Killer

Before he was science-fiction royalty, Robert Silverberg was a cranking out cheap genre paperbacks to make ends meet. His output included sleaze novels like 1965’s Passion Killer — originally released under the pseudonym of Don Elliott when the author was 29. After discovering that the book is actually a tidy bit of crime noir fiction, Stark House Press imprint Black Gat books has re-released the paperback under the name Killer.

Lee Floyd has just arrived in Manhattan after being hired to kill Howard Gorman’s wife, Ethyl. You see, Howard has recently met a girl named Marie and has decided to upgrade. As such, he needs Hitman Lee’s help in disposing of this Ethyl situation.

For her part, Marie is happy to allow a wealthy sucker like Howard to cover her living expenses, but she finds her benefactor rather repugnant. Nevertheless, having one client paying her bills is easier than working full-time as a call girl. All things being equal, Marie enjoys lesbian sex and Silverberg pulls no 1965 punches in his erotic writing. This is definitely a sex book, and those graphic scenes comprise probably half the novel. You can decide if that’s good news or bad news.

There are some interesting crime noir manipulations and double-crosses among the sex scenes that made Killer a lot of fun to read. It’s not the top-tier hitman fiction we periodically receive from Max Allan Collins and Lawrence Block, but it’s light-years better than most 1960s sleaze fiction. Many authors aren’t proud of their output in this genre, but I’m glad Silverberg has made peace with his past because Killer is a winner. Not a masterpiece, but certainly worth your time. 

Get the book HERE

Five Total Strangers

I spend a lot of time at Target. My wife loves the place and one of my daughters loves throwing away wads of cash for overpriced records of today's trendy pop stars. What's a book-loving Dad supposed to do other than abandon the dependents at the shoe aisle and then hang for a half-hour in the ragtag section of books that Target deems as literature? The end-result is that the family walks out with dog toys, socks, those little colored egg-shaped lip balms and any modern thriller that resembles a horror novel with blurbs like “addictive and unpredictable”. Thus, this is the reason I now own Five Total Strangers by Natalie D. Richards.

When readers first meet Mira, she's landed in a Philadelphia airport at the start of a blizzard outside. She's a teenager, in high school, and her decision making skills aren't fabulous. Due to the next flight being canceled, she decides to take a free ride from her seatmate, an arrogant young woman named Harper. It's like an early scene out of the old John Hughes' film Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. This awkward pairing with a complete stranger then becomes complicated. Harper claims that three of her friends will be joining them in the car because they all need a ride. Yet, once they are collectively joined in the vehicle, Mira learns that the trio of people are complete strangers to Harper. Why did she lie?

The author includes these eerie, handwritten notes every few chapters from Mira's secret admirer. As the book continues, readers will notice that the notes are written months after the events that take place on Mira's ride from Hell. The notes also suggest that whoever is writing them was a passenger in Harper's car that day, but readers won't learn their identity until the book's final chapters. 

Five Total Strangers has all of the ingredients for a successful thriller – suspicious people, a harrowing event, an inescapable situation, and a terrifying atmosphere. The author's use of ice and snow on Pennsylvania's rural back roads made the atmosphere nearly claustrophobic, heightening the intensity inside the car. 

As good as these ingredients are, the book is just too long at 300 pages. Eventually, the mystery and the shady passengers couldn't keep my attention, which ruined the ultimate reveal at the end. By that point I just wanted the ride to be over. If you love slow-burns, then this one may be for you. I will add that the book is young-adult, but nearly all of the horror and thrillers these days caters to that audience, so don't let that throw you off. If you can get it for a few bucks, it might be worth your time. 

Get the book HERE.

Image of a Ghost

We've talked a great deal about prolific author Norman Daniels, but haven't posted a single review for his wife's work. Dorothy Daniels (born Dorothy Smith) authored nurse-fiction and romantic short stories before finding success in the gothic genre. She sold over 10 million books between 1965-1975, culminating in 150 total works in print. My first experience with the author is her 1973 novel Image of a Ghost. It was published by Warner and then reprinted again in 1976. Both feature artwork by prolific Men's Adventure Magazine artist Vic Prezio.

Janet Bancroft inherited a fortune after the recent death of her mother. A year and a half later, Janet spots a paranormal article in a French magazine explaining odd occurrences in a large Maine house. Photographs are included that depict a ghostly woman standing on a staircase. The article includes an invitation from the homeowner asking anyone who recognizes the apparition to call or visit. Janet hurries home, packs a bag, and drives to Maine to talk with the owners. Why? Because Janet recognizes the ghostly woman asher dead mother!

Image of a Ghost is mostly a traditional mystery that tips a foot into a murder procedural. The narrative is mostly just cut-and-paste as the owners, Janet, a dashing male attorney, and others remain in the home hoping to locate the answer to why Janet's mother has risen from the grave. This is a gothic novel, so anyone worth their salt knows there's nothing paranormal about it. The typical Scooby-Doo explanation is offered, but that doesn't necessarily leave out any violent murder or sadistic hi-jinx. Daniels' plot includes a murder mystery as fingers are pointed at all of the guests hoping to uncover clues. 

Overall, this is just a below average gothic that is missing a proper atmosphere and story. The characters are one-dimensional, the ghost isn't that interesting, and the murder mystery leaves a lot to be desired. In other words, Image of a Ghost is an image worth forgetting. 

Buy a copy of this book HERE

The Iron Marshal

The Iron Marshal, L'Amour's 94th novel, was originally published by Bantam in 1979. It is the traditional L'Amour storytelling experience about the unlikely hero ascending from rock bottom to new, lofty heights based on overcoming grueling hardships and oppression. This sort of story is what L'Amour thrived on and this novel proves he was an absolute master of the craft. 

In the book's opening pages, readers are introduced to young Tom Shanaghy, still wet behind the ears as he grows accustomed to life in the big city of New York. It's the late 1800s, and the Irishman immediately finds a brawl on the docks before finding a lead on a job as a server and barkeep at a local pub. The dive is owned by a man named Clancy, and it isn't long before Tom is working his way through the businessman's ranks, from blacksmith to financial clerk on a journey that leads him rubbing shoulders with Clancy on his financial affairs. Eventually, the novel begins to resemble an early mob story with warring factions fighting over pubs and gambling. 

The narrative finds its rhythm when Shanaghy escapes the city by hopping a train. Exhausted, he sleeps his way to Kansas, where he is thrown from the train by a railroad detective. Oddly, when he lands on the hard ground, he finds that the detective has tossed a large backpack to him as well. Inside are supplies, clothes, a revolver and a shotgun. After Shanaghy runs right into a lynching, the man he helps free advises Shanaghy that the pack and shotgun belong to a lawman named Rig Barrett. He says that anyone carrying the famous shotgun is going to have a target on their back. Has Shanaghy assumed the identity of this Iron Marshal? 

