Dark Cypress

Michael Avallone (1924-1999) was a prolific author that contributed work to many different publishers and genres. Along with authoring television and movie tie-ins for franchises like Man from U.N.C.L.E., Planet of the Apes, and Friday the 13^th, Avallone penned a number of stand-alone crime-noir and mystery novels. Avallone also authored over 38 private-eye novels starring his character Ed Noon. In the late 20^th Century, Avallone took to writing Gothics using pseudonyms like Jeanne-Anne De Pre, Dorothea Nile, and Priscilla Dalton. Perhaps his best Gothics were penned using the name Edwina Noone, a clever nod to his own private-eye character. My first experience with Avallone's Edwina Noone novels is Dark Cypress, originally published in 1965 by Ace.

The novel stars Stella Owens, a young woman who has arrived at the gloomy, yet magnificent, manor known as Hawk House. Stella has accepted a job as a live-in tutor for Todd Hawk, the only child of a wealthy widow named Arthur Carlton Hawk. Upon her arrival at the mansion, Stella is introduced to Gates, the family's friendly butler, and Dahlia, the family's snobbish housekeeper before being introduced to her young charge.

Stella is immediately consumed with a foreboding atmosphere that surrounds the house and its inhabitants. Dahlia's mysterious behavior serves as an odd voice of authority. Prophetically, she warns Stella that a bedroom upstairs must remain locked and off-limits from any curious exploring. Dahlia's motherly treatment of Todd is both preachy and scolding, a characteristic that lies in stark contrast to Stella's warmer approach. In repeated tutorial sessions, Todd confides in Stella that he is fearful of being taken away soon. He also provides a disturbing account of his older brother Oliver dying in the family's large pool. It's this event that lies at the heart of Avallone's mystery. How did Oliver come to drown in the pool, what's in the locked room and why does Todd suggest that there's an evil presence roaming the dark halls and corridors of Hawk House?

Like any good Gothic, location is key. Avallone's choice to place the characters and events in rural Connecticut during a late New England winter is important. As the tension mounts, the sense of isolation keeps the characters confined to this monstrous structure. Through the narrative, the family's secretive backstory slowly unfolds to explain Stella's precarious dilemma. The storyline is laced with mysterious horror that's nicely balanced with a small offering of romantic development. As a Gothic stereotype, Stella is the vulnerable beauty that becomes trapped in the bad place. Is it the structure or the people that make it a dangerous meeting?

Avallone is just a great author and his use of description makes this chilling novel such a pleasure to read. From cavernous dark forests to narrow, entrapping hallways, Avallone's prose is filled with vivid imagery that proves to be a ghostly character unto itself. If you have a supernatural addiction, Dark Cypress offers just enough sinister happenings to make it a furious page-turner. Unfortunately, the book remains out of print and used paperback copies have become pricey. However, I strongly urge you to spend your hard-earned dollars on acquiring a copy.

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Drag Strip

In the 1930s, California essentially became the birthplace of the hot rod. Americans desiring the need to speed looked to the Golden State and its quality homemade cars and the crafty mechanics behind them. By the post-war 1940s, more and more hot rods were found on drag strips or illegal street races. In 1951, the National Hot Rod Association was formed (NHRA) as a brotherhood for grease-monkeys and rebels. So, it's no surprise to find mid-20th Century fiction enamored with fast cars and racing. It was a whole genre unto itself highlighted by Henry Gregor Felson's 1950 novel Hot Rod, a book that bestselling author Stephen King stated was a big influence on his writing. 

One of the authors that thrived in hot rod fiction was William Campbell Gault. Besides writing his Brock Callahan series of private-eye novels, Gault authored a number of racing novels like Speedway Challenge (1956), Dirt Track Summer (1961), and The Checkered Flag (1964). I found a used copy of his 1959 race-noir, Drag Strip, and decided to give it a try.

Drag Strip is set in a fictional California town called San Valdestro. The town functions as a hotbed for horse shows, a pedigree of showmanship for the neighboring Los Angeles County residents. It's here that Terry is raised in an upper-class household. His father is a successful attorney and real estate investor and his sister collects equestrian trophies and ribbons. Early in the novel, Terry's father presents him a Woestman-Ebbert, a $10,000 car that would cost about $90K today based on inflation. Needless to say Terry is the talk of the town. But when he ends up illegally racing two brothers, Juan and Pete, he finds himself obsessed with backyard mechanics and customizing junk cars. 

There's two main plot points absorbing most of Gault's narrative. The first is Terry, Juan, and Pete creates an automobile club and inviting various members to join based on skill and interest. In a way it is a fish out of water story as Terry finds that a heavy, greasy wrench is far more rewarding than his shiny silver spoon. Terry's descent from spoiled, suburban rich kid to garage mechanic in a rough side of town is a development that was really enjoyable to read. The second story arc features Terry's automobile club wanting to purchase an abandoned airstrip in town. The idea is to formally run a drag strip there and hopefully pick up an endorsement from the NHRA. The two obstacles are a business investor and a group of aviator hobbyists. 

If you enjoy fast cars, or this particular era of motor-sports history, Drag Strip will surely please. As a car novice, I was satisfied with the young adult approach by Gault to tell a moving story about hard work and overcoming adversity. The pairing of the wealthy and the poor was a wonderful blend that is just as effective today as it was 60-years ago. For those reasons, Drag Strip is an easy recommendation.

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Paperback Warrior Podcast - Episode 89

On Episode 89 of the Paperback Warrior podcast, Eric takes the reigns for an action-packed 45-mins of vintage paperback discussion. The show hits the road to visit an exciting pulp convention in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Also, a feature on the life and work of author and jazz great Charles Boeckman. Plus: shopping, Bold Venture Press, Theodore Pratt and a surprise visit! Listen on any podcast app, paperbackwarrior.com or download directly HERE

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Listen to "Episode 89: Charles Boeckman" on Spreaker.

