Beneath Cruel Waters

Horror and crime-fiction author Jon Bassoff continues to impress me with his literary work. As a modern writer, he is certainly in the top echelons for innovative, moving storytelling that captures the dark and dreary landscape of rural America. His books produce a poverty-ridden moodiness that reminds me of Joe R. Lansdale or Elmore Leonard, but with the hazy overtones of bleak horror. His newest novel, at the time of this writing, is Beneath Cruel Waters. It was published by Blackstone in 2022 and exists in audio, digital, and physical formats.

The book is presented in rotating timelines that incorporate present day events with those in the past. In the present, Holt Davidson has returned to his small Colorado hometown after discovering his mother took her own life. After rummaging through his mother's belongings, he finds a bizarre photo of a dead man. Why did his mother have this photo? What is the significance?

In the past, the author presents Davidson's childhood, mostly focusing on his mother's life. She is a single mom struggling to make ends meet. After meeting a former felon, she begins a dating routine that escalates into a frightful fatal-attraction scenario. Davidson's uncle arrives and begins to strike up a reunion with the family, catering to Davidson's sister. These past events, as trivial as they may seem, have a large impact on what Davidson is experiencing in present day.

As Davidson journeys into the past, attempting to make sense of his fuzzy memories, he learns a great deal about his tumultuous childhood, his mother's suicide, and horrifying events that forced his sister into a mental hospital. All of these events circumvent the dead man photo, a mysterious love letter, a gun, and an illegal abortionist. How they all tie into each other is the mystery, thrill, and entertainment of Bassoff's riveting novel.

Beneath Cruel Waters was nothing short of amazing. The characters, the plot development, the core mystery, and the presentation was masterfully woven to create the ultimate page-turner. As an intimate glimpse into the lives of small-town America, no one can do it any better than Jon Bassoff. If you love gripping novels that demand to be devoured in one sitting, look no further than Beneath Cruel Waters. Highest recommendation. 

Buy a copy of this book HERE.

Heller #01 - The Oil Rig

Author Frank Roderus (1942-2016) was a newspaper writer and author that penned over 300 novels, most of which were westerns. He earned two prestigious Spur Awards from the Western Writers of America and also earned a Colorado Press Association award for best news story. In 1984, Roderus began writing a crime-fiction series starring Colorado rancher Carl Heller. There were seven installments in the series, all published by Bantam. In a 2013 interview with Tom Rizzo, Roderus explained that writing westerns allowed him tax advantages on his horses. By having Heller ride a motorcycle, Roderus was also able to gain a tax advantage on his own motorcycles. Brilliant idea.

Carl Heller was fortunate enough to inherit several thousand mountain acres in the high-country from his great grandfather. Instead of running a beef operation on steroids, antibiotics, and modern efficiencies, Heller uses the old-fashioned method of allowing the herd to run free, culling them once a year. He's not wealthy, and admits to barely keeping up the tax payments on the enormous property, but he manages an average lifestyle. He's a law-school dropout that is described as a playboy that enjoys riding the mountains on his horse, Kawasaki motorcycle, or race-car styled BMW. He has a lukewarm relationship with a local gal in town, a school teacher named Donna. He's in excellent shape, works out each day, and serves as a paperback version of the modern cowboy. That's the origin tale of Carl Heller.

While riding the rapids with a group of friends, Heller learns that a small group of farmers have been hoodwinked by big city shysters. The proposal by Mineral Consortium is that gold has been discovered in ecological surveys on the farmers' land. If the farmers will agree to allow Mineral Consortium to lease property, they will provide the farmers an excellent 30% royalty for all “metals” retrieved. When Heller becomes involved, he discovers that the contracts excluded minerals. The Mineral Consortium used this loophole to establish oil rigs on these leases to pull millions of gallons of oil royalty free. Their defense to the one-sided contract is that gold does exist on the property, but it's nothing more than the small grains found in seawater. They are happy to provide 30% for this small amount of gold retrieval.

Heller explains that there is a distinct difference between law and justice. To establish the character's validity, Heller confesses to Donna that he tracked down and killed a rapist that escaped a court of law. The reader gets the idea that maybe Heller has performed this sort of vigilantism more than once. Like Lawrence Block's Matthew Scudder, Heller explains that he does favors for people. So, Heller's motivation is peaked when he discusses the dilemma facing the farmers. Additionally, there is an incentive of a monetary percentage payout if the leases produce money for the farmers instead of the Mineral Consortium. 

The book's first half was a real slow burn as Heller discusses legal avenues to explore. Included is a swindle Heller concocts to lead the Mineral Consortium into believing real gold does exist. To perform the trick, Heller establishes an identity of working for a mining company to construct a large mill. The evidence is convincing enough that the company wants to renegotiate the deal with the farmers. All of this consumes the book's first half, which in itself would be an average story. However, the second half makes all of the difference.

In the second half, Roderus fuels the fire with an action-packed, suspenseful narrative with Heller facing the bad guys around an oil rig at night. This was just an incredible page-turner as Heller was forced to rely on his wits to outsmart the armed gunmen. It's a violent smash-up that includes everything I love about 1970s and 1980s men's action-adventure novels. This closing second-half was well worth the price of admission.

Frank Roderus is a unique author that uses traditional western storytelling to plot modern crime-fiction. Often, he writes like a tough guy cowboy, so much that the wording is odd. For example, something like 3AM is pronounced “three ayem”. Heller's moral compass, good-guy characteristics, and the ability to be a strong, reliable protagonist kicks off the series in a promising way. This is the meat and potatoes of Roderus storytelling and The Oil Rig is recommended if you like that sort of thing. I do, so I'll be reading more. 

You can buy a copy of this book HERE.

The Mark of Satan's Claw

Fred Ottenheimer was a writer and artist employed by various humor cartoons and strips in the mid-20th century. Along with working for Charlton Comics and Magazine Enterprises, Ottenheimer's most notable work was in the pages of Warren Publishing in the 1970s. Often listed as Fred Ott, he wrote for Vampirella, Creepy, and Eerie. My first experience with the writer is his story “The Mark of Satan's Claw”, which was the lead in Creepy's January 1972 issue. The story is beautifully illustrated by Spanish artist Jaime Brocal Remohi. 