L'Amour's novel turns into a remarkable crime-noir once Shanaghy arrives in the small Kansas town. The narrative threads a number of solid plot points together, but it all centers around the town choosing Shanaghy as their new marshal. His order of business is to make sure the train carrying a large payroll isn't robbed. But, after investigating, he learns the heist is happening, but doesn't know all of the players. It could be residents, retailers, criminals from out of town or the railroad men themselves. This is the magic of the story, like any hardboiled private-eye story of the mid-20th century. The mystery is both compelling as well as action-packed. 

The Iron Marshal is just a fantastic western with an extremely likable hero in Tom Shanaghy. I loved the side-stories and how L'Amour neatly tied it all together to deliver an extremely entertaining reading experience. Highly recommended for both fans of westerns and hardboiled procedural storytelling.

Note - The model for the cover pictured here is the "face of a thousand paperbacks", Jason Savas. We told his story in a 2020 article HERE. 

Get a copy of the book HERE.

The Grave's in the Meadow

To the extent that he’s recalled at all, Manning Lee Stokes (1911-1976) is remembered for his pseudonymous work in men’s adventure paperback series titles, including John Eagle: Expeditor, Richard Blade, Nick Carter: Killmaster, and The Aquanauts. However, Stokes began his career authoring mystery novels beginning in 1945 and beyond. His crime-fiction output includes a largely unknown hardcover novel from 1959 titled The Grave’s in the Meadow that was later reprinted by both Dell and Manor Books in paperback.

Our narrator is an amoral sociopath named Dick Ludwell who just witnessed the murder of a middleweight boxer for refusing to take a dive. Dick was the only person to witness the killing at the hands of a ruthless mob henchman, and he correctly figures this makes him a marked man. Dick is a crooked newspaper reporter who supplements his income by providing tips to the local mob boss, but this cozy relationship isn’t going to be enough to save Dick’s bacon this time.

Dick decides to hide 100 miles from the city in his friend’s vacant farmhouse, and this is where the plot really takes off. The farm is located on the outskirts of a small town where everyone knows one another, and Dick assumes the identity of a dead hobo for his new life in exile. As Dick tries to assimilate into small-town life, an astute genre fiction reader begins to see exactly the direction the paperback is headed. He meets a girl and a sweet relationship evolves bolstered by the lies Dick tells her about his identity and background. Could this story be the tale of a heel redeemed by true love?

About halfway through the novel – right when you think you see where it’s going – there is a bonkers scene that turns the plot into a nasty, violent noir. I promise that there’s not a single reader who will ever forget the scene that sparks the paperback’s turning point. I never saw it coming and I read a ton of this stuff. From that point forward, the book erupts into one of the finest crime-noir stories I can recall reading in a long, long time. It reminds me of Dan J. Marlowe’s The Name of the Game is Death, but this Stokes novel predates the Marlowe classic by three full years.

The paperback sprints to the finish line with an exciting, bloody climax. A couple pages from the conclusion, you’ll be dying to know what’s going to happen at the very end. Stokes’ plotting is superb and he does a fantastic job getting you into the narrator’s warped mind. I honestly can’t get over how exciting and wild The Grave’s in the Meadow is, and I can’t believe it hasn't been reprinted since 1973. This is a forgotten paperback definitely worth rediscovering. Readers should seek out a copy, and reprint publishing houses should acquire the rights and resurrect this lost classic. Highest recommendation. 

Buy a copy of this book HERE

Ed Noon #17 - Assassins Don’t Die in Bed

The character of Ed Noon began as a traditional wisecracking, skirt-chasing private eye in the mold of Richard Prather’s Shell Scott. Over time, author Michael Avallone (1924-1999) pulled a clever trick and began sending Noon on spy missions at the request of his recurring client, the U.S. President. Such an adventure is the 17th Ed Noon novel, Assassins Don’t Die in Bed from 1978, currently available as an affordable ebook. 

The novel begins with a call to Noon on his red, white and blue telephone providing a direct line to the President. The Man needs Noon to shadow a U.S. elder statesman named Henry Hallmark on a tour of Europe in furtherance of maintaining the peace. The President has reason to believe that Hallmark (America’s Churchill) is in danger of being assassinated and needs Noon to keep him safe. If you’re wondering why the U.S. law enforcement, diplomatic, and intelligence community doesn’t just work together to protect our famous emissary, you have no business reading this paperback. 

Aboard the ocean liner is an array of colorful characters and suspect assassins. This includes a Japanese Sumo wrestler named Buddha who can snap silver dollars in two between his fingers. There’s also a woman named Gilda Tiger who is regarded as one of the most beautiful women in the world. Will Noon lay her? I’ll never tell! There’s also an Indian political leader seeking to shepherd his starving Hindu nation under the political umbrella of the Red Chinese. 

Further dressing up this cruise ship mystery is an assortment of spy gadgets Noon brings along for the ride. It’s clear by 1968 that Avallone was influenced by the James Bond films, and he wasn’t alone. During this period, there was an arms race to crown a paperback series as “The American James Bond.” With Noon, Avallone threw his hat in the ring and decided to have some real fun with the concept. 

Overall, Assassins Don’t Die in Bed is a better-than-average novel for the genre with a really terrific hardboiled ending. Avallone was a solid author who could always be counted on for a good, pulpy read. If you’re new to the Ed Noon party, you safely can start with this one and not be disappointed. Recommended. 

Buy a copy of this ebook HERE.

Nowhere to Hide

R. Patrick Gates is a teacher, young adult and horror author, husband, and dog owner. Beginning in the 1990s, Gates has authored a number of horror novels like Tunnel, Deathwalker, Savage, and The Prison. The author created a two book series, Grim Memorials and Grim Reapings, about an evil character named Eleanor Grimm terrorizing the small town of Northwood. My first experience with Gates is his psychological horror novel Nowhere to Hide. It was originally published by Pinnacle in 2008 and now exists in a brand new edition as an audio book by Capricorn Literary. 

The book begins with a bloodbath. Young Billy Teags returns from school to discover his mother and brother have been brutally murdered. As gruesome as this scene is, it pales in comparison to the horrific events that unfold throughout the narrative. Billy discovers that the killer is still inside the house.

In Nowhere to Hide, Gates blends a unique concept with present and past events to create this terrifying horror novel. Readers know what Billy is experiencing in the present, but flashbacks to the days before bring new light to the situation. Billy knew about the killer in advance and had notified his parents of a murder he witnessed in his dream. They didn't believe Billy's account, not realizing that Billy has a psychic link to the killer. 