Make My Bed in Hell

John Sanford (1904-2003) was born Julian Shapiro in Harlem, NY. After graduating from Manhattan's Fordham Law School, Sanford joined his father as an attorney, yet his career in law was short-lived after discovering art and literature by the likes of Ernest Hemingway. In 1931, Sanford authored his first novel, The Water Wheel, the first of three stand-alone titles that are set in New York’s Adirondack Mountains. This fierce and often opposing farmland was the perfect backdrop for the author's impressive storytelling. My first introduction to the author is his 1939 novel Make My Bed in Hell (aka Seventy Times Seven). In 1954, the book was published with misleading cover art as a crime-noir by Avon. In 2021, Brash Books has reprinted the book for modern audiences with an analysis by Cal State professor Jack Mearns.

While Make My Bed in Hell has a rather simple storyline, Sanford's presentation is very dynamic. In a rather unique and innovative style, Sanford writes the whole book as fragmented parts that are placed in various time periods. To add even more complexity to his prose, the author often doesn't identify which characters are talking. The reader is challenged to determine the dialogue's source instead of following a simple “he said” or “she said” formula. While I found myself perplexed at the peculiarity, the concept was a refreshing reading experience.

When the novel begins, middle-aged Aaron Platt walks a snowy path to his barn. It is there that he finds a frigid man lying in an empty stall. In what appears to be a rather cold-blooded response, Platt allows the man to shiver through the night with very little food or water. As night turns to day, Platt's past is presented to readers in jagged sequences. These are dark, extremely depressing visions of Platt's childhood, his endearing mother, and the brutality thrust upon his family by his aggressive and unyielding father. The harsh elements of childhood bullying, family abuse, death, and poverty is presented as a parallel portrait of a rugged, impoverished farming community that faces immense financial adversity.

Sanford really shined as a complex, but readable, young author that had a unique voice. Considering the wealth of literature I have devoured over 30 years, I've never read a novel like this one. Despite its 1939 conception, the book is seemingly timeless considering America's rural towns and communities that are still struggling with financial distress, lack of government funding, and an aptitude that fighting with each other is sometimes the best solution to life's most difficult oppositions. Sanford's characters are hardened by strife and the land they plow and that gritty combination affected me long after the final pages were read. Make My Bed in Hell is the main character's outlook on his tumultuous life and a fitting title for such a poignant literary novel.

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Race Williams #09 - I'll Tell the World

Carroll John Daly’s Race Willams character was the prototype used by Mickey Spillane for his hardboiled detective, Mike Hammer. For that matter, there’s more than a dash of Race Williams in Don Pendleton’s Mack Bolan. Race’s ninth adventure was “I’ll Tell The World,” a novella that originally appeared in the August 1925 issue of Black Mask and remains available today as a reprint.

As the story opens, Race is broke again and hoping for a new client in search of a “confidential agent” for hire. While browsing through the newspaper classified ads, Race sees a coded message that reads:

“Tom: As promised, 69th C.P.W. Two’s day. Eleven years old. Frantic. Dorothy.”

Race smells an opportunity to make some money and his decoding of the message sends him to a Manhattan street corner where someone else’s clandestine meeting is taking place Tuesday at 11pm. Hiding in the shadows, he witnesses a lone woman being abducted by two men who toss her into their car. Ever the stealthy sleuth, Race follows quietly behind.

The confrontation between the kidnappers and Race only serves to deepen the mystery and underscores the depravity uncovered by sticking one’s nose where it doesn’t belong. For her part, Dorothy the kidnap victim is filled with secrets and appropriately skeptical of trusting Race, the stranger who saves her.

The main mystery of “I’ll Tell The World” is: What chaos has Race stumbled upon here? Why the classified ad? Who are the powerful people behind Dorothy’s kidnapping? And what is their agenda? Without a paying client, Race pursues this because he is curious. Just like the reader. Eventually, his curiosity is rewarded with a paying client who engages him to investigate the matter.

And that’s where the story loses its way. Daly falls for the trap of many early 20th Century mystery writers and creates a confusing and labyrinthian plot that is hard to follow and a pain to read. Race’s swagger remains but the plot lost me at the novella’s halfway point. I’m not giving up on Race Williams, but this installment was a bumpy ride best forgotten. 

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Panic!

California native Bill Pronzini (b. 1943) is mostly known for his Nameless Detective, a series of private-eye novels that began in 1971 and has lasted nearly 50 installments. Pronzini has also authored over three-hundred short-stories and compiled dozens upon dozens of story compilations. The author also has a number of stand-alone crime-fiction novels on his resume including Panic!. The book was originally published in 1972 and has since been reprinted numerous times through various publishers.

In Panic!, five characters are placed in extreme situations where they are forced to behave in different ways to survive. In essence, it's a gritty, fast-moving crime-noir that checks off mostly everything one needs for the genre: beautiful woman, drifter on the run, a veteran cop and two deadly criminals. Pronzini's prose is fast-paced with most of the attention on the present, although the narrative thankfully explains a few important elements from each character's past that helps to connect the readers to these four men and one woman.

This short book is divided into four days and first introduces readers to a drifter named Lennox. Using a variety of names, Lennox is on the run from a failed marriage. During the divorce, Lennox is ordered to provide nearly his entire life's savings and assets to his ex-wife including a sizable amount of monthly alimony. Refusing to pay, Lennox leaves town and is now penniless and stranded in a dusty desert town called Cuenca Seco. Earning three hots and a cot, Lennox begins working for the town's cafe owner for a few days. While Lennox is working in the cafe's basement, two hitmen arrive to empty their guns into the cafe's owner. Lennox, being the only other party in the cafe, sees and hears the event and immediately runs into the desert to avoid the two killers.

In separate parts of the narrative, the two hitmen are introduced – one a seasoned, veteran killer and the other a wet-behind-the-ears apprentice learning his new profession. Also, there's a woman named Jana, an accomplished artist and author who, like Lennox, is also on the run. Although her situation isn't illegal, she's running from an affair in New York that has placed her career on the rails. She's arriving in Cuenca Seco to spend a quiet week writing the book that will meet deadlines and urgent requests. Unfortunately, she journeys into the desert to study rock formations on the day of the killing. After a dehydrated, panicked Lennox runs to her in the desert, she's unwillingly caught up in the deadly chase – two people with no food and water on the run through a dry wasteland as killers track them down.

