Ship Trial

New Yorker Frank De Felitta (1921-2016) served in WW2 and began his writing career in the 1940s working on radio programs like The Whistler. In the 1950s, he wrote for anthology television shows like Suspense, Tales of Tomorrow, and Danger. As a novelist, De Felitta hit the big-time with his late 70s bestsellers Audrey Rose and The Entity, both of which were adapted to film. De Felitta has been on my radar for a long time simply because he directed one of my favorite horror films ever, 1981's Dark Night of the Scarecrow. I'm trying out his writing with a review of Sea Trial, a 1980 nautical-thriller originally published by Avon with a cover by Ed Scarisbrick. Pictured is the 1982 Avon paperback with a cover by Victor Gadino.

New Yorkers Phil and Tracey are lovers and both are married - but not to each other. When Tracey's spouse reports to a remote overseas job it coincides with Phil's timing to take a "solo" vacation away from the wife and kids. The two Manhattan yuppies meet up in Coral Gables, Florida for a two-week private cruise with a salty charter Captain named McCracken and his wife Penny. It is the perfect getaway for infidelity and hot romance. But, there's something seriously wrong with McCracken and Penny.

On board the 800-foot luxury yacht, Phil and Tracey, who pretend to be married, are initially treated like a king and queen, basking in the sun while being served 24 hours a day by the two hosts. Yet, McCracken seems particularly aggressive in gaining Phil's backstory, often testing him with odd questions about boating (newsflash: Phil doesn't boat) and physical feats of blue-collar strength (newsflash: Phil is a white-collar lightweight). Likewise, Penny is ritually subservient to McCracken and often takes potshots at Tracey for her “easy” life in New York. Slowly, this aquatic paradise is turning into a nit-picky Hell. But, things are about to get much worse.

Days out at sea, McCracken informs the couple that the ship has malfunctioned and that supplies will need to be rationed. Additionally, due to loss of power the ship is being pulled by a current to carry them further out to sea instead of into more popular trading waters where they have a possibility of rescue. The De Felitta's narrative transforms into a survival-horror ordeal as the four face harrowing circumstances that test their emotional and physical prowess. When Phil finds a shipping log of McCracken's prior customers he notices that they have all been rated on a scale from one to ten based on endurance and internal fortitude. What the heck is going on?

While the book's synopsis suggested something supernatural, Ship Trial evolved into something much different. The novel's first half is a slothful voyage as the four characters talk about their experiences and personal lives. There is also a good bit of tepid, non-graphic lovemaking between Phil and Tracey and a ton of cooking and tasting delicacies. As much as these events seemed trivial and unnecessary, it sets up the second half of the book splendidly. When the author makes the switch from lollygagging to “oh my God we're all gonna die” the abruptness adds to the entertainment. It's like rubbernecking on the highway to see just how bad the carnage really is and then rear-ending the car in front of you. Sea Trial turns the corner and prepares for a fast-paced ride to oblivion. 

If you love survival-horror or maybe just the high-seas tension and suspense of Charles Williams (Aground, Dead Calm), Sea Trial is worth its weight in gold. I loved this book and I think you will too.

Note - If you want more survival-horror aspects of nautical adventure, read our reviews for Kenneth Roberts' Boon Island, Hammond Innes' The White South, Jack London's The Sea-Wolf, and Max Brand's The Luck of the Spindrift. Buy a copy of Sea Trial HERE

Dark of the Moon

William Ross used combinations of his name, as well as pseudonyms like Marilyn Ross, Clarissa Ross, Dan Roberts, and Ellen Randolph to write hundreds of gothic paperbacks through the 1960s and 1970s. I’ve mostly focused on his stand-alone novels like Dark Legend, Phantom Manor, and Secret of MalletCastle. Browsing my Ross collection, I stumbled on one with an awesome sci-fi styled name and font – Dark of the Moon. The glorious painted cover was created by talented artist Carl Hantman, known for his illustrations adorning western paperbacks by Zane Grey, Max Brand, and Louis L’Amour. The book was published in 1969 by McFadden Books using the author’s middle name of Dan. Gothics are my guilty pleasure, so I opened the door to another creepy mansion.

