Down I Go by Ben Kerr

Down I Go by Ben Kerr
Popular Library 653,
Copyright 1955

Ben Kerr was one pseudonym used by hardboiled writer William Ard. Those similar with Ard know the author created two excellent 50s PIs that worked out of NYC, Timothy Dane (one of my favorites) and Johnny Stevens. He must of liked coming up with new tough sleuths, because he birthed another around the same time called Barney Glines. I read the second Glines novel that was published by Gold Medal, titled "Mine to Avenge" and remember liking it a lot. William Ard also dabbed in Westerns and started the Tom Buchanan series under the name of Jonas Ward. The series continued after Ard's early death, some were ghostwritten by Brian Garfield and William R. Cox. But I like William Ard's crime novels best and "Down I Go" is a fine one. No private dick story here, this one is about city corruption, sleazy vice, and an ex-cop looking for a bit of revenge.

"This dump, Bantle thought. This dirty, stinking, miserable little hole, with its grifters and gunsels, its homos and harlots-the cheating, lying, whoring lot of them. The dregs of a corrupt city, streaming into this sewer for their liquor and their lovemaking and their cheap thrills when the show begins."

Lou Bantle is one tough cookie. For a few weeks he's been employed as a floorman, keeping the peace in the roughest and most vile strip joint in Bay City. But there is more to Bantle than slugging out riotous patrons, he has a past. Lou Bantle was once an honest Bay City vice cop, but for the last three years he's been doing hard time. He was railroaded on a trumped-up charge, setup by Detective Charlie Josephs and a gold digger tramp. Bantle was fighting the city corruption and had to be put out of the way. The crooked Josephs wanted to move up in the profligacy that controls the city, so he made his play on Bantle. During the last three years, Josephs has been living large and is now captain of the precinct. Not heeding the warning to never return to Bay City, Bantle is back and looking to settle up with Josephs and the girl who framed him.

There's a steady stream of action in this one, including a descriptive brutal beating Lou Bantle receives from two dirty cops with saps. But Lou recovers quickly, because one of his first undertakings is to protect a girl named Rita Largo. She falls in love with the hardcase ex-cop, adding an extra burden for him when Josephs goes after her to get to Bantle. Bantle still has some old friends on the force that want to clean up the city and he learns that the State's Criminal Investigation Division is at work to sweep out the rats. But they need help from someone unconnected to them and recruit Lou Bantle. Bantle goes undercover for them, but he has to go it alone. (which suits him fine)

I really liked the dark, dingy atmosphere created in "Down I Go." William Ard puts us in a soiled and colorless world, where around every corner there are perverted peeping toms, hookers, dope heads, chiselers, and of course plenty of rogue cops. It's a dirty city and throughout the novel we are always reminded of that. As a main character, Lou Bantle is a monolith. He's aggressive, brawny, and hates all kinds of criminal vice. Nothing can hold him back. There are other things that stand out in this novel. One is Bantle's pursuit of the money-hungry dame that helped set him up and another is the almost insane obsession Charlie Josephs has to hunt down Bantle and kill him. Both I found very gripping and well written.

If you are a fan of William Ard's work, you will enjoy "Down I Go." No complaints from me on this one. I would of liked to seen a little more punch in the end, (not that it didn't have any gun action) and it's not a complaint, it's just that my personal taste would have preferred a touch more violence in the finale. But it takes nothing away from this excellent hardboiled crime novel from the 50s. Did William Ard ever write anything that was not first-rate? I don't believe so. At the young age of 38, cancer took William Ard. What a shame. In a short period of time, he authored an admirable bundle of wonderful noir crime novels. Who knows what other crime-ridden street cesspools, in need of being cleaned up, William Ard would have taken the reader to if he had lived to a ripe old age.

(If you ever have a chance to get your hands on one of Ard's Timothy Dane novels, treat yourself. You will be rewarded)

Man on the Run by Charles Williams

Man on the Run by Charles Williams
Gold Medal 822, Copyright 1958

"How much longer could this nightmare go on?"