In the story's opener, a journalist named Jonathan Howard has just arrived to the foggy village of Llangwell, Scotland. After meeting with a local innkeeper, Howard accepts a room while explaining to readers the reason for his arrival in this sleepy town. Howard is a true-crime writer and wants to delve into the recent string of child murders in Llangwell. The innkeeper warns Howard to stray from the town's business and attempts to convince him that there are no murders.

Howard meets with Llangwell's Chief Constable and learns more about the murdered children. The lawman explains that the murders have been taking place for years under the direction of a local cult of Satan worshipers. He then shows Howard the cult's symbol, which has been burned into his own chest. He explains he escaped the cult and volunteers to take Howard out to the moors to show him where the dead children turn up.

In a memorable panel, the police find a dead boy on the swampy rocks. Howard becomes shocked by the reality of dead children. But, a whisper from the darkness invites Howard back to a rural cottage where a man explains more about the history of the Satanic cult and provides instructions on a secret book that may hold more answers.

The combination of Remohi's gloomy pencils and Ott's dour narrative was enthralling. This is a rare monster story that blends a child serial-killer element with a fantasy outline. I was surprised with the story's twist and found the ending suitable, but not altogether satisfying. “The Mark of Satan's Claw” was just scary enough to be recommended, but the time-frame and artistic style – both in the writing and presentation – is truly the main star. I enjoyed it, and you can read it for free below:

One by One

Freida McFadden is a New York Times, USA Today, and Publisher's Weekly bestselling author of psychological suspense thrillers. With curious titles like Want to Know a Secret?, Do You Remember?, Do Not Disturb, and The Housemaid's Secret, it was just a matter of time before one of her novels showed up in my library app. My first McFadden novel is One by One, originally published in 2020. It's not to be confused with Ruth Ware's 2020 book of the same name. There's apparently more than one One by One.

The book is presented mostly in the present tense by main character Claire, but there are intervals written in third-person from someone simply titled “Anonymous” recapping their own childhood. This was a pleasant distraction from the rather one-dimensional locale of lush forest and dense trees. These accounts from Claire and “Anonymous” were destined to collide by the book's end, but the mystery is how the two characters are related and the inevitable word journey.

Claire (teacher) and her husband Noah (physicist) are in the slumber of a failing marriage, so the two decide to embark on a short vacation to a cozy inn nestled in the northern Colorado wilderness. They are accompanied by Claire's best friend Lindsey (can't remember!) and her new boyfriend Warner (surgeon), as well as Noah's best friend Jack (handyman) and his wife Michelle (attorney). It's a diverse group made up of various professions that may or may not play a hand in the book's plot.

Like most outings in the forest, car trouble and lack of cell phone coverage invite murder and mayhem. As Jack attempts to lead the group through the forest, hoping to find the inn, they immediately become lost, cold, and hungry with water diminishing. The first member of the group dies from poisoning, then another from an apparent animal attack. One disappears completely. Three members are left when they locate a small cabin full of supplies. But, the cabin's owner is dead. What in the actual Hell is happening here?

I've watched plenty of VHS horror, and read my fair share of Paperbacks from Hell, so the premise of One by One wasn't that original. Thankfully, McFadden focuses on character development to build her plot and enhance the story. She has a unique way of telling a great story through dialogue and character interaction. It isn't what's on page, but what's hidden from the reader that is so important. McFadden doesn't provide enough clues to really hone in on the murderer, but she kept me guessing until the very end.

If you enjoy the “weeding out the weak” survival novels, or just a “who's the murderer within our ranks” story, then One by One is an easy recommendation. I devoured it in one sitting and not only discovered a great book, but a fantastic author. At the time of this writing, I'm on the waiting list for her newest novel, Ward D, which promises more mystery, murder, and...terrible cell phone service.

Buy a copy of this book HERE.

Rogue Male

According to Wikipedia, Geoffrey Household (1900-1988) was born in England, earned a B.A. in English Literature, worked as an assistant confidential secretary in Bucharest, sold bananas in Spain, and wrote children's encyclopedias and children's radio pays for CBS. During WWII, Household served in British Intelligence internationally. Household began to write in the 1920s and saw his first novel published in 1936. Overall, he authored 28 total novels, and seven short story collections. But, his most admired and critically acclaimed book is 1939's Rogue Male. The novel was adapted into the film Man Hunt in 1941 and as Rogue Male in 1976. I stumbled onto the novel after reading a number of interviews conducted with David Morrell, an author that cited Rogue Male as a primary influence on his bestseller First Blood. 

The book's protagonist is a British citizen, unnamed, that loves firearms and hunting. In the opening pages, the character is placing his rifle optics on a dictator, presumably Hitler or Stalin, for sport. But, he is immediately caught by the dictator's military and taken inside to be tortured. At some point, the torture escalates and a military man vomits. From the description, one of the character's eyes becomes lacerated and burned. After the torture, they throw the character over a cliff, making it look like an accident. 

Fortunately (unfortunately for me), the character survives and heads back to England where he finds himself hunted by the dictator's secret police. The character manages to kill one at a train station, then journeys into seclusion in the forest. Here he burrows into a hideaway, but is soon found by his pursuer.  The character is then faced with dying from lack of water and food or somehow killing his enemy.

There's no bones about it. Rogue Male did nothing for me. The narrative is brittle, with a British dryness that seemed absolutely lifeless and one-dimensional. I enjoy British espionage and high-adventure novels, but Rogue Male isn't what I would consider spy-fiction despite the characteristics. In reality, the author spends a painful amount of time dragging his character through the forest examining hedges and trees. The payoff finale was void of any excitement (although it was shocking), leaving me numb with boredom and wishing I had the hours back.

Rogue Male sucks. Bottom line. 

Try your luck with it HERE.

Spy Hunt

Paperback Warrior features a fairly robust section for author Norman Daniels (real name Norman Danberg, 1905-1995), including a podcast feature on his life and literary work. While I enjoy a variety of his crime-noir paperbacks, I feel like he was best served as a spy-fiction writer, or at the very least, international conflicts concerning the military. His best work is probably the eight-book espionage series Man from A.P.E., starring American secret-agent John Keith. That series debut, Overkill, was published by Pyramid in 1964. But, as a template for that series, Daniels authored a stand-alone secret-agent novel called Spy Hunt. It was published in 1960 by Pyramid and now exists as an ebook by Fiction Hunter Press.

