Brenda

Samuel S. Taylor (1903-1994) joined the U.S. Coast Guard in 1943 and later joined the Army Signal Corps as a consultant on training films. During his military experience, Taylor began writing his first scripts. After serving, Taylor became the main speech writer for Warner Bros. president and film executive Jack Warner. In 1949, Taylor's first novel, Sleep No More, was published by E.P. Dutton in hardcover. The book featured a hard-nosed detective named Neal Cotton, a character that Taylor would utilize in two more novels, No Head for Her Pillow (1952) and So Cold, My Bed (1953), and a short story, “The General Slept Here” in Manhunt (Apr 1955). 

My first experience with the author is Brenda, a 1952 Fawcett Gold Medal paperback that Taylor wrote using the pseudonym Lehi Zane. Stark House Press imprint Black Gat reprinted the book this year.

A man named Conrad returns home after the Korean War and finds himself embroiled in a love triangle. Taylor expertly uses the pressure of these three individuals – Conrad, his uncle, and his uncle's new wife – to build an effective, heated potboiler that recalls James M. Cain. The location of this rural California farm is the perfect setting for the characters to become isolated and entrapped, each wanting physical comfort but requiring emotional blankets. It's the Southern Gothic snare that was used to great effect in the mid-20th century.

In the novel, readers learn that Conrad was raised by his uncle Boyce. Boyce's wife had died while Conrad was serving in the war. Upon Conrad's return to the family farm, he discovers that Boyce is now dating a sensuous vixen named Brenda, a woman known to love'em and leave'em. Conrad feels that Boyce, a conservative salt-of-the-Earth guy, is being taken as a fool by this seductress. However, once Boyce and Brenda get married, things quickly spiral out of control. Conrad finds himself magnetically drawn to Brenda, a feeling that puts him at odds with the lovable man who raised him. Boyce's relationship with both Brenda and Conrad becomes strained and, as the first page suggests, a criminal element is introduced. 

Confessions from Death Row is a slippery slope when it comes to crime fiction. These “death house” testimonies were an influential way to hook readers from page one. Taylor uses it successfully to immediately inform readers that Boyce is in prison awaiting the death penalty. However, the carrot is purposely left dangling. Did he really kill Brenda, or is he taking the rap for someone he loves and protects? From the opening pages, readers already know there's inevitable murder, treachery, and violence to stir these up these characters and story. Whether you like that approach to storytelling or not, it does develop a morbid curiosity to see how things pan out.

Brenda is a phenomenal, convicting piece of storytelling. The chemistry, character development, storyline, and setting are superbly placed. But it is Taylor's central conflict that is the real prize here – the war on traditionalism from all of the likely sources: sex, alcohol, and money. Based on this small sample size, Taylor was a real craftsman who had a handle on this potboiler formula. It is a shame he only wrote a handful of novels and stories.

Get Brenda HERE.

The Worried Mother Job

Throughout around 40 novels spanning from 1971 to 2015, Bill Pronzini entertained mystery fans with his Nameless Detective series chronicling a San Francisco PI who is never given a name. He has a name (like Dashiell Hammet’s Continental Op), but it’s just never mentioned throughout the series. You can get away with that with first-person narration.

Over the years, Pronzini also wrote many short stories and novellas starring Nameless. A particularly great one was “The Worried Mother Job,” originally published in a 1996 short story collection called Spadework and then again in the July 1998 edition of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine.

The story begins with a worried mother coming into the private eye’s office because she’s concerned about her son. Nameless explains that he usually hates this kind of job because mothers are, by the very nature, hysterical and overprotective. Her son Brian is a grown man, but he has become withdrawn lately and chronically unemployed. She guilt-trips Nameless into taking the gig.

When Nameless visits the young man, he is shocked to meet the buxom and abusive Blonde living with the nice young guy. It’s clear that Brian is being manipulated by this foul-mouthed tart in some fashion, but Brian was unwilling to share candidly what was happening.

Like a dog with a bone, Nameless continues his search for truth, interviewing both friends and underworld characters. The structure of the story will be familiar to people who read a lot of private eye fiction, where our hero conducts a series of interviews that lead closer and closer to the truth.

The great thing about the story is the shocking twist ending when we find out what is actually happening to Brian. I sure didn’t see it coming, and I read a lot of these books and stories. It’s a fantastic twist. No spoilers here.

“The Worried Mother Job” cemented my desire to dive deeper into Pronzini’s vast catalog of books. The writing reminded me a lot of Lawrence Block’s Matthew Scudder series, which has sadly concluded. Maybe the Nameless Detective series will scratch that itch? Stay tuned.

Get the collection featuring this story HERE.

The Drifter

Richie Tankersley Cusick  (b. 1952) has authored over 30 novels, mostly of the young adult horror and thriller genre. She was nominated for an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for Help Wanted (1993) and earned a Children's Choice Award from the International Reading Association for The Lifeguard (1989). I have several of her paperbacks, both as Point Horror and Archway. I decided to browse her bibliography for something similar to a gothic-suspense and found The Drifter, originally published as an Archway by Pocket in 1994 (cover by Mark and Stephanie Gerber). The book is now available in both digital and audio.

The traditional tropes found in gothic-suspense/romance consist of a stranger in a strange land, an inheritance, isolation, gaslighting, hints of the supernatural, and a love interest. Despite the book's cover, void of a vulnerable beauty running from the dark house, The Drifter possesses all of the classic tropes. 

Carolyn Baxter and her mother have recently inherited a spacious coastal house from a recently deceased relative. The idea is to renovate the home in an effort to create a cozy bed and breakfast. Their obstacles are money, a lack of employees, and the previous owner's stubborn housekeeper, a woman named Nora. As Carolyn begins settling into her new home, Nora reveals a sinister history about the house.

Decades ago, the home's original owner was a sea captain. He disappeared on a voyage, and his widowed wife found another lover. However, the captain eventually returned, only to be dashed to pieces on the shore's rocky coast. Days later, the lover is found murdered. Obviously, there is a campfire ghost story that the dead sea captain killed his lover in a quest for revenge. But, there may be some truth to the tale as Carolyn digs into the home's history. She teams up with several key characters that further the story's mystery.

