Death Merchant #25 - The Enigma Project

In November, 1977, Pinnacle published the 25th installment of Joseph Rosenberger's Death Merchant series. My reasonably intact paperback shows it is the second printing, a clue that this series was a big moneymaker for the publisher. Mostly, you can read the series in any order and the concept is really simple. Richard Camellion is a CIA agent, dubbed Death Merchant, that patrols the globe quelling international threats. Rosenberger thumbed through magazines like National Geographic to place his hero in exotic and dangerous locales to heighten the sense of adventure. In this case, it is the mountains of Ararat.

The Enigma Project begins with Camellion as an undercover mountain climber who has joined the Jasper Grundy Bible Institute. In the opening chapters, it's explained that this faux religious group was created by the CIA to use on a rainy day. The mission is for Camellion to climb to the heights of the Ararat mountains to place a specially designed, high resolution camera. This camera will quickly capture hundreds of photos that the CIA can analyze. The goal is to locate strategically placed satellite installations being utilized by the Soviet Union in Armenia. Or, something like that.

Camellion and two supporting agents join the study group under the intention of guiding them to a fabled position where Noah's Ark may rest. The group travel to Turkey on a helicopter, but unbeknownst to the passengers, the CIA has created a unique panel system that houses a small armory inside. This is unveiled to the passengers when they discover Camellion and others are packing heat for the climb. Camellion explains that mountain bandits and Armenians don't typically settle by just throwing rocks at unwanted guests. What he doesn't explain is that the group is expendable and their unfortunate deaths will be a sacrifice for the greater good.

Halfway up the snowy passage, the group encounter Soviet Armenians. In a series of exchanges, Camellion and his supporting agents fight the bad guys en route to the top. Problems include avalanches, harsh weather, Soviets, and a nagging religious scholar. Rosenberger writes the action sequences smoothly and places readers in the battle by describing who's on the flank, the perimeter defenses, and the combatants next moves. It's completely vivid and provides enough escapism for the average cubicle worker.

This series is fun in limited interactions. I prefer gritty team-combat novels, but in a pinch Death Merchant can provide some enjoyment. This installment is par for the course. Mileage may vary.

The Institute

Master storyteller Stephen King has honed in on a horror sub-genre – kids with psychic abilities on the run from a shadowy organization. He first utilized the concept with 1981's Firestarter, featuring telepath Charlene McGee on the run from a government agency called The Shop. His novel Doctor Sleep features an organization called True Knot hunting down kids and adults with “the shining.” King serves this platter with his 2019 novel The Institute. It was published by Scribner and exists in multiple formats. Based on King's prior works, I would imagine a streaming show, graphic novel series, or the movie is already in the works.

My paperback version weighs in at 650 pages, so there's a lot to unpack. The novel's first 50 pages is like the first act of a 1950s crime-noir (or John Ball's Tallon series) as readers are introduced to the former Florida police officer Tim Jamieson. Tim is paid to relinquish his seat on a commercial airliner to make room for a government employee. After deciding to pocket the refund and extra money, Tim hitchhikes up I-95 from Florida to New York. But, he ends up in the cozy town of Du Pray, South Carolina and immediately falls in love with its Mayberry-like charm. He takes a night security post with the small, local police department and slowly becomes ingrained into Du Pray's lovable population. He then disappears from the narrative for the next 400 pages.

Protagonist Luke Ellis is introduced as a likable 12-year old genius that possesses telekinetic abilities. In the middle of the night, masked individuals break into Luke's Minneapolis home and kill his parents. The intruders drug Luke and he awakens in The Institute, a secret facility in a rural stretch of Maine forest. He quickly meets other kidnapped children, who form a sort of “loser's club” to overcome their scary predicament. The children earn tokens for being good, which they can use to purchase extra goodies like alcohol, marijuana, and cigarettes. The staff is led by Mrs. Sigsby, who oversees experiments on the children to heighten their telekinetic powers.

The book's first half focuses on Luke and his friends stay in a section called the “Front Half”, a safer portion of the facility where the staff is mostly nice and the experiments aren't excessively painful. Luke is asked to stare at lights and dots while subjected to daily doses of injections. The torment of Front Half is that these kids don't know what became of their prior lives. Luke wonders what happened to his parents and what his role is with the institute. Sigsby motivates the kids by advising them they will wake up in their own homes with their memories erased of everything that transpired there. As time goes on, Luke's friends are individually chosen, against their will, to relocate to Back Half. It's here that he learns that the kids are subjected to horrific torture and most don't survive the ordeal. To avoid being taken to Back Half, Luke must escape the institute.

Needless to say, there's a lot more to the novel than simply imprisonment and escape. Luke befriends a staff member and she has her own backstory. The novel tiptoes to the grand reveal, which is the purpose and use of the institute. There's the inevitable meeting between Tim and Luke, and at that point King transforms the novel from horror to action-thriller. All of these elements build to a giant crescendo, but like King's historic flaw, the ending leaves a lot to be desired.

My biggest issue with King's modern work is that he injects plenty of commentary on the political landscape (of course he jabs Donald Trump) and has a lot to say about debt. There's a centerpiece about credit cards and revolving bills that plague our society. Why King feels as if he knows anything about the average American is beyond me. He is worth a half-billion, earns $20-million per year and has had the right to call himself a millionaire for 40+ years. It's this sort of thing that dampens The Institute.

For example, King says that Tim is paid just $100 per week to work for the police force. He also has Tim pay an Uber driver with physical cash that the airline provided to him as a refund. The real world doesn't work this way. It's as if King is so far removed from everyday life that his stories lose some plausibility. The Institute really didn't need the uneducated social commentary and the obvious disconnect removed me from some aspects of the story.

Nevertheless, I mostly liked The Institute and found Tim and Luke's story enthralling. King hasn't lost any of his storytelling abilities, but he has started to blur the lines between his abstract horror creations and all-out action-thrillers. If you can appreciate the modern day version of Stephen King, you'll love The Institute.

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Narc #02 - Death of a Courier

Marc Olden (1933-2003) is a familiar name for crime-fiction fans. He authored series titles like Black Samurai, Narc (as Robert Hawkes), and The Harker File. In addition to series titles, Olden penned 17 stand-alone novels and two works of non-fiction. We've covered both Black Samurai and Narc and I was anxious to read more of his work. After enjoying his Narc debut, I wanted to revisit the character with the second installment, Death of a Courier. It was published by Signet in 1974.