The book is set in 1869 in the aftermath of Abraham Lincoln’s assassination and the ending of America’s Civil War. The protagonist is Julia, an heiress to a large estate that consists of a large mansion in New York. Julia’s marriage to a Chicago businessman named Gregory Hunt prompts strict scrutiny from Julia’s only remaining relative, Aunt Cornelia. She hires an attorney to investigate Hunt’s background. The findings aren’t positive.

Gregory Hunt lost the family fortune in the nation’s banking crisis. All that’s left is a mansion in Chicago and his meager salary as a minor officer for a New York bank. Julia is willing to dismiss Hunt’s misfortune, deciding that character is more important. However, the attorney discovers a dark past in the Hunt lineage. Gregory’s father was an alcoholic, and his brother, Norman, had a reputation for wildness. Norman was tied to the murder of a young girl that led to him leaving the country to travel abroad. Similarly, Gregory’s uncle on his father’s side was also tied to the murder of a young girl. After an investigation he was charged and executed for the crime. Not exactly a fruitful family tree.

In a peculiar sequence of events, Gregory advises Julia that he must take care of affairs in Chicago and departs immediately. Weeks go by with no word from Gregory. Later, she learns that the Chicago estate was sold and that Gregory, and his mother, moved to a farm in upstate New York. The rattled Julia decides to travel to New York for a surprise visit. When she arrives, Gregory is irate.

The author then descends the familiar literary path of placing near death experiences in Julia’s path. She’s nearly trampled by a horse, crushed by a falling chandelier, and shot. But she escapes the murder attempts while dealing with Gregory’s psychopathic tendencies, his bizarre mother, a deranged Hunt cousin, and a British military leader. Of course, Ross must pad the narrative with descriptive nightmares that plague the main character, an element that the author uses in almost every story to create action.

Is Dark of the Moon any good? It depends on your patience level and overall interest in the repetitive nature of gothic romance. Crime-noir typically uses the innocent man-on-the-run as a formula staple and these gothics utilize a vulnerable woman caught in a wicked love affair that is traditionally set in a mansion. The genre is nearly cookie-cutter in its storytelling, but the way the story is presented is key – atmosphere, a thick dread, a hint of the supernatural, and a strong female lead. Under that curriculum, Dark of the Moon is a passing grade. Recommened. 

Buy a copy of this book HERE

Conan - Conan Volume 1: The Frost Giant's Daughter and Other Stories (Dark Horse)

In 2003, Dark Horse Comics launched their first Conan title after acquiring the rights to the character. Prior to the Dark Horse debut, Conan was featured prominently in Conan the Barbarian, Savage Sword of Conan, Conan the King, and Conan the Adventurer published by Marvel and Curtis. Dark Horse would later lose the character's licensing in 2018, returning the Cimmerian hero back to Marvel. As of this writing, Titan now owns the rights.

Like Marvel, Dark Horse launched several Conan titles and gained the rights to reprint the prior Marvel issues as omnibus editions. Under the Dark Horse brand, the titles Conan (2003-2008), Conan the Cimmerian (2008-2010), Conan: Road of Kings (2010-2012), Conan the Barbarian (2012-2014), Conan the Avenger (2014-2016), and Conan the Slayer (2016-2017) were created as brand-new comics created by a variety of writers and artists. Additionally, several mini-series titles were released over the course of the 14-year Dark Horse run.