In Spy Hunt, readers are introduced to Jeff Stuart, a CIA operative working directly for Colonel Piper. In the book's riveting opener, Stuart walks into his office and discovers a man pointing a gun at him. The next chapter explains how Stuart ended up in this situation. With very little rest, Stuart was ordered to fly round-trip from Washington D.C. to Hong Kong to retrieve a document from an unnamed man. Tired from jet lag and little sleep, Stuart walks into his office, sees the man with the gun, and is ordered to give the document up. 

Stuart complies with the man's orders, surrenders the document, and then on the brink of exhaustion, hunts his enemy down to retrieve the document. He then takes his enemy back to his office to torture him for information. At the point of pulling the trigger to execute the man, Colonel Piper's people arrive and inform Stuart that this was just a training exercise. Piper wanted to be sure that Stuart could operate in a stressful/no sleep situation. Also, if he could pull the trigger. Stuart proved capable. 

Stuart's next assignment is legit. An American scientist has been captured by the Russians and the American government wants to shut him up. To avoid the scientist singing American secrets, the CIA wants Stuart to pose as a Cuban in Moscow undercover as a weapons buyer for Castro. He is to kill the scientist at the first opportunity, then escape the country with no American assistance or aid. Stuart understands that the mission will probably be suicide (complete with those deadly poison capsules on his body), but he's sworn to the agency.

The author's variables in the story make the narrative come alive with mystery, excitement, and a sense of urgency. Stuart's nemesis is a female Russian agent hoping to seduce and kill him. On the flip side, the Russians invite the scientist's wife to Moscow for a cordial face to face visit. Stuart uses her as an inside track to the prison where the scientist is being held. These two women, both on opposite ends of the spectrum, create sexual tension and deadly encounters as Stuart treads water to kill his target and escape Russia alive. 

Spy Hunt was absolutely terrific, but I do feel that Daniels' second-half narrative was way too long. Despite the book's length of a mere 150 pages, the second-half is a road trip survival adventure as Stuart drives through the countryside receiving aid from begrudged laborers. The finale was fantastic, but it was cumbersome for 35-40 pages. Regardless, Daniels voices Stuart's third-person narrative, and the story for that matter, like a solid Matt Helm installment by Donald Hamilton. Or, as I alluded to earlier, a building block for his Man of A.P.E. series. If you love a good globe-trotting Cold War affair, then Spy Hunt is highly recommended.

Buy a copy of this book HERE

North and South

In 1982, paperback author John Jakes (1932-2023) struck literary gold with his 800+ page Pre-Civil War epic, North and South. The bestseller furthered the author’s career as one of the most popular American authors of historical fiction while spawning two sequels and a hit 1985 miniseries adaptation.

The novel opens in 1686 with the story of how a young ironworker named Joseph Moffat finds himself fleeing Scotland for what is now Pennsylvania under the name Joseph Hazard to avoid a murder charge. Jakes’ storytelling sucks you right in with violence and adventure. We also meet a young aristocrat from France named Charles Main (formerly Charles de Main) who is an early settler in the American colony of Carolina making his money in the pelt and slave trade.

These dual prologues provide the reader with a brief explanation of how the Hazard family and Main family find themselves in the North and South respectively. The novel’s linear action really begins in 1842 when George Hazard on Pennsylvania and Orry Main of South Carolina find themselves in the same cadet class at West Point Academy. This is 19 years before the U.S. Civil War kicked off.

By this point, the Hazard family has a successful iron company, and the Main family own a rice plantation with over 150 slaves. Despite the cultural divide, the two lads become fast friends. George is full of humor and knows how to charm the ladies. Orry is more serious and reserved with his only focus being a success as a soldier. Upon graduation, they are deployed to the same infantry unit just as the Mexican-American war is heating up over the annexation of Texas.

Throughout the novel, the moral quandary of slavery is always humming in the background. The Northern characters find the practice repellant, and the Southern characters find a myriad of ways to rationalize enslaving blacks. This percolates up in heated debates throughout the novel that eventually divide the young nation and spark a civil war.

The author was also influenced by plantation novels like Mandingo/Falconhurst series in depicting the savagery of slavery and the stigma of mixed-race romances. In these scenes, there are some shocking images of torturous violence and others of forbidden love. The sex in North and South is all off-page.

The Civil War is not the centerpiece of this epic novel. The War Between the States is the focus of the 1984 sequel, Love and War. Instead, this first book in the trilogy focuses on the North vs. South Cold War — the culture war, if you will, — driven by disagreements regarding slavery. The two families and their respective journeys taking them up to this great divide during a fascinating time in America’s evolution as a nation are the vehicles for Jakes to examine this time in history.

I enjoyed North and South quite a bit, but the book is long. And it felt long. Unlike big books like Lonesome Dove and Pillars of the Earth where the pages fly by and you don’t want it to end, North and South felt like trying to devour a ten-season Netflix series. It’s a lot to carry but never hard to follow. Nevertheless, there are way too many storylines and characters. The fact that there are two more 800-page behemoths in the trilogy makes my head ache.

If you can gather up the energy for a historical epic novel, North and South is a fine choice. It’s a giant meal, but fully-digestible if you’re in the right headspace. I want to know what happens to these characters in the war and thereafter, so I’ll definitely read the sequels. But I need some 180-page pulpy paperbacks to cleanse my palette first. 

Buy a copy of this book HERE.

Rex Brandon #01 - Death Warriors

In 1951 and 1952, British author Denis Hughes (1917-2008) wrote 12 novels under the pseudonym of Marco Garon starring international adventurer Rex Brandon. These were among the 50 titles Hughes wrote using a variety of pen names over the five year period between 1949 and 1954. Bold Venture Press is reprinting the series, starting with the first installment, Death Warriors, from 1951.

Rex Brandon is a geologist and big game hunter by trade, but a swashbuckling adventurer at heart. Death Warriors finds Rex summoned to the heart of savage Africa by a French colonialist in the fictional African nation of Mandibarza. Brandon’s mission is to locate an explorer who went missing in the jungle while he was searching for irikum, a rare mineral valued for its potential to produce atomic energy.