You can read the series in any order. The gist is that John Bolt is a seasoned narcotics agent working for a government agency called D-3. The agency has ten regional setups covering all 50 states. Nine of these operations cover 49 states, the tenth covers New York City, where Bolt has worked for over a decade. He reports to Sam Rand, who then reports to a guy named Craven, D-3's head honcho. 

Death of a Courier lives up to its name. The novel's premise is that drug couriers for Vincent DeTorres, a Cuban mob, are being murdered by enforcers working for a New York mobster named Don Rummo. Bolt's entrance into this drug war begins in Central Park when a courier he is tailing is shot and killed by hired guns. Reporting the incident, Bolt then learns that couriers in big cities are being killed. He then gains the assignment of digging into the details, and this is where Olden shines.

Undercover, Bolt infiltrates DeTorres' mob by partnering with an enforcer named Ortega. There are numerous firefights, but the most memorable one entails 20-pages. In it, Bolt and Ortega find themselves in a Detroit airport to receive a large shipment of heroin. Thankfully, the deal falls apart and the scene explodes as these warring factions shoot it out in close quarters. Bolt's use of a .45 Colt and shotgun reminded me of the intensity of the opening scene in the series debut. Olden describes these action scenes with so much detail that readers can almost smell the cordite. 

While the war between rival mobs is really interesting, Olden introduces another exciting addition to the plot. There is an included backstory of Bolt's former partner, Paris, being brutally beaten by racists. In rehabilitation, Paris feels that the agency failed him. Months later, Paris kills the racists and enters a life of criminality. Bolt learns that Paris has re-emerged as an enforcer for Don Rummo and that he has vowed to kill seven Narc agents, one for each year that he served the agency.

Needless to say, Death of a Courier was simply awesome. Olden is a great storyteller and I felt that the narrative was soaked with realism. A year before this novel, the author wrote a non-fiction book titled Cocaine, a deep dive into New York's drug trade. Partially due to this, the Narc series doesn't seem terribly far-fetched like a Butcher or Death Merchant entry. Further, Olden's martial-arts studies lends credit to some of the fight scenes. 

If you are bored with the superhuman vigilante stuff, Narc is a must read title. These books are becoming more and more pricey, so I encourage you to get them now. Remember to search under Olden's pseudonym of Robert Hawkes. You'll thank me later.

Walking Wounded

According to his Amazon author page, Robert S. Stokes majored in journalism at the University of North Carolina. In the early 1960s, Stokes served in the U.S. Army in Europe before becoming a full-time freelance writer for various magazines including Newsweek and Life. His career led him to Saigon to cover the Vietnam War, an experience that aided him in writing his first novel, Walking Wounded. It was originally published by Dell in 1980, and I can't locate any information to suggest it was ever reprinted.

The novel begins by introducing readers to Jim Bonner, a former Vietnam veteran that now works as a hitman for the C.I.A. After numerous years of death and violence, Bonner is beginning to crack up. During an assignment to physically assault a target in Manhattan, Bonner snaps and fatally shoots the man. Fearing that he's now on a C.I.A. hit list, Bonner flees to Las Vegas to consult with a former military buddy named Cobb.

In the deserts of Nevada, Bonner hightails it in a van loaded with weapons. He knows the agency has targeted him, but he plans to stay alive as long as possible. On a rural stretch of blacktop, Bonner finds a woman named Karen stranded with her young son. Granting them a lift, Bonner discovers that Karen is a druggie that's been booted from her apartment. She has nowhere to go, so she's in for the Hellish ride with Bonner.

The narrative settles in as Bonner, Karen and her son make the long road trip to destinations unknown. Along the way, Bonner stops in to see old war buddies and friends he's made throughout his career with the agency. On cue, Bonner's boss sends a veteran named Gereke to locate, and eliminate, Bonner. Thus, the narrative builds to the inevitable confrontation between the experienced government assassins. 

Walking Wounded is the perfect title for the novel because it describes Bonner's inability to cope with his responsibilities. He's in continuous pain from horrific burns he experienced during a napalm drop (which makes me wonder how he even gained the agency gig). He's on a steady stream of heavy narcotics that have really spaced him out. He's also suffering from severe PTSD and finds it hard to decipher reality from war-torn Southeast Asia. 

Stokes' validates Bonner's condition with numerous flashbacks to Bonner's war experience. These scenes range from drug use in the jungles and barracks to firefights with Vietcong. In a unique parallel, Bonner recounts memories of his father and the mental anguish he endured from World War 2. The author has a lot to say about the poor state of Veteran Affairs in the 1980s, the cyclical nature of violence, and America's dependence on narcotics (a timeless statement). It's clever that Bonner replaces his father in war, and Gereke replaces Bonner in post-war operations. It all ties in as a Yin-Yang concept.

Despite the book's cover, Walking Wounded isn't really what I would consider a strong candidate for a 1980s men's action-adventure novel. This is more of a thriller with action sequences mostly replaced with social commentary and drug use. In that regard, Dell performed a disservice to Stokes. It's never a boring novel, but the cover suggests a Rolling Thunder sort of premise with a more traditional hero fighting some sort of stereotypical bad guy. Stokes' is delivering much more, with heroes and villains that aren't as easily defined. If you want something remarkably different, Walking Wounded may be worth the investment.

The Revenger #02: Fire in the Streets

Paperback Warrior continues to devour the literature of Jon Messman. We've covered his series titles like The Trailsman, Handyman, Canyon 'O Grady, The Revenger, and even his gothic stand-alone novels under various pseudonyms like Claudette Nicole. My first experience with the author was the debut novel in The Revenger series. Inspired by Don Pendleton's The Executioner, the Signet series began in 1973 and ran six total volumes. The entire series has been reprinted in new editions by Brash Books with an introduction by yours truly. 

The book begins with some flashbacks to the events that occurred in the series debut. The quick story is that New Yorker Ben Martin is a Vietnam veteran who experienced the death of his son by mobsters. Avenging his son's murder, Martin became a one-man army and destroyed the local mob. At the end of that novel, he left his wife to pursue an indiscreet lifestyle using the new name of Ben Markham (Messman had never intended the series to continue). 

Now, it's explained to readers that Ben has lived in the Chicago suburbs for a year. He began working for Alwyn Beef Products and worked his way up to a senior manager due to his experiences as a grocery shop owner. But, Ben is attacked one evening at work by enforcers working for mobster Nick Carboni. After killing the attackers, Ben returns home and starts to question his life. In his own headspace, Ben realizes that he has always wanted to kill again, to right the wrongs, and fight evil. But, in a reversal, he also wants to live a normal existence that isn't smeared in blood. 

