The Old Man's Place (aka The Hard Guys)

John Sanford (1904-2003, born as Julian Shapiro) experienced a short career in law before discovering the literature of Ernest Hemingway. In 1931, Sanford wrote his first novel, The Water Wheel, the first of three independent titles that took place in the Adirondack Mountains of New York. After reading Sanford's amazing noir novel Make My Bed in Hell (1939), I was excited to try another of Sanford's novels. Thanks to Brash Books, The Old Man's Place was re-printed this year for the modern public. This Sanford novel was originally published as a hardcover in 1935. It was subsequently reprinted by Perma Books in paperback form in 1953. In 1957, Signet published the book as The Hard Guys. The novel was adapted into a movie in 1971 as My Old Man's Place. 

After his mother's death during childbirth, Trubee Pell was raised by his father, Walter, on a farm near Warrensburg, New York. After abandoning an unfortunate marriage, Trubee joined the army and served during World War I. It is there that he met two low-life scoundrels - James Pilgrim and Martin Flood. The audacious trio boozed it up during the war and afterwards bummed around the U.S. avoiding labor and responsibility. Out of ideas, Pell suggests that the three of them go back to New York and shack up with his father. 

Walter lives a simple, farming life in solitude. At first he's happy to see his son, but soon realizes that tribe has changed significantly since the war. The three men physically and verbally abuse Walter. They force him to work, cook their meals and provide free lodging. While mostly drunk, the men spend their days shooting, illegally hunting and robbing. During a home intrusion, James steals a stack of nude magazines. In one of the books, he finds an ad for dating. 

Like the dating apps of today, James sends out $1 and a brief biography explaining his physical appearance and attributes. The company then forwards this information to a woman in his area. In this instance, James' letter is sent to a young woman from New Jersey named Anna. Her parents have died and she is looking for a husband and a new life elsewhere. James, who is short and fat with rotten teeth, explains in his letter that he is tall, handsome and has a large farm. When Anna arrives at the Pell farm, she is shocked to find out that James does not fit his biography. In addition, she is surrounded by three vicious and sexually charged men in a foreign place miles away from anyone.

Sanford's The Old Man's Place is a carefully designed character study bursting with tension and intrigue. I found myself so emotionally invested in these characters and their raw, primal instincts. The author creates this slow spiral into some very dark places. The ethical, morally centered Walter experiences so much loss and heartache as a father. I was able to identify with this character so much and I felt so much sympathy for him. Anna, who borders upon the angelic, is pushed into this pit of vipers of violence and moral depravity. Sanford's narrative is saturated with rage and grief and has this unusual subtext on human suffering.

Like his novel Make My Bed in Hell, John Sanford is nothing short of extraordinary with The Old Man's Place. It's darkly wonderful and honest, well ahead of its time considering the 1935 publication date. Sanford is seemingly timeless, possessing a rare skillset that rivals some of the best noir authors of all-time. My hat is tipped to Brash Books for affordably inviting modern ages to experience this sensational author.

Get the book HERE

The Underdwelling

Tim Curran is a novelist from Michigan. Since 2003, Curran has authored nearly 15 novellas and over 25 full-length novels. His works are mostly horror-fiction with some fantasy and science-fiction elements. I've read a handful of his novellas and was anxious to try The Underdwelling. It was originally published in 2011 by the now defunct publisher Delirium. It now exists as an ebook via Crossroad Press. 

The tale is set in a small community in rural Michigan. It's here that third-generation miner Boyd works in the deep underground caverns of Hobart Mine. He has a wife and a baby on the way and isn't afraid of the backbreaking, gritty hard work. But, being the new kid in the caves warrants a sort of hazing. He's mistreated as an incompetent rookie by his co-workers. 

The senior crew members place Boyd on heavy grunt work on the lower bottom section of the mine. He's forced to dig out large limestone rocks so the crews can harvest the precious ore. After a disastrous break in the mine's interior walls, Boyd and four others fall into a huge underground chasm of petrified forest. 

As the five men begin to claw their way back out of the rubble, they are surprised to hear bizarre sounds coming from the lower darkness. Exploring this petrified forest, the group finds what resembles a village comprised of fossils of various animals. When the sounds start to creep closer, Boyd and his co-workers find that something is among them in the dark. 

The Underdwelling displays Curran's phenomenal storytelling skills. His descriptions had me breathing the dense dust and grime with these five characters. The sense of unease and isolation was so thick that I felt rushed just to read it. I wanted to escape this darkened prison and reach the surface light. The atmosphere, characters and pace made this story a real pleasure to read. Highly recommended. 

Get the book HERE

Tender is the Flesh

Augustine Bazterrica is an Argentinean writer of novels and short stories. Her second novel, Tender is the Flesh, earned literary prominence in her country. The 2020 Dystopian work has received international praise as a powerful, stunning look at capitalism and industrialized farming. After being encouraged by a friend, I borrowed her copy to check it out.

In the future, animals have been contaminated by a deadly virus. Due to the health risks, most of the world's animal populations have been destroyed. Due to lack of animals, cannibalism has become legal. Body farms have been created that raise humans in the same way that cattle are raised today. These humans (called heads) are raised to consume, so they have no intelligence beyond the walls of the cage. Their vocal cords are removed and based on ethnicity, race, age and gender, humans are packaged into categories and sold. Human meat (known as special meat) is then bought by processing plants (slaughterhouses) where the entire organism is used for food or manufacturing. 

Marcos is a second generation employee of the meat processing industry. He acts as an account executive for "meat runs" where he reviews processes and procurement. After experiencing the loss of a child, Marcos goes into a deep depression and his wife moves out. This loss evokes empathy for the people who are slaughtered. Most of the author's narrative is devoted to Marcos contemplating the whole meat industry and its negative impact on mankind. 