Gates is far from a traditional storyteller and has a rather abstract style that is reminiscent of Jack Ketchum or Bryan Smith. The writing possesses violent, in-your-face imagery that's not for the squeamish. While the horror is prevalent, Gate's creates a multifaceted monster that surprisingly fastens an emotional bond with the reader. In terms of thrilling suspense, it's the reader hiding out with Billy as he navigates the suburban home's hallways, closets, and rooms in a tight cat-and-mouse contest. 

If you want traditional, small-town horror or a weak monster of the week, Nowhere to Hide isn't for you. Instead, this book exists for horror fans that crave a deeper level of psychological terror. Along with this offering, Capricorn Literary is reprinting classic horror novels, all smoothly presented in fantastic audio editions (or Kindle/paperback). Check out the publisher's other authors like Jeff Rovin, John Russo, and Allen Lee Harris. 

Get the audio book HERE.

Say it with Bullets

Richard Pitts Powell (1908-1999) was a Princeton man, an ad man, and a newspaper man who worked on Douglas MacArthur’s staff during World War 2. After the war, he proceeded to write 19 novels in a variety of genres. His 1953 paperback, Say It with Bullets, found new life as a Hard Case Crime reprint in 2006 and remains available today in digital and paperback editions from Wildside Press. 

The novel wastes no time thrusting the reader into the action.  Bill Wayne is traveling across the U.S. with the goal of tracking down five old friends - war buddies and later business partners. One of the men shot Bill in the back overseas in China. Bill is not sure which one of his buddies tried to kill him, but he intends to put that old friend in his grave once he figures it out. 

Bill will be traveling many miles in this ad hoc vendetta investigation. His suspects live in Cheyenne, Salt Lake City, Reno, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. Another interesting wrinkle: Bill  and his .45 are covering this ground in a bus filled with tourists who signed on with Treasure Trips, Inc. for a tour of the American West. The set-up is totally contrived, but highly-creative and a perfect way for the story to unfold. 

Another contrivance is a sweet woman on the bus named Holly, who coincidentally knew Bill when they were kids. Holly always had the hots for Bill, but he’d prefer to fly under the radar on this trip. After all, he’s more interested in murder than seeing Yosemite Park. Bill initially shuns Holly’s advances, but the reader can see where this storyline is headed. 

Flashbacks fill in the details of the back-shot that failed to kill Bill in China after a heated argument with his five business partners. After returning home to Philadelphia, another unknown subject took another shot at Bill. He narrowed the suspects down to the five partners, which brings us back to this weird bus ride. 

When Bill reaches his first suspect, the plot takes an unexpected — and rather clever turn. I won’t give it away, but the mission changes from a standard revenge story to a mystery in which the hunter is being hunted. You won’t be disappointed. Leave it at that. 

The author’s prose is straightforward and no-frills, but he had a real knack for snappy dialogue. As a protagonist, Bill has an evolution from a cranky misanthrope to a fully-realized man with whom the reader can eventually empathize. By this point in his career, Powell had  nine books under his belt, so he had cracked the code of writing sharp, terse prose with great pacing. 

Say It with Bullets is an easy recommendation, and has spurred my interest in reading more of Powell’s writing. Thanks to several forward-leaning reprint houses, it won’t take much hunting to find more of his work. Buy a copy of this book HERE.

Race Williams #02 - Three Thousand to the Good

“Three Thousand to the Good” by Carroll John Daly is a 20-page short story that originally appeared in the July 15, 1923 issue of Black Mask magazine. It’s the second appearance of Private Detective Race Williams, the first hardboiled detective series character ever.

Our narrator Race Williams is ostensibly a private investigator, but he’s the first to admit that he’s really a “gentleman adventurer” who lends his services targeting criminals on behalf of paying clients. In this case, he is hired by a fellow named Abe who needs Race to be the bagman for a blackmail payment Abe owes some crooks in exchange for incriminating evidence in the possession of the blackmailers. Abe is no choirboy himself, and the activity that opened him up to blackmail in the first place underscores Race’s own operation in a morally grey area.

The blackmail payment is $10,000, and Race strikes a deal with Abe. If Race can come back with the incriminating evidence from the blackmailers and Abe’s $10,000, Race gets to keep $2,500. If Race fails, he gets nothing. Abe jumps at this opportunity for Race’s value-added services.

The story quickly shifts to Race’s attempt to double cross the blackmailers, and fans of tough-guy action find plenty to enjoy. Staging a double cross is one thing, but getting away with it is quite a different challenge. Race eventually gets to the bottom of the situation with a somewhat odd conclusion to the story.

In the world of good-and-bad Race Williams stories, this one was solidly satisfying and will please fans of Race and his imitator, Micky Spillane’s Mike Hammer. The story has been compiled elsewhere, but the cheapest option is a two-dollar ebook from Black Mask that also includes a bonus stand-alone story from Daly called “Paying an Old Debt.”

While we’re here, I’ll say that “Paying an Old Debt” was from an April 1923 issue of Black Mask - one month before Daly launched the Race Williams series. The narrator is a jailbird who cons his way into a butler job for the purpose of ripping off his host’s diamonds. It’s a great little story with an O. Henry styled ending. I thought it was a stronger story than the Race Williams one.

The Black Mask ebook containing the two stories is only two bucks and completely worth it. The stories have aged extremely well and stand as a monument to the very beginning of hardboiled crime fiction. 

Get the ebook HERE.

The Woman on the Roof

According to Wikipedia, Helen Nielsen (1918-2002) authored television scripts for classic mystery shows like Perry Mason and Alfred Hitchcock Presents. Before her writing career, she worked as a draftsman during WW2 and helped design aircraft like the B-36, XB-47, and P-80. She authored nearly 20 novels, including a series of detective novels starring District Attorney Simon Drake. Stark House Press has been reprinting some of Nielsen's stand-alone crime-fiction novels like The Woman on the Roof. It was originally published in 1956 by Dell and now remains as a reprint through Stark House Press's Black Gat Books imprint. 

Wilma Rathjen spent a considerable amount of time in a mental institution. There, she rehabilitated and learned new skills. Now, she lives in a rooftop apartment in Los Angeles and spends her spare time spying on her neighbors. The rent is completely paid by her wealthy brother Curtis, a prominent politician and lawmaker. Wilma still likes to keep busy, so she works at a nearby bakery designing birthday cakes. Thankfully, the author's final lines in Chapter One sets up the narrative.

From her rooftop view, Wilma discovered that her neighbor Ruby, a beautiful female dancer and entertainer, was lying in her bathtub dead. But, Wilma didn't want to risk being scolded by the police for snooping or reporting a dead body. She may have to return to the mental hospital where the food is bad and the staff is abusive. She can't do anything to jeopardize her comfy living arrangement. Wilma is still hiding the secret when her friend and neighbor Pop peers through Ruby's window and discovers her corpse. 