What makes The Revenger so great is that Messman doesn't deliberately set out to create a hero for readers. It's never just a good guy with a gun. Like the debut, he slowly has unfortunate events consume Ben's life. It is like an erosion of sanity that reveals Ben's hard-hitting talents. He's meant to kill the bad guys, and he has the skills and talents based on his experiences in Vietnam, but he is hesitant. Slowly, Ben is pulled into this mystery and must fight again.

Ben's employer is a friend, but he's also a terrible gambler. After losing a great deal of money in the gambling rackets, Carboni has struck a deal with him. The mob will infiltrate his business and in return, Carboni wipes the IOUs off the table. Once Ben learns the reasons for the attack, he puts together an elaborate plan to wipe out the mob at strategic locations. From rooftops, he begins assassinating key personnel with different European rifles, weapons he leaves at the scene to confuse Carboni. But Messman also has Ben fistfighting with mobsters as well as a fiery car chase on the highway. 

What makes this story unique is that it involves three separate women that are experiencing individual struggles directly related to Ben's mission. Carboni's wife is resistant to her husband's criminal behavior and wants out. When Ben's friend and co-worker is killed, he falls into a friendly relationship with the man's widow. But, Ben's love interest in the story is his employer's wife, a defiant woman that knows her husband is a gambling junkie. These three women are liberally featured throughout the 135-page narrative. 

Fire in the Streets is just as good, or better, than its predecessor and rivals some of Pendleton's best single-digit efforts on The Executioner. Imitation is the best form of flattery and Messman clones a Mack Bolan styled story while also injecting a great deal of emotional drama. It's violent when it needs to be, and Ben proves to be a capable hero when the gunfire begins. The end result makes The Revenger simply fantastic.

Get the new edition HERE

To the River's End

Rant - Kensington continues to swindle their fan base by suggesting that William W. Johnstone, who died in 2004, is still alive. On the back inside cover of the publisher's recent release, To the River's End, it states, “William W. Johnstone IS the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of over 300 books...” Further, it states that he authored titles like Flintlock and Will Tanner: Deputy U.S. Marshal. The fact of the matter is that Mr. Johnstone had been dead over 10-years by the time those books were actually authored by ghost writers. Additionally, it states J.A. Johnstone is the co-writer of this book and that she had a hand in writing a number of prior titles. The reality is that she is Johnstone's niece, heir to the empire, and she hasn't written a published word. The back cover proclaims to readers that William and J.A. “...are the greatest western writers of the 21st century.” Hell, it even states you can email Mr. Johnstone at dogcia.two@gmail.com. If he responds, then I'll tap-dance on water and turn your milk into moonshine. 

Review – To the River's End hit store shelves in October, 2021 and is only the second trade paperback to emerge from the William W. Johnstone camp. Unlike prior Mass Market Paperbacks, this one has a different color scheme, texture, art design and feel. The only other trade paperback that I'm aware of being the Target exclusive, Go West Young Man, from May, 2021. As I stated above, the cover states this is authored by William W. Johnstone and J.A. Johnstone but in reality it is written by one of a handful of revolving ghost writers – some great, some mediocre and some just plain 'ole bad. 

The book is about two trappers, Luke Ransom and Jug Sartain, that partner up to independently capture beaver pelts in the fertile Rocky Mountains. Luke is the weapons expert and fighting man while Jug provides the comedy and tasty biscuits. While the two are skilled trappers, their fierce independence makes them a vulnerable target for the Blackfoot tribe. Without the support of the American Fur company or Hudson Valley, their presence alone infuriates the Blackfoot tribe. This rivalry is the premise of the book.

Like an assembly line, Luke kills the approaching Blackfoot throughout the long winter. But, not just fighting and killing them. It's a slaughterhouse so thick that the main problem isn’t the amount of Blackfoot warriors. Instead, Luke's biggest issues are A) Where to dump all of these bodies and B) What to do with all of the horses he acquires after mowing down these presumably inexperienced, incompetent Native Americans. Jug plays second fiddle and exists just to be shot twice and then nursed back to health. 

To the River's End would be a gripping cold-weather survival tale ripe with action if the protagonists actually faced stiff opposition. Instead, it's like a Friday the 13th film where the immortal Luke elevates the body count using knives, arrows and lead. Readers, you deserve better than this. Author, whoever you are, I'm glad you are working and being paid to write. Everyone deserves the right to make a living with the talents they possess. However, I wish you had more time to write quality books instead of meeting deadlines for this sketchy western brand.

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Steve Midnight #01 - The Dead Ride Free

Before breaking into movies and television, pulp author John K. Butler (1908-1964) wrote nine novellas in Dime Detective Magazine starring a mystery-solving cab driver named Steven Middleton Knight, AKA: Steve Midnight. The stories have been collected into two attractive volumes by Altus Press, and I read the series debut, “The Dead Ride Free,” from May 1940.

Our narrator Steve Midnight was a wealthy playboy who lost it all during the Great Depression. He’s working as a cabbie for the Red Owl Cab Company in Los Angeles one cold night when a tall guy wearing a turban wants to be taken to Topanga Canyon. Steve immediately recognizes the fare as an old vaudeville magician named Zohar the Great. It’s been 20 years since Steve saw Zohar sawing a woman in half, and now he’s in the back of Steve’s taxi.

Zohar asks Steve to load a large parcel into the cab. After Steve agrees, he learns that the parcel is a locked coffin weighing about 150 pounds. Zohar explains that the casket houses a mummy from 1300 BC - a prop for his act. Upon arrival at Zohar’s shack, the magician offers to show Steve the mummy. However, upon opening the coffin, the men find the body of a freshly-dead woman with a dagger protruding from her chest.

For reasons best explained in the novella’s narrative, Steve is left to solve this mystery without the help of the police or the shady magician. There are some pretty cool curve balls thrown into the mystery’s plot, and Steve is a fine character to serve as our guide over the course of 50-pages.

Overall, “The Dead Ride Free” is a solid 1940s pulp mystery, but nothing earth-shattering, hardboiled or revelatory. I enjoyed the story and will revisit the collection when I’m in the mood for this particular flavor of comfort food.

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The Sea-Wolf

Jack London (John Griffith Chaney, 1876-1916) is one of those authors that populates every library or indispensable high school reading lists. As a kid, I remember reading his classic White Fang (1906) and promising myself that I would read more of his work. Over 30 years later, I finally decided to read another of the author's classics, The Sea-Wolf. It has been filmed 13 times and was featured as a series for BBC Radio 4 in 1991.

