild scene at a Nudist park where Carl Good is strutting his stuff trying to get the lowdown on how the woman is luring men away from Pisano's organization. And if you can swallow these, you'll find a good crime mystery in your hands. Milton Ozaki has Carl Good operating in the streets of Chicago where the surroundings are dark and grimy. Good isn't your compassionate P.I. and he definitely isn't in the game to be morally upright. He does it for the money and it also is a good occupation for him to release an inborn fury onto the bad guys. I liked the guy and will dig out a few more of his paperbacks. Chicago's Carl Good is a hard-headed and conniving private detective, who should have gotten more literary recognition.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibgz_Qy4qAR4SFCUJdpz8MrVgqx8zBEzoU8WiDhQlUZcgPvjFgpP-bvkX5HWUyacQJKQypbQrE70BNapPEmMtzAYvx4u7sm1FCwQ_2km1u0WC_VOPN-WxTxt1kYlbYfy4At4pAAV4vn_Vm/s1600/MurderDoll6.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 153px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibgz_Qy4qAR4SFCUJdpz8MrVgqx8zBEzoU8WiDhQlUZcgPvjFgpP-bvkX5HWUyacQJKQypbQrE70BNapPEmMtzAYvx4u7sm1FCwQ_2km1u0WC_VOPN-WxTxt1kYlbYfy4At4pAAV4vn_Vm/s320/MurderDoll6.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5503023087876960242" border="0" /></a>This Berkley paperback edition was actually published in 1959. <span style="font-style: italic;">Murder Doll</span> first appeared in the 1952 Phantom Books paperback authored under the name Robert O. Saber, a pseudonym used by Milton Ozaki.August Westhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11797743144228505958noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1537120063567683385.post-67194834554866123472010-08-04T14:28:00.004-04:002010-08-04T14:37:43.851-04:00Harry O by Lee Hays<div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggNShUlpUdLFiAHeI_9dTaTzbxRPWu6X-yNEHTv7oZ3mB_N6tMLH86kgruHuV7StHamewOk-ThcbnAS4DwPzVNGNIJZ_0_bmp9VhQiHnLoJoRaE__8R_dbWobhBYGhwZiZLUW-s1iSMZgL/s1600/HarryOpaperback.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5500189229395926034" style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 194px; cursor: pointer; height: 320px;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggNShUlpUdLFiAHeI_9dTaTzbxRPWu6X-yNEHTv7oZ3mB_N6tMLH86kgruHuV7StHamewOk-ThcbnAS4DwPzVNGNIJZ_0_bmp9VhQiHnLoJoRaE__8R_dbWobhBYGhwZiZLUW-s1iSMZgL/s320/HarryOpaperback.jpg" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Harry O by Lee Hays</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Popular Library 445-00269-125</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Copyright 1975</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">She smelled musty. Just as her clothes were different, so was her scent. Before she had been scrubbed, a little girl; now she was a woman of the world.</span><br /><br />This paperback is the first of two tie-in novels that Lee Hays wrote for the popular 70s Private Detective TV show. For two seasons from 1974-1976, David <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Janssen</span> portrayed the pensioned ex-cop living on the beaches of the West Coast. The series has been hailed as one of the best P.I. shows ever on television. No argument here, it's always been my favorite (especially the second season episodes) and when I had a chance to pickup these tie-ins, I had to have them.<br /><br />The novel starts similar to the TV episodes, with Harry's telephone ring and him mulling over if it is worth picking up. We get a brief bio of Harry Orwell in the beginning; the painful bullet in the back which resulted in his early retirement from San Diego PD, why he became a P.I., working on <span style="font-style: italic;">The Answer</span> -his boat that will never taste water, taking the bus because his heap is in the shop, and of course his views around the existence of telephones. A woman named Mary Alice Kimberly believes her husband is out to kill her because she won't give him a divorce. The way she tells it there is a rich land deal going down in Mexico and if she is divorced the husband gets all the profits. For Harry she becomes difficult to keep tabs on and comes off as an enigma. Harry discovers that besides her husband, there are others out there looking for Mrs. Kimberly. And they may not be honest citizen types. The following day he finds Mary Alice in her husband's office with a dead P.I. on the floor. Even though Harry lightly has fallen for her, he quickly realizes she's a bit eccentric. When the dead P.I.'s stripper wife is found shot in the head inside Harry's beach home, the police bring Orwell in for questioning. They can't get nothing to stick, but warn Orwell to stay clear of the investigation. But he can't, even being odd the girl concerns Harry and now that she can't be located, he sets out to find out what this is all about.