Then there's Brackeen. He's the real star, although his role is a bit underplayed due to the nature of the character. In a rather mesmerizing backstory, the author shows Brackeen as a veteran police officer in San Francisco. On a really horrific day on patrol, Brackeen's career as a police officer comes to a screeching hiatus. After years of alcohol and depression, Brackeen attempts multiple careers in multiple places before finally putting down stakes in Cuenca Seco. Due to the lack of crime (and people for that matter), the town makes Brackeen a deputy. The former big city cop spends most of his day patrolling the desert and getting slouched. However, once the cafe owner's body is found, Brackeen is propelled into the story as a lovable loser. The state authorities refuse to accept his plausible – and very accurate – proposal of why and how the cafe owner was murdered. His validity as a creditable asset to the community is questioned due to his alcohol abuse and downtrodden lifestyle. 

There's so many things to love and enjoy about Pronzini's simplistic storytelling. The quest for freedom, overcoming adversity, retribution, the replacement of heroes and the mere idea that the average citizen's best approach to fixing a problem is self-realization. Pronzini's desert locale is symbolic – it's two characters running through life without the emotional resources to contend with complexity.

Pronzini is always solid and Panic! is just another testament to his strengths as an author. Despite one scene presented as outrageously preposterous in 2021 (blatantly obvious to today's reader), the novel has aged well. Whether you love hard-charging crime-fiction or gritty character studies, this brisk novel is just fantastic.

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Branded

Author Helen Abbott Meinzer (1918-1963) wrote a number of short-stories in the 1940s and 1950s in western pulps like Western Action, Rangeland Romances, 44 Western and Thrilling Western. She wrote these stories using the pseudonym of A.C. Abbott. Along with the short-stories, Meinzer also utilized the name to author two stand-alone novels – Wild Blood (1951) and Branded (1954). Both of these western paperbacks have been reprinted by Cutting Edge Books. Unfamiliar with the author, I chose to read Branded first.

Three years ago, protagonist Rock Kendall owned a large spread of acreage and cattle in Texas with a business partner named Ash Carlton. Unfortunately, greedy Carlton killed a young woman and framed Rock for the murder. Eliminating Rock from the business, Carlton had complete power and control of the ranch. Now, Carlton has expanded his empire into New Mexico using lies upon lies to prepare for a possible state political seat. Rock, a fugitive from justice, rides into New Mexico looking to clear his name and bring Carlton's criminal enterprise down.

Meinzer's writing is just superb as she uses the proverbial “cattle rustling” sub-genre of western storytelling to create an effective and exciting plot. Rock's quest for justice is riddled with obstacles, painful and deadly reminders that guilty until proven innocent was often the frontier's unfair justice system. Through a series of gunfights, fisticuffs and horse-chases, Rock carefully balances two possible love interests – one an untamed wildcat and the other a soft-spoken lady. The hero's twisting turmoil is center stage while Meinzer distributes possible allies and friends as support through the narrative.

Branded is delivered with solid storytelling that stays true to the roots of the genre. The lone hero's battle against the vile villain is a traditional concept - good versus evil in the mountains and plains of an unjust frontier. With its balance of romance and violence, Branded is sure to please western readers.

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The Outcasts

Author Sally Singer (b. 1930) utilized a number of pseudonyms to author lesbian pulp fiction in the mid-20th Century. The most popular of these pseudonyms was March Hastings, a name she used to author 11 novels from 1958 through 1969. My first experience with the author is her 1961 novel The Outcasts, written as March Hasting and originally published by Midwood. The novel has now been reprinted for modern audiences by Cutting Edge Books.

Jennie is a twenty-something New York woman married to an aspiring artist named Brian. They have had a rocky marriage stemming from a failed pregnancy but remain together to avoid an embarrassing divorce. Brian's sexual urges have led him to months of infidelity while Jennie struggles to control her personal desires and sexual frustrations with Brian. As the novel begins, Brian rapes Jennie before instructing her to accompany him to an art show where his work is being shown.

It's at the art show where Jennie is introduced to Brian's business advocate, a luscious, sexually-charged woman named Leigh. In forced conversation, Jennie learns from Leigh that she has had sex with Brian, thus the personal interest in his below-average painting talents. Leigh and her husband are extremely wealthy and they invite both Brian and Jennie to the couple's swanky seaside mansion for the weekend. Jennie, caving to her desire to learn more about Leigh, accepts the proposal despite her white-hot anger with Brian.

As the wet and wild weekend getaway unfolds, Jennie spirals further into her sexually repressed feelings. The first night at the mansion, Jennie witnesses Leigh and Brian engaged in sexual foreplay, a not-so-shocking discovery that leads Jennie to pleasure herself while watching Brian from a window. Jennie's instinct is that Leigh is toying with Brian, perhaps using him as some sort of bizarre and ritualistic way to attract Jennie. Needless to say, The Outcasts takes a turn into full-on lesbian affairs as Leigh and Jennie realize they are both sexually starving from frustrated heterosexual relationships.

The Outcasts, as a 1961 seedy paperback, isn't remotely graphic by today's standards, but Singer writes in a provocative way that is visually stimulating and somehow still timeless. Regardless of whether you like lesbian pulp-fiction (newsflash: this is my first foray into it), The Outcasts has this riveting subplot that involves Leigh's freakish husband. As the novel ascended from kinky foreplay into heightened arousal, Singer successfully incorporates an element that is mostly found in Gothic Romance – the beautiful young woman trapped in the mansion of doom. Leigh's odd basement combined with her equally odd husband added a sense of panic and fear to what would otherwise be a tame lesbian romance. I believe this additional element upsold me from liking to loving this book. Based on sheer reading pleasure, I'll be reading more of Sally Singer's literary work.