Humphrey Van Weyden is a newspaper columnist living in San Francisco. One afternoon, Hump is pleasantly boating off the California coast when he's rammed by a large schooner called the Ghost. The vessel is captained by Wolf Larsen, an abrasive individual that is described as highly intellectual and materialistic. Hump has the option of sinking, swimming, or hitching a ride on the Ghost. Unfortunately, he climbs aboard and quickly realizes he's in for a Hellish ride.

Hump declares that he wants a u-turn back to the coast so he can return home. Larsen refuses and orders that the ship continue its journey to Japan. Larsen offers to pay Hump to work aboard the ship and orders him to be a cabin boy. Hump resists but eventually his will is broken and he submits to long days of cooking, cleaning, and contending with a seasoned, very violent crew.

London provides some unique perspective through Hump's eyes. The excessive hard work and perseverance strengthen Hump. He realizes that he has been sleeping through life with his cushy desk job and a complacency to perform the most mundane tasks. As the narrative continues, Hump discovers that beneath Larsen's granite veneer, he is a literary scholar and possesses an atypical knowledge for math calculations and navigation. Because of the commonality, Hump and Larsen spend hours discussing books and art.

Eventually the abused crew turns on Larsen and attempts a mutiny. Larsen's tactical experience allows him to fight back against the crew, eventually torturing specific catalysts. Due to the violence and madness, Hump swears to kill Larsen. Things grind to a screeching halt when a woman, Maud Brewster, is rescued from the seas. Her background as a writer immediately connects with Hump. Together, the duo hopes to escape Larsen and his rebellious crew.

I really enjoyed London's novel and found Larsen (whom is the premise of the book's title) a multifaceted nemesis. The story has a couple of offshoots that I felt really solidified the storytelling: Hump's rivalry with a murderous cook, Larsen's vendetta against his brother, Hump's romanticizing with Maude, the arctic survival finale, etc. London's emphasis on Larsen's approach to life, work, and resilience provides so many great passages and quotes, my favorite being:

“Surely there can be little in this world more awful than the spectacle of a strong man in the moment when he is utterly weak and broken.”

I've read that The Sea-Wolf has similarities to Rudyard Kipling's 1897 novel Captains Courageous. London, who was proven to perform plagiarism, wasn't the only writer to use this plot. I would imagine there are a number of nautical novels with heroes that are trapped at sea with a tyrannical captain. But, I would say that Max Brand's (real name Frederick Schiller Faust) 1941 novel Luck of the Spindrift is nearly a carbon copy of The Sea-Wolf in terms of storyline. In Brand's novel, a San Francisco philosopher finds himself trapped on a ship headed to the South Seas. He has an interest in the only female on board and there's a devious captain to brutalize the crew.

If you enjoy more modern nautical adventures by the likes of Clive Cussler, Hammond Innes, Kenneth Bulmer and Patrick O'Brian, I think you owe it to yourself to read early 20^th century novels like this one. Without these pioneering efforts, nautical fiction wouldn't have such strong and solid sea legs.

Dirk Pitt #03 - Iceberg

Clive Cussler (1931-2020) was a massively-popular novelist who dominated the bestseller lists for the duration of his writing career. His most enduring series character was Dirk Pitt, a troubleshooter for the fictional National Underwater and Marine Agency. My first exposure to the author and the character was his third installment, 1976’s Iceberg.

The book opens with a U.S. Coast Guard mission mapping the locations of icebergs floating in the North Atlantic near Newfoundland. From the air, the Coastie crew spots one impossibly large iceberg - 200 feet high weighing upwards of one-million tons. Closer examination of the iceberg reveals the impossible - an entire ship embedded within the ice but still visible from the sky. The Coast Guard estimates that once the iceberg drifts into the gulf stream, it's sure to melt - likely submerging the ghost ship into the depths of the sea. The iceberg must have dislodged from some northern glacier, but there’s no way to know its origin.

Enter Dirk Pitt. He’s an U.S. Air Force Major on permanent loan to NUMA - the National Underwater and Marine Agency. NUMA dispatches Pitt to a Coast Guard cutter with a mission to get inside the ghost ship and better understand what’s happening. As a character, Pitt is a combination of James Bond and Doc Savage. He’s a funny and likable hero stacked with core competencies. He can fly a helicopter, dive to great depths and bag the babes as needed. His deductive capabilities rival those of the great Sherlock Holmes.

The providence of the ship-in-the-berg is a plot point that I won’t spoil for you here, but it only serves as starting point into a variety of mysteries Pitt is called upon to solve over the 400-pages. He’s a smart cookie and not afraid to kick ass when needed. His relationship with his Admiral boss and the boss’ lovesick personal secretary make for some fine human moments throughout the paperback.

I was expecting Iceberg to be filled with dense plotting and littered with incomprehensible nautical jargon that would cause my eyes to glaze over. I’m pleased to report that Cussler avoids this trap and makes the pages fly by with a basic good guys vs. bad guys plot and a propulsive story. His books are about twice as thick as other men’s adventure paperbacks from the same era, so I was expecting a complex story akin to the work of Tom Clancy. Instead, Iceberg was pulpy as all-heck. The action and villainous motivations were over-the-top like a good Destroyer novel, and the layered twist endings were pedestrian, outrageous and fun. No one should ever accuse Cussler of writing high-brow, smartypants fiction. I hereby stand corrected.

The appeal of Cussler’s novels is now clear. If Iceberg is any indication, the series is a lot more fun than you might expect. The books can apparently be read in any order, and there are plenty of lists online ranking them based on quality. I look forward to diving deeper into this author and his famous series. Recommended. Get it HERE

Brother

Ania Ahlborn is a contemporary horror fiction author born in Poland who emigrated to the United States where she earned an English degree from University of New Mexico. She writes disturbing novels from her Greenville, South Carolina home that have earned acclaim from the Horror Writers Association and a huge social media following of rabid fans. My first introduction to her work was her 2015 novel, Brother.

The year is 1980, and it’s time to meet the Morrows, the serial killer family at the center of the novel. Daddy Wayne is a Vietnam vet who handles the killing of female hitchhikers they bring back to their horror house in the woods. Momma’s own childhood trauma undoubtedly set the table for her own adulthood of bloodthirsty psychopathology. Their oldest kid is named Ray. He’s in his 20s now and prefers to be called Rebel. He gets off on tormenting his sensitive younger brother Michael, now 19. Meanwhile, Michael is protective of his sister Misty Dawn. There’s also another sister named Lauralynn, but we don’t even say her name out loud.