First, Carolyn meets a local boy who seems to know a lot about the house, the prior owners, and Carolyn's inheritance. There's a love entanglement here as Carolyn fears the boy, but is swept away by his charm and good looks. Second, another man has appeared, a drifter looking for work. Carolyn is also attracted to this man as well, but he offers just as much mystery as the house itself. The old story is that the captain's wife fell in love with a drifter. Is this guy a ghost? Does he have some relation to the original owners? The third key character is a homeless woman named Molly, an eccentric townie who knows more about this strange set of circumstances and characters than anyone else. 

When Carolyn's mother is nearly killed in an “accident”, and Carolyn herself begins to discover guarded secrets within the house, she begins to suspect a murderer is prowling the hallways. Could it be one of the two guys in her life? The housekeeper? Molly? All of these suspects pile up as Carolyn learns more about the history of the captain and...of course...buried treasure.

The Drifter was engaging enough, but I became bored by the book's second half. Cusick's writing allows for the dialogue to propel the narrative, which often works if the characters have interesting backstories or life experiences. With this many young characters, there's not a great deal of life experience or memories that the author can share to add more depth and characterization. That's often my biggest issue with reading these young adult novels – the atmosphere, locales, and action scenes are written quite well, but lack a deep characterization or subtext. 

Despite those trappings, the book does offer an entertaining narrative laced with supernatural tinglings, an absorbing plot, and sparks in the dialogue that help propel the central mystery. Overall, this wasn't a regretful read. You could do much worse than The Drifter.

Get the book HERE.

Conversations - The Book Graveyard

In this new collaboration with Nick from The Book Graveyard, Paperback Warrior explores Mistress of Orion Hall, a haunting 1970 gothic-suspense paperback published by Fawcett Gold Medal. Along the way, the episode traces the remarkable career of John Messmann, examining his work across westerns, spy fiction, and action novels, as well as the gothic romances he wrote under the pseudonym Claudette Nicole. The discussion also highlights the recent revival of Messmann's fiction through new editions from Brash Books and Cutting Edge, making this an ideal introduction to one of paperback fiction's most versatile and overlooked authors. Listen to the audio version of this episode HERE and watch the video HERE.

Listen to "Conversations - The Book Graveyard" on Spreaker.

The House of Whispers

Laura Purcell is a British author who has earned multiple awards for her gothic historical novels like The Silent Companions (2018), The Poison Thread (2019), and House of Splinters (2026). She's also contributed to successful anthologies like The Haunting Season and The Winter Spirits. I decided to read her 2020 horror novel, The House of Whispers, published by Penguin. It possesses all of the eerie charm I'm looking for in gothics. 

The book features multiple eras in the 19th century told through the perspectives of Hester, a servant, and Louise, the daughter of a wealthy doctor. Their experiences, separated by 40 years or more, center around a series of caves and subterranean chambers that envelop Morvoren House, an old seaside structure that conjures dark imagery of “The Old Dark House”. 

In the first segments, Hester is introduced as a troubled servant who is addicted to alcohol. She hides her secret addiction from her newest employer, a troubled old woman named Louise Pinecroft. As Hester settles into her new role as Louise's nurse, she discovers some weird rituals and safeguarding from the house's staff. Is Louise mentally insane, or is there some dark force prowling the hallways? Along with Hester's new hire orientation comes a dark secret she keeps in a trunk. Through this tucked-away treasure, readers begin learning about Hester's prior job caring for a wealthy family in a different part of England. Her firing from the role is mysterious, enhanced more by bloody clothes that Hester keeps in her trunk. This history is presented in the book's second segment.

In a somewhat confusing timeline, readers are then thrust back to Louise's experiences as a young woman living at Morvoren House. Here, her father is practicing some bizarre medical treatments on prisoners he's acquired from the local township. The prisoners, all doomed to die from various illnesses, are kept in moist caves awaiting the good doctor's medical treatments – as neanderthal as they may be. Here is when readers learn about evil pixies that live underground, waiting for the perfect time to perform an Invasion of the Body Snatchers act of creating a “pod person” to replace the captured victim. It's weird, scary, entertaining...trust me.

The House of Whispers does require a great deal of patience as the story twists and turns through these different eras. At one point, I felt very connected to Hester, and then by the book's second half, that intimacy evaporated, replaced by a newfound fascination with Louise. It blends well, albeit a bit jarring to lose that connection with the character. Overall, it's a well-developed plot rich with imagery, chills, and imagination. There aren't a lot of evil pixie stories in horror. There's magic in that.

Get The House of Whispers HERE.

Baby Dolly

Ruby Jean Jensen (1927-2010) began her writing career penning shorts in the confessional and romance pulps and magazines. Her first novels were gothics published by Paperback Library and Manor Books in the 1970s. Today, she is best remembered as a horror novelist synonymous with the 1980s and 1990s creepy kid and evil doll tropes. I read her “killer tree” book Night Thunder in 1995 and haven't revisited her work since. I decided to try a Paperbacks from Hell staple, Baby Dolly. It was published by Zebra in 1991.

Surprisingly, Baby Dolly is better than it ever has a right to be. It's a killer doll novel and does everything you want and don't want in a horror novel, mainly the deaths of a bunch of kids. Jensen doesn't hold back and keeps the body count stacked consistently through nearly 500 terrifying pages. 

The novel is presented in three books, each around 160-pages. Granted, many of the books I read and review here at PW weigh about 180-pages, so this was the equivalent of reading three novels. The first book is set in the 1910s, the second in the 1950s, and the third in the present-day of 1991. Each of these sections deals specifically with a portion of the Wilfred Family, a wealthy and esteemed establishment living in a mansion in rural Arkansas. 

In the first book, young Rose Marie and her baby are murdered by Rose's mother after becoming pregnant out of wedlock. Yet her mother doesn't use a traditional weapon or poison, but instead places an evil soul-sucking doll in the crib and bed. This doll, stored in the family's upstairs cabinet, crawls onto faces and steals...breath? Jensen never really explains the method of destruction. After Rose Marie and the baby are murdered, the family members left behind are Sybil, Rose's younger sister, and Gertrude. 

