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Author: Hank Janson (aka Stephen Daniel Frances)
First Published: 1948
File size/Pages: 1077/KB / 140pp
Ebook Publisher: Telos Publishing
Ebook Date: September 2013
The Hank Janson books ran from 1946 to 1971. Along the way a few different authors took up writing duties, but in the main most of the classic era (46 - 53) were written by creator Stehen Frances. In the early days, a few were published under his own name, but following a multi book deal they reverted permanently to being written by the lead character "Hank Janson". Apparently Frances chose Hank as the name of his hero because it ryhmed with "Yank." I guess that's a good indicator of how far Frances' creativity went eh? Doesn't bode well...
As you can imagine, with such a well established publishing history, and the ability of Frances to churn out paperbacks at the rate of one every month or so, these books are quite collectable. Add to this fact that Frances was a British writer living in England, the books being published for a British audience, and the impact of our climate and War-time on the flimsy paperback material - it makes them quite rare.
Stephen Frances was born in 1917 in Lambeth, South London. After a number of jobs, and writing a few newspaper articles, he founded a publishing company called Pendulum Publications in 1944. He used this company to publish When Dames Get Tough, and Scarred Faces. After a deal with fellow publisher, Reginald Carter, the other books were published by Carter's companies. The success of the Janson books made him a celebrity, and he was known to occassionally dress up as the Janson character in a mask and a hat for interviews. He moved to Spain in the 1950's, which meant he was absent from England when his books were subject to prosecution under the Obscene Publications Act (Carter actually went to jail). Frances was acquitted when he returned to England. He continued to write up until 1970's.
This Woman is Death is listed as the thirteenth title in the series. I decided to ignore continuity concerns and jump into the fray rather than starting at the very beginning. It didn't matter in the slightest. There is no sub-plot or connection to any other book in the Hank Janson run, neither is there any reference to previous stories. The book opens with Janson (who is a reporter by the way) sitting down in the 'Florida' bar to have a drink with a young woman named Lola, who he has known since she was 12. It's not clear how old Janson is himself, but there are references to him "coming back from fighting the Japanese", so he could be anything between 20 and 30, or even approaching 40? I suppose in the style of these genre of paperbacks, he never ages much in the thirty year span they cover.
There's an altercation at the bar, and a blonde bombshell and her beefcake boyfriend are having words with a drunk customer. Suddenly the doors burst open and a couple of thugs enter brandishing guns. The blonde seems to recognise them and begins to scream and scream. Things quickly escalate and before he can blink Janson is witness to a mass shooting, and Lola is sprawled over the table dead from a bullet in the back.
Janson makes his way out back, eager to get out before the cops arrive, so that he can track down the thugs and exact some revenge. On his way he bumps into the blonde screamer and they team up to escape from the building. After making their way to freedom, Janson eventually finds himself minus a car, and left out in the city with just a nylon stocking to connect him with the femme fatale. Its now up to him to try and track her down and find out what her connection is with the gun-totting villains bent on murdering someone in the club.
Hopefully I haven't made The Woman is Death sound too promising? In terms of the actual plotline it starts quite well. But there are a lot of things that go wrong, or are never right in the first place - in order to go wrong.
The single most awful thing about this book, is the fact there there isn't a single instance of Frances attempting to describe anything of the setting. It makes you wonder if he had any idea what New York, or Chicago, or Los Angeles even looked like? I mean - he wrote this in 1946 for gods'sake! Surely he had seen a film? He mimmicks the dialouge with mixed results - everyone is a "dame" or a "hood", so clearly there is something in his knowledge that he's lifting from? But to not attempt to describe even once, what a building looked like, or what the atmosphere was like? Ever? I was dumbfounded. I think the most I got was "he ran up the wooden steps"! Was this just lazy writing in order to meet a deadline? Unforgivable.
He also makes a few gaffs in his use of language too. Cigarettes are "fags", and characters drink "tea" instead of coffee (I realise Americans don't have to only drink coffee - but it just didn't feel right in the context of the scene).
I've touched on the fact that the Janson books were picked out as part of an effort to clamp down on perceived obscenity. It reads very tamely now. There are no sex scenes, or descriptions of naked bodies (he'd have to write an actual description for that, so no bloody chance). But all the female characters are sexy looking women, whose clothes regularly get ripped off, or need to be removed. And of course one of the females has a masochist fetish, we get some lip biting, and some thrashing with a leather belt.
Janson himself acts strangely; his attitude to women is pretty single-minded, and at one point he has a full on brawl with Blondies sister, resulting with a quick form of bondage to keep her tied down. Soon after this he's admiring her for her strength and fortitude, and rather lamely ends up falling for her.
The plot whimpers along, gets ever so slightly complicated, then ends rather pathetically with a boring shoot out to wrap everything up neatly; thus leaving no loose ends for the next book coming out in four weeks time folks!
There are dozens of Hank Janson books. I'll happily leave them to collectors. They look neat with their lurid covers and all - but I have to assume they are all window dressing without any substance from this experience. I can't say I'll be revisiting Janson's weak psuedo-America any time soon.
If you like lazy writing you can purchase some in eBook format! Priced at an (un)reasonable £3.74 on Amazon UK. I wouldn't bother if I was you.....