<br /><br />It's about the smuggling of heroin across the Mexican border. Everyone involved is dirty. Included in the cast is a Sydney <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Greenstreet</span> type befittingly named Sydney Jerome, who has mannerisms right out of <span style="font-style: italic;">The Maltese Falcon. </span>There is a pint-sized <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">gunsel</span> called Wylie who drops Harry a couple of times. And a Mexican connection named Ramirez who seems to be playing both sides of the street. (or is being used by both sides) Orwell is on the hook for all of the murders, there are three total. Mary Alice finally calls him and together they head back to Tijuana to meet Sydney Jerome for a "business" transaction. It's on the return trip that Harry figures the deal out and then knows who is the cold-blooded killer.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Thinking of Ramirez reminded me that he warned me to take a gun. I didn't tell him that I never carry one. I almost went to the closet and got the one I had when I was on the force, the one wrapped in a towel way in back on the shelf behind an old suitcase. But I didn't, I should have but I didn't.</span><br /><br />This "Harry O" paperback is far from being a great crime novel, but as a huge fan of the series I did enjoy it. I would say that the characterization of Harry Orwell in the story is fairly close to the TV one. The spoken narrative on the show is definitely much better. And the book didn't capture that lonely, somber persona that David Janssen was able to deliver. I'll chalk that up as something that is difficult for a tie-in author to do. The writing is straightforward and the plot though interesting, wasn't too difficult to figure out. Even with the similarities of Hammett's Casper Gutman, I would of liked to have seen more of the Sydney Jerome character. He came off as the most colorful of all in the story. All-in-all, it still was a fun quick read for me. If you were a fan of the TV series, I'm sure you would get a kick out of this novel also.<br /><br />In addition, the series character Lt. Manny Quinlan appears in the novel. He doesn't head up the murder investigations for the SDPD, but he does have a role in the story.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIa9XtTX-ocJIgI5Nw9LtInczhpeSlTHkYJZlJAYRiyEkNVHXhR_OvnDCZ-dHf-nGOKmV_LPgqrkPIPgonJQ7-FyH0Rg5MHWcq2pqLmtOnYdH8lMJA4o0c3nOoNuILDdSzdubfxCFSKc9E/s1600/THCOLb.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5500195772557157042" style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 121px; cursor: pointer; height: 190px;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIa9XtTX-ocJIgI5Nw9LtInczhpeSlTHkYJZlJAYRiyEkNVHXhR_OvnDCZ-dHf-nGOKmV_LPgqrkPIPgonJQ7-FyH0Rg5MHWcq2pqLmtOnYdH8lMJA4o0c3nOoNuILDdSzdubfxCFSKc9E/s320/THCOLb.jpg" border="0" /></a>In 1976, Lee Hays wrote the second "Harry O" novel titled: <span style="font-style: italic;">The High Cost of Living</span>. He wrote tie-ins for the TV shows <span style="font-style: italic;">Colombo</span> and the <span style="font-style: italic;">Partridge Family</span>. Lee Hays also authored the novelizations for the 1984 Sergio Leone film, <span style="font-style: italic;">Once Upon a Time in America</span> and the 1974 horror movie, <span style="font-style: italic;">Black Christmas</span>.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><br /><br /></div>August Westhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11797743144228505958noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1537120063567683385.post-72319875444456630112010-07-31T12:19:00.002-04:002010-07-31T12:25:34.536-04:00Escape from Five Shadows by Elmore Leonard<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKSF3GbhFQP10HG0rYxz9RbXUjPmT7v9a3ctPO9WSoPPShuJvsi-rO7T8kR8KvuSVZouDKrt-SnWLw7BzOeINvJbHIT1Y7T-k1L498fWmNxI6Lt_ZO2VuuA9phJESEhBbsAwzj2Bnl-tsm/s1600/EscapeFiveShadows1.