The story of a man being hunted down for a murder that he didn't commit has been told many times. And the paperback racks of the Fifties were full of them. I know Gold Medal had their share of them. In fact, many of the well known authors of the day used that literary plot a few times in separate novels. Charles Williams was one of those authors and he penned a damn good one in "Man on the Run."

Rain kept falling. The topcoat was soaked now and heavy. I was seized with uncontrollable fits of shaking that lasted for minutes at a time. Whenever I saw a car coming, I dived off the road and hid.

This one starts out of the gate immediately, even before we know what the hell is going down. A man jumps off a train during a heavy rainstorm. He has cops on his tail and he's tired and scared. Rest and shelter from the cold is what he needs, so he sneaks into a small seacoast community and breaks into an empty cottage. Here we learn of his past. His name is Russell Foley, a third mate on an oil tanker. The night before in the town of Sanport he had a vicious fistfight with a police detective that was screwing around with his wife. Five minutes after he leaves the detective's apartment, the copper is found stabbed to death. Guess who everyone on the Florida coast thinks did it? Enter Suzy Patton, the owner of the cottage where Foley is hiding. She's a big beautiful blonde and a writer of romance novels that take place during the Civil War. Suzy believes Foley's story and is willing to help him. (Of all the times I've gotten into trouble, no beautiful blonde appeared to lend me a hand) They fall for each other and together head back to Sanport to find the real killers. But it's not easy, the hunting for Russell Foley never ceases. And to make matters worse, the killers are now out to get him. We find out that murdered police detective was dirty and it all ties into a payroll robbery that occurred a couple of months ago. While trying to clear his name, Foley stumbles into the body of a nude strangled dame in a bathtub and now the cops also think he murdered her. Separated from Suzy because he was almost apprehended, Foley sneaks aboard a old commercial fishing boat to get another lead on the killers. It is here where he gets more that he was bargaining for.

What I like best about "Man on the Run" is that there is no rest, for Foley and the reader. The story is constantly on the move, with the law on Foley's heels from the get go. This just builds more excitement into the plot as he is searching for the killers and always looking over his shoulder. Charles Williams leaves out the character development in this one. It's not needed because of the pace of the novel. Foley is on the outs with his wife, he likes the sailor life and hitting his favorite drinking hole when in port. Suzy Patton comes off as a perplexing and sad character. Her novels don't sell well anymore and she carries around an aura of loneliness. At the end of the novel, Charles Williams displays her cognitive state brilliantly. I like surprises and I didn't expect that.

Add, the wonderful "man against man" brawl between the despite Foley and the killer into the ending, and all I can say is that "Man on the Run" is a direct hit. I escaped into this one and as with most of Charles Williams' novels, I utterly enjoyed it.

Delayed Verdict by R. C. Tuttle

Delayed Verdict by R. C. Tuttle
Short Story in Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine,
May 1981

Mysteries that take place in the World War II era have always been a favorite of mine. This one actually takes place in the middle of WWII at Guadalcanal. It's a flashback story, told by an ex-Marine Corporal named Lennie Bullard who arrives on the island in a tour boat. It's 1981 and 39 years ago Bullard was assisting in a murder investigation. He relives the questioning of five Marines by Lieutenant Milo Cannon. The victim was a Captain John Vinson, who was shot in the back with a .45 while leaving the Officer's Club. It seems that Capt. Vinson was a major SOB and all five Marines has a reason to kill him, making them prime suspects.

What is a bit strange is that the investigation takes place on the beach front lines. The five suspects, Lieutenant Cannon, and our story teller Bullard are "holding the line" while receiving a series of attacks by Jap Zeros and beach assaults. As we learn of each suspect's gripe with the dead Capt. Vinson, one of them is killed by the enemy. Little by little, the group gets smaller until only Bullard is left alive. We as readers have plenty of information, but the mystery remains unsolved. That is until Bullard returns 39 years later.