After Marcos is gifted a woman, high human grade, he begins to look after her. Naming her Jasmine, Marcos develops an illegal relationship with her that results in a pregnancy. If the law finds out he had sexual intercourse with a "head," he will be slaughtered. In order to keep the relationship and pregnancy a secret, Marcos hides Jasmine from his home and starts a process of resigning from his work. Complicating matters is the death of his elderly father and a strained relationship with his nagging sister. 

Tender is the Flesh is inspired by several novels. In many ways it resembles the 1953 dystopia novel by Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451. In this book, the protagonist begins to question the government's strict rules and the importance of free will. Other influences range from Aldous Huxley's Brave New World (1932) and the 1973 film Soylent Green, which was loosely based on Harry Harrison's 1966 novel Make Room! Make Room!. More recently, the Japanese anime The Promised Neverland, originally released in 2019, is close to the premise of the story.

As much as I wanted to like Tender is the Flesh, I found it too reliant on graphic torture and death. The central story of Marcos becoming an enlightened citizen was lost in the dense atmosphere of dismemberment and gore. Frequently, the author details the human slaughterhouse, the processes, and additional bi-products of this savage society. In disturbing scenes, Bazterrica describes the brutal torture of puppies and the raping of an adolescent girl. These scenes exist merely for shock value and reminded me of the insane carnage of Jack Ketchum's The Girl Next Door (1989).

I appreciated the social warnings and the clear criticism of animal cruelty, corporate greed and capitalism. There are positive takeaways, but it requires a strong stomach and the ability to distance yourself from the violence. I found it distasteful and over the top. Read at your own discretion. Get the book HERE

Eve Ronin #01 - Lost Hills

Lee Goldberg, twice nominated for the Edgar and Shamus Awards, has written a number of serial titles like Ian Ludlow, Monk, Charlie Willis and Diagnosis Murder. In addition to scriptwriting, Goldberg collaborated with Janet Evanovich on the successful series Fox & O'Hare. One of his most well-received series titles is Eve Ronin. The series was launched in 2019 with Lost Hills and continued with two sequels, Bone Canyon and Gated Prey. To delve into the character and the series, I'm starting with Lost Hills.

Eve Ronin was a deputy in Lancaster, a charter city in Northern Los Angles County. After she made an off-duty arrest of a drunken and abusive celebrity, Eve soared to popularity. Her arrest was captured on a video that went viral. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's department needed positive publicity, so Eve was promoted to detective in the Robbery-Homicide division of the Lost Hills Sheriff’s station. Her partner is Duncan Pavone, a veteran that is less than four months away from retirement.

As one can imagine, Eve faces a lot of criticism from her colleagues. They're not happy about the shortcut she took to get her new job. Further, they feel that her lack of homicide investigation experience is detrimental to the department. Her critics are sexist, unapologetic and unprofessional. Eve's cases will be more difficult to resolve due to the unnecessary obstacles she is forced to confront. 

Eve and Duncan are sent to a house near Topanga State Park, a dense forested area in the Santa Monica Mountains. Once inside the home, the two partners discover a grisly slaughterhouse. The walls and floor are saturated with blood, conveying the violence and death that has taken place. The victims appear to be a single woman, her two children, and the family dog. Mysteriously, there are no bodies. After Eve explores a nearby hill, she is assaulted and knocked out by what looks like a furry monster. 

Goldberg's narrative is a tight, comprehensive procedural that is stylishly episodic in nature. It's easily accessible and was presented like a solid, well-written television show. Eve's determination and commitment to solve the case is admirable. It created a long-lasting, but highly enjoyable, investigation into this poor family's past, their connections and the possible suspects and motives that potentially brought about their horrific demise.

With Lost Hills, Lee Goldberg has introduced a remarkable, tenacious female detective in Eve Ronin. She's flawed, but determined. Inexperienced, but courageous. Outmanned, but defiant. Goldberg places this unlikely hero in a problematic, fast-paced pursuit to find a killer, effectively establishing her as the reliant hero we've always wanted...and deserved. Get the book HERE

Paperback Warrior Podcast - Episode 94

Autumn has arrived and so has Episode 94! On this episode, Eric reviews Philip Ketchum, a prolific author that excelled in the pulps and western genres. Eric reviews Ketchum's "Captain John Murdoch" hard-boiled cop series as well as his short stories, westerns and fantasy offerings. In addition, Eric reviews a 2013 horror novel called Corrosion by Jon Bassoff and his book shopping experience in Port Orange, Florida. Listen on any podcast app, paperbackwarrior.com or download directly HERE:

Listen to "Episode 94: Philip Ketchum" on Spreaker.

Maneaters: Killer Sharks in Men's Adventure Magazines

Both Robert Deis and Wyatt Doyle have been doing God's work. Their collaboration on art coffee-table books like The Art of Samson Pollen (Pollen's Women, Pollen's Action, Pollen In Print), Eva: Men's Adventure Supermodel, and Mort Kunstler: The Godfather of Pulp Fiction Illustrators is nothing short of spectacular. But, my favorite of their collaborations is the series titled Men's Adventure Library Journal (New Texture). These books showcase not only great artwork from vintage Men's Adventure Magazines (MAMs) but also the fictional stories that accompanied them. We've covered a number of these titles here and on the podcast. Books like Barbarians on Bikes, Cuba: Suger, Sex, and Slaughter and He-Men, Bag Men & Nymphos. 

The latest entry in the Men's Adventure Library Journal series is Maneaters: Killer Sharks in Men's Adventure Magazines. The book is available in both hardcover (196 pgs) and softcover (172 pgs) editions. This collection features three decades of thrilling vintage shark stories, all complimented by vividly colorful, awe-inspiring artwork one would expect from the Men's Adventure Magazines. 