We reconnect with Sybil as an old woman in the 1950s, this time living with her son, his wife, and their two daughters. She dies, leaving Gertrude to continue keeping the doll in the family mansion. But again, crazy things happen, and the doll is dragged out to kill family members. In an evil recycle, the 1990s feature another family member, but this time incorporating neighbors and a police officer to investigate the strange happenings within the family tree and the eerie mansion.

I was fully invested in the opening book and loved learning the family history and dynamics, tying it all together. The second book began shaping up as a redo of the first, only with different family members being killed off in the same fashion. By book three, I needed a change of pace, and the author seemingly read my mind. There's a great thread here of two neighborhood girls stumbling onto the abandoned, dilapidated mansion and encountering the doll. This portion of the narrative was laced with so much atmosphere and attention to detail. The discovery of a skeleton in the upstairs bedroom introduced a separate plot involving a murder investigation and a trip down memory lane to see how these characters intertwine and change through the decades. It was a skillful, well-developed story that spread evenly throughout the novel.

Baby Dolly was just terrific. If you love spooky mansions, creepy dolls, bizarre children...you're in Heaven (or Hell?) in this old Zebra paperback? Get the vintage copy HERE or the reprint HERE.

My Gun, Her Body

According to Stark House Press and Steve Holland's writing HERE, Jeff Bogar was a British house name used between 1950 and 1955. “Bogar” is the main character in most of the books, which were first published in paperback by Hamilton & Company or Panther Books. The authors who contributed were Ronald Wills Thomas, Harry Hossant, and Leslie Barnard. Barnard, in particular, was the father of mystery writer Robert Barnard. 

In July 2026, Stark House published their fourth Lion Trio, this one featuring a Bogar book originally published by Hamilton & Co. in 1951 as Dinah for Danger. A year later, Lion reprinted the book in the U.S. as My Gun, Her Body, a title that Stark House preserved for their collection. The other books in the collection include Basil Heatter's Act of Violence (1954) and Paul Conant's Naked in the Dark (1953). The Bogar book's action unfolds in the Florida swamps, a setting that held special appeal to me as a longtime Florida resident. I chose to read it first.

Jeff Bogar arrives in the fictional town of Saracen City on Florida's sweeping panhandle. His friend, an investigative journalist named Mike, contacted him about something dangerous he had stumbled into. He requested a “guy like you, Jeff, a guy who isn't too particular.” However, Mike never shows up at the designated meeting place so Bogar goes looking for him...and trouble.

Saracen City is torn between two rival kingpins, both running numbers rackets and gaming. Interestingly enough, one runs a mortuary, which surprisingly reveals a central mystery in one of the final scenes. Bogar quickly becomes embroiled in the conflict, a participation that leaves him busted up and left to die in a swamp. He's rescued by a vixen who is looking for her own brand of revenge against one of the mobsters. Like an old western tale, she nurses the hero back to health with the proper dressing...and undressing. This little romantic flare is the first of Bogar's flings, the other being a lounge act named Dinah, thus the book's original title.

My Gun, Her Body is hardboiled, with plenty of “dames” and “rods” thrown around. Barnard is a quirky writer and leans heavily on these characters' cadences in the dialogue. It can be jarring if you aren't familiar with this pulpy era of publishing. Bogar is a wiseguy, sarcastic and funny in the most stressful, sure-to-die moments. Your mileage may vary on whether this bogs down the narrative. Barnard also throws in some purple prose, like “soft armful of pulchritude” to keep you on your toes. 

Overall, I enjoyed My Gun, Her Body and will probably revisit the series and character in the future. You can get your copy of Lion Trio 4 HERE. Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

Jeff Bogar Chronological List

Hamilton & Co.
• Lady—Pass My Gat 1950)
• Sucker-Bait! (1950)
• Duet for a Corpse (1950)
• Bullets for my Blonde (1950)
• Hill-Billy in High Heels! (1950)
• ‘Frisco Lady (1950); reprinted as Confessions of a Chinatown Moll
• Lady from Hades (1950?)
• Pay-Off for Paula (1950?); reprinted as The Tigress.
• Honey—Stay Blonde (1951?)
• Book a Hearse Now (1951)
• Dinah for Danger (1951); reprinted as My Gun, Her Body
• Road to Las Vegas (1951)
• Corruption City (1951)

Panther Books 
• Hoodmen’s Bait (by Leslie Barnard) (Mar 1953)
• Undercurrent (by Ronald Wills Thomas) (Nov 1953)
• Fire Zone (by Ronald Wills Thomas) (Feb 1954)
• Pink Film (by Ronald Wills Thomas) 1955 (Dec 1954)
• The Concrete Curtain (by Ronald Wills Thomas) (Dec 1954)
• The Land Pirate (by Ronald Wills Thomas) (Feb 1955)
• The Speed Queens (by Ronald Wills Thomas) (Jul 1955)
• Painted on a Donkey Cart (by Ronald Wills Thomas) (Nov 1955)

Adventure #08 - Safari Adventure

Willard DeMille Price (1887-1983) was born in Ontario, Canada. He traveled the globe writing for newspapers, magazines, and museums, in particular National Geographic Society and American Museum of Natural History. He visited 148 countries in his career and even hinted in his autobiography, My Own Life of Adventure, that he was an American spy. He wrote 21 travel books, mostly about Asia, and a successful, 14-book series titled Adventure. These books were catered to young readers and published between 1949 and 1980. Many of the books have been issued in digital editions.

I joined as a guest for Jeff's Cave of Cool Books, a nifty YouTube channel that features all of the great things you might love about Paperback Warrior (watch HERE). We discussed the Adventure series, Willard Price, and did a buddy read of the eighth installment, Safari Adventure. It was published in 1966.