"Delayed Verdict" is a well written little thriller that mixes a good whodunit with wartime infantry action. The flashback adds drama to the story and the author R.C. Tuttle created an engaging and believable group of characters. The five Marine suspects come from a wide range of social backgrounds, one is even a Hollywood actor. This is another fine example of the quality stories that were published in the early 80s, found in the Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine publications. You'll always find good ones in them.

But the best entry in this issue is the Mike Shayne novelette titled, "The Stalker of Biscayne Bay." Having read many of these Shayne stories, I found a good percentage of them being very generic. That is definitely not the case here. This is a bang, bang noir-ish tale that takes our Miami based P.I. from dark alleyways to churches, with pimps and hookers to babes in lounge chairs around swimming pools. And Mike gets a good dose of slugs to the head in this one. Three parts I found outstanding in this mystery story. First is the opening pages where the victim is stalked and murdered. It's eerie and frightening, highlighted by lines like when the murderer tells his victim, "You should have thought about what might happen to you when you took up this life." The author creates a compelling start to the story that ropes in the reader. Second is the addition of the New Orleans undercover cop, Terry (Theresa) Denton. Shayne and her develop a wonderful working relationship that charges up the entire story. The third and best is the ending. It's how I like them, adrenalin filled with plenty of trigger action. (and it takes place in a chapel) This is one of the best Mike Shayne short stories that I have read in a long time.

Here is what is in this issue from May 1981:

"The Stalker of Biscayne Bay" by Brett Halliday (Ghostwritten by?)
"Assassination-Middle East" by Joseph Cummings
"In The Key of Murder" by Hal Charles
"Whistle" by Mignon Glass
"Don't Dare Reject the Manuscript" by William Schoell
"Animal Sounds" by Don Wall
"Delayed Verdict" by R. C. Tuttle
"Saturday Night Special" by Terry Black
Plus: Plenty of extra features

Soldato! by Al Conroy

Soldato! by Al Conroy
Magnum Book #75370
Copyright 1972

Al Conroy was just one name used by Marvin Albert during his brilliant writing career. I was quickly hooked on the author's work when I started reading his early Gold Medal books, especially the Private eye Jake Barrow novels written under the pseudo Nick Quarry. In the 70s, I was blown away by the four high adventure novels published by Fawcett that he wrote as Ian MacAlister. Around that same time he created the Soldato! series, which had it's run in a total of five books. (two of the later ones were written by the author Gil Brewer) I guess you would put them in the "vengeance against the Mob" category which was popular during that period. I held off reading the series because I never had a copy of the first book. Well, I finally got a hold of one and as expected, (Hey, it is written by Marvin Albert) this one is damn good.

Johnny did not intend to go back to just waiting for it to happen. Which left only one thing to do. Something that came to him naturally, out of his past. The answer was in his upbringing, his heritage, his blood.
There was a man who was trying to kill him. He had to get that man first. The law of fang and claw, city slum style.

Private eye Charlie Moran is an ex-cop and he specializes in finding people who don't want to be found. A year ago, Brooklyn Mafia boss Renzo Cappellani hired him to find Johnny Morini and now Moran is closing in. Loyal Johnny Morini worked his way up in the Mafia and was a high ranking soldato or soldier. After two members of Morini's adopted family were murdered, Morini turned rat and testified against Don Cappellani. The Federal witness protection program gave him a new identity and a new life in a small quiet Utah town. After spotting the stranger Moran, the little hairs on the back of Morini's neck start springing up. But it's too late, Moran makes the call and two professional hired killers arrive to payback Morini for what he did to Don Cappellani.