I read several of these Dark Horse books when they first appeared, but eventually switched my reading to the stuff that normally appears here at Paperback Warrior – crime-fiction, action-adventure, and westerns. 2024 marks 20 years since Dark Horse published Conan #1, so I thought I would rewind, reread, and review these titles in order, beginning with the first series, Conan. Dark Horse has conveniently placed most of their Conan issues into trade paperback and hardcover editions. My first review is Conan Volume 1: The FrostGiant’s Daughter. This book includes Conan #0 through #7 (one-half of issue #7) and it was published in 2005. You can get the book for about $25 retail.

The issues collected in the book were drawn by Canadian artist Cary Nord, who stuck around to sketch most of the title’s first 44 issues. In an interview with the book’s writer, Kurt Busiek, Nord explained that he got into Conan through the Savage Sword of Conan magazine. In describing the Hyborian Age, Nord stated, “The world of Conan is visually stunning. Conan journeys through every environment you can imagine, encounters dozens of new cultures and races of men, sexy women, fantastic villains, apes, dragons, monsters, and he kicks ass through it all!”. His artistic style draws influences from Barry Smith and Frank Frazetta, two iconic artists associated with the Conan franchise.

Boston native Kurt Busiek wrote nearly all the title’s 51 issues, drawing from his 20 years of comic experience at the time. Busiek broke into comics in 1983 by writing a back-up story in Green Lantern. If you can name the title or character, there is a good chance Busiek contributed. He has worked for Dark Horse, DC, Wildstorm, Image, Marvel, Topps, Dynamite, and Eclipse. Prior to Conan, his most praised work was the team-up with Alex Ross to pen the Marvels limited series in 1993.

Another major addition to the book is the inking by Dave Stewart. One can easily see his careful treatment of Nord’s sketches. The inking, also done with computer, doesn’t cover up Nord’s lines and allows some interesting contrasts between the gray and darker tones. Often, Stewart will leave some aspects of Nord’s art faintly inked to suggest different scenes or story tones.

Surprisingly, the book kicks off after Conan’s death. In the first issue, which was #0 "The Legend", a Prince and his servant Wazir find an underground chamber that housed King Conan’s riches, complete with a large statue of the character seated on a throne. Later, Wazir recounts to the Prince that the Nemedians kept meticulous records and displays a scroll. On it is the familiar slogan, “Know, O’Prince, that between the years with the oceans drank Atlantis and the gleaming cities…”. The scroll serves the reader by outlining the various lands and their historic tribes and people including Aquilonia and the coming of Conan the Cimmerian, black-haired, sullen-eyed, sword in hand. This page is a partial splash page with astounding art and inks. This issue ends with Wazir continuing to tell the Conan history to the Prince, which on the last panel begins with Conan at 16 years of age and venturing into the lands of the Aesir.”

The next portion begins with Conan #01 "Out of the Darksome Hills" and sets up how Conan became aligned with the Aesirs at the beginning of Robert E. Howard’s 1934 story, “The Frost-Giant’s Daughter”. Busiek is careful to gently explore the periods of time in between Howard’s stories. The writer makes it very clear in the letters section of these early issues that his focus is on the Howard stories with a complete disregard of Lin Carter and L. Spraguede Camp’s contributions (or anyone else for that matter). In “Out of the Darksome Hills”, the title page is a glorious splash of Conan decapitating a Vanirmen as he attempts to rape a young woman.

The story features the Vanirmen raiding an Aesir village, nearly burning it to the ground and slaying the women and children. The Aesir warriors are gone, so Conan, who just happens to be in the area, comes to the village’s aid in fighting off the Vanirmen. Later, Niord, the tribal leader arrives, and after Conan battles an Aesir, he invites Conan to spend the night in storytelling with booze. When Niord’s daughter Henga goes to Conan at night, Henga’s admirer Sjarl becomes secretly angry and begins to plot with another warrior on a way to betray Conan and either kill him or trade him as a slave. The following morning, a fully armored Conan joins the Aesir as they journey northward to attack the Vanirmen. Conan’s appearance here decked out in armor resembles the Barry Smith and Alfredo Alcala drawing on page 18 of Savage Sword of Conan #2. 

