Paperback Warrior Podcast - Episode 118

This new episode hits the operating room for a deep dive into the life and career of successful surgeon, officer, and author Frank G. Slaughter. He wrote over 60 novels, sold 23 million copies, and was published in 23 languages. Eric connects to the author in a personal way and shares his experiences. Additionally, Eric reviews a 1991 vintage paperback titled Winterkill and discusses his most recent vintage fiction finds. Stream below, download HERE, or watch on YouTube HERE.

Listen to "Episode 118: Frank G. Slaughter" on Spreaker.

The Most Dangerous Game

One of the most common themes running through men's action-adventure fiction is man hunting man. Books like Penetrator #14 – Mankill Sport (1976), Peter Lefcourt's Deer Hunt (1976), and David Eddings High Hunt (1972) feature men hunting men in a variety of situations. The concept even spilled onto the big screen with Surviving the Game (1994) and the John Woo film Hard Target (1993). But, the origin of man versus man in the printed page began with a short story titled “The Most Dangerous Game”.

Richard Edward Connell Jr. (1893-1949) was an American author and journalist that saw his literary work published by the likes of The Saturday Evening Post. His most notable story is “The Most Dangerous Game”, a man versus man concept that appeared in Collier's in the January 19, 1924 issue. The story was also published with the title “The Hounds of Zaroff”. “The Most Dangerous Game” was adapted into a 1932 RKO Pictures film and a 1943 episode of CBS Radio's Suspense. 

The story begins when big-game hunter Sanger Rainsford falls from the top rail of a passenger ship during a late evening. Plunging into the dark oceanic depths, Rainsford attempts to swim back to no avail. He then makes a difficult swim to a nearby island that the locals scrutinize as a “ship trap”. There he is rescued on shore by a General Zaroff and his deaf-mute servant Ivan.

Over dinner and drinks Zaroff explains to Rainsford and readers that he has hunted wildlife all over the globe. He's desperate for a challenge and had become complacent with the typical big-game variety offered on all continents. Now, Zaroff lives on this tiny secluded island and has sailors conveniently trapped for sport. He stores the men in his cellar and gives them the opportunity to become human prey. They are supplied a three-hour start ahead of Zaroff, a high-powered rifle, and food for three days. If they can survive without being killed for three days then Zaroff will give them freedom. However, Zaroff explains he has hunted men for years and has never lost. The next morning Rainsford himself is forced into the most dangerous game.

Reading this story seemed mandatory after experiencing so much media that used Connell's basic premise. The dialogue between Rainsford and Zaroff dominates much of the story but was compelling enough to keep me vested. I really enjoyed both characters and how the author presented them with different moral codes. I also enjoyed the story's beginning with Rainsford's friend Whitney philosophizing about hunting. Whitney's theory that hunting is cruel and barbaric for the animals was an interesting foreshadowing that's directly opposed by Rainsford. I loved how the narrative unfolded and Rainsford became the animal. It was a neat twist and the book's finale was subjective on just what Rainsford plans next.

If you enjoy action-adventure in general then “The Most Dangerous Game” deserves to be read. The story is now in the public domain and can easily be found online. 

The Assassinator

David H. Vowell was a television writer for shows including Mod Squad, Mannix, and Adam-12. His paperback fiction output appears to be a couple noir books written in French, a Dragnet TV tie-in and this slim Los Angeles police procedural novel, The Assassinator, from 1975. 

Our narrator is a tough and cynical LAPD nameless detective who is investigating a series of seemingly random gunshot murders of people on the streets of Los Angeles getting their heads blown off by a shooter. The first three victims were a low-level dope dealer, a loan shark and a transsexual prostitute. 

The cop conducts a good and logical investigation allowing one interview to open the door to the next one. He also shares his evolving theory of the case as the reader rides along. The term “serial killer” was first used in 1974 - a year before The Assassinator was published, but the author never uses it here. Nevertheless, this is definitely a serial killer novel. And a damn good one at that. 

The narration is really interesting and at times, some of the best I’ve read. However, there’s very little dialogue in the novel. The narrator just tells the reader the substance of what was said in most conversations - back and forth. It’s an odd choice that gives the novel the feel of a story being told to you by a guy sitting on the next barstool. 