Along with his new wife, who knows nothing about his criminal past, Morini is chased into the high canyons of Utah. Outgunned, he is forced to take a stand. He knows the terrain and after an action-filled sequence of events, he eliminates the two killers. But he knows there will be no end to it, if they found him once they will find him again. With his wife in tow, he heads east to settle it back in NYC. And there is only one way he knows how to do it. He has to get the boss of the Brooklyn Mafia, Don Renzo Cappellani.

The first half of the book takes place in Utah and it's terrific. It starts immediately with the Private eye Moran finally finding his quarry in the placid town. No stopping for rest, the story explodes in the next enthralling chapters. These involve the chase in the canyons, as Morini is hunted by the killers who are armed with long distance hunting rifles. Not to take anything away from the rousing ending, but this was the best part of the novel for me. It was so good that I thought I was reading one of Marvin Albert's Ian MacAlister adventure thrillers. The second half takes place in the Big City where Morini knows the streets. We get the essence of his past criminal personality here, how he got started and what made him tick in those days. It's in this half of the novel that we discover the dark and solitary Johnny Morini. The story has a good dose of violence and bloodshed, and it is definitely clicking on all cylinders.

Besides the strong character of Johnny Morini, I really enjoyed Albert's depiction of the antagonist Renzo Cappellani and P.I. Moran. Though not in the novel as much as the other two, Moran is quite compelling and likable. He even shows up in the end, and it's like putting a stamp on the novel. As for Morini's wife and the others in the story, they are insignificant. Morini, Cappellani, and Moran make this one standout and it's good stuff all around.

After finishing this one, the well-written ending didn't leave me with the feeling that the exploits of Johnny Morini would be continuing. But of course, the publishers had plans and they spat out more. Here are the titles of the five in the series:

Soldato! 1972
Death Grip! 1972
Strangle Hold! 1973
Murder Mission! 1973
Blood Run! 1973

Deadly Honeymoon by Lawrence Block

Deadly Honeymoon by Lawrence Block
Macmillian hardcover
Copyright 1967

It's amazing what you can find browsing through a Public Library book sale. Early novels of Lawrence Block are always on my radar and when I saw this one, I grabbed it for a buck.

On the day of their wedding, right after they arrive at their Pennsylvania honeymoon cabin, Dave and Jill Wade meet a friendly man from NYC who occupies the unit next to them. That very same night they witness the man being dragged out onto his porch and executed by two hitmen. Now the problem. The two bastards see Dave and Jill watching in the next cabin, so they hightail over there and grab them. They badly beat up Dave and do worse things to Jill. Both killers have turns with her and leave believing nothing about this night will get back to them. Dave and Jill clam up when the police arrive, telling nothing about the murder and the assault on them. Their reasoning is that since it looks like a gangland hit, why should the cops spend a lot of time on it. So now Dave and Jill have only one thing they want to do on their honeymoon vacation, and that is getting revenge.

"We'll find out who they are and then we'll find them and we'll kill them, both of them. We have three weeks. I think we can find them and kill them in three weeks."
"Three weeks is plenty of time," she said.

Their only lead is that the murdered man was from NYC, so they assume the two bastards work for someone there. Dave and Jill drive to the Big City and start their investigation. They get lucky and careless, but progress is made when Jill goes "undercover" and locates a medium-size crime boss. Dave gets brave and smacks around the guy, busting his teeth and all. Information is obtained, which includes the names of the two killers. Our two newlyweds are getting close. And now armed with a revolver, they make their final plans to settle the score -because this one is personal.

For being written in 1967, "Deadly Honeymoon" certainly has an edge to it. It's damn quick. I read it in one night, which is rare for me. Sexual tension hangs in the air throughout the novel. Lawrence Block has both Dave and Jill mentally fighting their own honeymoon night failure. (Jill was saving herself for her new husband and the rapists also took that away from them) With that, and the anxiety caused by them struggling to find the assailants, it builds even more compulsion for them to drive on. Block has Dave and Jill working separately at times, where one has no clue what the other is up to. And it's during those times that he fiddles with the reader's emotions. From the first page to the last, it's done right. Murder, hate, vengeance, and violence-"Deadly Honeymoon" is an excellent example of the author's great early work.

