Satan's Mate

There was at least three George Smith's writing fiction that we like in the mid 20th century. The G.H. Smith I'm referring to in this review is George Henry Smith, a prolific author that produced a number of novels across multiple genres including sleaze. My first experience with Smith is Satan's Mate, a 1960 paperback originally published by Newsstand Library.

Satan's Mate is set in a small backwoods town in the swamps of Louisiana. A guy named Robert once lived here with his brother, but due to a combination of things he left, became married, and started a new life. However, months ago his wife left him and Robert became a vagabond drifter. He is now back in town to make amends with his brother, the town's longstanding Baptish preacher.

The town is operated by a wealthy, sleazy, land baron named Guy. Guy runs the show and controls the sheriff and deputies. As the book begins he has just finished leading a pack of vigilantes into the swamp to lynch an African-American man. This is a stark warning to the reader that there are no trials in this town, just executions. However, the lynched victim leaves behind a sister that begins planning her revenge. 

When Robert gets to town he meets Guy's wife Velma, a very attractive sexpod that is begging for a romp. Robert is happy to give it to her. Velma latches on to her new lover and sees him as her meal ticket to get out of this town and away from Guy. Robert just wants away from Velma. 

Guy sees the arrival of Robert as the perfect opportunity to kill his political rival, which coincidentally is Robert's brother, and to kill a few other people he doesn't care much for. To make it a bit more tidy - just in case the FBI comes knocking about all the lynching - he will kill his enemies and blame the massacre on the newcomer Robert. Smart plan. Along the way there are more murders and soon Robert, Velma, and another tramp are in the swamp trying to avoid Guy and a posse of vigilantes. Thus, the narrative's second half features the chaser and chased across the swamp to avoid death.

At 127, pages Satan's Mate is an easy breezy read that was quite enjoyable. If you are familiar with swamp noir as well as the Gothic Plantation or Slave books written during this time then you will totally enjoy it. Beware there are plenty of racial slurs against African-Americans and Hispanics. This is unfortunately a part of vintage 20th century fiction that we have to navigate through. 

I will state further that if you go online and search for this book it comes up as lesbian-fiction. I'm not sure where that stigma came from, but it isn't this novel. It is your typical crime-noir that just happened to published by a company with a reputation for sleaze. 

Get a copy HERE