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 207px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKSF3GbhFQP10HG0rYxz9RbXUjPmT7v9a3ctPO9WSoPPShuJvsi-rO7T8kR8KvuSVZouDKrt-SnWLw7BzOeINvJbHIT1Y7T-k1L498fWmNxI6Lt_ZO2VuuA9phJESEhBbsAwzj2Bnl-tsm/s320/EscapeFiveShadows1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5494935449126103186" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-weight: bold;">Escape from Five Shadows by Elmore Leonard</span> <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-weight: bold;"><br />Dell #940,</span> <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-weight: bold;">Copyright 1956</span><br /><br />Most know that Elmore Leonard cut his teeth writing Western stories. For a young man that grew up in Detroit, he sure supplied the reader with a palpable portrayal of the Arizona Territory in the 1880s. "The Law at Randado" was my first Leonard Western novel. That was many years ago and at that time I thought I stumbled upon a Western that was different from the generic ones that I had been reading. The impact that "Randado" left on me made me seek out Leonard's other early Westerns. And I have read them all. One that is near the top on the list is "Escape from Five Shadows." It's filled with a wide variety of morally different characters stuck and struggling in a harsh piece of the dusty Arizona landscape.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Salvaje looked at his men. There were ten trackers here, and now he watched them remove their army-issue shirts and pants, stripping to breechclouts, then slipping on their cartridge bandoleers again. All of them wore curl-toed Apache moccasins folded and tied just below the knee: and to a man they carried single-shot Springfield carbines.</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">When they were ready, Salvaje nodded, and they moved off to take the escaped man. </span><br /><br />Cory Bowen has been wronged, sent to prison for stealing cattle which he had no involvement in. He's been farmed out of Yuma prison, along with a handful of other prisoners, to work on territory road construction, which the Government has contracted to an iron-fisted independent named Frank Renda. The prisoners are housed in a makeshift convict camp called Five Shadows and Renda holds them there with a few guards, a ruthless gunhand, and a dozen Mimbre Apache police. Posted to watch over the Government's investment is the cowardly Willis Falvey, whom Renda has wrapped around his finger. Together they have been skimming off the money that the Government has allocated for the prisoners' care and the road work. It's become a profitable business for them, at the prisoners expense. Bowen escapes early in the novel and the Mimbre Apache trackers drag him back to Five Shadows. Renda gives him a beating and month's worth of brutal punishment. This is when the novel really takes a turns and we learn that through Bowen, others seek ways to form their own means of escape. And the others are not the prisoners. There is the wife of Falvey, who wants out of this stinking dead end part of Arizona. A girl that lives with her father at the nearby stage station, who is determined to get another trial for Bowen. And my favorite, the Mimbre leader named Salvaje, who is the most righteous and pure character in the whole story.<br /><br />Not to give anything away, I'll just say that there is an opportunity for Bowen to plan another dangerous escape. Of course he takes it and this intertwines all characters, for some the results offer a weighed relief and for others there is contriteness. The risk for Bowen is great because a new trial is granted for him and he doesn't know it. Getting caught this time means death. "Escape from Five Shadows" isn't Elmore Leonard's best Western novel. (It's tough to compete with his later classics -"<a href="http://vinpulp.blogspot.com/2008/09/forgotten-book-valdez-is-coming-by.html">Valdez is Coming</a>" and "Hombre") But it is still a well above average one and there is plenty to like in it. First is the remarkable picture of the old Arizona West that Leonard paints for the reader. The smells of horse, leather and dust get in your nostrils. Frank Renda and his gunhand are diabolical, and for some reason I find these characters compelling as hell. Elmore Leonard has Bowen being tormented by these two. He takes a lot of punishment, but remains determined to get out. (I guess that is the will of an innocent man) The best scene is without a doubt when the Mimbre Apache trackers are hunting down Bowen after his first escape. It happens early in the novel and it turns into a game of respect and bravery. A wonderful action snapshot episode in the novel.