April in Peril by William Campbell Gault

April in Peril by William Campbell Gault
Short Story in Mean Streets, Ed. by Robert J. Randisi
Copyright 1986

I'm a huge fan of Gault's work, especially the novels that feature P.I. Brock Callahan. The ex-L.A. Ram tackle appeared in seven excellent novels between 1955-63. Reading all, I quickly discovered that this might be the finest written P.I. series during that period. Callahan had a return in the 1980s, when Gault penned seven more novels. (Gault passed away after the last novel was written) After a twenty year absence, Callahan inherited money, moved out of L.A., and finally married his longtime girlfriend Jan. He's a bit more involved in the social scene than in the earlier stories. A little less "dark alley" fare, but he is the same old compassionate Brock "The Rock" Callahan making things right in Southern California.

I believe "April in Peril" is the only short story that Gault wrote featuring Brock Callahan. It's a good one and I liked two things about it. One is that it's a flashback story about one of Callahan's first cases and the other is that it includes the presence of Gault's other P.I., Joe Puma. Puma was a big, handsome, tough, Italian-American detective out of Los Angeles. All the beautiful ladies fall for him and he has no trouble bedding a couple of them in every investigation. Joe Puma had his nose to the street in seven P.I. novels from 1953-61 and in a handful of short stories.

Taking place in 1986, "April in Peril" starts with Brock and Jan reading the morning paper over breakfast, when Jan comes upon an article about the famous actress April Fielding having her hands imprinted in cement on Hollywood Boulevard. That's when Brock tells the story of his early case, years ago, involving the voluptuous April Fielding. On that day the young rising starlet arrives at Callahan's Beverly Hills office to hire him after first offering the case to Joe Puma. Puma was picked because he carries a .38 and doesn't hesitate to use it. Though fully competent, the horny Puma seemed more interested in laying his paws on the Fielding girl. This turns her off and her next option is P.I. Brock Callahan. The story is about blackmail. Before reaching star status, April Fielding acted in a few "dirty" films to earn a living. Even after being paid off, the blackmailer continues to find copies of these films and demands more money. To avoid any harm to her career, she needs protection and someone to put an end to this. Between a couple of meetings with Joe Puma and April Fielding's agent, Callahan makes progress in the case. But he doesn't solve it. Some one else comes up with a plan to permanently end the blackmailing scheme. A double murder takes place, Callahan figures out what happened, and then lets it go for the good of everyone.

This crime yarn is quick and neatly packaged. As a fan of both private detectives, this is another William Campbell Gault story that I was hunting for. And I'm glad I did, I enjoyed it.

There are plenty of excellent stories in this second collection edited by Robert Randisi. Though good, the Gault story is not the best of the bunch. Max Collins has an exceptional one, I really liked Kaminsky's Tobey Peters story, and Loren Estleman's Amos Walker tale is terrific. (I also loved the title of that one) Here is the complete list:

House Call (Nate Heller) by Max Allan Collins
Body Count (Joe Hannibal) by Wayne D. Dundee
I'm in the Book (Amos Walker) by Loren Estleman
April in Peril (Brock Callahan) by William Campbell Gault
The Parker Shotgun (Kinsey Millhone) by Sue Grafton
Busted Blossoms (Toby Peters) By Stuart Kaminsky
Fly Away Home (Ben Perkins) by Rob Kantner
The Thunder of Guilt (Alo Nudger) by John Lutz
Missing in Miami (Jacob Asch) by Arthur Lyons
At the Old Swimming Hole (Warshawski) by Sara Paretsky
Ace in the Hole ("Nameless") by Bill Pronzini
Wrongful Death (Henry Paige) by Dick Stodghill