Using the guise of a big game hunt with a goal of shooting gorillas (which, I guess, was a thing in 1951?), Rex and his small expeditionary team set off into the jungle to locate the missing explorer and the irikum. The reader also learns that another search party with the identical mission previously became lost and never returned from the wilds. The previous mission included a beautiful woman named Coralie, and you’d correctly surmise that she will be the damsel in distress requiring saving at some point.

In the jungle, it quickly becomes clear that there are others in the woods - beyond the man-eating lions - who wish to thwart the expedition. Members of the party start disappearing, and supplies are scarce. There’s not a ton of action in the novel’s first half, but the Blair Witch Project vibe of the thick and menacing woods is certainly unsettling. Things go from bad to worse for Rex and his companions when the war-painted, jungle savages (of the “ooga-booga” variety) make their inevitable appearance halfway through the adventure.

If the novel’s first half is mostly setup (although not uninteresting), the second half moves quickly from one pulpy action set-piece to another. Rex and his sidekicks are forced to tangle with every flavor of African jungle menace you can imagine, and it’s a cartoonish blast building up to a conclusion that leaves Rex alive to experience the next 11 adventures in the series. 

Fans of Tarzan and Doc Savage will feel right at home with Rex Brandon. Based on this short novel, it seems that pulp-fiction from Great Britain in 1951 has a lot in common with American pulp-fiction from the 1930s. While Americans were turning a page to the gritty realism of 1950s noir, British readers were still enjoying square-jawed heroes rescuing women from the jaws of killer crocodiles in the darkest realms of Africa. Whichever your preference, we should all be grateful that there are outfits like Bold Venture Press keeping these works of pulp literature alive in the 21st Century. 

Buy a copy of the book HERE

Winter Marines, The (aka Winter's Coming, Winter's Gone)

Allen Glick served two tours of duty in the U.S. Marine Corps during America's involvement in the Vietnam War. He survived the 1968 TET Offensive and the siege of Khe Sahn. After the war, he became a master carpenter, and a high school English teacher. During this time, Glick was also a writer, penning four original novels. Based on his Vietnam War experience, he authored the fictional novel Winter's Coming, Winter's Gone. The book was originally published in 1984 as a hardcover by Eakin Press, but thankfully was reprinted as The Winter Marines, a mass market paperback by Bantam in 1987. It is now available in ebook format. 

At nearly 350-pages, The Winter Marines, is divided into two time periods featuring protagonist David Schrader. The first-half thrusts the nineteen-year old Schrader into the steamy, war-torn jungles of Vietnam in 1966. The book's second-half focuses on Schrader's post-war civilian life in Austin, Texas in 1979. Separating the two halves is a 20-page layover with Schrader in Florida in 1972. 

In Vietnam, Glick's experiences are conveyed to the reader through the fictional, battle-weary eyes of young David Schrader. Through the grueling patrols, intense firefights, bombings, and death, the narrative explores Schrader's resolve in battle and his camaraderie with his fellow soldiers. The author focuses on Vietnam's history, with a South Vietnamese family man named Li relaying his family's role in Vietnam's military campaigns, including the violent French involvement, to Schrader and his brothers-in-arms. There is some racial tension in the book's opening half which explores the Latino, African-American, and Caucasian bitterness, both a disturbing plot point and a reminder of just how far from home and far apart the Americans were despite the togetherness during the battle.

Post-war, Schrader's job as a bartender in Texas is a stark contrast to commanding soldiers and coordinating airstrikes using multi-million dollar equipment. Like a lot of Vietnam veterans, Schrader is suffering with PTSD. Exhausted from nightmares and a lack of sleep, Schrader's life is a cycle of lethargic, pointless activities that challenge his ability to simply rise and exist each day. Thankfully, he has a love interest and a close friendship with one of his war buddies. This second-half of Glick's narrative explores the fringes of drug abuse, alcoholism, and criminality, but shines a spotlight on the unfair condemnation heaped on Schrader and his fellow soldiers back home. Sadly, it's an accurate, historic look at a dark place in American history. 

If you are a military-fiction or non-fiction scholar, The Winter Marines is an obligatory read. There are plenty of autobiographies and accounts of the Vietnam War from many different perspectives. But, from the little I've read, Allen Glick's is one of the most realistic and alarming. While sometimes a tough read, it can also be an encouraging one. Highly recommended. 

Buy a copy of this book HERE.

Sheba

Jack Higgins (real name Harry Patterson, 1929-2022) was just getting his feet wet as an author when Seven Pillars to Hell was published. It was printed in 1963 by Abelard-Schuman under Patterson's pseudonym Hugh Marlowe. Mostly, the book went unnoticed and remained out of print for decades. Long after Jack Higgins became a household name, the author made revisions to his earlier works and saw them reprinted. Such is the case with Seven Pillars to Hell, which was revised into the 1995 novel Sheba, published by Berkley. I chose to read and review this version.

The book begins in Germany in 1939 with a select group of advisers meeting with Hitler on his plans to invade Poland. To avoid British interference, the men devise a method to blow up the Suez Canal. But, the problem arises with the immense distances required to fuel and attack the strategic location. When a colleague proposes that he has discovered the location of the legendary Temple of Sheba, buried in the ruthless Empty Quarter desert, the Germans create Operation Sheba to utilize this lost ancient structure as a supply depot for aircraft. 

A few months later, Higgins introduces Sheba's star hero, Gavin Kane, an Indiana Jones type of adventurer that is an archaeologist and nautical smuggler. After one of his illegal sea-run trades, Kane meets a woman who offers to pay him to locate her husband. Coincidentally, her husband is the professor that originally discovered the Temple of Sheba. Chances are that the man was killed, but Kane is a businessman and accepts the job. 

Sheba is saturated with fast-paced action sequences, most of which culminate in the hot desert sands as Kane, his associates, and his employer are on the run from Nazis. Like King Solomon's Mines, for example, the book's second half is mostly presented as a treasure hunt in the temple's underground passageways and secret tunnels. But, a brutal survival element is introduced that places characters forging for freedom through the harsh elements. 

