Tightrope

Author: James Grant (aka Bruce Crowther)

Publisher: Muller

Date: 1979

Pages: 168

Cover illustration: Alun Hood 
Not currently available in Paperback or eBook format

 First off, I have to thank Bob Deis at MensPulpMags.com and publisher/editor of Men's Adventure Library and Mens Adventure Quartlery for pointing out to me that mysterious author James Grant from my previous blog entry had a profile on his Amazon.com author page informing everyone (expect me of course!) that it was the pen name of British writer Bruce Crowther. That knowlege set me off on the hunt for as much information as I could find about James Grant/Bruce Crowther. I am very pleased to be able to present below an update and fuller list of Crowther's work and history. Thanks Rob!

After being so impressed with The Ransom Commando, I have spent the last few weeks tracking down as many titles by Crowther as I can. The result is that I was driven to abandon my current read (The Chinese Bandit by Stephen Becker - I'm not too sure I'll ever get back to finishing that one?) in order to start reading Tightrope - a 1979 novel published under the James Grant name by Frederick Muller Limited in the UK in hardback format only it would seem. I don't believe there has ever been a mass market paperback edition, but there may have been a large-print paperback by Lynford Mystery Library put out at some point? 

Bruce Crowther (b.1933) was born and raised in Hull, England. He became an avid reader at a very young age and soon ran out of books to consume from the local library. He found himself turning to crime fiction and American literature; developing a passion for the books of Chandler, Cain and Woolrich. This interest accompanied his love of film noir that had begun in his youth. He began writing crime fiction as a way to escape the boredom he encountered in his working life in industry and accounting, and never looked back. All those years of consuming classic American noir fiction probably meant that it was inevitable he would take up crime fiction writing as an adult.

Marksman and Other Stories

Author: William Campbell Gault
Publisher:  Crippen & Landru
Date: Mar. 2003
Pages: 206

Not currently available in eBook format or paperback

Marksman contains a loving end-piece by Shelly Gault, daughter of William Campbell Gault. In it, she reminisces about how her father would proudly claim that from the moment he began writing up until the early 1980's, he had sold everything he had ever written.

It's no surprise. Gault could write exceptionally well, and was quick to spot opportunities. When he saw dwindling sales of mystery fiction in the 1960's he turned his attention to writing juvenile fiction exclusively and began a long and successful period of his career. As she adds he "loved it when he heard that his titles were among the most stolen from libraries"!

Crippen & Landru have been publishing a series of books in their The Lost Classics Series since 2002. These consist of uncollected stories by great mystery and detective writers of the past. Most are published in hardback, but if you look carefully you can find some in eBook format. This particular issue is currently not available in electronic format yet.

This collection of short literature from William Campbell Gault consists of twelve tales published between 1940 and 1957 in magazines such as Clues, S&S Dectective Story Magazine, Mercury Mystery Magazine and premier titles such as Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, Blackmask and Manhunt (none of which made it into 2019's The Best of Manhunt if you are wondering). The first six are stories unrelated to each other, and cover the period from 1940 to the middle fifties. A few contain detectives, but most of them involve men-about-town who are involved in strange circumstance. The second half of Marksman contains the complete collection of short tales featuring one of Gault's most famous creations, Private Investigator, Joe Puma that appeared in 1956 and 1957.

Rough Trade

Author: Robert Silverberg
Publisher: PS Publishing
Date: Dec. 2017
Pages: 415

Not currently available in eBook format or paperback

In 2012, Hard Case Crime published Robert Silverberg's novelette Blood on the Mink, packaged together with a couple of short stories (Dangerous Doll and One Night of Violence). These stories had been written by Silverberg in the late fifties and early sixties for pulp magazines of the time. The success of the HCC paperback prompted a new interest in the authors crime back catalogue, and so in 2017, British independant publishing house PS Publishing release a limited run of his stories from the same period as Rough Trade.

