The Erection Set by Mickey Spillane

The Erection Set by Mickey Spillane
Signet 5120, Copyright 1972

When I was in the U.S. Navy in the mid-70s, it seemed that wherever you went on the ship this paperback was laying around. Sailors being what they are, most of them were attracted to the paperback for the cover, the title, or both. Even though I read a few Mike Hammer and Tiger Mann novels prior, I was taken back at seeing Spillane’s name on “The Erection Set.” Well, somewhere probably in the Mediterranean Sea, I crawled in my rack and started it, and of course I’m glad I did. It’s was a true awakening.

Mickey Spillane brought this one up a big notch. He throws all into it and leaves little out. The main character, Dogeron Kelly, is possibly the toughest SOB in print. In fact he’s a bastard, but a "good guy" bastard. I have yet to find another character that comes close. It’s a violent story of a man with a secret past, out to make things right. Like the cab driver said looking at Kelly as they leave Kennedy Airport, “Shit, man, you’re loaded for bear.” Kelly has been away from New York City for a while, and returns to blow the town wide open. Bad guys beware! Strictly for the men of course. Was it controversial?-probably, I had no idea what the critics or Spillane fans thought of it at the time. And of course I didn’t care.

Almost like a magnet, I pick up this paperback every few years. Sometimes I read just a few choice pages and other times I’ll read it all. And I always thought it was just to bring back memories from a time when I was younger, careless, or remembering lonely days at sea. But of course I know that is not why, I read it because of one thing-the main character, Dogeron “Dog” Kelly. And thanks to the Mick, we have the original, ultimate, son-of-a-bitch, .45 packer, who do anything for the sake of justice….

“So I broke every finger on Bridey’s hands, too, then stitched him up the side of each cheek, so he’d never be invisible in a crowd again. I opened his belt, pulled his pants and shorts down, and waited the two minutes until he started to wake up, holding the point of the pick right over the two goodie sacs, and just as a groan wheezed through his lips and his eyes opened and rolled toward mine I drove the ice pick through those lumps of tissue into the rubber-tiled floor and the frenzied yell of horror he started never got past the sharp hiss of his sucked-in breath before he fainted.
The next person to go in that bathroom would do more than relieve his bladder or bowels.”

Of course later I had to read Mickey Spillane’s second “dirty little book” published a year later, “The Last Cop Out.” This I thought had the slightly better plot, with a similar type character in ex-cop Gillian “Gill” Burke. In this one Burke is asked to go up against a Mafia family alone. Violent and downright gross at times, but damn good. But Dog Kelly came first and left the impression that is forever etched upstairs.

Could these two novels be Mickey Spillane’s best pieces of work?
I believe so…

Never Say No To A Killer by Jonathan Gant

Never Say No To A Killer by Jonathan Gant
ACE D-157, Copyright 1956

Here I go again, singing the praises of Clifton Adams crime stories. In this gem published under the pseudo. Jonathan Gant, Adams gives us a story of a psychotic killer who sees opportunities and uses violence to reap the gains.

“ That was when I brought the rock up with all the strength I had in my two arms. It cracked the point of Gorgan’s chin and I heard his jawbone snap under the impact.”

The novel starts fast and violent, with con Roy Surratt escaping from a prison work detail. Dorris Venci, the widow of his ex-cell mate, aids in his escape and takes him to her hometown, Lake City. To pay her back, she wants Surratt to kill an ex-governor. Surratt knows what makes women tick and quickly discovers Dorris is a sexual masochist. He uses this for his gain. He agrees to kill the corrupt ex-governor and in return he wants the blackmail information her late husband collected on other influential people. After the killing, he falls for the ex-governors mistress Patricia Kelso. Money quickly starts to come in because of his blackmail schemes and Dorris starts to be in his way for future plans with Patricia Kelso. Surratt ends his relationship with Dorris. Dorris tragically devises a way to get even with Surratt. Her plan starts him on a rapid decline from his dreams and his freedom.

“Why, you simian sonofabitch, I thought, you make one move in my direction, just one single move, and you’ll be till sundown gathering your teeth off the sidewalk.”