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The King of Horror & Other Stories

Paperback Warrior has a thing for Stephen Mertz. That admiration comes partly from the fact that the M.I.A. Hunter novels were my first introduction to the men's action-adventure genre. Since we started this blog, we have mostly focused our reviews of Mertz's work on military and vigilante fiction like Mack Bolan, Tunnel Rats and the M.I.A. Hunter novels. Thanks to Wolfpack Publishing, a collection of Mertz's short fiction stories has been compiled under the title The King of Horror & Other Stories. This multi-faceted examination of Mertz's fast-paced style offers a blend of genre offerings that display the author's diversity.

While I enjoyed the entire collection, here are some highlights:

“Last Stand” features Blaze and Kate, a unique pair of mercenaries who are married to each other. This gritty duo travels the world, accepting contracts to guard stagecoaches, participate in various revolutions or just killing selected targets. After a long career of blood and bullets, Blaze and Kate eventually saved up enough to retire to Mexico. When the story begins, they are both attempting to cross the border, but are ambushed by Native Americans. Through 11 action-oriented pages, the two of them attempt to shoot their way out only to be plagued by wave after wave of warriors. It's really a last stand for Blaze and Kate as Mertz places these characters in an extreme position to test their love for each other. This is an effective story that shows the powerful force of love through overwhelming adversity.

Like “Last Stand”, the Vietnam War story “Fragged” again showcases Mertz's interesting outlook on marriage and the ties that bind. “Fragged” features Cord McCall, an investigator working for the U.S. Criminal Investigation Division in Saigon. McCall investigates homicide, desertion, robbery and other crimes committed within military ranks. Interestingly, McCall's wife is also in Vietnam as a war reporter. The two find themselves in Firebase Tiger, a military installation where McCall is responsible for a homicide investigation. A lieutenant-colonel in the 13th Infantry Battalion was killed by a hand grenade in his own barracks. It is up to McCall to determine if this is an enemy penetration or if someone within the battalion committed the murder. It is a great return to the golden age of the mysteries of the locked chamber – which, why, where, how. Also, there is Mertz's signature of sandbags, guts and bloody warfare. These two characters also appear in another included story called “Chez Erotique” as well as Mertz's novel Saigon Homicide.

Mertz says that “Talon's Gift” is the nastiest story he has ever written. It's not so much nasty as it is violently shocking. The narrative features a suburban couple named Talon and Evie. When Evie departs to the movie theater, Talon begins to spin the cylinder of his .38 while explaining to readers (and himself) that Evie has been unfaithful. There's some backstory on the neighborhood and the couple's neighbor Pete. The most intriguing part for me was Talon's profession. I won't spoil the fun for you. It's an enjoyable read. 

The book's centerpiece is “The King of Horror”, a short-story that Mertz penned about his friend and longtime author Michael Avallone (1924-1999). In many ways the main character, established horror author Rigley Balbo, is Avallone. Mertz's line, “A man who was cheated and pushed aside by these grubby, Johnny-come-lately punks and their million-dollar contracts and their New York Times bestsellers”, perfectly describes the peaks and valleys of Avallone's career. In first person narration, Balbo explains that he was an A-lister early in his career before the publishing market dried up. Crummy distribution, poor advances and strangled sales have plagued Balbo's career for a decade. Needless to say, Balbo's household name tarnished along with the relationship with his publishing agent. Like one of those old Alfred Hitchcock stories, Balbo has a plan to get even with his agent, a grand scheme that will vengefully heal his heart and mind. However, Mertz pitches a wicked curveball to delightfully wreck Balbo's plan. I loved this story and it's one of those rare “industry insider” stories that jerks the curtain on the hectic and turbulent publishing world.

There are so many great stories in this collection, from Mertz's tribute to the pulps with “The Lizard Men of Blood River” to the slick and violent “The Death Blues”. The compilation showcases all of Mertz's skill and passion - violent storytelling with a powerful sense of love, loss and regret. It was a real treat to find Mertz submerged in many different genres and styles. King of Horror & Other Stories is a real showpiece of skill and craftsmanship. If you've never stepped out of Mertz's Mack Bolan world, this is your certified encouragement to delve into this author's deep literary catalog. It's a dive worth taking.

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McHugh #02 - It's Murder, McHugh

The McHugh series of American spy novels was a five-book series originally published between 1959 and 1962. The author of the McHugh books was a colorful, hard-drinking character named Jay Flynn (1927-1985). The first four books in the series remain available as affordable ebooks, including the second installment, It’s Murder, McHugh from 1960.

McHugh is a spy for the Pentagon who spends his time working in a San Francisco bar awaiting his next assignment from D.C. This case finds McHugh dispatched to Mexico to find two missing Navy pilots from the same jet squadron and a missing supersonic fighter jet. The Department of Defense doesn’t know if the men are alive or dead, guilty or innocent, and it’s McHugh’s job to figure out the truth.

The missing pilots are Nate Bramhall and Donald Long. Before they disappeared, they were both sharing the same woman, Nate’s wife Peggy. McHugh thinks that Peggy may be the key to this mystery as she recently drove to Mexico and has a history of radical leftist politics. When McHugh tracks her down in a small Mexican village, she’s changed her hair color and is otherwise acting quite squirrelly.

While in Mexico, McHugh is joined by his seaplane-flying sidekick and a freelance soldier of fortune with questionable loyalties. The search for the missing pilots and the jet uncovers a sinister Soviet plot with high stakes for Mexico - and the U.S. - requiring some expert thwarting. The author writes good action sequences, but he relies on seaplane travel way too much to push the messy plot forward.

As long as you control your expectations, It’s Murder, McHugh (a crappy title that doesn’t fit the book) is a fun way to kill a few hours. It’s slightly better than an average Nick Carter: Killmaster novel but nowhere near as good as the espionage fiction of Ian Fleming, Donald Hamilton or Edward S. Aarons. There’s nothing particularly wrong with this paperback, but it’s also nothing you should be eager to tackle. 

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Nolan #01 - Bait Money

The Nolan series by Max Allan Collins lasted for nine installments stretching between 1973 and 2021 with some sizable gaps in there. The books are a pastiche of the Parker series by Donald E. Westlake/Richard Stark written with Westlake’s blessing. Hard Case Crime has reprinted the first two installments in one volume called Two for the Money, but I’m starting with the opener, Bait Money from 1973.