This new collection contains 23 short stories (but does also include One Night of Violence from the HCC paperback) covering the years from 1957 to 1961. Most of the stories are around ten to twelve pages in length, with a few 10,000 worders increasing that to 30 page tales. All of them appeared in one of two pulp magazines that Silverberg was providing a constant stream of material too, Guilty and Trapped. As he says in one of the introductions that preface each story, for some reason Guilty was the more poular magazine despite it covering exactly the same type of crime/hardboiled/delinquent teenager type of content as its companion magazine. Both magazines were edited by the same man, W.W. Scott, to whom Harlan Ellison introduced Silverberg. Thus was born a period of his life where he supplemented his living by sending rapidly written shorts to Scott for consideration.

Silverberg left college and got married in 1956. He immediately began to write full-time - he had already started writing science fiction whilst in college, and wanted to continue to write for a living. Whilst his partner went to work, there was pressure on him to contribute to their living costs. At this time there were very few publishers issuing regular science fiction magazines, nowhere enough for Silverberg to earn good money. Needing to branch out, he began to write for many of the pulps inclinding submissions of Westerns, Sports and Mens Adventure tales. But crime was still king in the late fifties, and so he eventually began to churn out the sort of stories that he hoped would appear in Manhunt. 

The Best of Manhunt

Edited by: Jeff Vorzimmer

First Published: 2019

File size/Pages: 1441KB / 384pp
Ebook Publisher: Stark House Press
Ebook Date: August 2019

In August 2019, Stark House Press released The Best of  Manhunt, and ever since I've been wondering when I'd get a chance to delve into it and sample some of the stories on offer. The opportunity has arisen, and I'm pleased to report I wasn't dissapointed.

Thirteen of the tales contained in this compilation were originally published in 1958 in a volume entitled The Best from Manhunt. These are included in this updated version still in their original listed order. In addition, a number of short stories from 1959's The Bloodhound Anthology (the British version of Manhunt, titled Bloodhound Detective Story Magazine) have been included, making this a truly combined version of previous releases. Finally, the team headed by editor Jeff Vorzimmer, have expanded the line-up by almost three times the orignal with this edition totallying out at a massive 39 stories. you can't ask from more really (well, you could ask for further volumes I suspect).

I won't go into the history of Manhunt as there is a surfeit of introductions and histories included in the book itself. Suffice to say that Manhunt is considered the successor to pulp crime magazine Blackmask, appearing very soon after the demise of that periodical in 1951. It was very quickly attracting the best output from the best writers of the genre at the time and remains a true source of incredible quality crime fiction during its fifteen year run.

This edition is peppered with great yarns. The list of authors is like a who's who of hardboiled crime fiction literati, Brewer, Kane, McDonald, Hunter, Prather, Spillane, Deming and Westlake to name a few. I'm sure there will be something in here that pleases every reader. Below is a short list highlighting the five I enjoyed the most;

This Woman is Death - Hank Janson #13

eBook cover

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.

Blackmailer

Author: George Axelrod

First Published: 1952

File size/Pages: 394KB / 202pp
Ebook Publisher: Hard Case Crime
Ebook Date: November 2011

Let me make it clear that the publishers of Hard Case Crime books introduced me to Crime novelists and books that I might never have known about. This range of books and the Facebook Group Men's Adventure Paperbacks of the 20th Century are the reason I got back heavily into noir and genre fiction a few years back.

Although I had always greatly admired Chandler and Hammet, I never had the opportunity or knowledge to seek out or source more books in a similar vein. It wasn't until I saw some of their great covers on the bookshelves of a Waterstones in central Manchester that my interest was able to be satisfied by new stories by Block, Westlake and Goodis. This lead me to searching the internet with the names of some of the authors, and suddenly I was finding reviews by bloggers, articles on web-sites and reading posts from people on Facebook talking about the same kinds of books, their authors and other types of novels I might like. Joining the brilliant Facebook Group Men's Adventure Paperbacks of the 20th Century was a turning point and really opened my eyes to the fact that so many other stories were being published in eBook format and even reprinted in paperback by other publishers such as Black Gat.