<br /><br />I enjoyed this Elmore Leonard novel, but that's easy for me to say because he is one of my favorite Western writers. I have always wished he had written more Westerns. I prefer them over his crime fiction. I have hope that he will write another. It's been too long of a wait.August Westhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11797743144228505958noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1537120063567683385.post-19874486623675529612010-07-24T10:24:00.004-04:002010-07-24T10:33:32.498-04:00Find Eileen Hardin - Alive! by Andrew Frazer<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmlXNkTNATc-eAwBtTzLLebYk1v1tf8RlUYAiFkK4Ji-s_hNV4mT6jYWXhyphenhyphen-aK0TXQVMn627hM0kL3M8aYuiWhMJkzRL4FVw5lCBRAszgb_L5QmViJ7BiJvaAhF3_bVmjPmi6cRtCDZihq/s1600/FEHA1.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 194px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmlXNkTNATc-eAwBtTzLLebYk1v1tf8RlUYAiFkK4Ji-s_hNV4mT6jYWXhyphenhyphen-aK0TXQVMn627hM0kL3M8aYuiWhMJkzRL4FVw5lCBRAszgb_L5QmViJ7BiJvaAhF3_bVmjPmi6cRtCDZihq/s320/FEHA1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497440493500364402" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-weight: bold;">Find Eileen Hardin - Alive! by Andrew Frazer</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-weight: bold;">Avon T343, Copyright 1959</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">I had taken a man's life. Not in cold blood, but I had taken it. I waited for the first pangs of remorse. They didn't come.</span><br /><br />Some fictional private eyes are lucky enough to have long careers and go down those mean streets in many novels, other excellent ones made an appearance is just one or two paperbacks. And this is the case with P.I. Duncan Pride in <span style="font-style: italic;">Find Eileen Hardin - Alive!</span> Of course if you are a busy and prolific author, you most likely have many projects going on at once. And I would like to believe that this is the reason why Pride only appeared in two novels. The author Andrew Frazer is really Milton Lesser, or better known as Stephen Marlowe the creator of the successful Chester Drum series. And even with the Drum novels, Stephen Marlowe seemed to be a tireless writer and for decades filled up his large bibliography with a steady stream of quality work.<br /><br />The history behind P.I. Duncan Pride is a darn intriguing one. He was an All-American quarterback at Wynant College located on Long Island. Big man on campus, beautiful girls in his arms, and first round draft pick of the L.A. Rams. He held the world in the palm of his hands. Well, that was before the West coast mob confronted him on the eve of his NFL debut with an offer to shave off points in the game. He refused, the mob lost money, and Duncan Pride got this legs broken in three places which ended his football career. So what is a big, tough, college graduate gonna do to earn a living? Not an accountant, not an architect, not a shoe salesman -Duncan Pride applies for a license and picks up a gun to become a West coast private eye. And as an avid reader of crime mysteries, I'm glad he did.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Find Eileen Hardin - Alive!</span> starts with Duncan Pride returning East to his Alma mater, called in by his ex-college sweetheart Marjorie to locate her missing stepdaughter. Marjorie married Pride's college coach Ward Hardin (the father of Eileen) and her disappearance is tearing him up. Of course this is not a simple missing persons case. Pride's investigation runs into switchblade pimps, whorehouses, mobsters, addicts, and crushing intimate family secrets. The novel has an excellent mystery plot that has numerous twists that have you guessing what is the real reason behind having Pride hunt down Eileen Hardin. Questions I kept asking myself-Why are so many people interested in located her? And what in the past has caused this girl to flee? There is plenty of sexual tension throughout the novel, mostly between Pride and Marjorie. Pride has a sense of loyalty and respect for his college coach and Marjorie is making it tough for him. This strain bogs him down a little, but once he is in the dark alleys or sneaking through the back doors of NYC tenements, we realize Pride is in his element. Stephen Marlowe didn't make this into a basic P.I. novel, it has a quality complexity to it that has Pride wondering where this investigation is going. And even with being paid to lay off the case, getting knocked out a couple of times, shot at, and having to kill a man himself-he is determined to find Eileen Hardin.