The mystery’s solution is weird and a bit out of left field but, upon reflection, satisfying. Mostly, I was left wishing Vowell had written more original crime fiction because The Assassinator is pretty awesome, and I can’t recall reading a book quite like it. At 138 pages, it’s the perfect short paperback to break a reading slump. Recommended.

The Private Wound

Cecil Day Lewis (1904-1972) was a praised British author that wrote crime-fiction and melodramas from 1935 through 1968 using the pseudonym Nicholas Blake. His most popular work was the Golden Age of Detective Fiction star Nigel Strangeways, a private-detective that appeared in sixteen novels between 1935-1966. My first experience with the author is coincidentally his last career effort, a poignant period-piece titled The Private Wound. It was originally published in hardcover by Collins in 1968 and then in paperback by Dell in 1970 and again by Penguin in 1975.

The book is set in Ireland during the summer of 1939. In first-person perspective, a 30 year-old British author named Dominic Eyre has arrived in the fictional rural village of Charlottestown. His car has broken down on the highway so he receives a suggestion to stay the night at the town's small hotel. Later, Dominic meets with the colorful villagers and is smitten with a young married woman nicknamed Harry (real name Harriet). Dominic explains that he is searching for a quiet summer in the country to finish his manuscript. After a tour of a nearby farm, Dominic is offered a rental of a small cottage and accepts.

There's a close-knit group of characters that consistently become an intimate part of Dominic's life. Of the males, there's former veteran and tough-nosed farmer Flurry, Harry's husband. Harry learns of Flurry's rugged war efforts and a revenge mission he took upon himself to torture and kill some evildoers. The melodrama and lofty feel of the narrative is sliced in two with this scene evidencing Flurry's violent nature. But, Flurry is an alright guy and one of my favorite characters in recent memory. There's also Flurry's brother Sean who is making a political climb. Also, a local priest that often interviews Dominic about his life and future ambitions. On the female side is Sean's wife Maire, a hardworking woman who wants the best for everyone. 

Then there is Harry.

Harry immediately takes to Dominic and the two begin a summer affair. They make love on the cool grass by the river and then nearly every other day in various locations throughout the village. Oddly enough, Dominic quickly realizes that Harry has claims to many of the village men. She also has no regrets and insists that Flurry either doesn't care what she does or, truth be known, he loves her so much that he wants her to be happy no matter who, or what, she occupies her time with. Dominic falls in line. But, one evening Harry is found stabbed to death on the riverbank and fingers point to Dominic. 

This was one of the best books literary books I've read. It's clear that Lewis was writing his send-off novel, his final effort before leaving this world. The final pages of the book were just so unique and left me with that emotional “ah-ha" moment that is hard to duplicate. The book's last few pages were stylish and changes the narrative and the feel of the character to a degree. However, getting to that point was just such a pleasure. Lewis writes dialogue with a smooth prose that tells the story. Additionally, the author weaves in some premonition regarding the upcoming war, Hitler's rise to power, and the IRA-Protestant troubles. 

I can't help but connect The Private Wound with Patrick Kavanagh's 1944 Irish poem, the basis for one of my favorite songs of all-time - “Raglan Road” (preferably Van Morrison/Chieftains). The song pairs well with the book and I probably played it 20 times throughout my page flipping. If you are looking for a moving crime-fiction melodrama then look no further than The Private Wound. Highest possible recommendation. Get your copy HERE. 

Let's Play a Game Show

Let's play a game show! On this exciting new book shopping video, Eric transforms the book shelves, covers, and pricing into a fun interactive game show. You'll be guessing the name of the book and the price through a series of entertaining questions sure to boggle the minds of book collectors, readers, and fans of Paperback Warrior. View below or directly on YouTube HERE.

Dead Man's Shoes

John Innes Mackintosh Stewart (1906-1994) was a Scottish author mostly known by his pseudonym Michael Innes. His contribution to the Golden Age of Detective Fiction is immense considering the longevity of his title character, Detective Inspector Sir John Appleby. The character first appeared in the 1936 novel Death at the President's Lodging, aka Seven Suspects. My discovery of the character was in a recent book acquisition titled Best Detective Stories, edited by Edmund Crispin, and published in 1959 by Faber and Faber. The 60-page story is “Dead Man's Shoes”, which also appears in the 1954 short-story collection of the same name, also known as Appleby Talking. 