Inside, Deis' preface and Doyle's "Death Has Sharp Teeth" introductions outline the book's purpose and how sharks became the most common "man versus animal" stories in MAMs. They proved to be the best adversary, an underwater villain that later soared to new heights with the theatrical phenomena known as Jaws. Doyle explains that "...even among the onslaught of tigers, alligators, and bloodthirsty rodents, sharks were something special." Steve Cheskin echoes those sentiments with his informative foreword. Cheskin, the creator of the beloved Shark Week television programming on Discovery Channel, explains how the shows began in the late 1980s. He illustrates that there is a mystery about sharks, a natural fear of them that captivates people. 

Anyone familiar with MAMs, or Deis and Doyle's prior compilations, will appreciate their dedication to preserving the eye-catching artwork that mesmerized readers of these magazines. On Page 89, Mort Kunstler's artwork is presented as a terrific gallery. The gallery includes an informative write-up titled "The Godfather Meets Jaws." Beyond Kunstler, this book is loaded with artwork from the likes of Ken Barr, Bruce Minney, Walter Richards, Clarence Doore, Wil Hulsey, and Robert Stanley. I'm not an art aficionado, but these paintings are simply incredible. 

With nearly 20 stories, there's plenty of meat to sink your teeth into. From Ray Nelson's cleverly funny "The Mail Carrying Shark" (Real, Sep. 1953) to Tom Darcy's gruesome adventure "The Sharks Got My Legs" (Man's Adventure, Oct. 1959), these stories are outrageously scary, but possess action and adventure narratives featuring prevalent heroes. 

If you aren't a Men's Adventure Library Journal consumer, what's stopping you? Beyond just this Maneaters book, there are hundreds of awesome paintings, gripping stories and unique analysis saturating these awesome compilation and coffee-table books. This is such a neat nostalgia that celebrates a special place in American literature. There's no better place to test the waters than this shark-infested feast.

Get the book HERE

Escape from Five Shadows

Elmore Leonard was a prolific author of crime-fiction and thrillers. A number of his works have been adapted to film, such as Get Shorty, Rum Punch and Out of Sight. However, he cut his teeth on classic western tales and novels. One of them, Escape from Five Shadows, was first released by Dell in 1956. It has since been reprinted by a variety of publishers many times.

The main character of the book, Corey Bowen, explains how he ended up in the dusty and dry workcamp of Five Shadows. After his father died, Bowen worked as a miner and a cattle herder. Between jobs, Bowen meets another cattleman named Manring in a bar. After learning from Bowen's experience, he hires Bowen to ride along with him on a small cattle drive. Bowen reviews Manring's bill of sale and determines that he legitimately bought the cattle. However, after only a couple of days on the trail, the law comes. Bowen and Manring are charged with stealing cattle and sentenced to years of hard labor at Five Shadows. 

This Arizona prison is run by a man named Renda. The government provides Renda .75 cents a day for each of the 30 prisoners and cash for supplies. Renda keeps a majority of the money and limits the prisoners to a small diet with very little accommodations. They sleep on blankets, eat wormy food, and suffer health conditions. Renda can't afford any of his prisoners to escape, thus his criminal empire will fold. 

Throughout the book's narrative, Bowen and Manring plan a prison break. This will not be easy due to the use of Apache Scouts and trackers around the camp's outer perimeter. However, in pocket narratives, Leonard creates some inner turmoil within the camp. The superintendent's wife is planning on exposing Renda, but she's being held against her will. She proposes that Bowen kill her husband and make a run for it. At the same time, a young woman named Karla has an attraction to Bowen. She wants to expose the corruption and Bowen's innocence through the courts. What method does Bowen use - escape from violence or patiently await a new trial in a judicial system that has already betrayed him once?

Leonard's western examines political corruption - greed, deceit, and the quest for power. Bowen's decision on how to escape the prison is an interesting one. There's a lot of moving parts and the novel requires the reader's concentration. The narrative isn't laced with action, but instead relies on strong characters and an intriguing story. I found both female characters to be determined to a fault - one craving violence and the other nearly angelic. The contrast was brilliant.

If you require an action-packed prison break story, Escape from Five Shadows is unlikely to satisfy you. If you want the complexity of crime and the slow unravel of authority, this novel will deliver the goods. It's a smart, well-written novel that offers a rather unique plot for the time period. Recommended. Get the book HERE

Mr. Cables

Mr. Cables is an 82-page novella from 2020 by horror author Ronald Malfi. The story is narrated by a successful horror author named Wilson Paventeau. At a bookstore signing, a fan asks him to sign a 1999 hardcover called “Mr. Cables” by Wilson Paventeau. The problem? Wilson never wrote the book.

He trades the mysterious hardcover for a copy of his new novel and brings the book home. It’s published by an unknown imprint that placed Wilson's photo on the author page with a mostly-accurate bio. Why would anyone go to this much trouble to create a counterfeit book?

Things start getting truly scary once the reader begins to understand the content of the book itself. I won’t spoil it for you here, but Malfi avoids the trap of using the “book inside a book” gambit and instead allows the reader to draw their own conclusion about why the novel scares its readers so much.

Late-book revelations shed satisfying light on what exactly is happening here as Malfi explores the sources of the authors’ ideas and inspiration. I enjoyed Mr. Cables quite a bit and found sections to be genuinely unnerving. As such, I can recommend this book to contemporary horror fans without reservation. This was my first experience with Malfi’s writing, but it won’t be my last. 

Get the book HERE

The Hole

William Meikle (b. 1958) is a prolific Scottish author of fantasy, science-fiction and horror short-stories and novels. He has created a number of series titles like Augustus Seton, Carnacki, and The Midnight Eye Files. Beginning in 2011, Meikle has authored seven Sherlock Holmes novels. I’ve read a number of Meikle’s horror novels, including The Hole. It was originally published in 2013 by Dark Fuse and now exists as an ebook and audio download through Crossroad Press.

The Hole concerns a large sinkhole that suddenly appears in a small rural town. From this deep recess is a piercing hum that begins to affect the town in different ways - nose bleeds, horrific visions, paranoia, etc. The two main characters, the town’s sheriff and doctor, begin interviewing and medically treating their town’s residents. But, when the hole begins to expand it’s up to these professionals to evacuate the town. What is the hole and what are the strange creatures climbing from its depths?

