Never Come Back by Robert Colby

Never Come Back by Robert Colby
Short Story originally published in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, June 1967

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.

"Never Come Back" first appeared in the June 1967 AHMM 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.

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.

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.

Many good ones by some excellent mystery writers.

The Star Trap by Robert Colby

The Star Trap by Robert Colby
Gold Medal 1043, Copyright 1960

Robert Colby was one of those authors that never got the fame and recognition that he deserved. His 1959 novel, “The Captain Must Die” was one of the first Gold Medal books that I ever read. I picked it up because I thought it was a war story, ‘course it turned out to be one of GM’s best novels - involving three men seeking violent revenge years after the war, towards a man who they thought wronged them. Two other Gold Medal entries from 1959, “Secret of the Second Door” and “The Deadly Desire” also captured the author’s ability to build a highly suspenseful noir story in just under 130 pages. All are quick page turners that will compel the reader to continue on until the end. The same could be said of Colby’s fourth Gold Medal novel “The Star Trap,” where after aiding a voluptuous beauty, a respectable young man gets caught in a dragnet of deception and murder.

She wore the same turquoise wool-knit suit in which I seen her last. And she managed to look just as beautiful in it, though her face was staining with tension. The sight of her gave me a moment of relief, disturbing the old longings. The feeling passed in an instant and I hated the bitch.

In the middle of the night, struggling B actor Glenn Harley gets a hysterical phone call from starlet Nancy Rhymer. She needs Harley to come over to her house immediately. Harley, who always has secretly longed for Nancy Rhymer, jumps out of bed and drives quickly to her home. Once there, he discovers she has knifed a semi-famous actor to death “in self defense” and needs Harley’s help to clean things up to protect her from scandal. His affection for the actress is too strong to refuse and he ends up burying the corpse along with it's belongings. Of course as he is digging the grave, we know he is actually digging himself deeper and deeper into a world of blackmail, disloyalty, and hunted persecution.

A few days later Nancy Rhymer flees from sight and Harley learns that the dead actor had $350,000 on him. The money belongs to a crooked independent film producer, who along with a couple of dirty cops, has been blackmailing Hollywood hotshots in a sex ring setup. Harley goes back to where he buried the man and finds the corpse gone. Suspecting that the Rhymer girl took the cash and is using him, he heads back to his apartment where the two dirty cops are waiting and play rough with him. Later, the two rogue cops conveniently find the dug up body in Harley’s car trunk. Thinking that he has the loot, the dirty cops pressure Harley to turn it over and if he does they will forget about finding the corpse. But he doesn't have it and escapes. This becomes a major headline story and now he is a fugitive, on the run for murder. Harley has to go it alone to get the evidence to clear his involvement and he does it by devising a sneaky little scheme.

Colby had a masterful way to developing a suspense filled plot, and doing it he created pockets of enriching text. It could be as simple as when Glenn Harley is describing his current position as an actor in the business, “I got parts. But I always felt they were handouts.” Or deeper, like his assertion of another actress who resorted to the casting-couch route, “She was one of the lost ones on the same road to oblivion all of us are traveling. But like so many escaping in the labyrinth of sensual amorality, she had more heart than guile, more warmth than a host of virtuous pretenders I have known.” Half the enjoyment of a Robert Colby story is the descriptive discourse between the protagonist and reader. And when he throws in an atmosphere of noir and unbridled tension, you have an exciting mystery/crime novel written by an author that will have you hunting down more of his work.

If you never read a Robert Colby novel, the Gold Medal books are the place to start. But don't overlook his other novels that were printed by many of the quality paperback publishers of the day. Even in the ACE Doubles, where many of their stories are below average for this genre, the four Colby novels are some of the best that the publishing company put out. And if you’re lucking enough to stumble on one of Robert Colby’s many short stories that appeared in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine in the 60s and 70s, I guarantee you will be rewarded if you check them out.

Secret of the Second Door by Robert Colby

Secret of the Second Door by Robert Colby
Gold Medal 855, Copyright 1959

Robert Colby gives us the excellent story involving good guy Neil Shepard and the search for missing cash. This paperback is 128 pages long and not one written paragraph is wasted.

“She’s a spoiled bitch!” he said. “She’s selfish to her toenails. Intellectually, I know it and yet emotionally I cling to her or something she represents, like an alcoholic to his last bottle.”

Neil Shepard gets word that his ex-lover’s husband has been killed in a car crash. Five years ago beautiful Corrine dumped him hard and she has always obsessed him. Compelled to see her, Shepard leaves Florida and heads to New York. Glad that he came, Corrine apologizes about being a bitch to him in the past and she uses her sex to rekindle the relationship. She tells Shepard that before her husband died he was in possession of two hundred thousand dollars, which he said was won in a poker game. The money can’t be located and Shepard agrees to play detective and see if he can help find the cash. Shepard doesn’t buy the poker story, but she agrees to give him $50,000 if he finds it and his desire for Corrine is strong. He sets out and along the way we are introduced to four ruthless professional thieves who will do anything to get the cash. Shepard along the way witnesses betrayal, unfaithfulness by Corrine, torture and murder.

“Don’t try it,” he said. “This gun has no friends.”

It’s a fantastic novel, which starting from page one just continues to build and build. We come to understand about the obsession of Shepard for Corrine and even what compels Corrine to want more men. The violence of the four thieves is fairly graphic for a novel from 50s. These guys are real bad dudes and the author doesn’t hold back. Very intense ending. Shepard, after witnessing the evil of these four men, resorts to his own violence. He then practically breaks down, which concludes into a powerful emotional ending.

As you may tell, Robert Colby has been a favorite of mine. He never wrote a sub-par book or short story. All of his Gold Medal books are excellent. “The Captain Must Die” is one of the finest published by Gold Medal and is reaching "classic" status. His four books published by ACE are also terrific. My favorite being “The Quaking Widow.”

For more on Robert Colby see Peter Enfantino's 2006 Tribute that is posted on the excellent Mystery*File site - editor is Steve Lewis.