The story begins with a London attorney boarding an early morning departure by train. A woman in dire need of help struggles to breathe as she explains she just experienced a strange confrontation with another man. In her account, she states she boarded the train earlier and there was a man sitting across from her wearing two different shoes – one brown and one black. The man seemed suspicious and became quite alarmed when he noticed she had spotted his mismatched footwear. As the train came to a stop she was certain he was going to attack her. 

The attorney questions her account and prompts her to consider the event in the past and no harm occurred. Later, the attorney reads in the newspaper that a man with mismatched shoes was found dead upon the rocks near a seawall. He reports the woman's account to the police and Appleby becomes involved in the case.

This was a captivating narrative with a smooth prose that possesses the sterile-dry British flavor, but also an enjoyable charming quality that nods to Sherlock Holmes (even mentioning Watson by name). Appleby is easy to like – a by-the-books detective that knows the killer from any 'ole trivial clue (lipstick on cigarettes for example). The investigation into the man's past, his strange bodyguard, and the two train passengers consume the pages in breezy dialogue.

If the Appleby novels are as good as this story then I need to bump them up a few stacks. I enjoyed this story and look forward to more of this character.

Get the Appleby books HERE.

The First Fast Draw

The First Fast Draw, give or take a book, was Louis L'Amour's 20th career full-length. The novel was first published by Bantam in 1959 and then numerous printings since then in both paperback and collector's hardcover. 

Cullen Baker has just returned to his childhood home in Bowie County, Texas after years of living in the wild frontier of American's western territories. The old homeplace lies in a dense jungle of swamp that has nearly eroded Baker's small farm. But, his biggest threat comes by way of the Reconstruction, an aggressive movement by the Union to regulate and reestablish the Southern states after America's bloody Civil War. Baker, a former Confederate soldier, left the War prematurely after disagreements with the leadership and nature of the South's tactics. 

Trying to turn the homeplace back into a farm comes with many obstacles including the aggressive regulators, bullies from Baker's past, and a hard-headed land grabber named Barlow. But, Baker also finds love in the arms of a woman named Katy, who draws a number of fast gunmen wishing to court her. 

After taking a number of beatings Baker eventually begins practicing a fast draw day and night. His smooth lightning prowess with a gun may be his only advantage against the overwhelming odds forcing him into a fight. Thankfully, Baker finds a few allies that join his side for the fight. L'Amour throws in a series of tumbles including numerous gunfights, a jailbreak, an attempted hanging, and lots of dialogue about this unusual time in American history. 

The First Fast Draw is drawn loosely from the life of real outlaw “Wild” Bill Longley. L'Amour's storytelling, although often repetitive, is brimming over with details about the outdoors, this swampy area of Texas, U.S. History, and the details concerning a handful of characters. My only real problem with the book was the number of characters. I had a difficult time remembering which side some of the characters were on. Beyond that, The First Fast Draw is a breezy and enjoyable reading experience. Get it HERE.

Ranking March Reads

In this new video Eric ranks his reads from March and recaps all of the exciting content posted on the various Paperback Warrior outlets. Included are recaps of podcast episodes, videos, and book covers complete with capsule reviews. Stream below or on the YouTube channel HERE.

Congo

Athwill William Baker (1925-1991) was an Irish author, editor, and publisher that used the pseudonyms W. Howard Baker, W.A. Ballinger, Peter Saxon, and Sexton Blake to write series titles like The Guardians, Sexton Blake, Danger Man, and Jonathan Quintain. I've amassed a collection of his books and I'm slowly working my way through them. I decided to try his action-adventure novel Congo, originally published as a Mayflower Original paperback in 1970.

The book begins with General Alphonse of the Force Publique, one of the vilest villains in my recent memory, arriving at a small village in the Congo Free State. They begin a brutal slaughter and systematically begin raping every female. A young American girl named Kristine is there working as a nurse to assist Father Julian. She is raped repeatedly by Alphonse's men and left to die. Thankfully, she survives and manages to crawl to a river and get help from an old man.

The book's protagonist, Hugo Norcott, arrives outside of this terror zone to interview for a mercenary job. The Province of Katanga, an independent state, is expecting an invasion by General Alphonse and Force Publique. They want Norcott to lead a group of mercenaries into a nearby province to retrieve four trucks filled with weapons and a few armored cars and jeeps. This equipment will be valuable to them and can help repel this anticipated invasion alongside the mercenaries assistance. Norcott signs the dotted line because he's there for cash. No allegiance – just the cabbage. 