The series features two main characters, 19-year-old Hal and his 13-year-old brother Roger. They work for their father John Hunt, a successful animal trapper who stocks zoos and preserves with global treasures. But, in most cases, the two are called in for help in ecological disasters, animal cruelty, and international affairs affecting tourism and its revenue. 

In Safari Adventure, the duo journeys to Tsavo, a large wilderness in Kenya. There, a game warden named Crosby explains that this 8,000 square mile territory is ravaged by animal poachers. Crosby had 20 rangers to patrol this entire area, 12 of which have been killed by the hunters' poison arrows and animal traps. Crosby wants help tracking down one of the more notorious poachers, a shadowy criminal named Blackbeard. Keep in mind that the two main characters are Hal and Roger, but they lead a large organization of personnel that can assist, in this case bringing an entourage of 30+ men.

Price does a wonderful job packing this novel with miniature adventures that include a pit confrontation with a cheetah, a couple of epic fights with the poachers, a plane crash, and even a bit of courtroom drama. Every chapter is maximized and contributes to the through story without sacrificing any momentum or pacing. 

While this is a young-adult read, it definitely will appeal to all ages. Additionally, Price uses this book to sort of do a public service announcement on the horrors of poaching. No details are spared as Price puts the boys into an investigative mode that reveals some of the most disturbing atrocities I've personally read. We're talking men's action-adventure details that would make Nick Carter nauseous. Keep in mind this isn't like a horror novel where the author positions the villain into some vile level with despicable animal cruelty. This is done as a sobering, teachable moment. 

Overall, Safari Adventure was fantastic. Again, check out my video discussion with Jeff's Cave of Cool Books about this novel HERE. You can also obtain a copy of the book HERE.

Night Howl

Andrew Neiderman is probably best known for his 19th career novel, The Devil's Advocate, which was adapted into a film in 1997 starring Al Pacino and Keanu Reeves. He authored over 100 novels, mostly of the horror and suspense genre. We've reviewed a couple of them, Someone's Watching (1983) and Pin (1981), so I was anxious to get back to his vintage horror work. I decided to try the killer-dog formula and tracked down Night Howl, published by Pocket in 1986.

The book is set in upstate New York. A German Shepherd has escaped a secret government laboratory that specializes in biological and chemical weapons and genetic engineering. It's a catch-all for a special project providing super-intelligence to dogs. While this portion of the book is a bit cloudy, apparently, part of the genes injected into this dog came from the prison system. So, the pooch – named Phantom – is a criminal mastermind trapped in a dog's body. It's like the killer trapped in the plastic shell of the Chucky doll in those Child's Play films and shows. 

Phantom has a run-in with the Kaufmans, an ordinary family of peaceful suburbanites, while also being hunted by the government operatives. Neiderman uses varying perspectives to present the story; this includes all of the doggy thoughts of Phantom himself – food, mating, kill!

As you can tell from the tone, I really hated this book. Night Howl is nearly 300-pages of absolute nothingness. Perhaps it was a quick concept pitched to Neiderman by a Cujo-hungry agent or editor, or simply an unenthusiastic “when animals attack” idea that the author wanted his claws in. There are some interesting kills, a few effective pages of a home-invasion, and a complete location swerve as the action moves to New York City faster than you can say “Jason Takes Manhattan”. 

Oddly, Dean Koontz would use a similar idea with his 1987 novel Watchers. In that book, a Golden Retriever named Einstein gains super-intelligence and escapes from a secret government lab. The dog and its new owner are tracked by shadowy assassins and a genetically engineered monster. I'm sure there are dozens of super-pooch books, some good, some not so much. As for Night Howl...it's a snoozefest. 

If you have to own it, get it HERE.

M.I.A. Hunter #13 - L.A. Gang War

About a year before his death, author Stephen Mertz mailed me the paperback of M.I.A. Hunter #13 – L.A. Gang War. He wrote the book for Jove in 1990 as Jack Buchanan. Mertz, aware of my love for the series, inscribed the book to me and wrote that this installment was his favorite. The series was originally published between 1985 and 1991, consisting of sixteen books. In 2019, Mertz contributed one additional book to the series. Historically, these books were authored by Mertz, Mike Newton, Joe R. Lansdale, William Fieldhouse, Arthur Moore, and Bill Crider. Wolfpack Publishing issued the series in digital editions in 2018. 

L.A. Gang War is one of only three volumes that features the heroic trio – Stone, Loughlin, Wiley – in domestic affairs (#10 in Miami, #17 in Texas). Traditionally, this team of mercenaries operates in Asia and Europe, rescuing prisoners-of-war and hostages either independently or, in later books, as a secret squad for the U.S. military. 

The book begins with a flashback to Stone's first days in Vietnam as an Army Green Beret. During a mission, Stone's team is attacked by a shadowy guerrilla team led by a former U.S. Army official named Conte. During the firefight, Stone is injured along with two of his fellow soldiers, Chavez and Brown. What these four characters experienced thrust them into a conflict that would escalate years later.

In the present, the M.I.A. Hunter trio is contacted by Brown, now a deputy chief of L.A.'s Tactical Gang Squad. He wants Stone to penetrate a gang fortress that's holding Chavez, now a successful, leading journalist on gang activities and street crimes in the city. Brown feels that Chavez has stumbled on a robust drug exchange between Columbia and two notorious gangs – Bloods and Crips. During the obligatory crash 'n dash firefight, Stone gets a glimpse of a face that has haunted him for years – Conte. 

Stephen Mertz elevates this installment of the M.I.A. Hunter series into a mesmerizing crime-fiction novel that blends a riveting police-procedural narrative with this team-based combat formula. Deep in the trenches, the story spirals into these effective twists and turns that reveal Conte's criminal history, Chavez's relationship with Brown's daughter, and the drug trade that is ensnaring all of these eccentric characters. Mertz injects plenty of action – gunfire, stealth, fisticuffs, fiery liberation – which is the series formula, but he creates interlocking storylines from different perspectives that are wholly different than the prior installments. In many ways, this could have been a standalone novel with a different character name for Stone. 