William Meikle delivers a taught, fast paced thrill ride with The Hole. The novel isn't a far cry from the formula concocted by the horror greats long ago. The sleepy setting is like many cookie cutter fictional towns plagued by paperback terrors. Meikle provides an average cast of characters who are placed in extraordinary circumstances to see how they react. It's the crime-noir logic that Stephen King has used for decades, the obligatory road map for authors to attack small towns with their horrifying creations. Meikle utilizes this horror trope remarkably well. His characters are admirable, genuine, and the reader has no recourse other than to care deeply about their fates. 

While the story itself is traditional, leaning on Lovecraft's "Old Ones", The Hole really excels in the pacing, a crucial element that seems to be lacking in fiction regardless of genre. The shorter length is a blessing compared to the 500+ page hardbacks that currently dominate the industry. Once this demonic chasm opens, the story unfolds quickly with a frantic pace that never becomes trapped in the details. Houses are swallowed, people are devoured and a small piece of the reader's nerves are crumbled like the outer edges of this small town. Meikle wraps it all up in a tight package that thrives in the darkest recesses, yet shines as another outstanding entry for this talented storyteller. 

Buy a copy of this book HERE

Crime Cop

Using the pseudonyms Larry Holden and Larry Heller, New Jersey native Lorenz F. Heller (1910-1965) authored two police procedural crime novels in 1959 and 1962 titled Crime Cop and Body of the Crime. Stark House Press has reprinted these lean thrillers in one volume with an introduction by retired LAPD detective and author Paul Bishop. As a huge fan of Heller’s writing, I was excited to plunge into Crime Cop.

Taking cues from Ed McBain’s 87th Precinct series, Crime Cop is set in the fictional metropolis of Hudson. Heller does a nice job of mimicking McBain’s third-person narrative voice. Our featured cops are robbery Detectives Jeff Flavin and George Gilman (presumably before he wrote the Edge westerns), and they are busy dealing with actual crimes, chronic complainers and tips from chatty stoolies.

Amid the day-to-day chaos, Flavin is summoned to a boss’ office to be briefed on a big case. A series of residential home invasion robberies resulted in the death of a female homeowner. Homicide is working the killing, and they need Flavin and his partner to tackle the robberies providing the department with two avenues to solve the crime.

Beyond the normal procedural steps of interviewing potential witnesses, there is some interesting pre-computer police science elements to the plot that were completely fascinating. The compiling of clues and inferences gained from those clues is an exercise in pure Sherlockian deduction. As cops, Flavin and Gilman are logic machines and a pleasure to read.

Smart legwork by the crime cops - punctuated by vivid hardboiled dialogue - develops a viable suspect for the robberies and the killing. There are twists and turns along the way. We also get several vividly-drawn characters filling out the cast, culminating in a satisfying ending.

Crime Cop reminded me of an exceptional Ed McBain 87th Precinct cover band. In many ways, I preferred Heller’s writing and plotting to McBain’s work. The good news is that - thanks to Stark House - readers don’t need to choose. Read them both.

Fun Fact:

There’s a homicide detective in Crime Cop named Ben Tutchek who is the main character in the author’s Body of the Crime. Interestingly, the 1962 paperback was published under the quasi-pseudonym of Larry Heller. The author was setting himself up for a Marvel Universe (or 87th Precinct) of inter-connected cop stories from Pyramid Books, but tepid sales couldn’t justify a third novel. Thanks to Stark House for reuniting this two-book “series” into a single volume.

Get the book HERE

One of Us

According to his Amazon home page, Thomas Simpson lives in Glasgow, Scotland. He wrote and directed the short film I, Alive, whose premiere took place in 2011. He is also a horror author with two self-published novels, One of Us (2019) and Blackened (2020). I borrowed a copy of One of Us from a friend, hoping for a good old-school novel about slashers.

Michael is slipping out of his daily office job. After taking some needed PTO, Michael heads out into the open air to soak up the sun, fish, drink beer and kill. That's right, kill. You see, Michael is a serial killer. He tortures and kills one person annually. After meeting Fred, both men formed a special bond that allowed them to enjoy this annual killing ritual. This year is pretty special. Michael is bringing his younger brother Jason to show him the ropes. Think of it as a gruesome internship. As a trio, they hope to earn a trophy in the wild.

While Michael, Jason and Fred are loading up for a vacation gorefest, Sarah is also looking forward to a vacation. She hopes the great outdoors is the remedy to heal her estranged relationship with her brother Kevin. They've recently lost their mother and are grieving. With two of Sarah's friends, the foursome arrive at the family cabin. With no electricity or cell phone service, these four may be the perfect prize for the killers.

It is clear that Simpson is a fan of horror, but above all a fan of the slasher subgenre. These three murderers (named after horror icons) attack a young woman before finding Sarah's friends. In addition, in the flashbacks, readers relive sessions of torture and murder of previous outings. These scenes are not for the squeamish. There are the mandatory chase scenes, the stigma of the final girl and the atmosphere and location of the classic outdoor slasher film.

With One of Us, Simpson creates the perfect horror novella, complete with compelling characters, a fast pace and plenty of grisly horror to please the diehards. 

Get the book HERE

Pop. 1280

Jim Thompson (1906-1977) is a celebrated author of noir paperbacks from the 1940s through the 1950s. I've struggled with his writing style and haven't latched onto that one Jim Thompson novel that inspires me enough to fully appreciate his literature. Many point to Pop. 1280 as one of his finest works. It was originally published in 1964 by Fawcett Gold Medal and has been reprinted numerous times since. 