Higgins is one of the best adventure writers of all-time, so his imagination and storytelling is superb as the book kicks into the third and final act. In some ways, a lot of his novels have a similar theme with WW2 historical vines weaving in and out of iron-fisted, strong-armed heroic fantasy (swords traded for machine guns). Once again, Higgins knocked my socks off with one of the better books I've read by him. This one was really something special and I'm glad it now exists in multiple formats for lifetimes to come. Highly recommended! 

Buy a copy of this book HERE.

How to Sell a Haunted House

In How to Sell a Haunted House, main character Louise resumes her strenuous relationship with her brother Mark after their elderly parents die in a car wreck. The reunion takes place in their parents' home in Charleston, South Carolina, where both of them spend time and energy dredging up their tumultuous childhood memories while warring and speculating over the proposed inheritance. But, the element that makes Grady Hendrix's haunted house book scary is a puppet. An evil, murderous, terrifying, and memorable little puppet.

After discovering repressed memories, Louise must come to grips with the fact that her parents were super weirdos and supernaturally gifted (cursed?). While her parents were loving and mostly appeared normal, behind closed doors there were a lot of bizarre things happening with porcelain dolls and clown puppets, the objects that 90% of children are deathly afraid of. Through a fast-paced narrative that incorporates some disturbing bloodletting and sadistic puppet mania, Hendrix hits his stride and thrills to the end.  

Hendrix isn't a stranger to hysterically funny horror. His novels like Horrorstor, My Best Friend's Exorcism, and The Final Girl Support Group are bestsellers due to the unique blend of satirical comedy and clever fanboy horror. How to Sell a Haunted House employs all of Hendrix's horror tropes, but still has a very personal, intimate story to share. 

If you want a not-so-traditional haunted dwelling tale, then this is an open house invitation you can't decline. Recommended!

Buy a copy of this book HERE.

Trouble-Texas Style

In 1964, Fawcett Gold Medal published Trouble-Texas Style, a crime-noir paperback that sported a Robert McGinnis cover and an unfamiliar author name of John Bramlett. My research suggests that the author was really John Pierce. However, I can only speculate that it is the same John Pierce (1910-2002), that was a famed American engineer that invented the term “transistor”. Pierce was a pioneer in electronics, information theory, and pulse-code modulation while working at Bell Laboratories. More importantly, for Paperback Warrior fans, Pierce authored 13 books and numerous short-stories, mostly science-fiction, using the name J.J. Coupling and John R. Pierce. 

In full disclosure, I can't directly link Trouble-Texas Style to Pierce, but it would make sense that this is the same guy. He also authored one other Fawcett Gold Medal paperback under the Bramlett name, 1967's The Devil in Broad Daylight. In a Cal Tech document, it suggests that Pierce had developed second thoughts about how his name on stories and science-fiction magazines would affect his employers. So, the additional pseudonym of Bramlett may have been chosen for crime-fiction. It's a stretch, but it's all I have. Additionally, there are some technical aspects to Trouble-Texas Style on drilling and the various equipment and leases required at the time. Perhaps Pierce's engineering background played a role in the writing.

Harry Miller grew up in Carlyle, Texas, a small shoreline town where people spend their time drinking and fishing. In the book's opening pages, Miller is in Houston brooding over his recent divorce, unemployment, and an empty apartment. A guy named Fowler approaches Miller and attempts to convince him that Carlye still has wells that will produce oil. When he shows Miller the locations, it is evident that Miller's childhood friend Roy Boatner previously tapped the wells dry and allowed the leases to expire. But, Fowler claims otherwise and wants Miller to accompany him back to Carlyle to do a few introductions and show him the lay of the land. Miller is hesitant, but Fowler offers to pay him, so he goes along for the ride.

On the way, Miller leaves Fowler in an attempt to inform Roy of the tapped out wells and the possibility of more production. When Miller finally locates Roy in a small town, the two pick up their friendship and Roy offers Miller a job. From the dialogue, these two have been on and off friends for decades – Roy found success in oil drilling and Miller has mostly floundered. Awakening at a roadside motel, Miller discovers that Roy has walked outside to start the car. When Miller peers out, he sees Roy's car violently explode into a fireball. Someone killed Roy, but why? The mystery lies in who, and what, was behind the explosion. 

Witnesses place Miller as the prime suspect, so he journeys down the fugitive road in a familiar “man on the run” premise. But, the author is clever enough to realize this story has been told numerous times in the pulps and crime-noir novels. Instead, he builds this smooth, calculating narrative that blends events from Miller and Roy's past and their friendship with another childhood friend named Alice. Overall, there are roughly 15 characters in the book, so notes were required. But, it wasn't a heavy lift. Instead, the characters all relate to each other in a cohesive manner that drives an intriguing story. 

Trouble-Texas Style is a terrible title. But, the book is a darn masterpiece that reminded me of John Ball's writing style with a touch of John D. MacDonald. Selfishly, I would love to see this novel brought to life on the big screen, preferably with a script written and directed by Billy Bob Thornton (Slingblade). If you love moving mysteries that are saturated with magnificent characters, then track down a copy of this vintage paperback as soon as possible.

Buy a copy of this book HERE

Star Wars - Heir to the Jedi

Author Kevin Hearne is an established author that landed on the USA Today bestseller list with his debut hardcover Shattered. As an urban fantasy author, Hearne has authored nine installments of the Iron Druid Chronicles series, three novels in the Oberon's Meaty Mysteries, and countless novellas and short stories. My introduction to his work is his Star Wars novel Heir to the Jedi, published by Del Rey in 2015.

I am mostly a casual fan of the Star Wars media bonanza. I've seen the nine feature films repeatedly, and watch some of the spin-off shows. I can't quote you serial numbers on spaceships, but I know enough to just get by. I have only tackled one prior Star Wars book, and didn't care for it. But, as a Luke Skywalker fan, I was immediately drawn to the book's cover. I also liked the era in which the book is placed, snuggled between Episode IV A New Hope and Episode V The Empire Strikes Back. The book is considered canon, meaning it fits directly into the current Star Wars franchise owned and operated by Disney.

In the book's opening pages, Luke is provided a mission from Princess Leia and Admiral Ackbar. He must fly to Rodia in an effort to open a secret supply line to the Rebels. The idea is that the Chekko clan there might work with the Rebels and also manufacture weapons for them. Luke is assigned a floating yacht called the Desert Jewel for the mission, and pairs with the yacht owner's daughter, and deadly sniper, Nakari for the mission. 