There is a reason that Mertz deemed this novel as his favorite of the series – it's the best one I've read thus far. If you want something a little more than the typical Middle East and Southeast Asia adventures, then this is the one series installment you can't miss. I'd also venture to say that if you love Mertz's treatment of the Mack Bolan material, then you will love what he has accomplished here. Highest possible recommendation.

Get a vintage copy of the book HERE or a digital edition HERE.

The Tarot Spell

Willo Davis Roberts (1928-2004) was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Originally a paramedic, she transitioned into a career as a full-time novelist. Her first book, Murder at Grand Bay, was published in 1955. She authored 100 books in her lifetime, many of which were gothics and children's novels. She won Edgar awards in 1989, 1995, and 1997, and was awarded the Governor's Award for children's literature in Washington State. My first experience with Roberts is the 1970 Lancer gothic The Tarot Spell. 

Catherine is a young woman who just inherited two-million (obviously) from the uncle she cared for. Ironically, the fortune also brings her a new husband, a guy named Jason Ruart. Catherine and Jason are old acquaintances who struck up a relationship recently. Catherine's friends and sisters feel as though Jason is just cashing in on Catherine, marrying her for her money. But Jason's family is old money. They own the town's mill, and he's in charge of modernizing the facility. 

Jason moves Catherine into his family's robust mansion (obviously) where she nearly dies in “accidents” in and around the house (obviously). The “tarot” idea springs from Jason's mother, an eccentric drunk who plays with the cards and advises Catherine repeatedly that she's in danger. Is Jason planning to knock Catherine off? Does Jason's sister have an agenda? What's the story on Jason's prior wife? These are the threads that weave together The Tarot Spell. 

When it comes to gothics the effectiveness of the story is based on atmosphere and the protagonist – both have to be strongly detailed and positioned in a way that adds some depth and emotional charge. Catherine, while admirable as a devout caregiver, isn't particularly smart or engaging. She lacks independence and is consistently crying over her disenchanting relationship with Jason. Roberts doesn't add any real atmosphere to the novel, unwisely keeping the details of the sprawling mansion's interior in the reader's imagination. The family dynamic was mildly interesting and provided a small amount of mystery. Ultimately, I figured out the book's plot and ending by page 10. This made my reading experience less than enjoyable. The Tarot Spell didn't mesmerize me. Whether I'll read another Roberts book is debatable. 

Get The Tarot Spell HERE.

Doomsday Warrior #03 - The Last American

The third installment of Doomsday Warrior, The Last American, was authored by Ryder Syvertsen and Jan Stacy. It was published by Zebra in December 1984. 

The book begins with the series protagonist, Ted Rockson, leading a search-and-rescue mission for scientists. This inevitably leads to the pre-established formula of a mini adventure to open the novel. Only this time, Rockson is attacked by a L. Sprague de Camp monstrosity: a giant spider. He's injected with venom and descends into unconsciousness. After a series of medical procedures, Rockson is up and ready for the novel's two adventures, which is another staple of the series – a double matinee in each book.

In the first segment, Rockson chooses team member Chen to lead an annoying political activist and an older professor to an important meeting. There's an election happening to choose a new president. Each of these rebel cities must send a representative to vote and adopt a constitution. Of course, anytime a non-team character is introduced...it's to add to the body count. In this case, the older professor falls into a ravine and is munched to death by some mutant creatures. Eventually, the meeting happens, but it's ravaged by a Soviet attack. 

The book's second adventure finds Rockson, Kim (Rockson's girlfriend), and Kim's father injured after the attack. Rockson is rescued by a mountain man and nursed to health. Kim and her father are taken by mutants called Glowers. They have more in common with aliens than any mutant abomination. In fact, these Glowers are a kind race and use telepathy to communicate and heal. They are attempting to heal Kim, but need Rockson as her “true love” to immerse himself in her soul – literally. Rockson and the Glowers all unite in a telepathy orgie – no, seriously. It's metaphysical nonsense that seems way...like way...out of place here. But sometimes these 80s post-apocalyptic books take some sharp turns along the way. Doomsday Warrior is evolving into a weird title that blends a lot of ideas.

The Last American is a wacky trip laced with the typical G.I. Joe stuff that I've mentioned in my past reviews. Readers get a martial arts lesson from Chen, tepid sex, and a boring backstory as the two Soviet leaders spar. Overall, this seemed like a placeholder installment. Your mileage may vary.

Get The Last American HERE.

Don't Walk Home Alone

Author Beverly Hastings was a joint pseudonym used by Carol Barkin and Elizabeth James. These writers contributed to the Point Horror brand of young adult thriller and suspense novels. In the 1980s and early 1990s. However, the two also wrote a handful of horror paperbacks for both Jove and Pocket Books. I chose Don't Walk Home Alone, originally published by Jove in 1985 in paperback. The reading experience was a bit disturbing.

Kate is working on her post-grad thesis paper for Columbia University. She's involved in a crumbling relationship with her boyfriend and searching for quiet afternoons where she can write. She reads an advertisement in a newspaper asking for home help to care for a young girl. Intrigued, Kate drives out to Edgar's Landing, a cozy, fictitious small town along the Hudson River.

Meeting with Adam, Kate learns that the job would involve caring for his niece Jessica, a seven-year old second-grader. Kate must be at Adam's large Victorian house every weekday afternoon to see that Jessica is home safely, prepare dinner, help with homework, and generally be the adult-on-duty until Adam returns home from work. Simple, right? No. The problem is that Jessica has a stalker. Thus, the disturbing events.

First, reports circulate that one of Jessica's schoolmates was abducted on his walk home. He was dragged into the forest and left tied to a tree. The police are inept at finding the culprit, so life goes on. But, in one of the most heinous things I've read in a book, the perspective switches to the stalker, only this time he's driving his car. He targets what he thinks is Jessica in the street and runs her over. Only it wasn't Jessica. The little girl dies, yet the police still seem clueless about who is attacking these students.

Kate begins receiving bizarre phone calls where an anonymous caller sings nursery rhymes to her about little girls falling into wells. During one exchange, the caller suggests that little girls are made of “nothing”. Eventually, the suspense is ratcheted up notch after notch as this stalker finds Jessica's house. 