Again, Clifton Adams excels in creating an excellent hardboiled noir novel. This is a story of a dangerous criminal who is both smart and evil, with a studied knowledge of philosophy. Surratt leaves a trail of corpses throughout the story, as he calculates his moves to achieve financial wealth. A triangle of deception is created between the three characters, Surratt and the two dames. Surratt uses his egotistical knowledge of philosophy to manipulate one and in the attempted manipulation of the other. Later at the end, he realizes that he outsmart himself. All this turns out tragic for everyone involved, as we realize there are no respectable people in this story. They are all dark and narcissistic, caring only about money and revenge. Excellent last paragraph as Surratt talks to the reader giving his personal thoughts on his empty feelings.

In the 50s ACE had many hit-and-miss paperbacks, some were downright poor, this is not one of them. You'll fly through the 148 pages. And a big bonus with this flip double novel edition- it's a secret agent Paul Knox novel call "Stab in the Dark" by Louis Trimble.

Satan Takes the Helm by Calvin Clements

Satan Takes the Helm by Calvin Clements
Gold Medal 252, Copyright 1952

Ah, the life of a merchant marine looking for a ship. Everyone is scratching for a buck, along with some other action.

"Groups of jobless seamen were loitering along the foot of the piers, looking up at the freighters and tankers, studying the rat guards. Like at a wake, just standing around and looking..."

Mrs. Joyce Sloan is looking for a chief officer for her husband's ship, the Eastern Trader. Martin Lewandowski is offered the job and he jumps on it. One problem, Mr. Sloane likes to have his beautiful wife aboard when we sails. Mrs. Joyce Sloan quickly takes up with Lewandowski. She plants ideas in his head that, with her husband out of the way, he could have her and a ship of his own. Lewandowski realizes that when Mrs. Sloan hires a mate, it's for more than looking after a ship.

If you like a salty, dark adventure mystery, just hop on board this ship. Not many good people sail in this story. Mrs. Sloan is your femme fatale, Lewandowski is full of culpable behavior, and together they weave a devious scheme. Throw in the dark ship, exotic ports and the emotional games between the two characters, and we have a fine crime noir story.

"Her robe was open. I caught the neck of her pajamas and ripped down. Her hands dropped to cover herself and I slapped her again. I couldn't stop. I wanted to kill her."

On this voyage of deceit, dreams, contempt and murder.... you will feel the rust of the ship, smell the stink of the ports and sweat in your bunk. This is the first of the three Calvin Clements paperbacks published by Gold Medal. All take place in dirty ports and at sea; with a scrappy skipper, vicious crewmen, and seductive women. They are also very good!

The Big Kiss-Off by Day Keene

The Big Kiss-Off By Day Keene
Graphic 75, Copyright 1954

Day Keene was an author that made you sweat when reading. His books are usually set during the hot days in the South, with an average guy who just wants to be left alone. 'The Big Kiss-Off" is a noir-ish adventure that stands on it own sea legs.

Cade Cain spent two years in a POW camp in Korea. During that time his wife divorced him and now he just wants to stay on his boat in the Gulf and let life go by. That's not going to happen. One day he finds six bodies in the muddy tide and later the local sheriff is found dead on his boat. Someone is framing him and he doesn't know why. With no alibi, he sets out to find some answers. An illegal immigrant called Mimi turns up and is caught in the frame-up. The trail leads to New Orleans and to Cain's ex-wife. His rage grows as he starts to unwind the mystery, along with his interest in Mimi.

" The bastard, thought Cade. The big Irish bastard. Sweat started to trickle down his sides. Cade felt the butt of the gun in his pocket, as he walked out on the pier."

Day Keene was a real pro and I find all his books very enjoyable. He spun a good story here, with a character that you can’t help but side with. There’s always something about the veteran who comes back from war, looking to get back to a normal life and trouble finds him. This theme was used throughout the 50s in paperbacks and Day Keene was one of the best in creating a good novel with it. Published by Gold Medal, Lion, Pyramid, ACE, Signet, Graphic, Zenith-he never seemed to have to look for work. Keene wrote many short shorts and these should not be overlooked. And being a guy who loves a good western, he wrote a damn good one in 1967, "Guns Along the Brazos."

Guns of the Timberlands by Louis L'Amour

Guns of the Timberlands by Louis L'Amour
Bantam 1390, Copyright 1955

Continuing with some recent discussions on Louis L'Amour, (Steve Lewis has an excellent post on Mystery*File) I recently finished this early work by the author. "Guns of the Timberland" has your good guy vs. bad guy theme, with a subtle view on the impact of over foresting thrown in.