The plot is a series of action-adventures ranging from Luke's monster fight on a jungle island, rescuing a cryptographer, contending with an infestation of skull-borer aliens, flying through an Imperial blockade, and of course fighting with other numerous enemies. As each side-story is resolved, it conveniently opens up another side-mission. For example, upgrading weapons by performing a task, locating a missing research crew to earn money, identifying a spy, etc. It reminded me of a modern video game where players work through checkpoints by solving problems. There is an emotional surprise near the end that I felt was a bold move on the author's part (hint - someone dies). This made the book conclude with an impact. More authors should do this. 

As a men's action-adventure reader and fan, the book is like a Nick Carter: Killmaster installment as the action jumps from mission to mission. Ultimately, Luke Skywalker could be any paperback warrior and these planets could be Russian or China when the Cold War raged. It's an espionage spy-thriller with a science-fiction twist that seemed both familiar and nostalgic. As a Star Wars novel, it offers a glimpse into Luke's examination of the Force and his early efforts to use Jedi mind tricks to move objects around. An interesting addition was Luke's disassembly of another lightsaber to see how it actually works. 

Heir to the Jedi is an action-packed novel complete with everything I love about adventure paperbacks. Whether you will love it or not shouldn't be dependent on your Star Wars knowledge or level of love. It's just an enjoyable book and I recommend it. 

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The Naked and the Deadly: Lawrence Block in Men's Adventure Magazines

The good people at The Men’s Adventure Library have compiled a collection of short stories and articles by Lawrence Block originally printed in Men’s Adventure Magazines. The collection is called The Naked and the Deadly, and it collects his magazine writings between 1958 and 1968. The mass-market paperback edition has a dozen stories, and the hardcover adds color art, explanatory materials and a bonus story from 1974. 

The introduction by Block explains how these articles and stories came to be. While working at the Scott Meredith agency, men’s publications would regularly call and say, “I need a 2,500-word article about a guy who survives a shipwreck,” and Block would make it happen. Trust me, it’s better when Block explains it. Bottom line: Don’t skip the intro.

Some of the stories included will be familiar to long-time Blockheads. “Great Istanbul Land Grab” and “Bring on the Girls” are extracts from existing Block novels starring his sleepless adventurer Evan Tanner. There are also three novellas starring his private detective Ed London previously reprinted in Block’s collection, One Night Stands and Lost Weekends. Puzzlingly, the book also includes a story attributed to Block’s pseudonym Sheldon Lord called “Queen of the Clipper Ships” that the author claims he didn’t write. Honestly, I don’t know why it was included in a Lawrence Block story collection at all.

Reviews of story compilations can be ponderous, so I sampled four selections for commentary:

“The Greatest Ship Disaster in American History” (Real Men, April 1958)

This is an article about an actual steamship called The General Slocum in 1904 that sailed from NYC on the East River with passengers destined for a church picnic downstream. Poor judgement results in an onboard fire that ended 1,000 passenger lives. It was a real disaster that Block brings alive in his pseudo-historical account

Block leans into his amplified version of events vividly underscoring descriptions of the burning flesh of the children on board. It’s a vivid nightmare of how human negligence can lead to mass casualties.

“She Doesn’t Want You” (Real Men, June 1958)

This is an allegedly non-fiction journalistic article about the inner-workings of the call-girl trade with the big revelation that a lot of these prostitutes are just doing it for the money and are secretly lesbians.

These faux investigative journalism pieces are hilarious in hindsight. Included are fake interviews with hookers who were perfectly straight before “the life” made them hate men and go lesbo. Block is a fun tour-guide for this silly expose that was probably pretty shocking at the time. Now it’s just funny.

“Killers All Around Me” (All Man, September 1961)

A staple of Men’s Adventure Magazines was the completely-fabricated first-person account of an experience that the magazine falsely claims is an authentic story. In this one, Block poses as C.C. Jones, allegedly telling the story of his job in the violent ward of an insane asylum.

He describes some of the crimes that landed the patients in the ward in graphic, grisly detail. He also describes the physical attacks he’s forced to ensure from the lunatics in the hospital. As always, it’s a well-written fake-expose from the author.

“Just Window Shopping” (Man’s Magazine, December 1962)

This is a straight-up fiction short story previously reprinted in One Night Stands and Lost Weekends about a Peeping Tom who likes to watch the ladies undress through their windows.

One night, he’s watching the hottest chick ever and she catches him. The reception he receives is quite unexpected. This is a nasty little story in line with the kind of stuff we used to see in Manhunt Magazine. Nothing fancy, but a sexy bit of noir worth reading.

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Paperback Warrior Assessment:

Hardcore fans of Lawrence Block will enjoy this collection of his obscure oddities. It’s worth the purchase for the Ed London stories alone, if you don’t have them elsewhere. The faux journalism articles written by Block are plenty entertaining, but shouldn’t be conflated with his short mystery works.

If you’re a student of Men’s Adventure Magazine history and want the visceral experience of looking at the vivid art accompanying these articles and stories, go ahead and spring for the hardcover. The art extras and magazine commentary from the editors are a fascinating look back at this niche publishing phenomenon.

Overall, this collection from a mystery grandmaster is an easy recommendation. If you’re on the fence, take the plunge. 

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Beardless Warriors, The

Richard Burton Matheson (1926-2013) was a multi-genre author best known for his horror and science-fiction works. In 1944, Matheson was 18 years-old when he joined an American combat division during WW2. He drew upon this harrowing experience to write his 1960 war novel, The Beardless Warriors.

The entire book takes place in December 1944 after Everett Hackermeyer from Brooklyn joins the ten-man platoon of C Company, a true fighting outfit just inside the German borders. Four of the ten soldiers are only 18 years old, including our young hero. The novel wastes no time thrusting Hackermeyer into his first combat experience nose-to-nose with German soldiers.

Instead of fearless killing machines, the soldiers of C Company are mostly portrayed as scared teens just trying to stay alive in a confusing and chaotic place far from home. When they get their first taste of combat, Matheson underscores the terrifying muddle that combat seems to an unseasoned soldier. There are moments of bravery, but very little of the heroism we often read in fictional depictions of front-line fighters.