The Morrows are poor. Not like the urban poor we have today with smartphones and HD televisions. They are country poor. Appalachia poor. They make ends meet by shoplifting and collecting whatever trinkets they can find on the women they kidnap, torture and kill. The bodies are buried out back of their ancient, dilapidated West Virginia farmhouse sporting faded clapboards and filthy windows. They pretty much keep to themselves except when Rebel and Michael venture into town to stalk possible victims, steal food or chat up girls at the local record store.

Brother’s third-person narrative follows Michael, who, despite being a complicit member of a psychopathic serial killer family, is actually a very sweet boy. Through flashbacks, the reader receives glimpses of this awful family’s origin story, and it’s every bit the nightmare you’d expect. Older sister Lauralynn was the nice, compassionate girl of the bunch who looked after Michael when he was young. You’ll notice that she’s not present during the contemporary scenes, and the story of her departure from the Morrow house is doled out gradually as one of the novel’s central mysteries.

Brother is basically a bloody and gruesome coming of age suspense story about young Michael growing to understand his own dysfunctional upbringing in this messed-up family. There’s a puppy love story to enjoy and lots of abuse of Michael at the hands of his loathsome older brother. Throughout the novel, Ahlborn’s writing is exceptionally good and the pages fly from one atrocity to another. The book is a real bloodbath and incredibly compelling, but I didn’t find it particularly scary. Instead, the paperback presents a gripping suspense story that chooses to focus on the characters instead of the gore. By now you know if this is your kind of thing. If so, Brother is an easy recommendation. 

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Let Me Kill You Tenderly

Robert Sidney Bowen (1900-1977) was a World War One aviator who became a pulp writer from the 1930s into the 1950s. In 1946 and 1947, he wrote a series of short works for Popular Detective starring a private investigator named Chet Lacey that have been compiled into an ebook by The Pulp Fiction Book Store. My introduction to the author and character is “Let Me Kill You Tenderly” from June 1946.

As the novella opens, Private Eye Chet Lacey is gearing up for a well-earned Mexico vacation when an ex-girlfriend comes ringing. These days her name is Vivian Ames, and she’s married to a wealthy bank president named Ken. Well, Ken has been kidnapped and the bad guys are demanding a $50,000 ransom from Viv in exchange for her husband’s safe return. No cops or the banker dies. Viv needs Chet’s help.

Simple setup, but things quickly become complex. There’s good reason to believe Ken faked his own kidnapping. But why would he do that? It’s like stealing $50,000 from himself, right? That’s the mystery that Chet needs to solve. Things get crazy, violent and action-packed pretty quickly as Chet navigates his way through a ransom money drop that becomes a gunfire bloodbath.

The bodies pile up, and Chet eventually solves the case in a tidy and logical conclusion. Overall, “Let Me Kill You Tenderly” was a rather generic hardboiled private detective yarn, but completely enjoyable and well-written. We’re lucky there are outfits like The Pulp Fiction Book Store keeping this old stuff alive. Check them out.

Buy a copy of this book HERE

Tip on a Dead Jockey

“Tip on a Dead Jockey” is the 40-page title story of a paperback compilation of Shaw’s short fiction from 1957. The protagonist is Lloyd Barber, an American WW2 pilot who has been bumming around Paris for the past 18 months since his marriage crumbled back home. Barber made some money working as a technical advisor on a Hollywood war movie filmed in Paris, but his savings are now declining.

One day a woman finds Barber and solicits his help. The lady is married to one of Barber’s war buddies - a fellow named Jimmy - who recently packed a bag and disappeared, abandoning his job and bride. Basically, she wants Barber to find her husband. Not being a detective or manhunter, Barber begins to seek out an older fellow named Bert Smith, who he met betting on horses at the track a while ago.   

The story then cuts to an extended flashback taking the reader back to the relationship between Barber and Bert that began at the track betting on the horses. The two guys hit it off and Bert eventually makes the young pilot an offer: Fly a heavy box from Cairo to Cannes and make an easy $25,000. I won’t spoil what’s in the box or how it might tie into Barber’s missing war buddy, but the moral dilemma posed by the mysterious cargo is the centerpiece of the story.

Because “Tip on a Dead Jockey” is literary fiction from the New Yorker and not pulp fiction from Manhunt, the story’s ending isn’t particularly twisty or impactful. It is, however, satisfying and very well written. The original paperback is out-of-print, but the story is included in the 63-story collection of Shaw’s finest work called Short Stories: Five Decades currently available from University of Chicago Press. I read a few more of his stories, and he’s definitely worth checking out if expertly-crafted short fiction is your thing.

The White South

Many titles by Hammond Innes posses a nautical theme. From seafaring adventures like The Wreck of Mary Deare to oceanic oil rig thrillers like North Star, Innes explored the world searching for a great story. His mid-career novel The White South, published in 1949, takes readers to the frigid waters of the Antarctic. As both a survival tale and nautical quest, the book's synopsis promises an ice shaking boat disaster in giant seas. Go ahead and take my money. I'm sold. 

Like many average males, Duncan Craig is no longer complacent with his suburban existence as a London desk clerk. In the Navy, he traveled the world, commanding a ship in WW2 and his heart is aching for a more meaningful and exciting life. After selling his belongings, Craig has a plan to move to South Africa. But, in a London airport, Craig's life changes dramatically.

After asking a favor, Craig is attempting to join a charter plane to Capetown. The flight is owned by the South Antarctic Whaling Company, but specifically Colonel Bland. After making his plea for one of the five seats on board, Bland willingly allows Craig to join them. On board is Bland's daughter-in-law Judie and an assortment of minor characters. Craig overhears that Judie's father works for Bland as a manager of sorts on a whaling ship. But, a conflict has risen due to Bland promoting his own inexperienced son Erick. Judie and Erick are married, but she hates the man and considers him a lying scoundrel who partnered with the Germans during WW2. The fact that Erick may pass her father in seniority makes her furious.

Eventually, Bland learns of Craig's experience with boats and makes him an offer he can't resist. Craig will command one of the whaling ships in the Antarctic sea. In the midst of the job proposal and hiring,  he learns that Judie's father mysteriously committed suicide by jumping overboard. Judie feels that Erick killed him, but that's a mystery that eventually expands. After inquiring into the details, Craig begins investigating the circumstances surrounding the man's death. Thus, Craig and Judie fall in love.