The authorities are called and the narrative then focuses on John Osgood, a 40 year veteran police sergeant and Frenchy Bartel, a homicide detective, as they attempt to find Ruby's killer. But, the tension escalates when another tenant is murdered and Wilma sees someone snooping around Ruby's empty apartment at night. The police, and readers, receive a surprise when someone walks into Ruby's apartment claiming to be her husband. Is he the killer, or is it a pesky photographer?

The Woman on the Roof didn't entertain me as much as I had hoped. I rarely strike out with Stark House Press, but I just felt the book was too long and didn't have enough to keep me occupied. It's written well and I enjoyed the characters, but Wilma left something to be desired. With her limited capabilities, I became bored with the events surrounding her. The mystery was engaging enough, and Ruby could have been sexy as Hell. But, she's a bloated corpse before the narrative even starts, so any sexy chemistry was completely voided. Osgood's role was interesting and he turned the story into a procedural investigation, although a dull one. 

Overall, this was my first sampling of Helen Nielsen's work and I'm intrigued enough to try another. Buy a copy of the book HERE.

Gold Bait

Colonel Corby spent years fighting in Korea and Vietnam before an injury ended his military career. After rehabbing at a local hospital, Corby cashed out and wanted a retirement somewhere cheap with lots of booze and sex. So, it's in Mexico that entrepreneur Max Haggard finally locates Corby, nestled between bottles of tequila and a beautiful senorita's legs. At the front door, Haggard explains that he has traveled from Korea just to find Corby. He ain't selling vacuum cleaners. What he has to offer is worth over $4 million smack-a-roos.

Haggard reminds Corby of a Korean battle at sea in which Corby, manning a small South Korean boat, managed a direct hit to sink a battleship. But, little did anyone know that the battleship held a metric ton of fun payable in small, shiny gold bricks. Those same bricks are now sitting on the seabed wherever Corby scored the hit. Haggard learned of the ship's fortune in Korea, but no one could locate any whereabouts of the sunken vessel. Only Corby can recall the coordinates After squinting at charts, Corby knows where to find it. But, he's keeping his 'ole kisser shut until they can put together a salvage job. 

Author Walter Sheldon, often writing as Walt Sheldon (once as Ellery Queen), made stacks of dimes writing pulps in the 30s and 40s. Like everyone looking for a better payday, he switched to paperback originals and dished out crime-noir, science-fiction, horror, and action-adventure novels. By the time he wrote Gold Bait, published in 1973 (Fawcett Gold Medal), he had the writing machine well-oiled. So, after consistent success, Sheldon presented Gold Bait in an experimental, different way. 

The first page of the book is a CIA memorandum from Mr. Fancy Pants to another Fancy Pants outlining Corby's possible recruitment into the organization. The memo says that the pages in the book are documents recovered from Corby, other people and agencies. The last page of the book is another CIA thingy suggesting that the documents were reviewed by enough peeps to make a final decision. The last line states that Corby is either eligible or ineligible for recruitment. I'm not telling you how it ends.

So, what are the pages inside? What do they contain? It's a conglomerate (that means buncha) of diary entries from Corby and that blonde bombshell that's on the front cover as well as letters and police reports that tell the tale of this foursome attempting to recover the sunken gold while being watched by the pesky military. Mostly, it all works out and makes this a real cool read, but I wondered how these guys had the time to write diary entries while dodging bullets, assassins, criminals, and scoundrels? 

I'm sure you just gawked at the cover and spent your $5 because it is a Robert McGinnis painting and you're a filthy savage, but if you want to open it up and read the words, I think you may get hooked on Gold Bait. I sense it could have been a series of books starring this Corby fellow blowing up people and places while pulling down panties. But, I don't think a sequel even happened and that's a real bummer. Anyhoo, Gold Bait is recommended. 

Buy a copy of this book HERE

Cage of Ice

Duncan Kyle is the name printed on a number of 1970s and 1980s high-adventure novels. In reality, this is John Franklin Broxholme (1930-2000) using Kyle as a pseudonym. I really enjoyed my first sampling of the author's work, the action-packed 1976 novel In Deep (aka Whiteout!). I wanted to try another, so I randomly chose Cage of Ice from my bookshelf. It was the author's first published novel, originally appearing in hardcover in 1970 (Harper Collins) and later reprinted numerous times in paperback. Pictured is my 1987 Fontana edition, which has the best cover -  in my opinion - of the reprints I've seen.

In Cage of Ice, protagonist Dr. John Edwards is a British surgeon and teacher residing in New York. In a unique plot set-up, Edwards receives an envelope addressed to Professor John Edwards, which isn't him. Once he receives the envelope, he is nearly killed on the highway by a motorist and his apartment is ransacked and the doorman assaulted. Whatever was in the envelope is then stolen by these mysterious men. Edwards, desperate to learn why he has been targeted by killers, tracks down the envelope's origin and discovers it was supposed to go to Professor Ed Ward....not John Edwards. Get it? 

Edwards finds Professor Ward's residence, but when he arrives, he finds the man murdered. After surviving another round of killers, Edwards is then arrested on suspicion of murder and bailed out of jail by the CIA, who then safely ushers him to their headquarters in Washington D.C. What the heck is happening in this high-adventure-missing-high-adventure narrative? 

Here's what amounts to be the most absurd plot I've discovered yet in a men's action-adventure novel:

The Soviets need more shipping alternatives and routes to contend with the West. To do this, they need sea ports on their northern coastline. But, the area remains frozen nearly year round, so the region is mostly useless. The Soviet Union needs the sea level to rise so they can build a giant dam to allow warmer water onto their coasts while also funneling cold water to Japan, annihilating that country's climate (along with submerging most of Northern America's coastline). To force sea levels to rise, they need the Arctic Ice Caps to melt. Anyone knows that the sunlight bounces off the gleaming white snow and ice, thus it stays frozen. But, the Russians create a carbon that they can release from aircraft that turns the Ice Caps the color of dark ash. Now, the sun can become the Soviet Union's ally by melting the ice and raising the sea level. It is so ridiculous, yet somehow remarkably brilliant! 

A Russian scientist has created this whole process, but he wants out of the Soviet Union so he can spill his secrets to the U.S. and avoid a global catastrophe. But, the U.S. already knows the secrets based on correspondence this Russian scientist had with Professor Ward, who has been killed by Soviet assassins already. The Russian scientist is being held at a secret facility in a frozen wasteland off of Russia's northern coast. The CIA then recruits operatives from Japan, Scotland, England, and the U.S. to make the impossible journey, through the ice and snow, to retrieve the scientist (for some reason). But, because Edwards is a doctor, he's recruited as well because most British surgeons know how to climb icy mountains, navigate specialized snow vehicles, shoot straight, and survive under Earth's harshest elements. 