Congo proves to be a reliable action-filled narrative that reads like a slightly more technical version of a Ralph Hayes/Peter McCurtin Soldier of Fortune installment. Norcott gets the gig and begins to whip up his mercenary force – the unexperienced – into a formidable fighting unit. The mission eventually spins back to Kristine's survival as she is caught in the crossfire between the arriving Force Publique rapist madmen (again!) and Norcott's saving grace. The goal to get to the weapons and get back is a perilous road trip packed with adventure.

The most interesting aspect to Congo is the book's central purpose – the question of divinity. There's an amazing subtext concerning a village priest and his staying power to remain with his people as as the slaughter descends. There's heinous torture involved to provoke the priest to denounce his faith. The priest and Norcott have a number of conversations around God and why things like the Force Publique even exist under His watchful eyes. The book's final chapters has one of the most unique endings I've experienced in a men's action-adventure novel. Norcott is forced to make a crucial decision based on the priest's unwavering faith. At times these scenes remind me of the real-life events documented in John Foxe's excellent Book of Martyrs (1563).

Congo is an excellent book that not only entertains but also leaves you questioning a lot of things. A book that makes you feel something is always a good read. This one is recommended.

You can get many Ballinger books HERE.

Paperback Warrior Podcast - Episode 117

The Paperback Warrior sets their investigate eye on the mysteriously named publishing phenom simply referred to as "The Stratemeyer Syndicate". Will courage and curiosity overcome the Warrior when he faces danger and peril reviewing the haunted happenings of "The Secret of Terror Castle"? Also in this exciting edition is an investigation of mysterious events happening on the moon and a madman stalking a Texas football game. Listen to this retro-themed episode today! Stream below or download HERE. You can also listen on YouTube HERE.

Listen to "Episode 117: The Stratemeyer Syndicate" on Spreaker.

The Iron Tiger

The Iron Tiger was Jack Higgins' (Henry Patterson) 18th career effort. The book was written, along with A Candle for the Dead, in between the author's Paul Chavasse series of spy-fiction installments. The novel was published in hardcover by John Long in 1966 under the name Harry Patterson. It was later published in paperback by Fawcett Gold Medal under the Higgins household name.

The book stars Jack Drummond as a WW2 veteran that served the British Navy as a pilot. He was dismissed from service after receiving an incorrect location for bombing that led to the deaths of a number of Allied personnel. He secretly works for British intelligence flying missions over the border in Tibet. His job is twofold: He smuggles in arms for the resistance fighters to repel the Chinese Communists while also relaying strategic locations of red forces. However, the author introduces a new schematic to Drummond's mission. 

The Khan of Balpur (I don't know, just go with it) has a son that was recently injured in an accident. His eye needs surgery that he can only obtain in a Chicago hospital. A nurse named Janet has just left a two-year tour of service in the Vietnam War and has now been asked by a charity organization to accompany the Khan's son to Chicago by airplane. The issue is getting Janet into Balpur under the influence and occupation of Chinese forces will be a real burden. Getting out of Balpur will be equally dangerous. One guy can do it – Jack Drummond. 

A Higgins book for me is like a western fan reading Louis L'Amour. You just know it will be a breezy easy read with huge upside, enjoyment, and a plot that is mostly tangle free. Higgins easy prose, high-adventure setting, and admirable heroes makes his books so damn exhilarating to read. The Iron Tiger is no different. Higgins places Janet and Jack against formidable opponents while dealing with the loss of transportation. Both become stranded with a religious missionary group. The road to safety is a daunting gauntlet of enemy forces, spies, double-crosses, and death. The group must safely cross the border into the arms of India. That's where the bulk of the narrative lies and readers must journey with these likable characters on a deadly road trip that winds through the book's 160 pages.

Higgins was just so good and The Iron Tiger is another must-read high-adventure novel. Recommended. Get it HERE.

Note - A novel by Jon Cleary titled Pulse of Danger seems to have this same plot. The book was published in 1968.

The Couples Trip

Ulf Kvensler is a Swedish actor, screenwriter, comedian and author who broke through in the U.S. market with his award-winning 2022 thriller, Couples Trip. It’s a wilderness adventure survival thriller with a good buzz on social media.

The novel opens in Stockholm during the summer of 2019 while most of the residents are on vacation elsewhere. The narrative toggles between the first person flashback narrative of a 31 year-old hard-working attorney named Anna and police interviews after an awful incident occurred wherein Anna survived and others did not.