This is a nautical adventure and Innes spends some time acclimating readers on the whaling industry, which I found surprisingly interesting. Craig's inexperience is the catalyst for this educational journey, but eventually tragedy strikes. In the icy seas, Erick rams his ship into Craig's in a high-stakes deadly version of bumper cars. The two ships sink and the passengers are forced onto the ice. A rescue attempt then traps another ship between two icebergs. 

The book's final 100-pages is a brutal cold weather survival tale as Craig orchestrates an escape attempt while contending with warring factions over supplies, injuries, and the few lifeboats remaining. He's an admirable hero that must overcome extreme adversity among men that don't necessarily respect his fishing inexperience. Thus, there's no surprise that Craig is the unlikely hero that rises to the occasion for the greater good. 

There's a lot for readers to busy themselves with including memorization of who's who among the Norwegian names. Placing the characters and their locations on the ice was sometimes difficult. Because of that, the reading requires some focus and concentration to stay on task. It's not a heavy lift, but still requires minor endurance. If you love Hammond Innes, this is another stellar addition to his bibliography. Get it HERE

The Executioner #53 - The Invisible Assassins

Author David Wade used the pseudonym of Alan Bomack as an anagram of the fictional hero Mack Bolan. As Bomack, David Wade authored  four titles in the Executioner series (#53 The Invisible Assassins, #58 Ambush on Blood River, #82 Hammerhead Reef, #87 Hellfire Crusade). He also wrote the second Super Bolan entry, Terminal Velocity and co-authored the debut of the S.O.B.s series, Barrabus Run. After recently watching a few Asian martial-arts movies, I wanted a “Bolan vs Ninjas” sort of novel. I went with Wade/Bomack's Executioner #53 The Invisible Assassins, originally published by Gold Eagle in May, 1983.

The book begins with Bolan assisting a young government agent on a stake out involving a world renowned Japanese scientist named Ken Shinoda. Apparently, U.S. intelligence had received chatter of Shinoda meeting with an unknown party in Los Angeles. Once Shinoda appears, he is quickly assassinated by someone in the shadows. After a brief skirmish, the young agent is murdered and Bolan is injured.

After discussions with April and Hal, Bolan wants to learn if Shinoda was buying or selling intelligence. The clues lead to a series of photographs that Bolan discovers in Shinoda's apartment. These photos are of various Japanese leaders and a rival scientist named Okawa. Who are in the men in the photo? Was Shinoda killed for taking these photos? Under the guise of a U.S. Security consultant, Bolan travels to Japan to coordinate training exercise with a high-level security agent named Nakada.

Good Executioner novels typically involve a little bit of sleuth work and a lot of action. Thankfully, David Wade nails the concept and blends a high dose of action into a smooth murder investigation. Through the prescribed 185-pages, Bolan aligns himself with an American female journalist. His adventures involve a number of physical fights in restaurants and alleyways, an escape from a submerged car, and an escape from an imperial fortress called Shoki Castle. I liked the idea that the enemy was part of some grand conspiracy that dates back to ancient times, eventually connecting to a modern day faction called The Circle of the Red Sun. It's all comic book nonsense, but wildly enjoyable.

The Invisible Assassins contains all of the necessary ingredients to tell a great post-Pendleton stand-alone story. The martial-artists, throwing stars, and imperial guard was a unique blend that helped provide a more unique enemy for Bolan. Highly recommended. Buy a copy of this book HERE

Walk With Evil

In 1957, Crest Books - a sister imprint to Fawcett Gold Medal - published a paperback called Walk With Evil by Daytona’s own Robert Wilder (1901-1974). Just when it seemed that this obscure novel would be destined for the dustbin of history, it has been reprinted by Cutting Edge Books for modern readers to enjoy. 

The story begins in Florida on isolated Redemption Cay, a small spit of land jutting into the tidal mouth of a large river shielded from the Atlantic Ocean by rolling sand dunes. Jeff Martin is a Manhattan newspaper reporter on a five-week vacation fishing in the river from a small rented boat with a temperamental outboard motor.

Not knowing much about boats, Jeff immediately finds himself in a dangerous situation floating too close to the churning waters of the ocean inlet. Fortunately, a pretty young woman in a heavy work boat comes to his aid and tows Jeff to safety. His rescuer’s name is Judy Carter, and she’s the caregiver to a much older, hardcore alcoholic everyone calls the Senator whom Jeff soon meets at the town’s only watering hole. Jeff also re-encounters young Judy later and becomes quite taken with her. They have a flirty chemistry and plan to go on a date sometime soon. 

Jeff’s vacation is interrupted by a call from his editor back home. A notorious gangster from the Al Capone era named Edward Valenti has been released from Alcatraz and flown to Florida. The boss wants Jeff to locate Valenti and figure out what the aged mob boss is doing. Could it have to do with the million bucks in heist proceeds that were never recovered before Valenti’s incarceration?

Jeff quickly unearths a historical connection between Valenti and the Senator that begs further questions. We also get to see Valenti in action aboard a chartered Palm Beach yacht with his colorful entourage. A narrative shift introduces some travelers en route to Palm Beach with their own agendas. Nearly every secondary character in the paperback is harboring a secret, and Jeff pieces the puzzle together over the course of the 180 pages. 

Walk With Evil is a decent bit of Florida noir. Fans of John D. MacDonald and Harry Whittington will feel right at home with this treasure hunt mystery filled with colorful and quirky well-developed characters. The ending solution was a bit implausible and overly tidy, but the ride to get there was mostly satisfying. 

Get the book HERE

Below

According to his bio, Ryan Lockwood holds degrees in technical journalism, environmental science, and has been employed as a biological research assistant and professional editor. In 2013, he authored the first of two books starring a marine biologist named Valerie Martell – Below (2013 Pinnacle) and What Lurks Beneath (2015 Pinnacle). Living a mere 15-minutes from the ocean, I'm always looking to dive into a good aquatic horror novel. 

Below contains everything you want from the typical Pinnacle action novel. Roguish male hero, the seasoned good guy cop, plenty of killing and a few high-energy chase sequences. Oh, and the inevitable booming of explosions. By the book's halfway point, one would never fathom that the hero is a woman. It's Pinnacle after all...with decades of male-led heroism. 

In the book's first half, the capable hero is Will Sturman. He grew up in the rugged Rocky mountains, joined the military and now makes a meager living as a professional diving instructor on the southern California coast. In the book's opening chapters, Sturman is underwater instructing a semi-experienced group of divers when there's nearly a casualty. One of the women becomes tangled in an old boat resting on the seabed. These introductory chapters are a frantic grasp for air as Sturman rescues the woman from the clutches of death. Later, readers learn that Sturman is suffering the loss of his wife by staying drunk and shooting pool at his favorite bar. His ex-military buddy, Joe Montoya, is the town constable. 