Blackmailer by George Axelrod, was reprinted by Hard Case Crime in 2007 with cover art by Glen Orbik. It was the thirty-second book to be issued by them, and is presented as being 'complete and unabridged' (although at only just over two hundred pages, unabridged is not much of a stretch). It was his only published crime novel.

The Wench is Wicked (Al Wheeler Mysteries #1)

Author: Carter Brown
First Published: 1956
Pages: 128

Carter Brown sold a hell of a lot of books in his lifetime. We are talking in the region of a 100+ millions. That is outstanding. During the fifties and sixties this guy lorded over the paperback world like no other. At his peak he was writing 20 books a year, with sales in the US alone reaching towards 350,000 per book! If you don't believe me just do a simple search on your internet browser. Its staggering.

What adds to this phenomenal achievement is that he was actually born in Essex, a county of the United Kingdom, before emigrating to Australia - the guy never even set foot in America till he was an established author, but the majority of his works were set in American towns and cities (or fictional versions of them)!

Brown, real name Alan G Yates, was prolific. As well the Al Wheeler series he also wrote various others, among them novels starring characters such as Andy Kane, Rick Holman, Danny Boyd, Mike Farrell, Larry Baker and Zelda Roxanne. Some of his books sported fantastic Robert McGinnis covers. Many others have images of famous females from the sixties and seventies like Joan Collins and Elke Sommer on them. I would recommend a visit to the Carter Brown website to learn more.

I read The Wench is Wicked, book 1 of the Al Wheeler series. I purchased a great edition in eBook format by Stark House which actually consists of the first three Wheeler stories. The physical and digital editions has a pretty great cover in my opinion and I've included it here. It cost me £4.49, and I think that's pretty fair for three stories considering the other versions I saw.

The story revolves around Lieutenant Al Wheeler's investigation of a murdered Hollywood screenwriter. The body is discovered by a motor-cycle cop, seemingly dumped in a pit. Wheeler is sent to take a look by his station boss, and this pretty quickly links up to a film crew making a Western movie in the area. They are all staying in the same hotel in town. A Hotel with a shooting range out back (I kid you not). One of the stars is a very famous and glamorous woman - Wheeler get interested. Wheeler gets interested in all the women (especially the blondes). He's also interested in ta nightclub singer he has been chasing for a while. Wheeler is popular with the 'gals'.

What follows is a neat, tightly plotted little mystery. Brown's text and dialogue are great. I love this type of detective fiction, and you can certainly see why it resonated with so many people at the time. You can sense the beginnings of noir and hard-boiled fiction; wise cracks; witty banter between detective and suspects; the embittered station captain; corrupt district attorneys and sleazy secrets that everyone is trying to hide pepper the story throughout. Reading a book that is over 60 years old and yet makes you feel like you are part of that time and space is rewarding.

Wheeler winds his way through the investigation with panache and charm, leaving you in no doubt who is in charge. Any action, and there isn't really that much to be fair is well handled. But this is not about the guns and the fist-fights, this is about the characters and their flaws. It might not take a genius to work out who the killer is - but you will certainly feel it was well worth the effort after finishing.

I'm looking forward to reading the next two Wheeler stories - but like my first encounters with Chandler, I will want to savour them.

The Red Scarf

Author: Gil Brewer
First Published: 1955
Pages: 170

Wow, where do I start with this one. What an amazing book. Gil Brewer is well known among fans of hard boiled novels for writing about characters who find themselves trapped in a difficult position and slide further and further down a rabbit hole of lies and deceit - the further down they fall, the more their situation seems unrecoverable by the reader. In The Red Scarf, Brewer skillfully plunges his antagonist, Roy Nichols, down a warren that you feel he will never be able to climb out of. I was rolling my eyes and groaning as Nichols makes decisions that I just knew were going to increase the velocity of his decent - you feel like grabbing him by the scruff of the neck and screaming "Just tell someone the truth!" or "For God's sake, don't do that!", but deep down you know it will spoil the fun you are having reading about his desperate attempts to wriggle free of any of the consequences of his previous actions.