A quick note: Joe Puma's name comes up a few times in the Brock Callahan novels. He even met his demise in one. Early in "The Cana Diversion" (1984) the two detectives meet and exchange pleasantries at a police station. The next day Puma is murdered and Callahan is determined to find who killed him. (Sort of a professional ethics thing- he can't standby and let a fellow sleuth's murder go without a private investigation into it) What's interesting is that Gault paints Joe Puma as a struggling P.I. who is married and has a son. Having trouble making ends meet, he even resorts to taking slimy divorce cases. There is no mention of his good looks, his brazenness, or his virility. A moderately different character than seen in the Puma novels of the late 50s.
It's an excellent novel and worth a read.

The Shootist by Glendon Swarthout

The Shootist by Glendon Swarthout
Doubleday hardcover
Copyright 1975

It's 1901 and an end of an era. With the dawn of the new century, we meet a lone man who has outlived his time. And as his days grow shorter, we witness that they run in parallel with the dying of the Old West. Receiving only resentment and greed from others, he bravely decides his own fate and punches a statement onto his own legacy and for the West of the past. Reading "The Shootist" you quickly realize you have a great book in your hands.

Famed and labeled as a "gun man," a"man-killer," an "assassin," or a"shootist," 51 year-old John Bernard Books rides into El Paso to get a second option from the town doctor. Unfortunately the news is the same, he has an advanced case of prostate cancer and can expect an excruciating death in a few weeks. With just his guns, a newspaper and memories, Books takes a room in Mrs. Bond Rogers' boarding house and plans to end his days there. From her son Gillom, the widow is told of the type of man that is living in her back room and she openly conveys bitterness towards him. News leaks out about the dying J. B. Books and between visits from a journalist, undertaker, photographer, ex-sweetheart, and others, (all of whom want to cash in on the reputation of the gun man) two killers attempt to gun down Books in his room. Even ill, Books violently kills both involved in the sneaky assault. Afterwards he realizes that he can not honorably go down in a death bed. J. B. Books plans to add a final chapter to his legend, one that will pit him against three of the fastest and cruelest men throughout the territory.

There is a lot to like in this Swarthout novel. It contains some of the finest writing that I've ever came across in a Western. The author marvelously turns the reader from a newly constructed West of complacency and then swings us into the violent and graphic world of the Old West. And that is explicitly described in the graphic shootouts. It's also filled with intriguing characters that are intertwined in well crafted relationships. Books' interaction with Mrs. Rogers starts spiteful, but ends into one of compassion and sympathy as she realizes that Books is more than just a gunfighter. Books attempts to reach the mean and out of control Gillom. But as his physical strength quickly leaves him, he fails at preventing Mrs. Rogers from losing her son. It is one battle he can not win. As his final day approaches, Books wonders why he deserves this pain and this loneliness that has undone him. Could he have done things different?

"I wish I had listened to birds more often. I wish I had more schooling. I wish I had paid more attention to the most beautiful country God ever made. I wish I had married and settled down, and had a son to leave my guns to. I wish I had not left home so young. I would like to know what became of my people. I wish I had not been such a loner all my life. I wish I had been more worthy of love, and given a damn sight more. God I wish I had it to do over again. I would do it better."

This is J.B. Books' story and it is a lonely and sad one. He is the last of his breed. And as he waits for the end, preparing to meet his God, Books will not let them (the townspeople and the new West) reduce him into a remnant or relic. J.B. Brooks will give them something to talk about. When he is gone, the vultures might take his horse and saddle, his watch and guns, his photograph and corpse- But they will not get his reputation, or be able to sell his name, or go away with his soul. Those three he will keep. They are his most important valuables. Like he tells the reader, "There is still a lot of me to kill."

On the back flap of this hardcover edition, the publisher states that "The Shootist" will rank with such Westerns as "Shane" and "The Ox-Bow Incident." I'm not going to disagree. Because just like those two, this Glendon Swarthout novel is more than a Western, it is classic American literature.