As creepy as these sequences were, the authors counter the terror with a plodding romance thread that slowly develops between Kate and Adam. His backstory on raising Jessica, the death of her parents, and a divorce sort of muddle up the bulk of the book. I was never bored, but in my experience, I was hoping for an iron-fisted detective to enter the book to make the nab on the stalker. While that doesn't happen, the book does have a great cat-and-mouse chase as Kate and Jessica attempt to escape the clutches of the madman. 

Don't Walk Home Alone is an easy recommendation. The writing tandem reminded me of Dolores Hitchens and other mid 20th-century female writers who rely heavily on dialogue to tell the story. In fact, this novel reminded me of a recent reading of Hitchens's The Abductor, a 1962 novel recently reprinted by Stark House Press.

You can obtain a copy of Don't Walk Home Alone HERE.

The House of Ravensbourne

The first thing you need to realize is that I read this melodrama paperback by accident. In researching a gothic paperback to joint-read with Nick at The Book Graveyard, I inadvertently picked the wrong book – The House of Ravensbourne. Granted, this 1965 Pyramid Books edition (R1205, cvr Mort Engel) is dressed up as a gothic, as well as the publisher's reprint in 1973 (N31927), it's still a melodrama. It's not a gothic. Unfortunately, this sort of thing happened often in the publishing world. Plenty of early 20th-century mystery novels and pulp stories were introduced to an unsuspecting public as gothic paperbacks in the 1960s and 1970s. 

The House of Ravensbourne began its literary life as The Amateur Governess, a hardcover published in 1964 by Hurst & Blackett's Valentine Romance Club. It was reprinted under that title in 1977 by Coronet. The author is Mary Ann Gibbs, a romance novelist who authored nearly 40 works over her thirty-year career. 

Catherine Whittingham and her sister Isabelle are the daughters of a successful British General. They live in Grey Ladies, a robust mansion located in a rural portion of the English countryside. After a decorative ball, Catherine is notified that her father has died from a sudden illness. During the will reading, the siblings learn that they are penniless as their father squandered away the family's fortune at the roulette table. Catherine is set to marry a wealthy young man named Anthony, but turns down any wedding preparation to concentrate on finding a new temporary home for her and Isabelle. They relocate to Brighton, where Isabelle will live with a rich widow, a sort of substitute daughter who can enjoy a splendid upbringing of dance and piano recitals, balls, and exquisite travel. But Catherine isn't offered the same deal.

Catherine becomes employed by Mrs. Ravensbourne, a wealthy widow living in a large estate next door to Isabelle's new residence. Her charge is a young woman named Amy, Mrs. Ravenbourne's neglected niece, who lives in an attic bedroom, eating table scraps and wearing rags. In the novel's backstory, we learn that Mrs. Ravensbourne's daughter Edith is her primary concern, a sick woman with a serious heart condition. When Amy's mother passed away, her father asked Mrs. Ravensbourne to take care of the child. Only she doesn't provide any care for the child other than shelter. This is where Catherine's journey begins. 

Through the first few weeks, Catherine must adjust to her new living conditions, the bitter rivalry between Amy and Mrs. Ravensbourne, and the harsh treatment heaped on her by the Ravensbourne staff. These scenes were just so moving, conveying the horrors of child abuse and neglect and how these things curb the ability to grow and mature. Catherine, through selfless sacrifice, becomes Amy's friend and mentor, encouraging her to make the most of her living conditions and situation. It was this portion of the narrative that reminded me of The Count of Monte Cristo and The Flowers in the Attic, as dismal as they may be. 

Catherine's self-discovery is a large portion of Gibbs's story, complete with the fallout of Anthony's marital vow, her eroding relationship with her sister, the adjustment to living as a commoner, and a light romantic spark for Amy's father, William. There are a couple of other interesting threads woven into Gibbs's effective prose that include Edith's growing relationship with Catherine, William's strife in building a local employment union, and a mesmerizing mystery on just who Amy's real mother is.

What started as an accident suddenly became one of the best reading experiences I've had. The House of Ravensbourne was a roller-coaster of emotions that left me glued to every page. Maybe I'm just becoming sensitive to this sort of thing in my older years, but the book was like the finest episodes of Downton Abbey – family turmoil, riches, romance, and political upheaval – all thrust into the pages of this simple little paperback.

So why did Pyramid pick this book to market as a gothic? The only real evidence is a short-lived plot in which Catherine occasionally hears footsteps outside of her bedroom door at night. There is also a disturbing scene where an attacker breaks into Amy's room and attempts to kill her. Perhaps someone at Pyramid found these elements prevalent enough to warrant a gothic treatment? If that's what brought you to the book, then you may be pleasantly surprised that this novel is so much more than that. Highest recommendation.

Burma Rifles

I've been on a Frank Bonham kick of late and wanted to continue reading his westerns, crime fiction, and juvenile fiction. I stumbled upon a striking cover for Burma Rifles (artist unknown) while surfing for more information about the author. This book was originally published in hardcover in 1960 by Thomas Y. Crowell Company. It was reprinted as a Berkley Highland paperback in August 1965. It went through at least four printings through April 1969. 

In Bonham's 1963 novel Deepwater Challenge, the author showcased a deep passion for Japanese-Americans relocated during WWII. In that novel, the character of Aki is revealed to be a Japanese-American farmer forced to abandon his home and business. As a diver, he volunteered to assist the U.S. Military during the war. Burma Rifles exhibits that same spirit and admiration for the Japanese-American history and culture. On the copyright page, it states:

This book is dedicated to those Americans of Japanese ancestry who served with the armed forces of the United States in World War II. In particular, it is the author's wish to commemorate the heroism of the fourteen Nisei volunteers with the 5307th Composite Unit – popularly known as “Merrill's Marauders” - whose very presence behind the enemy lines in Burma involved courage beyond the call of duty.