The incident is the titular couples trip, and the couples are Anna & Henrik (engaged) and Milena & Jacob (newly-dating). The girls and Henrik have known one another for years, and three-person adventure vacations are the norm.

This time, Jacob will be the largely unknown fourth wheel.

The trip is a rock climbing, camping and hiking week in a dense and giant Swedish National Park - a mountainous winter wasteland stretching for miles. When they meet Jacob, he’s easy to like and seems like an avid outdoorsman. Nevertheless, there are some early clues that Jacob is not who he claims to be. Only after it’s too late do we learn what a psychopath Jacob appears to be.

The novel takes the reader on a wild ride through the frigid Swedish wilderness. Fear of heights? There’s some scary stuff here for you. Terrified of freezing to death? This novel has you covered. There’s a lot of great Woman vs. Nature survival content here - along with evading and avoiding a psycho traveling companion - like a modern, Swedish Deliverance.

The twisty ending left me wanting something a bit more definitive, but the ride to get there was a thrilling, icy adventure making this contemporary novel an easy recommendation. Get it HERE.

Conversations - Jackie L. Hatfield, Jr.

In this exclusive video, Eric sits down with Jack Hatfield, the direct descendant of "Devil Anse" Hatfield, one of the most iconic participants in the infamous and violent Hatfield McCoy feud. Jack talks about a new publication titled "An American Vendetta: Legend of the Hatfield McCoy Feud" and its original format in 1889. Additionally, Jack explains his family's bloody roots, the rivalry between West Virginia and Kentucky, the key instigator Frank Phillips, and the Hatfield McCoy Foundation and Museum. Stream the audio only portion HERE or any streaming platform. Download audio HERE. You can watch the video interview below or on YT HERE.

Men's Adventure Quarterly #11

Believe it or not, Robert Deis and Bill Cunningham are all the way up to issue 11 now of their Men's Adventure Quarterly Magazine. They just keep churning these books out and each one of them is just a real masterpiece of vintage fiction from the 1950s, 60s, and 70s. This new issue is available now and I thankfully have my copy. I love the whole UFO and alien thing. I've been following that stuff since I was a little kid watching Unsolved Mysteries on NBC each week and from watching the Sightings show on Fox. Of course, I love the X-Files as well. So, I was happy to see that this new publication is the UFO Issue. 

In the book's introduction, Bob Deis explains the connection between UFO pop-culture and the Men's Adventure-Magazines, which honestly I didn't even realize until I saw this issue was coming out. Deis explains how he grew up in Dayton, Ohio, home of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, where the Project Blue Book was headquartered (the U.S. government's official investigation into UFO sightings). Deis traces the public's interest, and awareness, of UFOs to magazine format in the Spring 1948 issue of Fate.  Later, the 1950 issue of True contains one of the most significant stories on UFOs, authored by Major Donald E. Keyhoe, which Deis examines in detail. This issue contains that article in its entirety, which is just fascinating. Deis goes on to outline UFO articles that appeared in Real, Man's Magazine, Saga, and Argosy among others. 

There are amazing magazine covers of various issues of True Strange, an odd men's adventure magazine, with an introduction by Deis for the article "Are They Hiding the Truth About Flying Saucers?" by Frank Edwards. 

Gary Lovisi, who's an amazing voice of vintage fiction, has an article titled "Space Sploitation", which examines the Flying Saucer phenomena as it relates to paperbacks published by the likes of Popular Library, Panther, and Fawcett Gold Medal. 

"The Way-Out World of Mr. Adamski" is an article by W. Douglas Lansford. It first appeared in Climax in October 1961. That article is in its entirety in this issue with an introduction by Deis explaining the history of George Adamski, a man who released a photo of a cigar-shaped UFO to the press in 1947. He claimed he saw 184 UFOs fly over California's Palomar Observatory. 

This book is chock-full of UFO articles, including "UFO Agents of Terror" from an October 1967 issue of Saga which discusses the government's attempts at silencing people that speak out about UFO phenomenon. Another interesting one is "The New Menace of U.S.O.'s" in the November 1974 issue of Male. This talks about the frequent sightings of UFOs being seen underwater. 