But, this is an underwater horror novel and soon the body count starts to rise as divers and fishermen are devoured (more like sucked apart) by enormous Humboldt squid. Sturman is eventually led to an expert on these unique predators, Valerie Martell. Together, Sturman, Montoya and Martell become unlikely opponents to hundreds of people-eating-squid-monsters. Surprisingly, it's not as preposterous as it sounds. Humboldt are terrifying and have been known to attack deep sea divers outside of the pages of a fictional aquatic horror paperback. They are the real deal. 

By the book's furious finale, Martell becomes the hero. In fact, Sturman is sort of cowardly and abandons the whole mission for most of the third act (although he does save the day). I thought the transition into this new Pinnacle hero was well played with Martell becoming this fierce and determined leader facing overwhelming adversity. 

With underwater fights, creepy and ferocious “monsters”, a high body count, sea chases and heroic camaraderie, there's plenty in Below to keep you afloat. Get your copy HERE

Railroad Stories #07: The Return of Casey Jones

As early as the 1800s, stories about the railroad industry have been a popular staple in pop culture. Those in need of an escape from everyday boredom often gravitated to the rails at the turn of the 20th century. The hobo lifestyle of seeing the country by riding the boxcars was a prevalent one, eventually becoming ingrained into the mainstream through songs, films and books. The most prominent magazine of railroad fiction was Railroad Stories. It was the first specialized pulp magazine to offer these types of stories and featured a variety of authors applying their expertise. 

Under license from White River Productions, Florida's Bold Venture Press has been publishing stellar collections of these vintage railroad stories for modern readers. Beginning in 2015, they began publishing trade paperbacks collecting stories culled from Railroad Stories and other magazines. Each of these volumes, mostly feature author E.S. Dellinger, but Vol. 4 is A. Leslie Scott, Vol. 7 is John Johns, Vol. 8 is Norman Brandhorst, and Vol. 10 is Don Waters. My first ride on the rails is Vol. 7: The Return of Casey Jones. It was published in 2019 and features five stories that have never appeared in paperback until now.

The book's lead story is “The Return of Casey Jones”, authored by John Johns and originally published in the April 1933 issue of Railroad Stories. The story begins with a young schoolboy named Jim Martin learning about the tragic death of his idol, the famed engineer Casey Jones. Years later, Jim's father dies and he is left to tend to his ailing mother. Jim is an engineer for the The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (CMStP&P). Like his idol, Jim is known as a fast runner and can make up time between meets. 

A lot of Jim's railroad buddies sign up for early action in World War 1. Jim is anxious to join the fight and use his engineering skills for his country. But, the doctors suggest that if Jim joins the military his mother may suffer another stroke. To protect her, he chooses not to enlist, which infuriates his peers. To complicate things further, Jim experiences a terrible train crash and is thrown from his cab. Suspecting that he jumped from his engine instead of holding tight, the town immediately ridiculed him for being a coward. He's disowned by his girlfriend and his railroad crew. But, after another freak accident, Jim has the ability to prove the town wrong. Thus, "The Return of Casey Jones" is a story of redemption. 

I really enjoyed this 70-page novella and found myself cheering Jim as his mountain of misfortune began a seismic shift. There were some technical aspects that I struggled with, but it didn't detract from the story. Jim's adversity and clash with the military and his town was engaging, and thankfully ended on a good note. In terms of action, the book recounts the story of Casey Jones, adding more action to Johns' narrative.

This story was also released as a film in 1935 by Monogram. This collection features a short article by Bold Venture Press co-owner/editor Rich Harvey about the film as well as information on the its star, Charles Starrett. 

Other John Johns stories in this collection are:

"Roads End" (Railroad Man's Magazine, Oct 1930)
"Smoke Gets in your Eyes" (Railroad Stories Magazine, May 1935)
"Emergency Run" (Railroad Stories Magazine, Decemer 1936)
"Running Signals" (Railroad Stories Magazine, November 1936)

Additional volumes:

Railroad Stories Vol. 01: Avalanche (E.S. Dellinger)
Railroad Stories Vol. 02: The Legend of King Lawson (E.S. Dellinger)
Railroad Stories Vol. 03: Gangsters of the Rails (E.S. Dellinger)
Railroad Stories Vol. 04: Civil War and Tales of Jagger Dunns (A. Leslie Scott)
Railroad Stories Vol. 05: Steam and Steel (E.S. Dellinger)
Railroad Stories Vol. 06: The Saga of Kiamichi Bill (E.S. Dellinger)
Railroad Stories Vol. 08: Colorado Midland (Norman Brandhorst)
Railroad Stories Vol. 09: Ballad of Redhot Frost (E.S. Dellinger)
Railroad Stories Vol. 10: Rolling Wheels and The Georgia Rambler (Don Waters)

Secret of Canfield House

Florence Hurd (1919-2008) was born in Chicago and graduated from the University of Chicago. According to her obituary, she moved to San Diego, California and became a social worker. Later, she married, raised two children, and enjoyed a successful career as a gothic romance writer. My first experience with Hurd's writing is her beloved novel Secret of Canfield House. It was published in 1966 by Fawcett Gold Medal. 

The novel stars a young, vulnerable, and attractive woman named Emeline. After moving from Vermont to New York, Emeline discovers that she was never cut out for the big city. When her father dies, Emeline returns to Vermont to pick up the pieces while discovering new employment. She settles on interviewing for a housekeeper job with a snooty woman named Mrs. Canfield. The gig is that she will temporarily live at the vast Vermont manor aptly titled Canfield House. The pay is good but the job is a rather lonely one. Mrs. Canfield and her son Miles only use the house on occasional weekends. But, they want the silver polished and the pillows fluffed – a housekeeper ritual left to Emeline. 

Settling into her new employment and residence, Emeline attempts to befriend the house's groundskeeper. He lives in the barn, drinks a lot, and is a mute – not the best company for a lonely woman. After failing to make small talk in the quaint New England village, Emeline finally finds companionship with the family's weekend cook. Through this relationship, Emeline discovers that Miles was married once, but his bride ran away with another man. Oddly, their bedroom remains closed off from the rest of the house, a dusty tribute to lost love...or maybe death?