The book’s next section is issue #02 “The Frost Giant’s Daughter”. I won’t go into too much detail of the story, as you can read my review of Howard’s 1934 story HERE. But this comic adaptation stays very true to the original Howard story with beautiful artwork by Nord. He captures the ivory-skinned woman perfectly, with an emphasis on her eyes and the glowing sheen that captivates the weary hero. There is a gigantic splash page that introduces the two frost giants and rivals even the version from Savage Sword of Conan. I prefer the original treatment, but this is really something special between Nord and Busiek.

The events of issue two spill over into the opening pages of #03 “At the Back of the North Wind”. Like the early issues of Marvel’s Conan the Barbarian, the young Conan is wearing a horned helmet in these early Dark Horse stories. The opening pages feature a conversation between Conan and Niord that addresses the helmet. After Conan’s protective gear is broken in battle, he borrows some of the Aesir’s tools to fix the helmet. Niord scoffs at the idea and suggests Conan should just get another. The Cimmerian responds that the helmet was created by his father, a blacksmith, and then explains that his father said a man who treated his tools well would get good service from them in return. It is a really touching aspect that proves Conan is somewhat sentimental, exposing his human condition versus savage destroyer.

The next morning, Conan helps the Aesir with tracking a band of Vanirmen who have escaped pursuit eastward. Behind the scenes, Sjarl plans to ambush Conan and sell him to a slaver. The Aesir eventually catch up to the Vanirmen and begin the slaughter. However, the Vanir leader Tir offers himself up as a surrender, volunteering to be executed so his men can be enslaved instead of killed. Once the execution is complete and the prisoners are chained, all Hell breaks loose as the group of tired warriors are attacked by armored warriors wielding giant hammers (they resemble the crazed post-apocalyptic warriors of Mad Max: Fury Road). They soon overpower the group, Conan is betrayed by Sjarl, and the issue ends with the unconscious hero being drug on a sledge through the wind and snow. It’s a powerful finale that resonates with so much turmoil and iron-fisted fortitude. Yet, Conan’s downfall ultimately was a woman.

The next section is issue #04 “Gates of Paradise”, featuring a drugged Conan imprisoned in a monolithic castle. The series thus far featured a through story of Conan aspiring to reach the land of Hyperborea, a place that the hero envisions as a utopian paradise where people can live eternally in a state of bliss and pleasure. However, Hyperborea’s creature comforts are only enjoyed by the sorcerers that rule the castle, a group of ancient beings that live eternally by capturing people, drugging them, and forcefully taking their souls. Due to the centuries of living this harmonious lifestyle, the sorcerers jump from the castle’s walls to their death in a ritual called the Day of Farewell.  

Conan is rescued from his drugged stupor by a Turanian woman named Iasmini. She provides a yellow lotus plant for the hero to grind up and drink. Soon, Conan schemes a way to free himself and the prisoners by giving the plant discreetly to the prisoners. This was such a colorful part of the storyline with the inking containing brilliant shades of green, yellow, and purple to match the tone. It is a graphic narrative that just transforms the pages into something truly special. While the storylines are different, the concept of Conan co-existing in a prison of slaves reminds me of  Roy Thomas’ “Lair of the Beast-Men”, a story featured in Conan the Barbarian #2. The Thomas story has more of an Edgar RiceBurroughs feel than Robert Howard, and oddly enough Nord harnesses that ERB vibe at the end of this issue and the beginning of the next.

In the title’s fifth issue, "Ashes and Dust”, Conan looks like Tarzan with his near-nakedness and muscular physique. The start of the story even features Conan fighting four hungry lions. When the hero makes his escape from that side of the castle, Busiak takes a moment to fill the reader in with the history of Hyperborea from the viewpoint of the supreme sorcerer. Other than the history of the land, there isn’t a lot that happens in this issue. The pages end with Conan and the prisoners rebelling and taking the attack to the sorcerers and their army.