<br /><br />To be honest when I starting into the first few pages, I almost quit on this one. I wasn't in the mood for this "P.I. returns his old college" storyline. I'm sure glad I continued. It quickly turned into a fine noir tale with many suspenseful hardboiled episodes. Four are standouts that have Pride lurking and hunting in a violent pimp's pad, an abandoned oyster cannery, a curious Men's health club, and a wonderful airport scene near the end that reminded me a bit of the ending in the Steve McQueen movie "Bullitt." A well-written and adventurous P.I. novel, that takes off and slams down to an exceptional conclusion.<br /><br />Just one thing that lightly dated this paperback, and that is Pride's interaction with the college kids. You have your 1950s stereotypical crewcut boys here. In one scene you have Pride handing one of them a gun to watch over a suspect he has locked down in a motel room for a night. I kept thinking of Archie of Riverdale with a gat in his hand. But the college boys have no importance in the plot and their role is very minimal.<br /><br />The other novel that Duncan Pride appeared in is called <span style="font-style: italic;">The Fall of Marty Moon,</span> written in 1960. Marty Moon was the muscle who put out the order to have Pride's legs broken when he was a rookie with the L.A. Rams.August Westhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11797743144228505958noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1537120063567683385.post-60693366381415894252010-07-15T09:10:00.000-04:002010-07-15T09:15:56.841-04:00Murder on the Wild Side by Jeff Jacks<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdxQOpoKl9f988PA_ae9AB7BlXXrtQws3JcRc1TJzeqxC6VbgGwqcQFvN9ItrDpsC50-Wlq5iozGm_mgQnAO6L_-YLWk_54geXJIez3HwvOkjibz-jsrO08-b2y_0rYaK5ZIY07HUPGK0U/s1600/WildSide1.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 187px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdxQOpoKl9f988PA_ae9AB7BlXXrtQws3JcRc1TJzeqxC6VbgGwqcQFvN9ItrDpsC50-Wlq5iozGm_mgQnAO6L_-YLWk_54geXJIez3HwvOkjibz-jsrO08-b2y_0rYaK5ZIY07HUPGK0U/s320/WildSide1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5493737572181594818" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Murder on the Wild Side by Jeff Jacks</span> <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><br />Fawcett T2515<br /></span> <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Copyright 1971</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">"They told me you were just a crooked cop who drinks too much."<br /></span> <span style="font-style: italic;">"I'm an ex-cop who drinks."</span><br /><br />This one is aptly titled because in it we meet the oddest and strangest assortment of characters that I have ever came across in a private detective novel. There is a Bible preaching street ragamuffin, punchy ex-boxer, astrological charlatans, illegal abortionists, junkies and pushers, number runners, beautiful lesbos and sick S&M fags, filth-clad hippies, pimped out streetwalkers, a motorcycle gang, Black radicals, and a few more derelicts and chiselers that I haven't listed. All cross paths in a murder investigation conducted by a down-and-out NYC ex-cop playing P.I., called Shep Stone.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">She took my raincoat. As she turned to hang it in the closet, I resisted the impulse to reach out and pat her on the ass. Like I used to.</span><br /><br />Shep Stone was kicked out of the Police Department for taking drug bust money. Everyone was doing it, unfortunately he got caught and took the fall. He's trying to get his P.I. license by pulling in a few favors with his old cop buddies, but they mostly shun him. Stone is one step from skid row, a middle aged lush, and just keeps his head above water by hiring himself out to get the goods on cheating husbands or looking for missing persons. In the crap-hole boarding house where he has a room, he stumbles upon the murdered body of an old lady called "The Handkerchief Woman." Well, the cops get involved and they tell Stone if he helps them out (because he knows the pulse of the area) they will expedite getting the P.I. license approved. At the same time a Wisconsin man hires him to look for his runaway teenage daughter in NYC. And it's during these two investigations that we bump into all those quirky and unusual characters.