As we meet Nolan, he’s a 48 year-old professional heist man recovering from a bullet wound with a dame while feeling sorry for himself. Sixteen years ago, Nolan made enemies with a mid-level Chicago mobster named Charlie, and he’s been dodging and catching bullets from the guy ever since. Through an intermediary, Nolan attempts to broker a truce with Charlie so he can retire from the heist business in peace and run a nightclub without looking over his shoulder.

Finding peace with Charlie comes with a price of $100,000, and the only way to get that kind of cash is to pull one more job. Nolan teams up with three amateurs (always a mistake in heist fiction) to knock over a bank in Davenport, Iowa. Collins populates the paperback with an outstanding supporting cast of underworld characters and bumbling wannabes. The heist planning section is particularly rewarding, and the robbery and aftermath both contain many Grade-A action set pieces.

Overall, Nolan is a more vulnerable character than Stark/Westlake’s stoic Parker, but the differences really worked well. The story structure was similar, and I can’t imagine anyone liking one series and not liking the other. I’m told that Bait Money flows nicely into the second book, Blood Money, so I’m excited to dive back in for more Nolan action.

Addendum: The Nolan Novels in Order

• Bait Money (1973)    

• Blood Money (1973)

• Fly Paper (1981)

• Hush Money (1981)

• Hard Cash (1981)

• Scratch Fever (1982)

• Spree (1987)

• Mourn the Living (1999)

• Skim Deep (2021)

Buy a copy of the first two Nolan novels HERE

The Kid I Killed Last Night

Before he was a successful paperback crime novelist, Day Keene (real name: Gunnard Hjertstedt) was a successful author of short stories in the pulps. Reprint publisher Ramble House has released their seventh volume of Day Keene short stories called The Kid I Killed Last Night named after the story from the September 1949 issue of New Detective Magazine. The 20-page story, reviewed below, originally appeared under the pseudonym Donald King.

Steve Breen is a cop who awakens after narrowly escaping death the night before in a shootout with a street punk. The punk got the worst of it, and is now in the morgue thanks to Breen’s pistol proficiency and more than a little luck. The punk had been stealing a car while high on reefer (it makes people nuts, you know) and opened fire on Breen, a mistake the kid won’t make twice.

Breen is hardboiled as hell, but the killing of the punk has him thinking about everything that’s wrong and corrupt about his city. Due to staff shortages at the department, its incumbent upon Breen to investigate the background of the kid he killed the night before. His personal mission is to find the guy who supplied the kid with dope as well as the local monster who buys the hot cars from the city’s delinquents.

Breen’s investigative technique usually involves knocking the teeth out of the mouth of the wise guy he’s questioning. His brutality is reminiscent of the 1970s serial vigilante paperback heroes such as Mack Bolan. Instead of going after the juvenile delinquents in his town, Breen targets the corruption and culture that turns idle teens into violent criminals.

Overall: a compelling story that was plenty fun to read. It made me want to check out more Day Keene pulp content. Thanks to Ramble House, there’s no shortage of his stories collected for modern readers to enjoy. Recommended.

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The Specialist #02 - Manhattan Revenge

Horror, action-adventure, and science-fiction author John Shirley used the pseudonym John Cutter for an 11-book vigilante series in the 1980s called The Specialist. I read and enjoyed the series debut, A Talent for Revenge, and have waited long enough to revisit this series. I'm picking up chronologically with the second installment, Manhattan Revenge, originally published in 1984 by Signet.

The early installments have a through-story that neatly allows hero Jack Sullivan to fight the villain of the week while still staying on task with his life’s greater purpose. Sullivan's reason to rise and exist each day is the hope that he will eventually locate his lover's murderer, a mysterious villain named The Blue Man. Because of this continuing storyline, readers should be reading the series in order.

In Manhattan Revenge, Sullivan is renting an apartment in a slummy area of New York City when he's approached by a knock-out named Tessa. She runs to his apartment after two men have broken into her place. After asking and receiving his violent assistance, Tessa rewards Sullivan with a sexy romp on the floor (a non-graphic presentation by the author). Afterwards, she introduces Sullivan to a guy in the building who has been asking about him. It turns out the guy is named Malta, and he’s an old ally of Sullivan's when he was working CIA jobs internationally. Now, Malta mostly just sells guns and information and offers both to Sullivan. The job this time recalled some terrifying scene out of Lee Goldberg's second installment of .357 Vigilante (aka The Jury series).

On the Lower East Side, a gang calling themselves Meat Hooks is assisting a sadistic married couple with child sex trafficking in a base of operations informally called The Meat Locker. Malta has learned about the operation due to a child who escaped the facility. The issue with the police learning about the place is that one of the detectives is in on it. If Malta goes to the cops, the bad cop then goes to the traffickers and the kids are possibly all killed in a scramble. Suspending my disbelief at such a preposterous plot, I went all in. And, man...am I glad I did.

Manhattan Revenge is simply awesome. There's a lot happening at one time but the plot is never too dense to be overly-contrived. After taking the job, Sullivan begins killing Meat Hook members one-by-one with a variety of machine guns, sniper rifles, knives and revolvers (his boom-maker is a .357). While conducting hit-and-run tactics, Sullivan also pairs up with a female cop named Bonnie who has an extraordinary ability to shoot and fu...fight. She does the nasty with Sullivan repeatedly. Also in the mix is a tactic often used by Mack Bolan – turning the enemy against each other. By attacking the drug gang calling themselves Bowlers, it interferes with the sex trafficking ring and pits two criminal enterprises against each other.

John Shirley is such a talented storyteller and he clearly received some influences from the crime-noir genre. At one point, Sullivan uses the alias “Richard Stark”, a tribute to Donald Westlake's pseudonym for the Parker series of heist novels. Also, he has Judas Priest playing in a nearby car when Sullivan is searching for gang members. I couldn't help but think Shirley was thinking of the Priest classic hit “Grinder” with the lyrics fitting the story – “Grinder! Looking for meat!” Get it? Sullivan looking for Meat Hooks. Shirley was winking and typing.