This is a powerful novel, but not a pulpy adventure in the manner of Len Levinson’s The Sergeant or Rat Bastards books. There’s tension and excitement to be sure, but Matheson is clearly trying to give the reader a reality check rather than a swashbuckling yarn. Rather than tracking a single mission, the book reads like a ride-along over a month of an American infantry soldier behind Germany’s front lines.

Ultimately, The Beardless Warriors is a coming-of-age tale where a scared boy matures into manhood and leadership in the most harrowing circumstances. As long as you understand what you’re getting, you’re bound to appreciate the novel as a vivid account of what it was like for the young men prepared to sacrifice it all when the stakes were unimaginably high.

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Six Days of the Condor

James Grady wrote Six Days of the Condor when he was 21 years-old and sold it to a publisher in 1974. Thereafter, it was adapted into the film Three Days of the Condor (Confession: Haven’t seen it) in 1975, and the book has remained popular ever since.

Ronald Malcolm is a CIA researcher in a boring desk-jockey job with an insanely-stupid purpose (it’s too embarrassing to recount here) in a Washington, DC undercover off-site. One day while picking up lunch, he returns to his office and finds that all of his co-workers have been slaughtered. It was only dumb luck that the assassins failed to hit Malcolm, whose code-name is Condor. Now, Malcolm is on-the-run in DC trying to get to safety and into the arms of the CIA Good Guys.

Grady writes the novel in a fun “third-person with a personality” voice borrowed straight from Ed McBain’s 87th Precinct novels. It’s an omniscient narrator with a distinctive voice who goes on tangents to give background and context to events that occurs. This fuels a really enjoyable read.

As the novel opens, Malcolm is a pretty inept operative — completely unlike James Bond, Jason Bourne or Nick Carter. He’s a bookish fellow unsuited to real fieldwork, but he’s also a rebel and iconoclast among his office peers. These instincts play into his favor during the novel’s extended cat-and-mouse game with the assassins. He takes to killing quite well as the story unfolds.

The author certainly knows how to write a bloody and violent action scene, and there are plenty to enjoy here. The novel is fast moving and exciting. However, the solution to the central mystery of the mass-killing at the CIA off-site left me cold. There were some logical fallacies large enough to drive a bus through in the bad guys’ rationale.

Overall, this is an enjoyable paperback and certainly worth reading. 21st-century reprints contain an interesting introduction by the author discussing how the book came to be and its societal impact following the hit movie. The book also spawned several sequels, including one short story collection starring the hero. Recommended. 

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Nolan #03 - Fly Paper

Max Allan Collins’ Nolan series is his pastiche of Richard Stark’s Parker series. The third novel in the chronology was Fly Paper written in 1973 but not published until 1981. The book has recently been repackaged by Hard Case Crime in a twofer marketed as Double Down.

For the uninitiated, Nolan is a hard-nosed thief who makes a living pulling heists that inevitably run into problems. Much of this book’s focus is on Jon, Nolan’s comic book collecting sidekick. The action kicks off with a colleague named Breen, who has a good thing going with a parking meter rip-off scam. Breen was working the coin theft organized by the redneck Comfort family before those hillbillies shot and double-crossed Breen landing him squarely in Nolan and Jon’s orbit.

This leads to a plan to rip off the Comfort family in a heist-the-heisters kinda deal. The action moves from Iowa to Detroit in the shadow of a large comic book convention. The heist itself is really a side-dish in the paperback with the main course being the commercial airline getaway that is interrupted by a skyjacking.

Between 1961 and 1972, there were 159 skyjackings in American airspace with the majority between 1968 and 1972. It was a vexing criminal social contagion without a clear solution - similar to the problem America currently faces with mass shootings. Collins draws upon this phenomenon as the backdrop of Fly Paper when a married guy plans a D.B. Cooper style airplane heist with a parachute getaway.

When Nolan and Jon are coincidentally on the plane as the dude takes control of the jet, the plotting and action soar. These are the best scenes in a book I’ve read in ages. The creativity at work with the dilemma facing Nolan and Jon sets Fly Paper apart from other heist novels of the paperback original era.

Fly Paper is also unquestionably the best of the first three Nolan novels. The inclusion of Jon as a sidekick gives the book its own identity rather than just being a cover song from a Richard Stark Tribute Band. The skyjacking storyline was brilliant, and everything about his slim paperback leaves the reader wanting more. Highest recommendation. 

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The Secret of Mallet Castle

The Secret of Mallet Castle was originally published with a horrific juvenile cover by Arcadia House in 1966 under William Ross's popular pseudonym Clarissa Ross. I can't bring myself to even show you that artwork here, so you'll need to check it out on your own. The book was later published by Manor in 1977 with a more traditional gothic cover under the name Dan Ross. In the middle of these publications was a McFadden-Bartell with perhaps the best cover, that was published in 1967 under the name Dan Ross. This version was also used by Paperback Classics for their 2023 audio edition (available on CD and Audible) narrated by Romy Nordlinger. 

Eve Grant is a scrub nurse working at a hospital in Ohio. She receives a strange message from a law firm indicating that an uncle she never knew of has left her an immense fortune in his will. For the record, I will inherit debts from every family member I know and don't know. These things only happen to cute paperback nurses, teachers, and nannies. The deal is that she will inherit the fortune and a large castle that was carefully constructed in Cape Cod. Her uncle is terminally ill and near death, but the law firm would like Eve to go to the castle at once to meet the man before he dies. 

Ross does a great job of characterization by having Eve hesitant to inherit the fortune, instead wishing to concentrate on her own career to make her own way. For the record, if this event happens to me, I'm capitalizing on whatever Hell the family member had to endure to earn his or her fortune. My lousy sales agent job with an insurance company can take a hike. I'll make my own way with other people's money anytime. But, Eve does visit the castle and is introduced to her uncle's wife, a snobbish older retired Hollywood actress who is angry with Eve because she gets the bulk of the money. Also, Eve is introduced to her uncle's caretaker, a former Hollywood director or agent that is slightly over-the-top and seems to have a particular disdain for Eve.

Eve's closest ally and friend in the novel is a local town surgeon, who immediately strikes up a romantic connection. But, the narrative consists of Eve being nearly killed by the caretaker, her uncle's son-in-law, and a brutish former pro-wrestler that serves as a type of house bodyguard. Unpleasant things happen to Eve to the point where she questions the motives of her uncle's people. But, where is the uncle in all of this?