Popular British paperback collector Jules Burt has an article in this issue about Gerry Anderson's UFO TV series. He goes into the history of the show and the extension into paperback fiction, comics, and movies. There's also a gallery of actresses from the show. Plus this issue's gallery pages captures a lot of beautiful women that have performed in science-fiction movies like Forbidden Planet, Devil Girl from Mars, and Tarantula.

There is just so much to enjoy in this issue even if you aren't a UFO fan or believer. The vintage artwork, magazine covers, movie posters, actress pin-ups. I mean what's not to like? This is another solid issue and I highly recommend it. 

Get the issue HERE

Worm on a Hook

Although I don't know Vern's real name he is an online film critic that boasts a solid and dedicated following since 1999.  His blog Vern's Reviews is updated almost daily with new film reviews or tidbits of social commentary. He has authored articles and columns for The Ain't It Cool News, Thrillist, and CliNT Magazine. In 2004 he began writing non-fiction books about film and his book Seagalogy: A Study of the Ass-Kicking Films of Steven Seagal was published by Titan Books in 2008. In 2014 his first work of fiction appeared, Niketown, that blends social satire with crime-fiction. 

My first experience with Vern is his 2020 novel Worm on a Hook. A PW fan reached out and advised me that the book should appeal to my outrageous literary taste. He was kind enough to gift me this 366-page trade paperback and I read it in about two days. 

The book is presented in a non-linear timeline with events jumping back and forth in time. As the book begins, construction workers disturb an underground tunnel system that is used by a legendary hook-handed slasher named Stoneback. With his newfound unearthing the good citizens of rural Iskum Island, a fictional retreat off the coast of Washington, are in for a slaughter. The reader's interest lies within a handful of characters that have arrived on the island for a beer festival. 

Worm on a Hook is an obvious homage to the blood-soaked slasher cinema that haunted Kodak 5247 film stock in the 1970s and 80s. But, I actually found the book to be more like a Marvel mash-up of Black Widow fighting Deadpool. There's more action than horror with the book's unique approach to character development presented as various life events for both the main character, the ultimate final girl Florence, and the legendary killer himself, Stoneback. Their personal histories and various collisions made for an entertaining reading experience that propelled the central narrative at a brisk pace. 

If you enjoy an over-the-top beat 'em up or the mystique of a hook-handed mauler then Worm on a Hook should wiggle its way into your heart. It is nostalgic, action-packed, and a refreshing take on a horror formula. Recommended! Get it HERE.

Paperback Warrior Podcast - Episode 116

It's another brand new episode of the Paperback Warrior Podcast! On this episode Eric recaps the recent gifs he received from fans and readers and looks at all of the happenings on the podcast and YouTube channel this month. In addition, a feature is presented on Pat Frank, a mid-20th century writer that is considered one of the first post-apocalyptic fiction authors to emerge after WW2. Also, a feature is presented on Armed Services Editions paperbacks and the history behind this patriotic and monumental printing mission in the 1940s. Listen on any streaming platform, play below, download HERE, or view directly on YouTube HERE.

Listen to "Episode 116: Pat Frank and the Birth of Doomsday Fiction" on Spreaker.

Backfire

Backfire was a 1959 crime novel by Florida author Charles L. Burgess (1907-1967) that was only ever published in Australia until it was recently unearthed and reprinted by Stark House along with several of his non-fiction true crime magazine pieces.

Martin and Angela Powers are the perfect suburban newlywed couple. He’s a salesman for a cosmetics company and he’s about to learn that someone is trying to kill him. Who would want him dead? He’s not connected to anything shady at all, right?

Martin survives the first attempt on his life from the “pockmarked man” and begins some sincere soul searching to determine the motive for the killer. The police aren’t much help at all, so this is Martin’s mystery to solve.

The author reveals the solution to the reader (but not to Martin) of who is trying to kill him pretty early in the paperback, but the killer’s motivation remains unclear. For his part, Martin hits the road alone to search for answers in his own past that may provide some clues as to his assassin’s motivations.

Backfire is a journey of self-discovery for Martin as he attempts to get closer and closer to the truth of who he is and subsequently the truth of who wants him dead. There are good action set-pieces along the way and Martin trods a logical path. Overall, it read like a an extended crime story from Manhunt with a tidy solution.

Burgess was a talented author of his era with limited fiction output. Thank heavens for Stark House for keeping his work alive and available. 

Get the book HERE.