Nick Corey is Sheriff of Potts County, a rural riverside town with a population of 1,280. Corey sleeps late, drinks at work, accepts bribes from the local whorehouse and rarely carries out police work. He's the ultimate scoundrel. After years of being verbally and physically abused by two town pimps, Corey requests the aid of a nearby county sheriff named Ken Lacey. Corey sits down with Lacey to explain his dilemma. After ridiculing Corey, and providing a lot of racist comments, Lacey instructs Corey to become deadly aggressive. 

When Corey comes back to town, he takes Lacey's ill-informed advice to heart. He shoots and kills both pimps and tosses their bodies into the river. These murders push Corey to continue this vicious aggression and put caution to the wind. Corey also begins having an affair with his wife's friend Rose while simultaneously engaging in a sexual relationship with a town woman named Amy. Throughout Thompson's speech, Corey plans and kills people while ensuring his re-election in the upcoming vote.

If Pop. 1280 is Thompson's masterpiece, then I have little hope that I will ever like the author. I hate novels where I must reside in the mind of a psychopath. The novel is presented in the first person of Corey's perspective and I just wanted to escape his model of thinking. While these types of "ride with the killer" novels are popular, I just can't seem to enjoy them. With the killer, and the killer's intentions, in full display, there is no real mystery or suspense. It's like trying to get the toothpaste back in the tube. Once it is out, it's out.

Like most of Thompson's novels, every character is a worthless human being devoid of any common decency. I didn't have any reason to love anyone, and I didn't care what happened to them. I need a well-written narrative with characters that I can identify with and sense a kind of connection with. I need to care about the characters. Thompson provides none of that. Instead, his objective is just to create excessive characters that are profane, too sexual and have very little common sense. In poor taste, he passes these characters off as an inbred race of rednecks.  

I know I don't understand the full significance of Thompson's writing and what makes it truly unique. That's okay, I don't have to understand it or like him. His dialogue, murderous viewpoint and morally flawed characters attract generations of worshiping fans. I'm glad he has a fan base. After trying to enjoy a handful of his novels, I probably will never open another one. This kind of literature seems beneath me. There are remarkable books from remarkable authors. From my perspective, Jim Thompson is not one of those. 

Buy a copy of this book HERE

Don't Speak to Strange Girls

Harry Whittington was a master of crime-noir, but wrote novels in many different genres like romance, sleaze, slave gothics and westerns. I've mostly been attracted to his crime novels and westerns, but I wanted to step out of my comfort zone and try something different. I decided to purchase his 1963 paperback Don't Speak to Strange Girls. It was originally published by Fawcett Gold Medal and now exists as an ebook by Prologue Press.

Clay Stuart is a 45 year old movie star living in Hollywood, California. Clay is from a poverty-stricken family in Nebraska and now lives a life of luxury. He's experienced decades of marquee film success as a leading man in war and westerns. In the first few pages, Clay attends the funeral of his longtime wife, Ruth. Back in his spacious mansion, Clay begins to receive the encouragement and greetings of his dedicated staff. His business manager is Marty, his agent is Marc and his assistant Kay deals with the rest. The trio urge Clay to mourn, but to get back to work as soon as possible. It will do him some good. 

Clay doesn't go back to work. Instead, he grieves with bottles of alcohol and a sense of displacement. His wife is dead. What happens now? Marty and Marc both attempt to cheer Clay up with hunting trips, prostitutes and a script for a new western called Man of the Desert. Even Clay's studio execs want him back. But Clay is despondent and can't find a reason to rise and exist each day. That's when Joanne Stark arrives.

The initial introduction is made over the telephone. One day, Clay responds to the phone and a young woman mysteriously charms him. Her questions are rather innocent, but she has a self-confidence that most women do not possess when chatting with celebrities. Clay wants to know how she obtained his unlisted number and she flirts around the answer. Eventually, he bids her farewell and dismisses the call as a starstruck fan who got lucky with a Hollywood insider. She'll never call again. But she does. And, for the first time in a long while, Clay feels excitement again. He gains a thrill that he hasn't experienced in decades. Joanne Stark is an amazing individual... by phone. Should they meet?

Against the advice of almost everybody, including his wise old butler, Clay invites this young woman into his home. When Joanne shows up, Clay is astounded by her beauty. She's like a living, breathing doll. Her behavior is both seductive and innocent, a rare combination which causes a reversal of roles. Clay is infatuated with Joanne. She explains that she has a love for Clay since she was little and that she wants what he has. She wants to become an actress, she wants to be famous, she wants to be rich.

Despite Kay's judgment, Clay and Joanne start a fire that burns for weeks. Both are madly in love and Clay, who could be Joanne's father, feels young again. As Whittington's narrative expands, Clay begins to suspect that Joanne may be using him to gain a shortcut into Hollywood. But he's so in love, he doesn't care about it. Is he able to maintain a one-way relationship with this young, beautiful woman? Once she gains her own fame and fortune, why will she still need Clay? After Clay's agent looks into Joanne's small town history, things begin to look rather bleak for Clay's future. This woman is a wildcat.

Whittington can write his ass off and Don't Speak to Strange Girls is exceptional. There's so many introspective aspects to the story that make it so compelling. Whittington wants to know what we could do for fame and fortune? He examines the Hollywood elite and how it compares to the daily lives of average Americans. It's a fish out of water story, but it goes both ways - Joanne caught up in the filthy rich and Clay adjusting to a younger generation. When each is exposed to the other's social world, it triggers a chain reaction that affects their emotions in several unusual ways.

Like the films A Star is Born and (ahem) Pretty Woman, Don't Speak to Strange Girls brilliantly exposes the consequences and fallout when the average human consumes too much too quickly. It's elementary, but not in the hands of Harry Whittington. Instead, it's one of his greatest novels and it doesn't contain a single murder. Well, maybe just that one near the end. But you should find out on your own. That's a pretty big invitation. 

Buy a copy of this book HERE

Deeper

James Arthur Moore (b. 1965) is a Bram Stoker nominated author of horror, role-playing and television tie-in novels. The Atlanta native has multiple series titles, including Harvest and Bloodstained. After reading and enjoying his novels, Blood Red (2005) and Fireworks (2001), I purchased his 2008 novel Deeper. It was originally published by Necessary Evil in 2008 and then again by Berkley in 2009. 