Despite Eve's best efforts, she is routinely blocked from meeting her uncle. His keepers seem to have an agenda to keep Eve from physically meeting him. The mystery introduced to readers is whether her uncle is really alive. If he isn't, then who is the man they claim is in the west tower? Also, is there any actual truth to the rumors of a floating apparition in the castle hallways? Is the castle haunted, is it inhabited by murderers, or is this a figment of Eve's imagination stemming from exhaustion? 

This is one of the best gothic novels I've read by William Ross. It certainly follows the formula of a female protagonist in danger within a large structure, but there's enough variety here to make it enjoyable. Eve is a stronger character than some of the prior gothic beauties, and the twist at the end actually threw me off a little. This may also be the first gothic I've read that had the main character packing heat. Needless to say, the ending went out with a loud bang. Overall, The Secret of Mallet Castle is worth a listen or read.

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Rampage

Lester Virgil Roper (1931-1998) graduated from the University of Oklahoma and became a teacher. He later served in the Kansas House of Representatives for nine years. In his spare time, Roper authored 11 total novels using the pseudonyms L.V. Roper and Samantha Lester. Action-Adventure fans may recall his 1975/1976 two-book series starring New Orleans private-detective Renegade Roe. My first experience with the author is his paperback novel Rampage. It was originally published by Curtis Books in 1973 and remains out of print. 

Roper's idea for Rampage was simply to re-write David Morrell's 1973 novel First Blood. Obviously, names and places have been changed to protect the innocent, but Rampage is First Blood, or First Rambo, or whatever we are calling it these days. Here's how Roper's version of Rambo shakes out:

Somewhere in a tiny mountain town in Alabama, a young white school teacher defiantly decides that the region's barbaric racism must end. She orders the black and white kids to sit together in class instead of being divided by the invisible segregation barrier. The town's KKK warns her to stop, but she persists. Off the page (thankfully), four KKK members enter her house, chain her to a bed, and then rape her to death.

Not quite First Blood, but just hang in there.

In Vietnam, Mark Hastings reads a letter from his wife that suggests she may be in danger for combining the black and white kids in her class. He takes an emergency leave (AWOL) and heads home to screw his sister. No, wait, that was Brother and Sister. He goes home to kill the mobsters that have ransacked his family. No, wrong. That was War Against the Mafia. He comes home to become entangled in small town injustice from a bigot cop and his posse of cops and friends. That's First Blood. Also Rampage. Sort of.

Hastings, an Army Green Beret, hitchhikes into a small mountain town in Alabama and discovers that his wife has been killed. He then targets and kills the four men responsible by using hit-and-run attacks from his wilderness hideout in the hills. He also uses a special knife (I suspect a plain 'ole K-Bar) to gut his victims.

Eventually, the town's sheriff, who is a KKK member, organizes a posse to hunt and kill Hastings in the mountains. But, Hastings uses some deadly snares to trap and kill his opponents. He also has a .22 Colt Woodsman that he puts to good use. Needless to say, there is a huge body count in this one. After the police fail to apprehend Hastings, a Colonel from a local National Guard unit comes in to sympathize with Hastings. The end has a delusional Hastings being hunted by his fellow Green Beret A-team. 

There are no doubts that Rampage is a First Blood knockoff, like 1987's Black Moon by Ron Potts. I can't fault Roper because First Blood, and the Rambo films, inspired countless profitable pop-culture ventures. Despite being unoriginal and repetitive, Rampage is pretty darn good. Roper is an excellent writer who had a knack for this sort of suspenseful, cagey action formula. He also tackles a number of deep psychological issues of the era - Vietnam, social inequality, poverty, and plain 'ole everyday abuse of power. I can't remember the page, or the exact wording, but Roper has a character cleverly comparing Hasting's possible arrest for murder in Alabama coming at a time that he's been awarded for murder in Vietnam. These statements are essential to the storytelling, as borrowed as it may be, and adds a little extra emotional "oomph".

If you love these outdoor wilderness survival novels, or enjoy a great small town vigilante romp, then Rampage is worth pursuing. Keep in mind that it is a copy of First Blood, so be sure to read Morrell's classic, more superior novel first. Rampage is a blue-light special version of it that still possesses a level of nostalgic enjoyment.

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The Mall

Back in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the concept of a shopping mall was still a relatively new thing. Who knew that an outdoor plaza of shops could magically transform into an inside oasis for buyers and sellers to mingle regardless of the weather. In America, the neighborhood shopping mall was the place to be for food, friends, arcade machines, and photos. But, it could also host a number of terrors for parents hoping to shield their children from kidnappers, drugs, and perverts. In the 1983 Pocket Books novel The Mall, authored by an unknown dude named Steve Kahn, the idea of shoppers being ransomed for money becomes a plot destined for greatness. Think of Die Hard in a mall. What could possibly go wrong?

At over 300 pages, The Mall is unfortunately a bloated pile of trash. The author introduces dozens of characters, which required a pen and paper to keep track of who's who in the sea of Saturday shoppers. The plot develops into a semi-heist novel when a guy named Prince rounds up five other people to take over the busy Green Meadows shopping mall in Connecticut. They seal up the doors with a special “as seen on television” super-duper glue, then take control of the mall's security room and chief officer. Once this is done, they simply make a demand to the local police chief that they will release the shoppers once they receive millions of dollars in ransom money. 

At some point, by like page 250, I was hoping an Able Team or Eagle Force would show up to liberate the mall in a hail of bullets and blood. But, none of that happens. Instead, the author spends pages and pages fixated on a birthday party for the mall's owner that is simultaneously taking place on an upper level while the mall is being commandeered by criminals. When a message is announced on the PA system that hijackers have overtaken the mall and are asking for millions in ransom money, 40,000 shoppers do absolutely nothing. In fact, it is mostly business as usual as long as they don't attempt to leave. It was kinda, “I'll have a slice of pizza and a TRS-80 game cartridge while I wait for the supposed carnage to end.” It was utterly ridiculous. 

My poor shopping led to a miserable reading experience. It's The Mall of Shame and our newest inductee into the Hall of Shame.

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