Bill Easter #02 - Mister Brown's Bodies

Last month I stumbled upon a 1973 hardcover by British novelist John Blackburn titled Deep Among the Dead Men. I thoroughly enjoyed the author's triumphant trifecta of combining a murder mystery and a nautical adventure into the confines of a rowdy spy-fiction episode. While researching the author I discovered that a sequel was published as well, the 1975 book Mister Brown's Bodies. I was anxious to reunite with this character and author so I dove in.

Mister Brown's Bodies is a sequel in the truest sense. The novel picks up just hours after the events in Deep Among the Dead Men. Rambunctious adventurer-for-hire Bill Easter is floundering in the ocean with his partner Peggy Tey. Their prior ship sunk and now the two are starving and dehydrated on a dinghy. There's a comical exchange between the two (Bill hates Peggy) when they spot an ancient ship.

Climbing aboard the two discover the crew are all bald-headed monks under the drugged supervision of a criminal named Mister Brown. He explains to Bill and Peggy that he freed prisoners sentenced to die in a third-world country. These prisoners are global targets that would fetch high dollars from various governments. Instead of seeing them waste away under a firing squad Brown is able to drug and load them on a concealed ship that was headed to London. "Was" being the key word.

Brown has successfully brainwashed the criminals, with heavy drugs, to obey his every command in a quest to reach Heaven. But, the ship broke down and is now lifeless on the ocean. Brown makes a deal with Bill that if he can get the ship moving again he will pay him a commission based on the bounties the criminals will bring. Bill agrees and then everything descends into chaos. There's a broken ship, a jailbreak, fisticuffs, a murder plot to kill hundreds, and a conspiracy led by religious dissatisfaction.  

I mostly enjoyed Mister Brown's Bodies but felt it inferior to the predecessor. Like most sequels I feel as though the author consumed most of his originality and enjoyment writing the first novel. This book seems to possess a lot of cutting room floor ideas that just didn't make the final edit in Deep Among the Dead Men. The witty dialogue and barbs were amusing and the Easter character is a delight but the end result seemed a bit unnecessary. Tepid recommendation. If you read the first book then you might as well read this one too. 

Paperback Warrior Hits Music City, USA

Is there more than just country music in Music City? Nashville, TN will never be the same when Eric hits an antique mall, Half Price Books, and Landmark Booksellers in search of rare paperbacks. There's book covers, authors, novel history, world famous hot chicken, the iconic Grand 'Ole Opry, and the fake Parthenon in this must-see shopping spree! View below or directly on the YouTube channel HERE.

Annalisa

Forbes Rydell was a pseudonym for crime-fiction author Deloris Stanton Forbes (1923-2013) and Helen B. Rydell. The two collaborated on four novels including Annalisa, originally published in 1959 in hardcover. Thanks to Cutting Edge Books, the book is finally back in print 63 years later as both an ebook and paperback. 

Dana Hebert takes a leave from the military to return to his hometown in Louisiana. His younger brother Claude is marrying a childhood friend named Annalisa. It is Dana's hopes that he can convince Claude and the family to cancel the wedding to secure his brother's safety and sanity. But, what does Annalisa possess that could create such a deep harboring resent within Dana's tortured soul?

Through murky flashbacks, readers learn that Dana and Claude's parents were murdered by Annalisa's mother in a jealous rage. The two brothers were raised in a grand estate owned by Annalisa's Grand'mere. It is here in this half-castle that the two befriended young Annalisa and the three grew up together. 

Dana's reunion is met with stiff opposition from Claude, a frustrated young man that feels Dana is in love with Annalisa. Grand'mere seems to know more about the brothers' past but has withheld murderous secrets from the family. Additionally, Grand'mere's sister Celia warns Dana that a killer is stalking the halls of Bon Plaisir. As the wedding grows nearer, Dana and Claude return to their parent's derelict abandoned mansion to search for answers regarding Annalisa and who may have really been behind the smoking gun that night. 

Annalisa is a well-written, patient Southern Gothic that dangles all of the answers just a few inches from captivated readers. As the narrative unfolds, the mysteries of Dana and Claude's family is unveiled in a rewarding fashion. The old cemetery, cavernous mansion, and sweeping Spanish moss provides enough rainy day atmosphere to enhance this enjoyable mystery. If you love Mignon G. Eberhart, Elisabeth Sanxay Holding, and Elizabeth Fenwick then Annalisa is sure to please. Recommended. Get it HERE.