As insane as all of this sounds, Cage of Ice is a fantastic adventure if you just dismiss the destination and enjoy the ride. Duncan Kyle is writing to entertain readers and this is just pure popcorn fun. The author creates dramatic, harrowing situations for this team to endure and overcome. The survival elements are there, but they don't consume the action. Instead, it is endurance, skiing, breaking into the installation, catastrophe, and creating a backup plan on the run that keeps the pages turning. The book's finale has an awesome firefight with helicopters and a nearly apocalyptic showdown with a nuclear submarine.

If you suspend disbelief to concentrate on the overall action and adventure, then Cage of Ice is an absolute winner. It's similar to the greats like Hammond Innes and Alistair MacLean in terms of the faster pace and death-defying sequences. It's just tissue thin on plot, so your mileage may vary. I recommend it, and I rarely steer you wrong. 

Buy a copy of this book HERE

Paperback Warrior Primer - Jack Pearl

The first thing to know about Jack Pearl is that the name is a pseudonym of Jacques Bain Pearl. Pearl was born in Richmond Hill, New York in 1923. After obtaining his Master's at Columbia, Pearl spent nearly three years in the U.S. Army's Military Police throughout Africa, Sicily and Italy during World War 2. 

After the war, Pearl began a short career as an engineer, but quickly his goal of becoming a full-time writer took control of his life. In 1952, Pearl was able to get his feet wet by writing for a short-lived crime-drama television show called Gang Busters. He also began contributing short stories to the Men's Adventure Magazines. His earliest short story may have been "Submerge!", published by Saga in September 1953. He would go on to contribute short stories to Man, Climax, Impact and Boys Life. After a stint as an advertising copywriter, Pearl worked his way into a managing editor role at Saga and Climax. 

In 1961, Pearl began writing military non-fiction novels. The first was simply called General Douglas MacArthur, a life story of the man published by Monarch, which was followed by Blood-and-Guts, a life story of General Patton also published by Monarch. These two books instantly became hot sellers and Pearl was off to the races as a full-time novelist. A year later he wrote another one about Navy legend Admiral Bull Halsey and Famous Aerial Dogfights of World War 2.

The earliest work I've read by Pearl is his 1962 movie novelization Ambush Bay. This was a film released by United Artists and Pearl mostly sticks to the film's screenplay but has a few variations. I read the novel and it's set during World War 2 in the Philippines. Nine battle-scarred U.S. Marines and an Air Force radio man are attempting to penetrate a Japanese occupied region to rescue a U.S. Intelligence officer. I really liked it a lot and reviewed the novel HERE.

Pearl wrote a young adult, air force cadet series called The Young Falcons in 1962. The first was The Young Falcons, the second was Bruce Larkin – Air Force Cadet. 

In 1963, Pearl was still writing for magazines like Saga. In fact, Pearl started dabbling in Cryptozoology with some of his stories. 1964 proved to be a very productive year for the author. He wrote a non-fiction book called Battleground World War 1 as well as the movie novelization for Robin and the 7 Hoods. This was an all-star film showcasing Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., and Bing Crosby. That same year, Pearl rose to prominence with his book about historical assassinations called The Dangerous Assassins. In 1965, he also authored the movie novelizations for The Yellow Rolls-Royce and Our Man Flint, as well as a prison novel called Stockade, which was published by Pocket Books. 

One of Pearl's most popular novels was published in 1966. It was called The Crucifixion of Pete McCabe and it is about a man convicted of rape and murder that must prove his innocence. In 1967, Pearl authored a television tie in novel to the sci-fi TV series The Invaders called Dam of Death. That same year he also authored the first of a two book series of young adult science fiction called Space Eagle, which is loosely based on the Lone Ranger concept. Also in 1967, Pearl authored two books as television tie-in novels to the show Garrison's Guerillas. One was a young adult novel called Garrison's Guerillas and the Fear Formula. The other was simply titled Garrison's Guerillas, a paperback published by Dell that serves as a traditional WW2 men's action-adventure novel. I read and reviewed the book HERE.

In 1968, Pearl authored the movie novelization of Funny Girl. By the 1970s, Jack Pearl started to author books in a gritty, more violent tone that fits snugly with men's action-adventure of the time. This era of his writing begins with 1971's A Time to Kill, A Time to Die. It's about a reunion of old friends from World War 2 at an Aspen Ski Lodge. But within a half-hour, five are fatally shot by a sniper and it's up to the local police and a psychiatrist to close in on the killer and learn his/her motives. His 1973 book Victims is about a terrorist bombing attempt in New York City on Christmas Eve. 

Pearl wrote The Plot to Kill the President in 1972 and it was published by Pinnacle. This is a book that was inspired by the Kennedy Assassination. Pearl continued doing television and movie novelizations in the 1970s with a book called Nancy, a mob-themed one called Lepke. He also started tinkering with romance novels in the 1970s with books like Callie Knight.

Real life Newark Detective David Toma co-authored a handful of novels with Pearl based on his career in law enforcement. The first was co-written with Michael Brett (the same one that wrote Diecast) and two were written with Jack Pearl – The Affair of the Unhappy Hooker and also The Airport Affair. 

From 1977 through the late 1980s, Pearl teamed up with his cousin Donald Bain (author of the Murder, She Wrote series) to write mass-market romance novels under the name Stephanie Blake. This is what Pearl finished his career doing. He would pass away in Nassau County, New York in 1992. 

You can check out our Jack Pearl page HERE as well as listen to our podcast episode about the author HERE.

X-Files - Goblins

I'm an X-Files fan, one of those weird X-Phile nuts. To prove it, I have an old trunk filled with show toys, coffee mugs, calendars, books, action-figures, autographs, and various magazines like TV Guide. I even have VHS recordings of various episodes as they originally aired on Friday nights. I've read the graphic novels, fan-fiction, and some of the books. I've had Goblins for a long time and recently decided to listen to the audio version while earning my keep performing honey do chores. It was originally published in paperback by Harper in 1994 and authored by Charles Grant, a prolific writer that specialized in horror.

In a small town in Louisiana, two retired U.S. Military officers are slashed to death. However, eyewitnesses claim a hand came from out of nowhere, as if it was nearly invisible when making the killing stroke. One of the men was to marry the cousin of a sportswriter that Mulder knows. The sportswriter comes to Mulder with the murder mystery, but he's already on it. The F.B.I. has already been called to perform the investigation quietly, thus Scully and Mulder are brought up from the basement to handle what may, or may not be, a legitimate X-Files case.