The through-story continues with Sullivan learning from Bonnie that a criminal enterprise led by a nickname Blue Man was being run in the Pacific Northwest. During the battle, Sullivan often tells the consumer that he's headed to Oregon in the next installment. That was an invitation that I gladly accepted with my $1.50 token of appreciation at the used book store. Look for my review of Sullivan's Revenge soon.

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Sgt. Hawk #02 - The Return of Sgt. Hawk

In 1979, Belmont issued the eponymous Sgt. Hawk, the first of four published novels authored by Patrick Clay featuring a gruff, tough-as-leather Marine Sergeant named James Hawk. Like Len Levinson's Rat Bastards, the series is set in WW2 on the chain of islands making up the bloody Pacific Theater. That campaign continues in 1980's Return of Sgt. Hawk, the series' second installment.

The novel begins as American Army and Naval forces are thrashing the Japanese occupied Philippine Islands. The assault is bureaucratically led by Kravanart, a bullheaded General who despises the U.S. Marine Corps. In an effort to assault the beach, Kravanart is persuaded to allow three companies, including Hawk, to hit the beachhead and engage the enemy. This heavy lift is welcomed by Hawk. Bloody, battered and shirtless, he scorches his Thompson extinguishing the bad guys while chomping on a plug of tobacco. After the assault, Hawk and the rest of the Marines are ordered to simply camp and wait while the Army and Navy clean up the mess and take the spoils.

In a small village, Hawk befriends a young American woman named Amelia and her cowardly fiance. The trouble begins when Hawk and company are left to “camp” for weeks on end simply waiting for Kravanart to allow them to fight. Eventually, tempers flare and Hawk storms a dense jungle hill, kills everything and stacks the bodies despite the orders to stand down. While the Marines are dishing out the damage, the village is captured by the Japanese forces and Amelia is taken. To complicate matters, Kravanart becomes angered with Hawk's defiance and orders an Army strike-force to search and kill the Marines.

Unlike the series debut, which combined a murder-mystery with gun-blazing action, Clay really branches out here and diversifies the narrative with a variety of subplots across multiple locations. The most interesting of these is a unique fantasy element that presents itself in what is otherwise a war-torn plot. Hawk learns that not only was Amelia captured, but that she was sold to a race of primitive men. In true Robert Howard fashion, Hawk breaks into a castle, fights enemies in a temple and even rescues Amelia from a dungeon filled with poisonous gas. There's really something for everyone – nautical adventure, military missions, shoot 'em ups, a heist, team-based combat and romance – through 225-pages of suspense and action.

I just can't say enough good things about this Sgt. Hawk series thus far. These first two installments are well-written, clever and fairly unique with a  central character who is just a tough son-of-a-bitch. His mannerisms, dialogue, finesse and firepower should appeal to fans of rough 'n rowdy action novels no matter if it's a World War or a range war. He's a lovable, violent white-hat hero clearly created by a fan of those genres. Track this one down as it is truly something special.

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Mountain Majesty #01 - Wild Country

The 1990s proved to be a fruitful era for pioneer westerns. While the mid-to-late 1800s frontier was typically the backdrop for western storytelling, these early pioneer sagas were different. Instead of gunslinger showdowns, cattle rustlers and the U.S. Calvary dominating the western fiction, authors like James Reasoner, William W. Johnstone and David Robbins often placed their westerns in earlier time periods in locations west of the Mississippi River. Six-guns and repeating rifles were sacrificed for tomahawks and flintlocks that captured the essence of the true frontiersman.

One of these series titles was Mountain Majesty. The series lasted eight total installments and was published by Bantam between 1992 and 1995 under house name John Killdeer. According to my research, the first six novels were authored by science-fiction, western and fantasy author Ardath Mayhar and the last two by David Robbins. My introduction to Mayhar and the series is the debut novel titled Wild Country (with beautiful gatefold artwork by Tom Hall).

The book centers around two protagonists who are culturally different. One is Cleve Bennett, a young man who runs away from home after being whipped mercilessly by his abusive father. When his mother attempts to intervene, Bennett's father turns his rage on her. On the defense, Bennett ends up assaulting his father and makes a wise choice to just leave his family and head into the majestic Northwest Territories to learn trapping.

The second series character is a Cheyenne woman named Second Son. After besting most of the male warriors in physical combat, Second Son achieves a level of respect that makes her a “man” within the tribe. She spends most of the narrative hunting, trapping and eventually fighting with a despicable French trapper named Henri Lavallette.

These 1990s pioneer sagas typically showcase the same genre tropes, and this one is no different. Readers are thrust into the Cheyenne customs and traditions when young Bennett is incorporated into the tribe through various physical trials. It's the proverbial “fish out of water” element that captivates the central story-line. While there isn't a lot of action, the tribe does face the villainous trapper and consistently feuds with the Blackfoot tribe.

If you enjoy early entries in The Last Mountain Man, Sacketts (chronologically) and Wagons West then certainly you'll enjoy this as well. From a writing perspective, I think the delivery and plot could have used some spark to compete with the above mentioned titles. Otherwise, this is another solid 1990s pioneer western that's sure to please.

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S.O.B.s #01 - The Barrabus Run

Author Jack Canon spent a majority of his action-adventure storytelling career firmly planted in the Nick Carter: Killmaster series. Canon penned over 40 novels of the series in the 1980s, but he was also contributing to a team-based combat series for Gold Eagle called S.O.B.s. The series debut, The Barrabus Run, features not only Canon but also two additional authors – David Wade (Executioner, Super Bolan) and Robin Hardy – all writing as Jack Hild. This team-commando series was published from 1983 through 1989 with a total of 33 installments. The Barrabus Run is my starting point with this beloved series.