The novel is a battle between "good guy" Clay Bell, rancher who enjoys his land and free life; and wealthy Jud Devitt, who is a man who gets what he wants. Devitt is after the timber on Bell's land, he plans to make a large profit selling needed lumber to the railroads and no one is going to stop him. Devitt brings in gun-hands and lumberjacks to insure the stripping of the forest. Bell has his ranch hands, who are fairly seasoned and tough.

Louis L'Amour was a good writer and could tell a story, but you always knew the outcome. I usually don't mind that; but after reading many of the novels, I found I was just reading to finish them. "Guns of the Timberlands" is one of his finest westerns and he paints an excellent picture of the western landscape. In this one he has some good ol' barroom fights and good ol' cowboy killin' -one fight is pretty brutal involving a lumberjack smashing the face of one of Bell's men with his calks. But we know there will be a final one-on-one battle between Bell and Devitt, and we will know who will win, and we will know who gets the girl......


Note: I will always have a strong heart for Hondo, which is my personal favorite by Louis L'Amour. (and a damn good John Wayne movie)

Copp For Hire by Don Pendleton

Copp For Hire by Don Pendleton
Copyright 1987

From the man who created and wrote the first 38 "Executioner" series adventure books, comes a hard case, hard ass, L.A. PI living on the hard side. And that's how Pendleton wants us to see him as. Joe Copp is an ex-cop who wants to pick-and-chose his own cases, which is why he went "private."

In the first of the six novel series, Copp sets out to find why his stripper client, who just hired him, is killed as she is leaving his office. Quickly the case takes him to strip clubs, meeting sleazy cops, and finding murder, murder, and more murders. Joe Copp is tough, mouthy, and quick with the gun. He chases after a sex-psycho politician and his masochistic nephew, from LA to Hawaii. The Honolulu police give him plenty of rope to settle the score, and Joe doesn't let them down.

"I rip his gun loose and hear several fingers crunch in the release. I decide to leave him with his head intact. I merely bang it on the floor until he quits struggling."

This one is bang, bang action-hardboiled and a bit hardcore. Not for the ladies, Pendleton wrote this for his target audience-men who like fast aggressive action. Copp sees all, acts fast, and will stop and preach a little to us. We're not talking Pulitzer here; just fast, exciting, hard PI fun.

Dolores Hitchens and PI Jim Sader

Sleep With Strangers by Dolores Hitchens.
Perma M3040, Copyright 1955

Sleep With Slander by Dolores Hitchens
Perma M4243, Copyright 1960

Continuing with these wonderful discussions on female authors writing excellent noir novels in the days when men dominated the field; Ed Gorman makes an excellent point that these should not be overlooked and deserved to be read. And having read many, I wished there were more. Although I have a very strong affection for Leigh Brackett's noir works, I was more impressed with the Jim Sader novels written by Dolores Hitchens.

The majority of Hitchen's work are tame mysteries, but along the way she gave us two excellent hardboiled Jim Sader PI novels. Sader a loner, with his own problems, takes on missing person cases for the two-man agency he has with his partner Dan Scarborough. In "Sleep With Strangers," Sader gets involved with a wealthy blonde, along with her family and her acquaintances. The gorgeous woman hires Sader to locate her missing mother. The story get into the filth of her society and Sader gets dragged downward into it. "Sleep With Slander" has Sader hunting down a kidnapped child. This one grabs you from the start with a moving two page prelude. People are not who they make out to be and Sader discovers that there are plenty of false truths throughout the case. "Slander" is the better of the two books, which may be because Sader's partner is not involved in the story and we witness a strong emotional involvement in Sader on this case. But the first novel should not be dismissed.

"There was a sudden taste of exhaustion, as sharp as that of blood, in his mouth, and he was aware that he had taken a beating, that he hadn't had any dinner, that he was so tired that he could have dropped where he stood to sleep. He felt that he was alone in a room full of ghosts."

These female writers provided more than hardboiled PI stories, they had the ability to capture true development of their characters; which I find a large number of male authored PI novels leave out. For some reason the female authors from that era, get it and make it the strength in their stories. I guess that was the point I was trying to convey in my previous post on 'The Blank Wall."

As for Kevin Burton Smith and his upcoming study on female hardboiled/pulp-era authors, it's long overdue and he should be applauded for taking on the task.