The problem that the F.B.I. agents face (and readers for that matter), is that there are too many cooks in the kitchen. Grant doesn't leave well enough alone and partners two rookie agents to accompany Scully and Mulder on the case. Thus, there's multiple investigations with different pairings of the agents. Also, the sportswriter comes to town as well to conduct his own investigation, which just complicates the narrative more.

I'm not sure if Grant had actually watched an X-Files episode when he was hired to write this sort of television tie-in literature. Mulder's characterization is off, behaving in ways that doesn't really match his television persona. In this book, Mulder isn't as sarcastic with his responses or as serious as the TV character, and does the investigation in ways that has no real purpose or flow. I also didn't sense any of the guilt ridden emotion that wrecks Mulder on screen, although Grant does include a flashback scene of Samantha disappearing (Mulder's sister and major series story arc). He's also overly happy about things beyond the paranormal, which is unusual. The idea is that Mulder only becomes enthusiastic when researching X-Files-type cases. 

My main issue with Goblins is that it's just boring. Nothing really happens, the agents spin their wheels, and I figured out the whole “goblin” mystery in the book's first few chapters. The bumpy narrative was a struggle to get through and I was left thoroughly disappointed that I've hung on to this paperback for nearly 30 years only to find out it isn't very good. 

There are numerous paperbacks available, including a couple that retcon Scully and Mulder's teen years. I'll continue reading X-Files related stories and books, but there's no reason for you to read Goblins. 

Get the ebook HERE.

Hugh North 18 - Two Tickets for Tangier

Francis Van Wyck Mason (1901-1978) was a renowned international traveler and author with 78 books to his credit. He began his career writing stories for the pulps where he developed his signature character, U.S. Army Intelligence Colonel Hugh North (7 stories, 25 novels) in 1930. The stories began as mysteries, but shifted into spy adventures with the advent of paperback original novels. My first taste was the character’s 18th novel, Two Tickets for Tangier, from 1955. 

North, who works for a U.S. spy agency called G-2, is on vacation in London romancing a sexy babe named Lady Angela Forester. He’s known Angela for awhile, but he’s not initially aware that she’s a British MI-2 spy. Their romantic time together is cut short when North is summoned into his boss’ office in London, and Angela has to fly to Tangier for something or other. 

Don’t be embarrassed if you know nothing about Tangier. I’m here for you. It’s a port city located in Morocco on the northern coast of Africa — across from the Strait of Gibraltar from the southern tip of Spain. In 1955, Tangier was still an international city largely operating independently as a free trade zone beyond the control of much oversight from Morocco. As a result, Tangier was a multi-cultural, freewheeling city — an “anything goes” kinda place. 

As luck would have it — the paperback’s title gives it away — North’s new assignment is also to Tangier. The mission involves a gas called Thulium-X that creates intense cold temperatures similar to those of outer space. The gas was perfected by a former Nazi scientist named Dr. Vogel, who had been enslaved by the Ruskies since 1945. Somehow the scientist escaped and is hiding in Tangier. North needs to find him and buy the formula before the Soviets can make the grab. 

The plotting in Two Tickets to Tangier was good, but not remarkable. The writing, however, was a slog. The author went to such pains to portray North as a debonair man of the world that he really came off as a foppish snob. He peppers his language with French phrases and seems like the last guy I’d ever send into a critical mission. Painstaking descriptions of locations abound and offhand references to obscure characters from previous novels litter every scene. 

I was really optimistic about this series, but this first foray into the world of The Man From G-2 really left me cold. If there’s a good installment in this series, please hit me up. I assure you that Two Tickets to Tangier isn’t the one. 

Buy a copy of this book HERE 

The Many

The Many (2016) is the first book in a trilogy of psychological horror thrillers by American author Nathan Field. I sampled the first chapter on my Kindle and was sufficiently creeped out to continue reading.

The novel begins with a blind date in Portland, Oregon, where Stacey quickly becomes charmed by a British doctor named Adam, whom she originally met on a dating app. The wine and dinner portion of the date went swimmingly well, but things get seriously weird in the car ride back to Adam’s place to consummate the good night.

The third-person perspective changes to Karl Morgan. He’s Stacey’s brother and he is super-concerned about Stacey’s well-being. Karl is flopping on his sister’s couch, and Stacey has been acting seriously weird since her date with the doctor. The change in Stacey’s behavior triggers Karl to leave Stacy’s place and set off on his own. Maybe some time apart will be good for the siblings.

When Karl reconnects with his sister, her weirdness and creepy behavior only increases. The central mystery of the novel’s first act: “What the hell is going on with Stacy?” No one spoiled the book for me, so I was wavering between demonic possession and an alien body-snatching. There were some legit terrifying scenes depicting Stacey’s descent into weirdness or madness or however you want to characterize her changes. Fans of horror fiction will be super-pleased. Leave it at that.

The initial solution to the mystery is revealed halfway through the novel, and the book then slides into straight-up thriller territory. Two characters pair up to solve the mystery, and their relationship follows the beats of a young adult novel. A late-novel plot twist turns everything you’ve read on its head, making the reader want to know more about the conspiracy of The Many promised in the title.

Beyond that, there’s not much I can say about the plot that won’t spoil the fun for you. My only complaint is that the paperback is part one in a trilogy, and not much is resolved in The Many. To the publisher’s credit, all three installments have been released in one 900-page volume, which I’ll need to tackle one day to find out what the Hell happens.

Bottom line, The Many - at least the first installment - is inventive, periodically terrifying, and often hard to put down. It’s a puzzle-box mystery with an intriguing solution that kept the pages turning. If this sounds like your kind of thing, it probably is. You won’t be disappointed. 

Get the ebook HERE.

Inspector Sands #02 - The Iron Gates

Along with her contemporaries like Dorothy B. Hughes, Charlotte Armstrong, Dolores Hitchens and Helen Nielsen, California native Margaret Millar helped solidify the presence of talented female mystery authors in the 1940s and 1950s. She wrote over 25 original novels, mostly as stand-alone works. However, her first three novels starred a Canadian sleuth named Dr. Paul Prye and she repeated that creation with another Canadian detective, Inspector Sands. 

The Toronto homicide detective starred in Wall of Eyes (1943) and The Iron Gates (1945), as well as a short story called "The Neighbors Next Door" in a 1954 issue of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. I chose to read the latter novel based on an article by Curtis Evans (via Stark House Press) praising the book. It has been reprinted multiple times in hardcover, paperback, and most recently as an audio book. It was also printed in the U.K. as Taste of Fears.