Roy Nichols and his wife Bess, live in a struggling Motel in Florida, hoping that an abandoned highway nearby will have its construction resumed, so that it will help lift them out of the debt they find themselves in after all their business investments. Roy travels across country to seek some financial assistance from his brother. After coming up empty handed he decides to save money and hitch-hike back to Florida. This leads him to meet the decidedly odd-acting couple, Vivien and Teece. Vivien in particular seems rather strung out, flirting and toying with Roy right in front of Teece. Both of them reek of booze and despite his initial miss-givings Nichols accepts a lift from Vivien.

During the ride, it transpires that the pair have absconded with a briefcase stuffed full of cash from the Mob; Teece being a courier, and Vivien seemingly having influenced him into taking the dangerous step of keeping the cash and running off with her. The case is identified through the fact that Vivien has tied her bright red scarf around the handle. The three of them continue drinking in the car, there is a incident, and Roy is left with a moral dilemma.

What follows is a brilliant story following Roy back to his Motel home and wife Bess, determined to somehow save their livelihood whilst juggling all the set-backs and complex situations he finds himself in; facing the torment of lying to his wife, trying to avoid detection from the police investigator, and desperately trying to outwit the man the Mob send out to recover their cash.

Brewer was a master. This novel never lets up and Brewer never lets you down. I was hooked all the way and am really pleased I finally got around to picking this up to read. Highly recommended as an essential piece of noir fiction.

I purchased the Stark House edition of this novel. It is bundled together with another Brewer story, A Killer is Loose. It cost me £3.75 in total, well worth every penny. Even the cover is decent for an eBook.

The Name of the Game is Death (Drake #1)

Author: Dan J Marlowe
First Published:  1962
Pages: 142

"Two guys with guts and a go-to-hell-with-you-Jack regard for consequences have about three chances in ten of pulling off a big, well-planned smash-and-grab. If one of them can shoot like me... the odds are a damn sight better."

The Name of the Game is Death is the first novel in what eventually became known as the Drake series (to give it it's full name, Drake: The Man With Nobody's Face). Published by Gold Medal in 1962 and written by Dan J Marlowe, an American born 1917 in Massachusetts. Marlowe was often overlooked in the hard-boiled crime scene until recently where a resurgence in his works have brought him to the attention of a wider audience. Thank God. He was a fantastic author of noir fiction if this opening novel about the origins of Drake is to be repeated in his further books. I thoroughly enjoyed this story. From beginning to end Drake is presented as a tough criminal character who takes no prisoners and dishes out his own form of revenge in glorious prose from Marlowe. The plot is stripped back to it's bare minimum and rattles along at a fast pace.

The central character of Drake starts his narrative just as he and his partner Bunny are about to rob a bank. The execution of the bank-job does not go quite to plan and Drake and Bunny split, with Bunny taking the proceedings of the heist whilst Drake is forced to seek out medical assistance from a local doctor. Eventually the previously agreed arrangements begin to unwind as Drake loses contact with Bunny and has to travel across the US to find his partner in crime.

What follows is a fantastically character driven story of Drake embedding himself into the working life of a small town, meanwhile secretly trying to locate Bunny who has disappeared. The supporting cast spring to life, Drake shows his weakness for animals, and by the finale you are definitely beginning to root for the hero/criminal as he mets out punishment in glorious noir-ish style.

Dan J Marlowe is an author I have only just been made aware of. His writing career is short and very interesting, I'll leave it to you to find out more. But I'm certainly glad I gave him a try. I would recommend The Name of the Game is Death to anyone with a bent towards hard-boiled, noir stories. I have a massive amount of admiration for Raymond Chandler (who doesn't!), but Mr Marlowe has opened my eyes to a new man on the block.

I have shown a couple of original paperback covers in this blog. My own copy, as denotes the purpose of this blog, was an eBook readily available on good websites. It should be noted that the first two novels of the Drake series are published in eBook by a different publisher than the rest of the series (notable by their "Operation..." titles). I'm not sure why this is, if anyone can enlighten me I'd be grateful. I paid just a little over £2 and I think it was great value for money.