The book's opening chapters introduces two key characters, protagonist Nile Barrabas and eventual team liaison and C.I.A. operative Walker Jessup. This early narrative explains that Barrabas was in the U.S. military from 1958 through his retirement in 1975. His career included extensive training at West Point before joining Special Warfare Training in Fort Bragg and Panama. The advancement led to his placement in a Vietnam Special Forces team. During the conflict, Barrabas received Silver Stars, a Distinguished Service Cross and the eventual Medal of Honor. Then he seemingly disappeared.

Now, Walker Jessup works for a shadowy Senator running administrative duties and delegating high-powered personnel into high-intensity situations. The Senator asks Jessup to run an operation in South Africa. There, the people of Kaluba are subjected to a puppet dictator and the U.S. wants to establish a different leader in his place – Noboctu. Only he is now being held prisoner by the puppet dictator's chief rival, a notorious terrorist named Mogabe. Mogabe wants to become the new dictator and is holding Noboctu prisoner until after Kaluba's elections are over. Follow me?

The formation of S.O.B.s (Sons of Barrabas or Soldiers of Barrabas) originates when this Senator requests that Jessup create a team of specialists who can do his international bidding. The team, described as a dirty strike-force, will perform assignments and tasks that are beneficial to America's security as well as its allies. To lead the group, Jessup picks Barrabas. The problem is that Barrabas has been off the radar performing international mercenary jobs. His most recent venture led to captivity in a Latin American prison awaiting execution. Jessup finds Barrabas there and makes him a deal. He'll spring Barrabas, ultimately saving his life, if Barrabas will come work for Jessup. 

Barrabas agrees to the deal and makes arrangements to recruit ten hardened operatives who fulfill the checklist for a team-based combat series – explosives, driver, sailor, Native American, general commando, etc. The wildcard is a female specialist who also serves as a doctor. The whole team makes for a dirty dozen.

Surprisingly, I enjoyed the hell out of this series debut. I typically like my team-combat titles to feature no more than five members. It's easier to keep up with and a quick read through the recruitment stages. However, this trio of authors really made the recruitment compelling, an asset made even more valuable by making them a bit more vulnerable than the stereotypical “invincible white hats”. The obligatory training and exercise segments was paired with a narrative that featured Barrabas on solo assignments scoring guns, bombs and transportation. Otherwise, 11 people training for combat could have been uninspiring. 

When the mission begins, the authors never tap the brakes and provide for an explosive good time that served two distinct purposes – enjoyment and introducing a series villain in Karl Heiss.

If you love team-combat titles, S.O.B.s certainly seems like an easy choice. Based on this excellent debut, the series seems to possess the correct ratio of dialogue versus action. While this trio of authors will fragment, Robin Hardy takes over most of the series installments going forward. I hope to purchase and review more installments in the coming months. Stay tuned!

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Benedict and Brazos #01 - Aces Wild

Originally born in New South Wales, author Paul Wheelahan (1930-2018) began his career writing and illustrating comics like Captain Power, Sheena, Davy Crockett – Frontier Scout and The Panther.  By the 1960s, Australian comic publishing declined and Wheelahan joined Cleveland Publishing to begin writing western novels. From 1963 until his death, Wheelahan authored more than 800 novels using pseudonyms including Brett McKinley, Emerson Dodge and Ryan Brodie. My first experience with Wheelahan is his western series Benedict and Brazos. It was written under the pseudonym E. Jefferson Clay and ran 27 total installments throughout the 1980s. Since then, the series has partially been reprinted as ebooks by Piccadilly and glossy trade paperbacks through Bold Venture Press. The series debut, Aces Wild, is my first experience with Paul Wheelahan's work.

In the debut's third chapter, the reader learns that Duke Benedict was a Union Captain of Vermont's 10th Militia. Across Georgia's Pea Ridge was the enemy, Confederate Sergeant Hank Brazos. The Confederate’s mission was to escort a wagon containing $200K in gold into Mexico, a valuable treasury that was to eventually start a second Confederacy. At Pea Ridge, Brazos and Benedict face off only to find that they quickly become allies in fighting a bandit named Bo Rangle, the leader of a guerilla force calling itself Rangle's Raiders. After Rangle wins the fight, and steals the gold, Brazos and Benedict shake hands and go their separate ways.

After the war, Benedict becomes a sharp-dressed card sharp and womanizer. Brazos remains a burly brawler who saddle tramps from town to town. As destiny sees fit, the two run into each other in a hot-handed gambling town called Daybreak.

Wheelahan provides a number of narratives that entwine and capture the reader's attention. The first is that Bo Rangle has used some of the stolen gold to set-up a whorehouse governed by Rangle's lady-of-the-night Bellie. The second has a Christian woman's auxiliary hoping to eliminate Rangle's brothel through peaceful and political protesting. Third, a bounty hunter named Surprising Smith is leading a town posse after a trio of outlaws led by a vile villain named Sprod. With this crowded narrative, where do Benedict and Brazos fit?

Benedict is secretly searching for Rangle's gold while laying down some heavy swagger and charm with Rangle's flirtatious Bellie and Smith's luscious girlfriend. Brazos brawls his way through a few bar-room escapades and eventually meets up with Benedict and learns about his plan to find and recover the gold. Striking up a deal – sort of – the two work together to fight the outlaws and recover the gold.

The series' two main characters aren't necessarily the stars of the show. Often I found myself wondering just when the deadly duo were going to slap leather and gun down the baddies. In a rather abstract approach, Wheelahan prolongs the dialogue and set-up and allows some of the other action to play out in separate narratives. Eventually the duo gain some footing that culminates into the proverbial showdown, but it takes a little while to get there. It's clear that the author had plenty of irons in the fire with a busy narrative that has a little something for everyone. The through story originates with the missing gold and Benedict and Brazos deciding to ride off into the next books searching for Rangle and the treasure. That's the series premise and it's probably enough for readers to stick around to learn more.