The aptly titled “Day of Farewell” closes out this trade with the title’s sixth issue. The first page is an incredible splash of Conan’s face and right shoulder as he screams, “At them, men of Asgard! At them, free warriors!”. The eyes and blood-spattered hair convey so much brutality and savageness. This is Conan! The issue is action-packed as the Cimmerian fights the Hyperborean hordes to free himself and his fellow prisoners. There is a bit of sadness when Conan discovers that Iasmini sacrificed herself to free him. Page 13 is visually incredible as Conan’s back is against the edge of the castle’s walls, suspended hundreds of feet in the air. Page 19 is equally stunning with the hero surrounded by darkness and gloom while staring at the bones and corpses of the many who have jumped from the castle. Oh, and there are giant ants that Conan begins fighting. Page 22 emphasizes a part of the story where the Northmen believe that their burned bodies rise in the air on smoke, as if climbing a stairway to the realm of the gods. This is a splash page as Conan is burning the corpses and staring upwards out of the gruesome chasm. The book ends on a bit of a cliffhanger (or cliffclimber?) as Conan begins scaling the walls to go and kill the sorcerers. This trade does go into the first 14 pages of issue #7, but I stopped here because I want to read issue 7 in its entirety. I'm OCD like that. 

Unlike Marvel’s Conan the Barbarian, which I love, I felt that Busiak sticks more to the gritty Robert E. Howard storytelling. Conan isn’t cartoonish, nor is he the Hollywood “Ah-nold”. He is a grim-faced serious character that uses a combination of sharp cunning and backbreaking strength to overcome the most challenging obstacles. If I haven’t already overstated it, Nord’s artwork is marvelous and captures the Barry Smith look and feel of Conan – the Barry Smith that had reached his own identity after being heavily influenced by Jack Kirby in the early Conan the Barbarian issues. Both Smith and Frazetta had a unique wildness that Nord captures perfectly while also doing something wholly different when combining Dave Stewart’s phenomenal inks.

I forgot how good these issues were and I’m looking forward to reading more of them. Hopefully, you are on board for the journey through the Conan comics, including Marvel and Titan. 

Buy a copy of this volume HERE.

The Sea-Wolf

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Luck of the Spindrift

Although Frederick Schiller Faust (1892-1944) used pseudonyms like Walter Butler, David Manning, Even Evans, and George Baxter, he’s mostly known as Max Brand. As a cornerstone of western-fiction, Faust’s popular western stories and novels as Max Brand have been idolized by genre fans for 100 years. Outside of the genre, Faust (as Brand) authored the Dr. Kildare series as well as a handful of historical swashbuckling novels featuring a character named Tizzo. Also, as Brand, Faust wrote the nautical adventure novel Luck of the Spindrift. It was originally published in 1941, just three years prior to his death during WW2.

In Luck of the Spindrift, readers are introduced to Samuel Culver, a philosopher and graduate from Harvard. In the opening pages, Culver is working a blue-collar job at a shipping warehouse. After being fired by his employer, Culver dwells in his one room San Francisco apartment surrounded by hundreds of books that he’s collected and studied. Later, he runs into a stray dog that has become separated from its owner. Little did Culver know that the dog was about to take him on a nautical journey to the majestic South Seas. 

Asking around about the whereabouts of the dog’s owner, Culver is led to a docked ship called the Spindrift. On board, various crewmen suggest that the dog belongs to a man named Valdez. Before Culver can gain a better understanding of Valdez’s location he’s knocked unconscious and dragged below deck. Awakening hours later, Culver realizes he’s in-route to the South Seas with the criminal crew of the Spindrift. 

Brand’s nautical adventure is mostly spent with Culver befriending some of the crew and later learning to work for Burke, the ship’s devious captain. At 200 pages, three-fourths are spent with simple day-to-day activities on the ship. Authors like Calvin Clements and Hammond Innes can make these occupational details compelling. Unfortunately, Brand’s prose lacks some interesting aspects other than a violent flogging.