<br /><br />"Murder on the Wild Side" is the the best P.I. novel that I've read this year. The well-written (and unpredictable) plot takes the reader through the grimy and profligate streets of 1969 New York City. Everyone is out for themselves and willing to use anyone for their advantage. Shep Stone included. Stone comes off as an unemotional man who is trapped in this filthy concrete environment with no future hope of escape. The blend of the murder and the missing persons investigation is exceptional and as I flipped through the pages I eagerly waited to see who Stone was going to run into next. The novel is broken into compelling short chapters that have distinctive titles. And they really snap together to lock down this extraordinary detective novel. A wild ride on the wild side, and I loved every minute of it. I've had this paperback collecting dust for a quite a while, I waited way too long to read it. It is outstanding!<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">A young Chinese hooker gave me a smile. I decided she was what I needed. I paid for two hours of her time in a nearby hotel. Her cooper body was a lovely, professional instrument.</span><br /><br />Besides the mystery surrounding the old woman's murder and location of the teenage runaway, there is one more mystery concerning this paperback. And that is - who the hell is Jeff Jacks? It's no doubt a pseudonym and I've had no luck researching the name. It would be interesting to find out!<br /><br />In 1973, Shep Stone made a return appearance in "Find the Don's Daughter." (also authored by Jeff Jacks) I don't have that paperback, but I'll be on the hunt.August Westhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11797743144228505958noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1537120063567683385.post-11232824850334750762010-07-11T08:19:00.005-04:002010-07-11T08:36:38.815-04:00The Golden Frame by Joseph Chadwick<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtzO3TqMJMQ20YCpMqKhQJqdIDweAR_uJlMcnV6K0tS8f2HKu5PaSfwOijAA0OQeiFh3KlLTxWdQ5XLPEKDHbS1x6mRvDa4T93kA1745f9-P3P1ZSjaLh4ukjhcV1E8yvJ6QZbpgpFK-0k/s1600/GoldenFrame1.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 190px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtzO3TqMJMQ20YCpMqKhQJqdIDweAR_uJlMcnV6K0tS8f2HKu5PaSfwOijAA0OQeiFh3KlLTxWdQ5XLPEKDHbS1x6mRvDa4T93kA1745f9-P3P1ZSjaLh4ukjhcV1E8yvJ6QZbpgpFK-0k/s320/GoldenFrame1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5490034331024383858" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">The Golden Frame by Joseph Chadwick</span> <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><br />Gold Medal #493, Copyright 1955</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">I didn't want to lose her; in fact, I was beginning to want her again right now. But I was suspicious of even her tears.<br /></span><span><br />Known more for his fine Westerns, </span><span>Joseph Chadwick also authored a few crime mystery novels in his day. And he didn't miss a beat with them. When I first looked at the cover of this one, I thought I had a romance story in my hands. Well, this is no romance novel. "The Golden Frame" is a novel filled with suspicion, doubtful trust, a violent ride into the West, and of course... murder.<br /><br />Dave Burke arrives fresh off a freighter in Baltimore after spending two years working the oil fields in Saudi Arabia. The problem is he arrives broke, he blew his wad on dames and booze during a stopover in Paris. He contacts his stepbrother for a loan, who then tells Dave that he inherited a drilling rig and land in Wyoming from an old oil man that he worked for in the past. That same day he meets a vacationing schoolteacher named Anne Somers and he falls for her. Also that day he finds a dead P.I. </span><span>in his hotel room and Dave's gun put the bullet in the guy's head</span><span>. Knowing this will be tough to explain to the cops, Dave hightails it out of Baltimore and Miss