The author also includes a two-page Foreword about the history of Niseis, their achievements during WWII, and the bitter treatment of the Japanese and Japanese-Americans who spent the war in relocation centers. He applauds their willingness to forget past unhappiness and their resounding ability to live in the present. Bonham lists several resources he used for the book, including Charlton Ogburn's The Marauders and interviews with several military leaders. 

The book introduces readers to Jerry, a young Japanese-American living on his family's Southern California farm. Both of his parents were born in Japan and moved to the U.S. chasing the American dream. Jerry is in the drugstore when a radio broadcast announces that Pearl Harbor has been bombed. In an instant, Jerry's friends and fellow citizens turn on him, an event that escalates into a horrific attack on his family's farm. It is these scenes where Jerry is “born”, where his adversity, kindness, and strengths rise to the occasion. As a reader, I became so enamored with this character. I gained an instant respect for him and his family. 

Jerry is recruited into the Army. He is sent, along with dozens of other men of Japanese ancestry, to a special boot camp that specializes in combat and linguistics. It will be Jerry's role to translate on the field of battle, including interrogating prisoners, reading intelligence reports, and listening to Japanese conversations behind enemy lines. A good portion of the book is dedicated to Jerry's training and his experiences training for Operation Galahad, a massive fight in the China Burma India theater. 

The book's second half is an action-packed sequence of grueling battles in the jungle. Jerry's first experiences in battle are especially emotional, but Bonham doesn't pull any punches. The visceral details - harrowing sense of doom, the aura of blood-drenched foxholes, exhaustion, desperation – it's just intoxicating under Bonham's compelling prose. While there's not one main objective, the day-to-day routine is enough adventure to pack the pages. Jerry interrogates several prisoners, including a female dancer, and develops some strong connections with his Japanese ancestry. It all culminates in a blistering final fight to take a Japanese island stronghold. 

There aren't a lot of books that I would swear to read again. However, I enjoyed Burma Rifles so much that I have to read it again. There are so many little details, so much emotional dexterity, and a battle-born texture to it that just has to be relived again. I was saddened to leave Jerry's journey at the end of the novel. That's a sure-fire sign of a great book – never wanting it to end. Burma Rifles was that good.

You can read the novel for free HERE or buy a vintage copy HERE.

Ingram

Louis C.K. is one of America’s top stand-up comics, so it came as a surprise when he released Ingram, a literary historical novel inspired by the work of William Faulkner, Erskine Caldwell and John Steinbeck. 

Our narrator is Ingram, a young boy (age likely under 10) living in abject parental neglect in rural Texas during what is likely the Great Depression (the exact era is never disclosed). His parents treat him like a piece of livestock. No school. No love or care. He sleeps on a blanket in the shed of his father’s unproductive farm. His parents taught him nothing about the world and barely acknowledged his existence. 

The imminent foreclosure of the farm and the separation of Ingram’s parents find the boy cast onto the dusty road to fend for himself in a world where he knows less than nothing about being human, much less independent. Battling ignorance and starvation in the early chapters, the reader is left wondering how little Ingram will survive. 

Much of the novel is a “fish out of water” story about Ingram learning about basics (“if you don’t drink water daily, you’ll die) as if he were an alien trying to assimilate among earthlings. His travel-by-foot adventure reminded me of a tragic Huckleberry Finn, but instead of a trusty slave, Ingram is mostly alone - relying on the kindness of strangers to cobble together enough life lessons to help a young boy survive the crushing poverty of his existence. 

There are moments of joy and humor that C.K. delivers quite well, but Ingram’s adventures and the working-poor’s poverty along the way are some bleak fiction. It’s also compelling as hell. The reader grows to love our pre-pubescent, stoic narrator who has nothing going for him other than his innate innocence about…everything. 

This is one of the best books I’ve read in ages. Although it’s technically literary fiction, the pages fly by like a pulp novel because the narrator is a kid. There’s no central plot to the book other than a young man’s education among the dusty roads, tumbleweeds, and Ingram’s coming to terms with the abject neglect of his earliest years. 

I don’t get the impression that the novel has been a tremendous economic success. I suspect people didn’t know what to make of a serious historical novel by a raunchy stadium comedian. I hope that the book is rediscovered in paperback and has a second life. It’s really something special, and I want to read more Louis C.K. serious fiction. Highest recommendation.

Get the book HERE.

Hawker #08 - Terror in D.C.

I read the first six Hawker novels in quick succession and enjoyed them immensely. I took a breather and read the seventh installment a few years later. Again, after a hiatus, I have returned to the series with the eighth novel, Terror in D.C., published in 1986 by Dell using Randy Wayne White's manly pseudonym of Carl Ramm. The whole series is available in reprinted digital and print editions from Open Road Media. 

In the book's opening chapters, Hawker is involved in an active shooter situation at a school. In a rather confusing opener, Hawker is seen moving throughout the school's outer perimeters and into a local neighborhood. In pursuit of the shooter, he stumbles upon a woman who fools him into a false sense of security. Hawker is shot in the chest, and the game's over – literally. It turns out this was a simulated firefight hosted by a recruiting division of the C.I.A. The whole thing was orchestrated by Hawker's employer, Jacob Montgomery Hayes, upon request by the agency. The C.I.A. is aware of Hawker's vigilante missions, his determination to stop crime, and the success he's experienced in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, and Houston. 

Unfortunately, Hawker is denied by the C.I.A., but this was all a ruse. Behind the scenes, the agency wants to utilize Hawker to perform some off-the-radar missions (isn't all of the C.I.A. Off-the-radar?!?). Hawker is advised of a serial bombing affecting suburban families in the D.C. area. Readers already know the Iranian cell behind these attacks, but Hawker gets to work on the investigation. He finds the spearpoint, a local businessman that is funding the activities. Hawker also romances a U.S. Senator, a woman who will apparently pay larger dividends in a through-story. As the book closes, it is implied that Hawker is now on the run from the C.I.A., and this Senator may be helping him avoid capture. 

Hawker novels are breezy, senseless fun that reads a lot like Dirty Harry or some of the higher-numbered Mack Bolan novels. It's a formula, but the hero's finesse is appealing to me. As always, there are a few mentions of Hawker's prior experiences with the Chicago Police Department and what led to his vigilante missions. I wish the author would delve more into Hayes and his butler Hendrikcks, a former British secret agent. This seems to be a missed opportunity.