Despite Luck of the Spindrift promising high-seas adventure, the narrative is mostly a slow-burn with a lack of real action or a logical story. Often I found myself confused regarding the purpose of Valdez and the purported treasure. If you enjoy nautical adventure, Brand’s novel may be tempting. Buyer beware, there’s not a lot to really absorb or enjoy. Stick with Brand’s well-respected western storytelling instead. 

Buy a copy of this book HERE

Max Thursday #03 - Uneasy Street

Popular crime-fiction author Wade Miller was actually a collaborative pseudonym utilized by two writers – Bob Wade (1920-2012) and Bill Miller (1920-1961). While the two mostly concentrated their efforts on stand-alone titles, they did launch a successful six-book series in 1947 starring private-eye Max Thursday who works cases in and around San Diego, California. The series debut, Guilty Bystander, was adapted to film in 1950 and switched the location from San Diego to New York City. I've always enjoyed the Wade Miller brand, so I'm sampling this series with the third installment, Uneasy Street, published by Signet in 1948.

It's December 23rd and our private-eye protagonist wants a quick job before the Christmas break. Instead, an older client named Syliva Wister engages Thursday to transport a music box for her. However, after being told where to deliver the goods, Wister is murdered and Thursday immediately becomes the prime suspect. Teaming with series ally Lieutenant Clapp, Thursday hopes to clear his name while also determining what's so special about the music box. Who wants it? What secrets does it contain?

As much as I hoped to enjoy this novel, I found it incredibly dull. The authors incorporate dozens of characters and involve them with a handful of crimes. By page 80, I was dumbfounded by PI fiction's two important elements – the client and the mission. These should be easily defined but in this case it's a moving target. The plot becomes a confusing chain-reaction of bribery for nude photos, a stolen painting, international smuggling and murder. It was so dense I couldn't tell the murdered from the murderer. I think the authors were flying by the seat of their pants – winging it all the way.

If you are a Wade Miller completest, maybe this is worth owning. It’s also available as a cheap ebook. However, be prepared: Uneasy Street wasn't an easy read.

Buy a copy of this book HERE

Day of the Gun

After enjoying a trio of crime-fiction novels by Clifton Adams (1919-1971), my first look at the author’s prolific western sagas was the 1969 novel Tragg's Choice, winner of a coveted Spur award. Appreciating his unorthodox approach to traditional western storytelling, I was excited to test another of his genre works, 1962's Day of the Gun.

Sam Engels is an elderly, widowed man and a former Field Marshal in and around the boomtowns of the Oklahoma Territory. I could immediately sense that Engels had a few hills he chose to die on, but miraculously survived all of those battles. Through brief backstories it's conveyed that his wounds and age, combined with the approach of the 20th Century, has led Engels to the twilight of his career. Now unemployed, Engels has arrived in the small town of Guthrie, Oklahoma in hopes of obtaining a U.S. Marshal job.

After departing the stagecoach, Engels has a brief, violent encounter with three young cattlemen after they push the “old-timer” into the dust. Afterwards, Engels meets the local Marshal and learns that his application was denied due to age. Later that night, the dejected Engels is once again attacked by the three cattlemen. After three broken ribs and a vast array of bruises and cuts, Engels is left in the dirt to die. He awakens to find a woman named Kit tending to his wounds in a makeshift doctor's office. After talking with the young woman, he learns that Kit is actually an orphan that he saved years ago.

Kit explains to Engels that a deranged killer named Elsey has victimized her for a number of years by murdering her husband and anyone else who attempts to befriend her. Fearing that Elsey will now target Engels, she urges him to heal up and leave town. But in an odd twist of fate, the man who won the U.S. Marshal job asks Engels if he can ride as a posse-man (the lowest tier of 1800s law enforcement) to capture Elsey. Engels must then decide to either swallow his pride and accept the lowly servitude or simply leave town and pursue his next career choice as a cattleman.