Ebook Publisher: Telos Publishing
Ebook Date: September 2013
The Hank Janson books ran from 1946 to 1971. Along the way a few different authors took up writing duties, but in the main most of the classic era (46 - 53) were written by creator Stehen Frances. In the early days, a few were published under his own name, but following a multi book deal they reverted permanently to being written by the lead character "Hank Janson". Apparently Frances chose Hank as the name of his hero because it ryhmed with "Yank." I guess that's a good indicator of how far Frances' creativity went eh? Doesn't bode well...
As you can imagine, with such a well established publishing history, and the ability of Frances to churn out paperbacks at the rate of one every month or so, these books are quite collectable. Add to this fact that Frances was a British writer living in England, the books being published for a British audience, and the impact of our climate and War-time on the flimsy paperback material - it makes them quite rare.
Stephen Frances was born in 1917 in Lambeth, South London. After a number of jobs, and writing a few newspaper articles, he founded a publishing company called Pendulum Publications in 1944. He used this company to publish When Dames Get Tough, and Scarred Faces. After a deal with fellow publisher, Reginald Carter, the other books were published by Carter's companies. The success of the Janson books made him a celebrity, and he was known to occassionally dress up as the Janson character in a mask and a hat for interviews. He moved to Spain in the 1950's, which meant he was absent from England when his books were subject to prosecution under the Obscene Publications Act (Carter actually went to jail). Frances was acquitted when he returned to England. He continued to write up until 1970's.
This Woman is Death is listed as the thirteenth title in the series. I decided to ignore continuity concerns and jump into the fray rather than starting at the very beginning. It didn't matter in the slightest. There is no sub-plot or connection to any other book in the Hank Janson run, neither is there any reference to previous stories. The book opens with Janson (who is a reporter by the way) sitting down in the 'Florida' bar to have a drink with a young woman named Lola, who he has known since she was 12. It's not clear how old Janson is himself, but there are references to him "coming back from fighting the Japanese", so he could be anything between 20 and 30, or even approaching 40? I suppose in the style of these genre of paperbacks, he never ages much in the thirty year span they cover.
There's an altercation at the bar, and a blonde bombshell and her beefcake boyfriend are having words with a drunk customer. Suddenly the doors burst open and a couple of thugs enter brandishing guns. The blonde seems to recognise them and begins to scream and scream. Things quickly escalate and before he can blink Janson is witness to a mass shooting, and Lola is sprawled over the table dead from a bullet in the back.
Janson makes his way out back, eager to get out before the cops arrive, so that he can track down the thugs and exact some revenge. On his way he bumps into the blonde screamer and they team up to escape from the building. After making their way to freedom, Janson eventually finds himself minus a car, and left out in the city with just a nylon stocking to connect him with the femme fatale. Its now up to him to try and track her down and find out what her connection is with the gun-totting villains bent on murdering someone in the club.
Hopefully I haven't made The Woman is Death sound too promising? In terms of the actual plotline it starts quite well. But there are a lot of things that go wrong, or are never right in the first place - in order to go wrong.
The single most awful thing about this book, is the fact there there isn't a single instance of Frances attempting to describe anything of the setting. It makes you wonder if he had any idea what New York, or Chicago, or Los Angeles even looked like? I mean - he wrote this in 1946 for gods'sake! Surely he had seen a film? He mimmicks the dialouge with mixed results - everyone is a "dame" or a "hood", so clearly there is something in his knowledge that he's lifting from? But to not attempt to describe even once, what a building looked like, or what the atmosphere was like? Ever? I was dumbfounded. I think the most I got was "he ran up the wooden steps"! Was this just lazy writing in order to meet a deadline? Unforgivable.
He also makes a few gaffs in his use of language too. Cigarettes are "fags", and characters drink "tea" instead of coffee (I realise Americans don't have to only drink coffee - but it just didn't feel right in the context of the scene).
I've touched on the fact that the Janson books were picked out as part of an effort to clamp down on perceived obscenity. It reads very tamely now. There are no sex scenes, or descriptions of naked bodies (he'd have to write an actual description for that, so no bloody chance). But all the female characters are sexy looking women, whose clothes regularly get ripped off, or need to be removed. And of course one of the females has a masochist fetish, we get some lip biting, and some thrashing with a leather belt.
Janson himself acts strangely; his attitude to women is pretty single-minded, and at one point he has a full on brawl with Blondies sister, resulting with a quick form of bondage to keep her tied down. Soon after this he's admiring her for her strength and fortitude, and rather lamely ends up falling for her.
The plot whimpers along, gets ever so slightly complicated, then ends rather pathetically with a boring shoot out to wrap everything up neatly; thus leaving no loose ends for the next book coming out in four weeks time folks!
There are dozens of Hank Janson books. I'll happily leave them to collectors. They look neat with their lurid covers and all - but I have to assume they are all window dressing without any substance from this experience. I can't say I'll be revisiting Janson's weak psuedo-America any time soon.
If you like lazy writing you can purchase some in eBook format! Priced at an (un)reasonable £3.74 on Amazon UK. I wouldn't bother if I was you.....
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