In The Iron Gates, Millar's prose is pure psychological suspense. In the book's opening chapters, Lucille Morrow is mourning the unusual death of her friend Mildred. These scenes are beautifully written and drape the imagery in a white pane of frosted glass reflecting Lucille's loss and mental anguish. It's a hazy precursor to what eventually occurs later in the book as a historical flashback or retelling. 

Later, readers learn that Lucille is now married to a retired physician named Andrew, Mildred's previous husband. She is the stepmother of his two adult, but childish, kids and the in-law to his worrisome sister, all of which reside in the same house. Due to the death of Mildred, and Andrew's replacement of her with Lucille, there are strict dividing lines in the household based on suspicions and shifting judgments. These alliances and strategic family placements play into the novel's central themes of jealousy and lust.

Inspector Sands becomes involved in the narrative when Lucille goes missing. There's early discussion between characters about a nearby park where a grisly murder took place. There's a cautionary tale told about a wandering ax-man preying on park guests. The idea that Lucille is missing, the nearby murder, Mildred's prior death and this strange ax-man all play into the mystery. Sands doesn't know what to believe and finds the family obtuse about Lucille's whereabouts. Only Andrew seems genuinely concerned about her well-being, opening up a string of guesses on which family member committed murder.

The book takes an interesting twist for the second half. Without spoiling the plot development, a major character ends up in a mental asylum behind “iron gates”. Her reason for being there is cloudy, leaving Sands and a detective to investigate the events surrounding her confinement in the asylum. Most of the book's second half does take place in the asylum as the character interacts with other mental patients and the hospital's staff. I enjoyed these parts of the story, but felt it was a little distracting at times. The behavior of the patients and their involvement in the main character's psyche definitely contributes to the story's development, but it's a marathon. 

As a psychological suspense novel, Millar conveys a lot of emotion in her writing. I enjoy the shading she provides as she draws out each character for the reader to suspect. As I learn more and more about female mystery authors of the 20th century, my research always leads to Millar. She was a a real talent and sadly isn't as relevant now. Her work is mostly forgotten aside from a few reprint houses still preserving her novels. Her spouse, Ross MacDonald, the creator of the California detective Archer, is in more abundance, but honestly Millar may have been the one to read all along. 

The Iron Gates was optioned for film to Warner Brothers and allegedly Millar wrote the screenplay. It was to star either Bette Davis or Barbara Stanwyck, but the film never came to fruition. This novel remains rather timeless and would make for a great modern film with it's real world complexity. My vote is for director David Bruckner (The Night House, The Ritual). Anyone have his number? 

Buy a copy of this book HERE

Old Man's War

Old Man’s War by California author John Scalzi is one of those books that often appears on lists of the "Greatest Science-Fiction Books of All Time." The novel was first published as a serial and released as a book in 2005. The novel was nominated for a Hugo Award and inspired multiple sequels.

Here’s the set-up:

It’s about 200+ years in the future, and Earth is engaged in a forever war with several alien races in colonized interstellar space. However, Earth’s military doesn’t want strong, young soldiers. Instead, they want senior citizens for reasons the novel will make clear to you when you read it. If a volunteer oldster serves in combat for two years and survives, the senior is awarded a sizable plot of land on one of the many colonized planets. They also get some life-extending medical procedures, so they don’t keel over on the battlefield. Extending life in exchange for dangerous combat is a good deal for the elderly looking into the Great Beyond.

Enter John Perry, our narrator. He is a 75 year old widow living in Ohio that is now joining the military. The idea of extending his life and leaving Earth behind forever seems like a good idea. The catch is that you can never return, nor can you have any contact with the people you leave behind. As a result, information about combat as part of the Colonial Defense Force is spotty. You need to sign on in a leap of faith to learn the whole scoop.

The geopolitics of Earth’s space colonies are pretty fascinating and also best left explained in the novel. Same for the inventive physics devised by the author to catapult senior citizens into the far reaches of space. I also wasn’t expecting how funny the book would be. The narrative voice of John Perry reminded me of Andy Weir’s novels The Martian and Hail Mary. It’s the kind of science-fiction that doesn’t ask too much of the reader as the world-building is so smooth and effortless to read.

The Colonial Defense Force has many of the hallmarks of our own military culture with intensive training by intense drill sergeants. It’s only when the oldster soldiers are briefed on their mission and the enemies they will be encountering that it becomes clear that this isn’t going to be a walk in the park. By the time you actually get to combat battles, you’re in for a real treat (think of the film Starship Troopers).

The many battle scenes will please action-adventure paperback fans, and this is a perfect novel for people curious about science-fiction who don’t know where to begin. Overall, Old Man’s War is an absolute winner and I look forward to exploring the sequels. 

Get the book HERE.

A Handful of Hell: Classic War and Adventure Stories by Robert F. Dorr

Back in 2016, Robert Deis and Wyatt Doyle teamed up for a book titled A Handful of Hell: Classic War and Adventure Stories by Robert F. Dorr. It is part of the duo's The Men's Adventure Library, published by New Texture. We've covered a number of these volumes, including I Watched Them Eat Me Alive, Barbarians on Bikes, and Cuba: Sugar, Sex, and Slaughter. Deis remains active with this project as well as his Men's Adventure Quarterly publication co-edited by Bill Cunningham. 

In A Handful of Hell's opening pages, Deis explains that he had received an email message from Dorr in November, 2009 concerning the recently-launched MensPulpMags.com blog. Dorr had explained, with exclamation, that he wrote hundreds of articles for the men's pulp adventure magazines and wasn't aware that there was still a large fan base for those vintage publications. Deis was aware of Dorr's work and the two struck up a friendship which led to the creation of this book.

The book includes a 20 page chapter written by Dorr titled “My Plan Was To Be a Writer and an Adventurer...” Dorr writes that he had two main interests since childhood, the Air Force and writing. His first paid publication was in Air Force Magazine's November, 1955 issue. Although he couldn't be an Air Force pilot due to a hearing impairment, Dorr still served in the military in a very unique role. He enrolled in Army Language School and studied the Korean language for 20 months. He was then sent to Korea to listen to North Korean radio communications between 1958-1960. 

After his military stint, Dorr actively pursued writing and sold “The Night Intruders” to Real for their April, 1962 publication. He states in the book that this was the first of what became several hundred men's pulp adventure stories. Thankfully, Deis and Doyle include the story in this volume. In fact, the duo collected 17 stories (by my count) that are written by Dorr and culled from vintage magazines like Stag, Man's, Bluebook, Male, Real, and Man's Illustrated. Handful of Hell also includes color scans of the magazine covers and interior artwork that accompanied these original stories. That in itself makes the book wildly entertaining, but I'm a reader and here are a few short reviews of included stories.