The book is set somewhere on the New England coast and stars an elderly man named Joe. Joe charters fishing trips for tourists on his sizable yacht and mostly lives a quiet happy life with his wife. A professor and members of a nearby college faculty hire Joe to pilot them to a beachside town called Golden Cove. It's here the group can dive and explore a chain of underground caves rumored to exist. 

Joe wants to accept the job but is very hesitant about the route's ultimate destination. Over the years he has heard the sailor stories about the small coastal town. Supposedly, there are monstrous creatures that terrorize boats and crews off the reef. Additionally, rumors abound that the town's population behave aggressively to tourists. This isn't a cozy place where they leave the light on for you. When Joe ends up accepting the job, he discovers that the rumors are indeed true. There is a whole lot of terror waiting in Golden Cove. 

Deeper starts with a bang and ends with a really strong finish. However, I though the middle portions were a little slow. The narrative features action, a central mystery and an eerie ambiance with Moore detailing the fog enshrouded village of Golden Cove. I imagined those opening scenes from the Dark Shadows TV show depicting a high tide enshrouding the misty beach. Moore connects to H.P. Lovecraft fans as this book mentions Innsmouth and the Miskatonic University (both locations used in Lovecraft's literature). 

Overall, James A. Moore is a tremendous talent and Deeper is an entertaining read. If you love traditional horror or underwater terror, think of Deeper as a horrifying combination of Jaws and Cthulu. Get the ebook HERE

Challenge the Widow-Maker and Other Stories of People in Peril

Clark Howard was a crime-fiction and true crime author that grew up as an orphan in Chicago's lower West Side. After surviving the Korean War's Battle of the Punchbowl, Howard became a full-time writer and a prominent contributor to mystery magazines like Alfred Hitchcock, Ellery Queen, and Mike Shayne. Thankfully, his estate has partnered with Mysterious Press/Open Road to offer two reprinted books collecting many of Howard's most well-known and award-winning short stories. 

The first is Challenge the Widow-Maker and Other Stories of People in Peril and the second is Crowded Lives and Other Stories of Desperation and Danger. Originally these were released as rather unattractive hardcover editions in 2000 by Five Star Publishing. Mysterious Press/Open Road reprinted these books in 2020 with modern covers in ebook format. My first peek at these is Challenge the Widow-Maker...

The book contains 12 short stories, including Ellery Queen Readers Award winners like "The Dakar Run", "Scalplock", "Animals" and his 1980 Edgar Award winner, "Horn Man". Most of the other stories were all nominated for various awards, including two Spur nominees in "The Plateau" and "Custer's Ghost". After reading the collection, here are a few highlights:

"Horn Man"

This story was probably influenced by the author's fondness of jazz, a genre he discovered in southern America in the 1940s. In the story's beginning, a former jazz star named Dix departs a Greyhound bus in New Orleans. After talking with an old friend, Dix explains that he has been in prison for 16 years after taking the fall for a woman named Madge. He asks his friend where Madge is now and that he wants to see her. His friend isn't sure if Dix is wanting to rekindle a relationship with the woman or murder her. It's an entrancing story as Dix is courted by both a jazz club owner and his friend to pick up an instrument again. When a seasoned cop becomes involved, this 31-page story speeds to an interesting finale where the sins of the past come to light. 

"The Plateau"

While this was nominated for a Spur award, it's not a traditional western. The story is set in a western town in the future. The last two living North American buffalo are owned by an old widowed man nicknamed Tank. The buffalo owner scratches out a meager living in a small Montana town with his daughter Delia. The state has created a lottery system where three winners will be allowed to hunt the last remaining buffalo in North America. But, when Tank realizes that one of the buffalo has died, he begins to gain a fondness for the remaining animal. Her name is Hannah and she's an old, female buffalo (cow) that has been in Tank's life for a long time. While he desperately needs the proceeds paid to him by the state, Tank attempts to smuggle Hannah into the rugged Black Hills ahead of the three hunters. The ensuing chase is a an exhilirating, and emotional read as Tank not only faces Hannah's extinction but also his own morality. It's an exceptionally well-written story.

"The Dakar Run"

Jack Sheffield is an aging race-car driver with a gambling addiction. Due to some bad luck, he's racked up a large debt owed to a French criminal named Marcel. One evening, his estranged daughter Chelsea appears and advises Jack that she's dating a race-car driver. She is requesting that Jack visit her boyfriend to review a super-car he's created for the famous, grueling race known as the Paris-Dacar Rally (today it's the Dacar Rally). It's an off-road endurance race that welcomes any driver and any vehicle. The event transpires across multiple countries, including a long stretch of the Sahara Desert. Jack has run the race before and lost, but his experience could prove valuable to Chelsea and her boyfriend. After Jack reviews the car, known as Max-One, he realizes it has a real shot at winning. The problem is that Marcel approaches Jack later and demands that he sabotage the car so that Marcel's large gamble on a marquee driver could potentially pay off. If Max-One wins, Jack's estranged daughter will benefit and his relationship with her could improve. If Max-One loses, Marcel will erase Jack's gambling debt from his books. I would love to reveal the surprise twist, but that wouldn't be fair to potential readers. This story was simply awesome and it possessed some of the same elements of Howard's stuntman novel The Last Great Death Stunt (1977).