Emeline's new job becomes a terrifying ordeal when she's forced to contend with an arsonist, her poisoned dog and what could be an “unholy” haunted bedroom. Like something out of Amityville Horror, she hears noises in the cellar, footsteps through the empty house, slamming doors and monstrous faces in the window. Does the “secret” of Canfield House concern a demonic doorway to Hell or a home invasion nightmare? 

While Secret of Canfield House possesses all of the genre tropes of a fine New England gothic, Hurd cleverly skirts the edges of a traditional old fashioned suspense tale. The story's sweeping finale comes during an onslaught of howling winds and rain. During a power outage, Emeline explores the house by candlelight determined to solve the mystery. Skeletons in the wall, missing pearls, a hidden diamond bracelet, and a smoking gun smoothly enhances this moody 160-page thriller. I was firmly glued to every page in a white-knuckle race to find the answers. You will be too. Highly recommended!

Toll for the Brave

Before Jack Higgins (real name: Harry Patterson, born 1929) became a massive bestselling author of thick, high-adventure novels, he wrote exciting 180-page paperbacks for guys like us. Case in point: His 29th novel, Toll for the Brave (1971), which remains in print today. 

The protagonist and narrator is Ellis Jackson, a British citizen who enlists in the U.S. Army to fight in the Vietnam War as a paratrooper in 1966. Evidently this was a real thing - highly unusual - but it happened. Despite serving with valor, he is captured by the Viet Cong and thrown into a tortuous prisoner-of-war camp administered by the sadistic Chinese. This segment of the paperback was vivid, violent and compelling as Ellis is brought to the physical and the psychological breaking point.

Inside the camp, an African-American U.S. Army Brigadier General with a fantastic backstory named Max Sinclair is also housed as a prisoner of war. Black Max, as he was called, was a U.S. military legend who fought in World War 2, Korea, and now Vietnam where he was caught by the commies while venturing beyond the confines of his command post. Black Max teaches young Ellis how to handle the confinement and torture with a Zen equanimity that preserves Ellis’ sanity and life. Meanwhile, a sexy Chinese psychologist at the camp named Madame Ny is assigned to be Ellis’ chief interrogator while using sensuality and mental manipulation to break the young Britton down. The POW camp scenes comprising the book’s first act were among the best I’ve read this year.

Eventually, Ellis wins his freedom and begins a new life in a marshy village 50-miles outside of London called Foulness. This setting change comprises a new section of the novel, and Ellis is dealing with what appears to be severe PTSD. It’s so bad that when he goes to walk his dog, he thinks he sees Viet Cong lurking in the swamp trying to kill his pet. It’s during one of these dreamlike episodes that a suspicious murder occurs (the novel’s back-cover spoils it, but I won’t), and it’s then incumbent upon Ellis to prove his own innocence and solve the murder. The innocent man being forced to solve a murder to clear his own name has got to be the plot of darn near half the novels we review here at Paperback Warrior. To his credit, Higgins does a good job with this tired storyline, but it has nowhere near the edge-of-your-seat emotional impact of the POW camp scenes. 

There are plenty of great action sequences that will please readers - including some particularly well-crafted martial arts fights. The climactic ending has a giant twist you won’t see coming, but that comes with a cost. The “solution” to the novel’s central mystery is truly moronic and illogical. It’s safe to say that the paperback’s resolution would only please fans who have received frontal lobotomies. Can you enjoy a good book with a bad ending?  That’s the real question here. Is it the ride or the destination that matters? It’s your call. 

Buy your copy HERE

The Girl from Addis

Ted Allbeury (1917-2005) served as a U.K. Intel officer from 1940 to 1947. During WW2, he infiltrated Nazi Germany via parachute and later was caught - and tortured by commies - smuggling spies between East and West Germany. He began writing espionage fiction with a heavy dose of realism at age 55 and went on to publish 40 novels in the genre. My introduction to his work was his 1984 stand-alone paperback, The Girl from Addis.

The story is narrated by our hero, Johnny Grant, a British MI6 operative during WW 2. Back in 1941, Johnny was stationed in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa. The country had just been liberated from Italian rule and the Ethiopians were organizing themselves as a nation under the leadership of their own emperor. The Brits were providing transitional help to the emperor, and Johnny was serving as the chief’s British Military Liaison. Of course, what he was really doing was spying. His main target was a wealthy Armenian named Jonnet who was supplying the Japanese with fuel and arms during the war. Before he could get the job done, Johnny’s cover is blown and he has 48 hours to leave Ethiopia or be killed.

Anyway, that’s the background. Johnny left MI6 in 1947 and embarked on a far more interesting career as a photographer of swimsuit models. Every now and then he uses this as cover to take freelance spy assignments from his old employer. We rejoin him decades later in the 1970s. The emperor of Ethiopia has been overthrown and imprisoned in a military coup, and the new government seems to be getting cozy with the Soviets. The U.K. fears that the Eithiopians aspire to overrun the other nations of East Africa - starting with Somalia -  to form one big Soviet client state. Even worse, Johnny’s old target Jonnet seems to be helping the Soviets achieve this goal from his trusted perch advising the new Ethiopian regime. The Brits want Johnny to return to Ethiopia to finish the job he started 25 years ago - neutralize Jonnet and the Soviet plans before someone gets hurt.

As you may have gathered, this isn’t the “death-ray from the sky” espionage fiction of Nick Carter: Killmaster or a gadget-heavy spy story like a James Bond movie. Instead, Allbeury crafted a more cerebral - and presumably realistic - paperback where old adversaries and allies meet at diplomatic cocktail parties and plot against one another with a greater subtlety than we normally see in pulp fiction. Despite being rather smart, it’s never boring. The brinkmanship was fascinating, thanks to the fact that Allbeury’s writing is staggeringly good. He explains the geopolitics of Ethiopia with a clarity that makes even the dumbest reader (i.e. me) feel like an expert. And, yes, you’ll get your spy action set-pieces at the paperback’s climax.

While back in Ethiopia, Johnny quickly becomes beguiled and infatuated with a mixed-race woman sharing Greek and Somali backgrounds. The problem is that she’s the kept woman of the local KGB colonel, a truly loathsome villain.. The introduction of the titular girl also introduces sex and violence into the thoughtful plotting as well as a pretty sweet love story and insightful observations about western culture.

This was a fantastic novel - weighty and thought-provoking with a lot of substance squeezed into 191 paperback pages. Ted Allbeury was a genius writer who deserves to be rediscovered. Five of his novels have been reprinted by an outfit called Dover Publications but not The Girl From Addis. You’ll need to seek out an old paperback to enjoy it. If you like smart and realistic spy stories, you won’t regret it.