You can get Terror in D.C. HERE.

Deepwater Challenge

Based on a small sample size, what I've read by Frank Bonham has been exceptional. He authored for the pulps in the 1940s and 1950s, then moved into writing full-length novels and television scripts. He's mostly known for his western writing, but he was a consistent juvenile and YA writer. I found a copy of his YA novel Deepwater Challenge. It was published in 1963 by Thomas Y. Crowell Company with cover art designed by Albert Burkhardt. 

Cam Walker has graduated from high school and is prowling the docks searching for the right boat. His father is down and out with debilitating arthritis, so it's up to Cam to bring home the bacon – but in this case, it's fish. His parents have saved $7K for a boat, hoping that Cam can start up a successful fishing and salvage business. But Cam quickly realizes it's not enough money to purchase a decent floating tub. This is when he runs into his fiercest rival, an elderly fisherman named Graber. 

Cam wants to buy Graber's overpriced boat, but his father insists that he seek consultation from a family friend, a former Japanese salvage diver named Aki. After Aki reveals that Graber's boat is significantly damaged, Cam purchases another boat using financing. This infuriates Graber, and he becomes one of the primary plot devices – this maniacal lunatic prowling the sea, hoping to wreck and sink Cam. 

With Aki, Cam begins diving in deep waters to harvest abalone, a meaty shellfish that grabs onto the ocean's rocky settlements. But Aki is too old now to successfully make the dives, and Cam is inexperienced. Cam's older brother Steve, a former U.S. Navy diver, joins the trio. But, he has a secret that he withholds from Cam and Aki – he isn't healthy enough to make the dives, yet wants to contribute to the family's new fishing business. 

First off, Bonham can write his grocery list and make it interesting. I was so invested in the education portions of this novel, the intricacies of diving, the technology (as antiquated as it might be now), and the art of abalone harvesting. However, Bonham introduces another interesting plot device with salvaging boat wrecks. There's a thread here of the trio discovering some rare 1800s coins that will hopefully fund their enterprise. Getting the coins to the surface is one of the most exciting portions of the book. Additionally, I was fascinated by the character of Aki and his history as a Japanese-American. He was forced to relocate with his family after WWII, causing him to lose his family's business.

In the “About the Author” section, Frank Bonham explains that he spent a great deal of time researching for this book. He frequently performed skin diving with a friend from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, interviewing professional abalone divers, and cross-checking facts with the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries. He presents these fishing facts in a pleasurable way. Deepwater Challenge is a fascinating book for any reader, young or old.  

You can read this book at Archive.org HERE. 

Black Berets #02 - Cold Vengeance

I enjoyed The Deadly Reunion, the debut in the team-commando series Black Berets. This was a Dell paperback title that was published between 1984 and 1987. The house name was Mike McCray, but in reality, these books were authored by John Preston and Michael McDowell. As much as I loved the first installment, it has taken me six years to return to the series. I'm rolling my sleeves up for Cold Vengeance, the sophomore effort from the duo, originally published in 1984.

In the debut, Beeker, Rosie, Cowboy, Harry, and Marty are introduced. This is an old CIA special forces squad that made a name for itself during the Vietnam War. Their old warhorse officer, Parker, put the band back together to liberate one of their own from a Laotian prison camp. As that book ended, the team realized that Parker was a criminal drug lord and was just using the team to gain more fortune for himself. Realizing they were double-crossed, the team took the fortunes of war for themselves in an effort to create a mercenary enterprise.

In Cold Vengeance, the novel begins with Parker's cohorts invading the team's headquarters in the Pacific Northwest. The team is away on a mission, leaving only Beeker's “son”, a mute boy, behind. In a riveting, action-packed sequence of events, the young boy hunts and kills Parker's trio of goons, fatally eliminating each one with a bow-and-arrow. These scenes were some of the best I've read in ages. It reminded me of David Morrell's equally amazing archery scenes from Rambo II. But, despite the boy's best efforts, the trio burns the headquarters.

The team returns, finds the place in ruins, and uses their newly acquired fortune to rebuild a better headquarters. I enjoyed this portion of the storytelling, with all the nuances and caveats of gun placement, barrier resistance, ammo stores, and the team's living conditions. In many ways, this team operates similarly to The Hard Corps, another outstanding team-commando paperback series. The Black Berets and The Hard Corps run a profitable, professional business – they aren't weekend warriors.

The plot of Cold Vengeance is the team's efforts to infiltrate and destroy a terrorist cell that may be operated by Parker. This is a good plot device as it serves two purposes: a storyline that works as a stand-alone novel, but also a way to wrap up the events about Parker from the debut.

Cold Vengeance was another fantastic entry, complete with an emphasis on furthering these characters and their personal histories. Readers learned a bit more about Cowboy's past as well as some intricate details concerning Marty's hobby of blowing things up – he's really into things that go boom. While there's plenty of action with chattering gunfire, bloody fisticuffs, and some graphic torture, both authors understand proper setup and delivery. There's a story here, and its told efficiently. The Black Berets continues to outshine much of the 1980s competition.

Get the book in reprint HERE or original paperback HERE.

The Secret Origin of Michael Myers? | Halloween Paperback Deep Dive

Halloween comes early on Paperback Warrior! In today’s video, I take a deep dive into the collectible 1979 Bantam paperback adaptation of Halloween by Richard Curtis and uncover the surprising mythology hidden inside its pages. While most fans know John Carpenter’s legendary film, this novelization adds an entirely new layer to Michael Myers’ story — including a six-page backstory that quietly influenced nearly every sequel in the franchise for the next four decades.

Join me as I compare the novel to the original film, explore the evolution of Michael Myers as a character, and examine how this overlooked paperback became one of the most fascinating pieces of Halloween history.

If you love vintage paperbacks, horror history, slasher films, and collectible movie tie-ins, this is an episode you won’t want to miss. Watch the video below or directly on YT HERE.