Here is a complete listing of the book's stories and the original publication they were culled from:

"Horn Man" - Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine June 1980
"All the Heroes Are Dead" - Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine December 1982
"Puerto Rican Blues" - Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine April 1983
"Challenge the Widow-Maker" - Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine August 1990
"Animals" - Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine June 1985
"Scalplock" - Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine July 1986
"The Dakar Run" - Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine August 1988
"Custer's Ghost" - Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine May 1983
"The Plateau" - Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine July 1984
"Split Decisions" - Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine December 1994
"Mexican Triangle" - Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine October 1981
"The Dublin Eye"- Ellery Queen Prime Crimes February 1984

Overall, Challege the Widow-Maker...should be in your Kindle library right now. If it isn't, please use the below link and remedy that problem HERE

Aliens: Phalanx

The 1979 Ridley Scott film Alien spawned a superior big-budget sequel titled Aliens in 1986. Since then, the Twentieth Century Fox franchise has spawned additional films, comic books, video games, lunch boxes and around 40 media tie-in books all featuring Xenomorph monsters battling rivals for interplanetary domination.

Scott Sigler is a successful contemporary novelist specializing in violent and futuristic, original novels, so it’s natural that he was green-lit for an Aliens tie-in story of his own. His 2020 entry in the universe is a stand-alone action paperback called Aliens: Phalanx that has been getting high acclaim from horror fiction aficionados.

Like the film Aliens, the novel showcases a tough female protagonist driving the action. Her name is Ahiliyah Cooper and she’s the 19 year-old crew leader of a group of “runners” delivering supplies and messages among the humans on a mountainous jungle island called Ataegina. The island is home to multiple tribes of humans living in underground medieval fortresses distant from one another. There was a time in the past when there was order in this kingdom, but things have pretty much gone to seed.

Many of the novel’s opening chapters are dedicated to world-building, and the author does a great job with the all expositional stuff. The island of Ataegina reminded me of Westeros from Game of Thrones if every faction lived in hidden shelters and travel among the tribes for trade was perilous. The paperback is intentionally vague about the island’s location in the universe. Is this an Earth of the future? A colonized other planet? An alternate historical reality? Answers regarding the novel’s setting are revealed slowly, and you won’t get any spoilers here today.

Unfortunately, the island is infested with Xenomorph Aliens that the humans call demons. As we join the action, Ahiliyah’s tribe lives and survives in the safety of their fortress shelter. They are cautious about going out at night when the demons do most of their hunting. Ahiliyah’s dream is to learn enough about the demons that one day the humans can hunt the monsters instead of the other way around. The only upside is that man doesn’t fight man anymore. The fiefdoms generally get along and engage in free trade. The common enemy of the demons did the trick of ending human war.

After returning from a trading run, Ahiliyah is informed by her leaders that she’ll need to immediately depart on another run with her crew. A sickness has befallen her people and the necessary medication is only available for trade across the island with another tribe. Of course, that means covering many miles on foot without being killed - or worse - by the demons who roam and hunt the island.

From there, adventure awaits. The author was clearly influenced by otherworldly fantasy novels as well as popular young-adult fiction, including The Hunger Games. There’s plenty of gore and adult content to keep the splatter fans happy as well. Some of the dialogue was a bit wooden and juvenile, but the action-suspense scenes were top-notch. The most interesting thing is how little the novel had anything to do with the Alien universe beyond the description of the demons plaguing the island. The upside is that if you know nothing about the Alien films or their extended properties, you can still have a fun time reading Aliens: Phalanx.

Like all contemporary novels, the book is too damn long at 500+ pages, and would have been more effective at half that length. This isn’t anyone’s fault because it’s a 2020 novel, and that’s just how long books are these days. To the paperback’s credit, it was never boring. Fans of action-adventure fiction will find a lot to enjoy in Aliens: Phalanx making it an easy recommendation for Paperback Warrior readers. Get the book HERE

The Specialist #03 - Sullivan's Revenge

The Specialist is an 11 book series that ran from 1984 through 1985. The series was authored by John Shirley under the pseudonym John Cutter. These novels were originally published by Signet and are now available as affordable ebooks through Lume Publishing. I've read and reviewed the first two entries in the series and was happy to jump into the third installment to continue the series through-story. 

In the first two installments, Jack "The Specialist" Sullivan is featured as a vigilante that helps average citizens with various problems they experience. He never charges for these services but will gladly take any monetary handout. His experiences in Vietnam and Afghanistan enhance his resume significantly. Sullivan is an expert in weapons, hand-to-hand combat and military strategy. While he's performing these services, Sullivan also has a goal. He witnessed his wife's murder by a terrorist cell led by an individual known as The Blue Man. At the end of the second installment, Manhattan Revenge, Sullivan learns that The Blue Man may be running a terrorist training camp in the Oregon wilderness.

In Sullivan's Revenge, the third series entry, this backstory is resolved as Sullivan travels to rural Oregon to find The Blue Man. To accomplish the mission, he uses his friend Malta (his assistant in the first two books) to accompany him to the area to help plan the assault. Malta also recruits two hardened mercenaries to assist Sullivan.

Traditionally, men's action-adventure novels of this type require that the hero join the bad guys in an elaborate scheme to destroy the heinous organization from the inside out. Shirley's uses this genre trope to place Sullivan inside the terrorist camp. It's here that Sullivan passes a physical trial to join the organization. In doing so, he comes face to face with The Blue Man. A bulk of the narrative has Sullivan suppressing his rage to better coordinate an assault with his outside team. He also experiences a pleasurable relationship with The Blue Man's daughter. 

There's no real surprises here as Sullivan mows down the terrorists like a high-numbered Mack Bolan installment. Shirley is a great writer and I enjoyed the side story of Malta facing a group of racist local bullies. I don't own the fourth installment of this book, but the events in this novel's finale certainly seems to resolve this opening trilogy of stories. I found all three books to be enjoyable and a great way to propel this series into the upper echelons of men's action-adventure fiction.

Buy a copy of this book HERE

The Arm

Clark Howard authored short-stories for digest magazines like Ellery Queen and Alfred Hitchcock. Beginning in 1967, Howard began writing full-length novels of crime-fiction and action-adventure. As a big fan of Howard's writing, I was anxious to learn that his literature has been reprinted in digital format by Mysterious Press. After reading several of his mid-career novels, I wanted to check out his first book to see how they compare. I purchased The Arm, a crime-noir novel originally published in hardcover in 1967 and then later reprinted as a Fawcett Gold Medal paperback in 1970. In 1987, the novel was adapted into a film called The Big Town starring Matt Dillon, Tommy Lee Jones and Diane Lane.