Somers is all to willing to assist. Believing someone is framing him to get hold of his newly inherited land, they</span><span> head out to Wyoming</span><span> to by time and think things out. Besides the cops, Dave and Anne have two killers on their tail and these two thugs seem to be always popping up wherever Dave and Anne stop. Dave gets roughed up and shot at throughout the trek Westward, and he starts getting suspicious of Anne's motives. Be he hangs with her and this may turn out to be a bad decision on his part. (or not)<br /><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;">He swung the gun up and clubbed down with it before I could throw the punch I had cocked. His blow caught me on the left temple. There was a burst of pain, then I was going down. The pain was so intense that I didn't feel myself hit the concrete.</span><br /><br /><span>Three things I really enjoyed in this paperback. First, I loved the action. It's fast paced and it's spread out evenly throughout the novel. There is really no lulls in the story. Second, it has a wonderful collection of supporting characters. The Baltimore cop called Hallaron, who is sent to investigate Dave Burke, is a likable wise droll. The two bastardly killers are also quite </span><span>intriguing</span><span>. And the third is the seesawing relationship between Dave Burke and Anne Somers. Just when Dave (and us as readers) is convinced that Anne is legit, something occurs that sways Dave into believing she is in on the frame up and out to get him. And this goes back and forth until the end of the novel. At times I just wanted to shout out, "Drop the bitch!" Joseph Chadwick delivers this very well and it is this ping-ponging drama that makes this noir novel rise above the average ones. Throw in an exciting ending, a bit of education around the oil business, and a taste of the West in the 1950s -and you have a well-written and darn good crime adventure in your hands.<br /><br />Joseph Chadwick also wrote crime novels under the pseudo John Creighton and all of those were published by ACE in the Double Flip paperback format. I read a couple of them years ago before I knew Chadwick and Creighton were one and the same. I remember liking them, but </span><span>"The Golden Frame" definitely tops them. </span>August Westhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11797743144228505958noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1537120063567683385.post-72509383656255419352010-07-07T09:30:00.000-04:002010-07-07T09:30:31.089-04:00The Gargoyle Conspiracy by Marvin H. Albert<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU9qk9H-jkPTtQJ8hh8bRSp_eZaKCfarRo0CuoEKU6T1g9LMoiMQUoF7vknsX167mHtUxrWj-U6e4uf2eRmZQVIsBFkGgSTXDPf8jEnpHfvRcZk2I_VelHpMKehQ9XLFD0H7JpzNAFSIhy/s1600/Gargoyle_Conspiracy.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU9qk9H-jkPTtQJ8hh8bRSp_eZaKCfarRo0CuoEKU6T1g9LMoiMQUoF7vknsX167mHtUxrWj-U6e4uf2eRmZQVIsBFkGgSTXDPf8jEnpHfvRcZk2I_VelHpMKehQ9XLFD0H7JpzNAFSIhy/s320/Gargoyle_Conspiracy.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491147199658685666" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">The Gargoyle Conspiracy by Marvin H. Albert<br /></span> <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Doubleday Hardcover,<br />Copyright 1975</span><br /><br />It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of the novels written by Marvin H. Albert. His early Gold Medal publications covered Westerns, crime noir, and an excellent mystery series featuring the P.I. Jake Barrow. In the early 70's, he wrote four of my favorite adventure thrillers penned under the name of Ian MacAlister. Just after those came the "The Gargoyle Conspiracy," written right after Albert's move to France. It's an international thriller about a hunt for a dangerous Arab terrorist. Simon Hunter is an American cop that works for the State Department combating terrorism. This is 1975 and terrorists attacks in Europe are causing severe political tensions. Some want to appease the terrorists and others want to hit them hard. The ruthless Ahmed Bel Jahra is out to make a statement and his target is the Secretary of State of America.