Once again, Clifton Adams approaches the western genre with an abstract method of storytelling. In the same way that Tragg's Choice was so compelling, Adams creates an aging, experienced character who has reached the end of his career. It's a familiar formula, the elderly striving to stay relevant in an age dominated by youth and change, but Adams is able to incorporate outside elements to distance himself from just an average retelling. The narrative focuses on a number of conflicts, primarily Engels contending with a younger, more resilient partner while tracking a killer. Engels' mysterious past is purposefully left unexplored, allowing readers to come to their own conclusions on his murky history. These are just small nuances that help create a unique reading experience even for seasoned western fans.

Like Claire Huffaker and Lewis B. Patten, Clifton Adams isn't a mainstream name within western fiction. While fans flock to talents like Louis L'Amour, Zane Grey, Luke Short and Max Brand, it is perhaps this second tier of talent makes up some of the genre's best literary works. Day of the Gun is another excellent western tale from an author that mastered the genre. At some point I would like to sample his Amos Flagg series, but with so many excellent stand-alone titles, it may take some time to properly evaluate that series.

Purchase your copy of Day of the Gun HERE.

Talmage Powell: King of the Shorts?

During his life, Talmage Powell (1920 - 2000) wrote over 500 short stories published in the pulps and the digests. He also wrote a handful of highly-regarded crime novels, but mostly he is remembered for his short fiction. I sampled a handful of Powell stories from various anthologies to assess the quality of his work.

The Alfred Hitchcock brand of short fiction has been an enduring legacy since the 1956 launch of Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine (AHMM) followed by countless paperback short story anthologies published by Dell with cheeky titles and attractive cover art. Over the years, I’ve found these anthologies a great way to sample authors before investing time and treasure into their novels. Powell’s stories were a regular fixture of both AHMM and the related paperback compilations.

Another great way to collect a ton of Powell short stories on-the-cheap is to check out the Kindle editions of the “Talmage Powell Crime Megapacks” from Wildside Press. There are two of them, each containing 20 short stories from Powell’s vast body of work in the genre. Best of all, they are only a buck each on Kindle.

Powell’s crime short stories pack a quick punch - most of them are only a dozen pages or so. They are supposed to have been easy reading and generally very good. Having never consumed Powell’s crime fiction, I read a handful of his entries from multiple anthologies for these capsule reviews:

“Lone Witness”

Before appearing in the 1971 Hitchcock short-story collection, “Down by the Old Bloodstream,” this one was published in AHMM in January 1966. It is also included in the first volume of the “Talmage Powell Crime Megapack” for your Kindle.

Marco and Timothy are ostensibly best friends and business partners, but Marco secretly hates Timothy over a stolen girl. This presents a world of opportunities when Timothy comes to Marco’s house and confesses that he has just killed a man.

Marco snaps into action to leverage the situation and get rid of his frenemy for good. Unfortunately, it’s just not that simple. This short-short story is a total delight, and the twist ending is consistent with the Hitchcock brand.

“Mac Without a Knife”

The May 1965 issue of AHMM was the first appearance of this story, and it made the cut for the Hitchcock paperback, “Let It All Bleed Out” from 1973 - making the story a Bobby Darin reference inside a Rolling Stones pun.

The “Mac” is question here is our narrator, an ex-con fresh out of the joint named MacKensie who has taken a job at a low-end roadside aquarium at the insistence of his parole officer. The failing business is hemorrhaging money, and the boss is forced to sell the porpoise to make ends meet. It’s Mac’s job to catch the mammal in its tank and get it ready for the transfer without killing it.

Things go sideways quickly as we learn the truth of the boss’ real intentions, and Mac is trapped in the tank with the aquarium’s hungry shark, Atlilla. This was a very exciting adventure story - a classic man vs. man vs. shark tale in a confined environment. You definitely should check this one out.