J.C. Cullen, nicknamed "Cully", is a hayseed plow boy from Evansville, Indiana. In the book's opening pages, Cully arrives at a Chicago bus terminal with a battered briefcase and a curiosity for the big city lights. You see, Cully has what the gambling industry likes to refer to as "the arm". He's a craps thrower that can seemingly control the dice and make them dance. After racking up small town money, a retired gambler named Hooker refers Cully to a gambling racket in Chi-Town. Upon arrival, Cully follows his directions to a man named Ferguson.

In a room in the back of a bar, Cully learns that Mrs. Ferguson runs a craps gambling racket. The way it works is that Cully is provided a few hundred dollars each afternoon and it is his responsibility to play that money in illegal craps games all over the city. Why does Cully need Ferguson or a racket? Because Ferguson, and her blind husband (more on him in a moment), know where all the craps games are played and they have protection from the police to look the other way. In return, Cully has free money to bet, but his take of all winnings is 20%. The Fergusons keep 70% and 10% goes to Hooker, the referral source.

After just a few nights, Cully begins winning nearly every game and soon earns thousands of dollars. While Cully is working for the Fergusons, he's free to play games on his days off. Cully begins ascending through various levels of entry and intermediate level play. Eventually, Cully begins playing at a professional level, again illegally, where his peers are just as talented as he is. With a unique method of quick mathematical deduction, Cully starts winning tens of thousands of dollars in his free time. And seriously pissing off Chicago's finest craps shooters.

Remember Mr. Ferguson? His story is that he was once as good as Cully. But, a poor sport threw a pan of acid at him after a sizable loss. The incident burned Mr. Ferguson's eyes and permanently blinded him. The attacking player ran off and since then Mr. Ferguson has paid $100,000 to detectives and players hoping to locate him for some much needed payback. The only clue was that this man possessed a heart tattoo on his inner wrist. This ties into Cully because he meets a player that matches Mr. Ferguson's attacker. This revelation brings Cully to a crossroads - does he need favors and credit with Mr. Ferguson enough to sentence this seemingly nice player to death?

Beyond the narrative's grimy expose on backroom gambling and Cully's important decision making is...sex. Cully's fiercest rival is a man named Cole. His main squeeze is a knockout stripper named Lorry. Cully becomes infatuated with the woman and soon finds himself in a dangerous, heated affair that elevates his competition with Cole. But when she pitches a murder scheme on him, Cully must decide if Lorry's love is worth the price of murder.

If you haven't figured it out by now, I loved this book. The Arm has so many crime-fiction elements, but also ties in a familiar genre trope with illegal gambling. Clark Howard's biography stated that he loved watching the craps shooters in and around Memphis and other parts of the deep south. His affection for the game bleeds onto the pages, from the pool halls and bars to the mental dynamics of dice rolling. I found myself down the YouTube rabbit hole learning more about craps shooting and its history.

Cully's evolution from poor country boy to rich city slicker was just a real pleasure to read. Like any fish out of water story, there's the inevitable downfall. When Howard reverses Cully's fortunes, it's done in a way that is similar to the author's future literary works - violent and unrestrained. In many ways, this could be Howard's best novel. That's surprising considering it was his full-length debut. 

If you love crime-fiction or just an abstract rags to riches story, The Arm delivers in spades. It's probably one of the better books I've read this year. I urge you to track down a used paperback or just snag the affordable digital version. You won't regret it.

Buy a copy of this book HERE

Those Across the River

In addition to being a comedian nicknamed Christoph the Insultor, Christoher Buehlman (b. 1969) is a renowned horror author, television writer, playwright and a poet. The Tampa, Florida native has written six novels for publishers like Tor, Berkley and Ace. My first experience with the author is his debut novel, Those Across the River, published by Ace in 2011.

The book takes place in 1920 and features Frank Nicols, a man who inherited an estate in a rural part of Georgian farmland. Part of this estate is an old plantation which previously belonged to his cruel great-grandfather. Frank struggles with a number of things, none of which is more enormous than his physical and mental scars from violent trench warfare in World War I. His dreams are tormented by the cruelties of war and his waking hours are spent with his fiancé Eudora. 

As Frank learns the quirks of a sleepy nearby town, he stumbles upon a bizarre local tradition. Every season the town sends pigs across the river to a vast, rural forest. Frank is puzzled about why this ritual takes place and what is on the other side of the river in this dark forest. Further, he learns that during this time most of the town's locals board up their doors and windows.

Buehlman's story extends into this frightening segment where Frank, eager to find answers, wanders deep into the forest in search of answers. There he finds a naked boy. When the boy's sinister smile appears, it shocks him to see that the child's teeth are sharpened. From that moment on, Buehlman's propulsive plot plunges readers into this horrific town secret.

Weighing in at roughly 360 pages, Those Across the River had me glued to each and every word. I just could not put this book down, each page overflowing with rich storytelling that had so much character development and compelling background. From the military flashbacks to prior relationships, Buehlman makes readers truly care about the fates of these characters. The central mystery of what afflicts this small Georgian town is worth the cost of entry. Highly recommended.

Get a copy HERE

Paperback Warrior Podcast - Episode 93

On Episode 93, Eric presents the life and literary work of Edgar Award-Winning author Clark Howard. Eric reviews many of Howard's novels, including his 1970 Fawcett Gold Medal paperback The Arm. Tom reviews the 1959 paperback debut of the Psi-Power series and Eric reveals an embarrassing debt. Listen on any podcast app, paperbackwarrior.com or download directly HERE

Listen to "Episode 93: Clark Howard" on Spreaker.