<br /><br />The problem for Simon Hunter is he has nothing to go on. He doesn't know about Bel Jahra, ( the man is just a faceless shadow) he doesn't know who the target is, or where, when, and if the event will take place. Hell, he doesn't even know if any of this is actually real. But he shrewdly moves on it and slowly fragments come to light. The story goes from France to Morocco, Italy to the Arab world-told through the accounts of both men. We learn of the planning and recruiting of accomplices, when the story shifts to the charismatic Ahmed Bel Jahra. Then we are with Simon Hunter, tirelessly following any lead, to find what is going on and who is involved. This is superbly done.<br /><br />"The Gargoyle Conspiracy" is longer (278 pages) than the usual Albert novels. There is a lot going on and many characters are involved. And because of the volume of characters, I really had to pay attention to what was happening in the story. But it was worth it. I've heard this novel being compared to Fredrick Forsyth's "The Day of the Jackal," and there are similarities. "The Gargoyle Conspiracy" is a little more violent and I found the major characters more intriguing. This received a well deserved Edgar nomination for Best Novel in 1976, and shouldn't be overlooked by readers of espionage thrillers.August Westhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11797743144228505958noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1537120063567683385.post-35631800753626294662010-06-27T10:49:00.002-04:002010-06-27T10:55:26.584-04:00Never Come Back by Robert Colby<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnlN6d3CUiULSqwUv0QVub-e7ZYc4liDHhrPFdlynIynupWqAr_WptL7GAHXZp-wCVckyO9CvT4jPbqquPZQeYefo8AyN8CH48vUHJFZ-92CHDGzxLTc6Eqv2SdYker19BQgNJgSCYYhps/s1600/AH1.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 194px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnlN6d3CUiULSqwUv0QVub-e7ZYc4liDHhrPFdlynIynupWqAr_WptL7GAHXZp-wCVckyO9CvT4jPbqquPZQeYefo8AyN8CH48vUHJFZ-92CHDGzxLTc6Eqv2SdYker19BQgNJgSCYYhps/s320/AH1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5484891219674282658" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Never Come Back by Robert Colby<br /></span> <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Short Story originally published in <span style="font-style: italic;">Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine</span>, June 1967 </span><br /><br />With the exception of the ones published by Monarch, I believe I've read all of the novels written by Robert Colby. (including the excellent co-authored Killmaster adventure titled, The Death's Head Conspiracy) I'm always on the lookout for Colby's short stories and when I get my hands on one, I eagerly dig into it.<br /><br />"Never Come Back" first appeared in the June 1967 <span style="font-style: italic;">AHMM</span> issue and was later added to one of Hitchcock's anthology collections. It's a story about an out of luck loser who has to drive a cab to make a living. Opportunity knocks one day when a fare leaves an attache case in his back seat. Upon returning the case for an assumed reward, he stumbles upon a murder and an alluring dame. The theme in this story is really about obsessive attraction. Jerry Hoagland (the cabbie) continues to seek out the girl and it becomes almost addictive pursuing her. Not for money, but just to see her. But in the end this spirals out of control for Hoagland. Staying away is not an option for him and his obsession has dangerous results.<br /><br />A powerful short story written by an author that should have received more notoriety. Robert Colby was one of those special authors that besides writing excellent crime/mystery novels, he added an impressive collection of top-notch short stories throughout this career. "Never Come Back" happens to be just one of many that I have stumbled upon. And I'm glad I did.<br /><br />This "Happiness is a Warm Corpse" Hitchcock collection contains many fine stories. Others that I've enjoyed, "This Day's Evil" by Jonathan Craig - burglary, murder and a hick Sheriff might just allow crime to pay. The author Fletcher Flora has always been an enigma to me because there is so little information about him. But he wrote great short stories and "IQ 184" is one of them. Also included in this issue is Richard Deming's ""Kill, If You Want Me!" This may be Deming's best short work. And an unexpected surprise awaits the reader at the end of by "Once Upon a Bank Floor" by James Holding Jr.<br /><br />Many good ones by some excellent mystery writers.August Westhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11797743144228505958noreply@blogger.com1