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Paperback Warrior Podcast - Episode 88

On Episode 88 of the Paperback Warrior podcast, Tom and Eric have a heart to heart conversation about the future of the podcast. We also re-visit the life and literary work of Frank E. Smith, the Gothic paperback craze of the 1960s & 1970s, new Stark House Press releases, and Tom's secret work life is finally revealed! Listen on any podcast app, stream below or download directly HERE

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The Hard Corps #01 - The Hard Corps

After their re-branding from Pyramid, the Jove publishing house experienced a retail bonanza in the mid-1980s. At the height of post-Vietnam War action films like Missing in Action and Platoon, Jove launched a plethora of hard-hitting, hi-octane team-commando series titles like M.I.A. Hunter and The Guardians as well as the novelizations for Rambo II and III. Another series title that Jove introduced to the market was The Hard Corps. It ran eight total installments from 1986 through 1989 and was written under the house name of Chuck Bainbridge. In reality, the series was mostly written by William Fieldhouse (M.I.A. Hunter) and Chris Lowder (Deathlands #01). Fieldhouse's efforts are mostly the early volumes with Lowder writing the series' later installments. The eponymous debut, The Hard Corps, is my first experience with the series.

At 320-pages, this paperback is loaded from cover to cover with action. The book begins with The Hard Corps team liberating a Mexican couple from a terrorist group for a million bucks. This early onslaught showcases the five-man team in their element – violently blowing away the bad guys. After the mission, readers are introduced to the team and the series premise.

The Hard Corps is led by William O' Neal, a former Green Beret captain who excels in all combat situations. John McShayne is the team's primary caregiver, a Korean War vet that handles inventory, cooking and some accounting. Joe Fanelli is the obligatory explosives guy. James Wentworth is O'Neal's second in command and a samurai sword expert. Rounding out the bunch is Steve Caine, my personal favorite. Caine is sort of a loner, a survivalist who is comfortable in the wilderness, an expert in blades and designs various traps to ensnare and kill enemies.

These five guys are all Vietnam vets who served together as a fighting force in Southeast Asia. Now they are mercenaries with a unique relationship with the U.S. government. The C.I.A. and F.B.I. promise to leave The Hard Corps alone as long as they share their valuable intel and also agree to do a few odd jobs for the U.S. brass every so often. The team's C.I.A. liaison is a guy nicknamed Saintly.

The Hard Corps are probably the most organized and efficient team in action-adventure literature. Their compound is located in a rural stretch of the Pacific Northwest. It's here that they live, train, park their choppers and do all of the mission planning. As such, it's unusual when a small team of Vietnamese rebels land a chopper at the team's headquarters.

Unbeknownst to O'Neal and company, Saintly has instructed these rebels to find safety with the Hard Corps. The reasoning behind the safekeeping is that these rebels are being hunted by almost 100 Vietnamese government operatives. Before you groan and ask how this many communist soldiers are in the U.S. undetected, let me stop you. You see the Soviet Union's K.G.B. operatives have secret locations along the Pacific coast. It's easy for the K.G.B. to assist in getting these Vietnamese operatives through the U.S.'s southern border undetected. With this many assassins hunting the freedom fighters, the Hard Corps quickly realize that their unwanted guests have brought plenty of baggage. Their entire compound is surrounded and the rebels are their target.

Fieldhouse uses this double-sized debut to not only tell a story but to also dedicate whole chapters to each team member. In long backstories, Fieldhouse showcases each member's childhood and their natural evolution from the streets to the jungle. Some stories were captivating while others were a bit of a snooze. The book's central focus is simply The Hard Corps holding off waves of enemy forces with high-capacity guns and Earth-quaking explosives. The author's descriptions of guns and other weaponry was thankfully held to a minimum but the violence factor was amped pretty high. This series isn't for the squeamish.

At 320-pages, I mostly enjoyed the book but honestly skipped through some of the biographical sections. With so many of these titles, and so little time, I wanted the meat and potatoes action more than an emotional war story about brothers in arms. Regardless, The Hard Corps is one of the better 80s team-commando series titles and remains fairly respected decades later. If you like Phoenix Force, Eagle Force and S.O.B.s, you'll be at home with The Hard Corps.

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The Long Tattoo

During the 1960s, Jerrold Mundis used the pseudonym of Eric Corder to write five historical fiction novels about the American slave trade and its aftermath. While the books have chronological continuity with a few recurring characters, the author told me they can be read in any order as stand-alone novels. The Long Tattoo is his 1968 paperback about a black regiment fighting in the American Civil War. It’s available today under the Mundis name. 

Labe is a simple and good-hearted slave working as a blacksmith on the Crawford Plantation. One day, three men from the pro-slavery Confederate States of America visit the plantation asking Mr. Crawford to donate some blacks to help support the fight against the anti-slavery Yankees. Labe is volunteered for the job and the next daybreak, he’s off with the rebels. 

The conscripted men meet up with others of their ilk and are marched up to South Carolina under the crack of whips to construct a Confederate fort. Rumors start spreading among the men that if they defect to the Yankee’s side, they’ll be set free from the bonds of slavery. It’s also in South Carolina that Rafe first encounters Bryerson’s Butchers, an Alabama unit of straight-up killers and psychopaths with no patience for Yankees or blacks. 

Acts of cruelty and humiliation targeting slaves abound at the South Carolina fort. Meanwhile, word comes back from soldiers on the front line that the Union was not just freeing blacks but arming them and encouraging them to join the fight against the Confederates. As such, it’s no surprise when Labe slips away from his new masters and defects to the Federal side of the war. 

Labe falls into a Company comprised of escaped slaves under the command of a light-skinned educated black from Massachusetts. The training sequences that transform Labe from an undisciplined slave into a soldier and marksman were fantastic. The narrative lens widens to give the reader a look at the tactical decisions being made as Union troops roll through the South. 

It takes awhile to get there, but the combat scenes starring Labe’s unit are vivid and exciting. I would have liked more of them to emulate the brutality of an Edge western, but they were mostly satisfying - particularly as they lead to the reckoning between Labe’s guys and the terrifying Bryerson’s Butchers from earlier in the novel. 

Overall, The Long Tattoo was a good - but not amazing - combat paperback. The evolution of Labe from slave to soldier was well-told and the fictionalization of Civil War battles seemed realistic enough. The paperback was more historical fiction than pulp fiction, but worth reading if the plot concept appeals to you.

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