“Old Man Emmons”

The 1970 Hitchcock anthology, “Get Me to The Wake on Time,” reprinted the story, “Old Man Eammons” after it initially appeared in AHMM in February 1962. It is also compiled in the first “Talmage Powell Crime Megapack.”

Charlie and Laura are newlyweds. Before the marriage, Charlie agreed that Laura’s sickly father could live with them, so Laura could give the old man the compassionate care of a loving daughter. The problem is that the old man is driving Charlie nuts. He decides that Old Man Eammons has to go, but what would Laura think?

This tale is a great example of Powell’s knack for economical storytelling. Over the course of nine pages, we get to read the setup, the plan, and the execution of deadly crime. Unfortunately, the twist ending to this one was a bit of a letdown.

“I Had A Hunch And...”

This supernatural crime story originally appeared in the May 1959 issue of AHMM and was later compiled in the Hitchcock anthology, “Witches Brew” In 1965. 

At the opening of the story, Janet realizes she’s dead and her ethereal form is floating around her suburban estate where her freshly-murdered body is awaiting discovery . She recalls that she was murdered by a servant after catching him stealing her jewelry from a safe. It becomes clear to Ghost Janet that her spirit won’t be free until the servant pays for his crimes.

This was an cute ghost story likely aimed at female mystery readers. Once again, Talmage’s prose was superb. The ending was clever enough to leave any reader happy to have invested 15 minutes enjoying this light tale.

“The Vital Element”

This Powell story of murder and its aftermath originally ran in November 1967’s AHMM and was included in Hitchcock’s 1978 “Rogue’s Gallery” anthology. It is also included in Wildside Press’ “Second Talmage Powell Megapack” for Kindle.

The first-person story opens with a scuba diver examining a woman’s corpse at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico with her ankles bound by rope attached to a cement block. The reader quickly learns that the discovery of the sunken corpse was no accident, and the diver is trying to solve the problem of the fraying rope that will eventually snap and lead to the discovery of the body when she pops up like a cork.

Just when the reader has it all figured out, the story ends with a twist on top of a twist. While the ending is a bit abrupt, it’s dark and diabolical stories like this that put Alfred Hitchcock on the map.

“The Heir”

In August 1969, AHMM ran the story “The Heir,” and it was selected for inclusion in the Hitchcock Dell paperback collection, “I Am Curious (Bloody)” published in 1971.

This is a really odd story and it took quite a few pages before revealing the direction it was headed. Richie and his friends are teenage juvenile delinquents (maybe more like at-risk youth) who are given an opportunity to live on the estate of a wealthy, do-gooding eccentric named Mrs. Duffield. The boys help her with chores but mostly get to loaf around her pool and grounds.

Mrs. Duffield takes a special liking to teenage Richie, and confides in him that she’s heartbroken that her son is an ungrateful hippie who has forsaken his mother. Out of a sense of loyalty to the woman who has extended her kindness to him, Richie decides to find out the deal behind her estranged son - and things get strange. This is another satisfying story that successfully captures a unique period in America’s counterculture with a sinister edge.

“Somebody Cares”

This story originally appeared in the December 1962 issue of “Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine” and was later collected in two excellent anthologies: “A Century of Noir” edited by Max Allan Collins and Mickey Spillane and “The Arbor House Treasury of Mystery and Suspense” edited by Bill Pronzini, et al.

It’s a police procedural about a new detective who is assigned to be partners with a seasoned veteran with decades of experience. A young girl Is found dead in a park, and the reader gets to ride along as the pair of detectives solve the case.

The beautiful thing about this story is that it does a very realistic job of portraying the drudgery associated with a police neighborhood canvass, yet the story itself is never boring. Powell’s first-person writing is superb, and the life lessons embedded in this mystery will stay with you long after the final page.