“5 Downed GIs Who Gutted Ambush Alley”

This story was featured in the June, 1967 issue of Men. The setting is South Vietnam's Ia Drang Valley, a hotbed of violence controlled by The People's Army of North Vietnam. San Diego native Sid Reeder and his crew plunge into the valley when their chopper is shot down. As the helicopter lies upside down, the soldiers inside formulate a plan. The enemy forces are descending from the hillside to destroy what's left of the downed chopper. They have to choose whether they want to call in support and risk another chopper being shot down or just call in the coordinates and go on killin' and dyin'. When Reeder thinks about the helicopter's two ground-to-air rockets, he comes up with a new plan. I loved the story and the frantic pace in which it is told. Dorr showcases a distinct understanding of helicopter aviation and protocols and is able to transport that to the printed page in a way that isn't technically jarring for the reader. This was such a great story.

“The POW General Who Tried to Kill Himself”

In the November, 1965 issue of Man's, Dorr tells this real-life account of U.S. Major General William F. Dean's harrowing ordeal as a prisoner-of-war in North Korea. Dorr explains to readers that Dean was on the run through the Korean countryside after narrowly escaping incoming enemy forces. Separated from his men, Dean's journey took him through jungles, fields, and villages desperately searching for food and medial supplies. Eventually, he's betrayed by a Korean and turned over to the North Korean People's Army. After months of starvation, dehydration, and lack of medical treatment, Dean reached the point of physical torture. After endless rounds of interrogation, for weeks and weeks, Dean is instructed that he will be tortured to gain information about American forces, locations, and strategies. Dean knows that he has reached a tipping point where he may divulge information under the harsh treatment. His only rescue is suicide. Honestly, this is really a tough story to read considering the levels of violence and torture. However, Dean's real life account is vividly told by Dorr as a tribute to his perseverance, patriotism, and internal fortitude. Dean is an American hero and I love that Dorr had the courage to write this. It's a true testament to human endurance and honor. Note - For more information, read Dean's autobiography titled General Dean’s Story.

“The Impossible Raid”

Stag, January 1966 featured this WW2 aviation story about a solo run by a lone B-17 bomber piloted by Captain Barry Helm. His mission is to utilize thick fog to make a daring bombing run on a German base. By targeting a large fuel supply, the bombing can create maximum damage to the Germans. But, in order to execute this nearly impossible assignment, the bomber must enter the airspace at tree level. This avoids field-swept radar that picks up higher elevation aircraft. Combining the low entry level with the thick fog makes it a valiant opportunity to strike a major blow to the German offense. This is just a classic, simple aviation tale that utilizes Dorr's descriptive storytelling. I liked the story's presentation from both the American forces as well as the Germans. In a short story, the narrative's presentation of events in the air and on the ground was just so epic and compelling.

You can buy this book and other collections HERE. Don't forget to check out Men's Adventure Quarterly for even more fantastic vintage stories and artwork.

Reprisal

Arthur Gordon (1913-2002) was a Yale graduate and Rhodes scholar that fought in WW2 and later became an editor for slick magazines like Good Housekeeping, Cosmopolitan, and Guidepost. His family has a rich lineage in Georgia. His aunt created the Girl Scouts organization and his great-grandfather started the Central of Georgia Railroad. His literary work includes the military-fiction novel Target Germany, A Song Called Hope, and an acclaimed biography about Norman Vincent Peale. 

My focus is on his only crime-fiction novel, Reprisal. It was originally published in 1950 as a hardcover by Simon & Schuster. Its success warranted a second printing by the publisher. In 1951, the novel was published in paperback by Pocket Book (#801) with a cover by Harvey Kidder (he painted the cover of another book we reviewed HERE).

The book's synopsis, printed on the back cover, peaked my interest. It says:

My name is Nathan Hamilton. I am black. My wife has been lynched! God knows what they did to her before they tied her to a tree and riddled her body with bullets. The killers were tried by jury. They were acquitted. Every white man in Hainesville knows that these men are guilty. But the town wants to forget. I can't forget. They lynched my wife because they know they could get away with it! They were sure nothing would happen! But something can happen. Something will happen! I'm starting for Hainesville tonight. There's a loaded gun in my valise with a bullet in it for each man who had a hand in the murder of my wife!

The book begins in a courtroom as the judge and counsel tensely await a jury's verdict. Three white men are on trial for the heinous murder of four African-Americans in the small, southern town of Hainesville. When the jury reconvenes, they find the men not guilty despite evidence that proves otherwise. The judge provides a verbal scolding to the courtroom and cautions the jury that he's ashamed of the justice system and the events that have unfolded to allow the men to walk free.

Gordon then begins introducing various characters and side stories that ultimately make up Hainesville. The main character is Melady, a brave reporter from the North that's covering the trial and its aftermath. He attempts to remain somewhat neutral early on, but by the book's end, he becomes heavily involved. Unity is another star, a receptionist who is involved in a relationship with a very bad man named Shep. Perhaps the most influential character is Yancy, an admirable African-American undertaker that tries to be the peacekeeper in the black section of town. Threading the characters is Nathan, a black man now living in New York after his wife was raped and murdered in Hainesville. Once he learns of the trial's outcome, he travels south with a gun.

There is way too much to unpack in one simple blog review. Reprisal is nearly 300-pages and has a character list that seemed a mile long. It's a lot to keep up with, almost like watching an entire season of Game of Thrones while running an org chart. There are affairs, attacks, backwoods justice, romantic relationships forming and ending, scandals, jobs, families, news-hounds, and so forth. It's daunting at times, but the investment is worth it. All of the stories tie together to present a turbulent era in the deep South. 

Surprisingly, Reprisal isn't as well known as Harper Lee's To Kill a Mocking Bird, predating it by 10 years. That could be due to the length, the complexity of the characters, or the amount of sheer violence that Reprisal possesses. The central theme is revenge, similar to a dusty western tale as the protagonist hunts the killers. There are no real heroes, only misfortune and death told in a doom 'n gloom style by Gordon. Shockingly, I found passages that I re-read numerous times due to their similarities to what we still experience today. Reprisal is a prophetic, iron-fist look at the heart-wrenching extremes humans seek to hurt one another. While never preachy or condescending, Gordon presents a fictional account of real-world violence, then and now, that leaves a distinct mark on the reader. It's a powerful novel.

Reprisal was adapted to film in 1956, but unfortunately it was poorly devised. The setting changed to the 1800s and the entire narrative was modified into a western revenge tale. Sadly, Reprisal has never been reprinted.

Note - The hardback version of the book shows the main character as a white man. It is evident that the cover is depicting Nathan as he is retrieving the pistol from his valise. I assume it was too controversial to put a black man with a gun on the hardcover? 

Buy a copy of this book HERE