Night of the Black Frost

My monthly review of an Arthur Catherall book continues. I've become quite fond of the British author and his nautical adventure fiction that was originally catered for the young adult market. I've covered his books HERE and featured the author's literary work and author on a podcast episode HERE. I continue my examination and enjoyment with the author's Night of the Black Frost. The book was published in both England (J.M. Dent) and America ((Lothrop, Lee, & Shepard Co.) in 1968. 

Norwegian young adult Leif has just graduated high school and is in that life-lull deciding how to spend his time prior to college. His friends convince him to tour Europe for months, but Leif's father has another plan. He'll support and pay Leif's way to northwest to the Barents Sea, a frigid wasteland of ice between the Arctic Ocean and Russia. He convinces Leif to spend a few weeks with his uncles, Peder and Jan, on their commercial fishing expeditions. Leif, longing for adventure and maturity, accepts.

Onboard his uncle's fishing trawler, Leif experiences a harrowing two-day adventure. His Uncle Peder is hesitant about Leif's participation in the dangerous fishing expedition. Uncle Jan is a bit more patient and understanding. For Leif, his endurance and stamina is tested when two Russian pilots plunge into the frosty ocean in an accident. When Peder and Jan attempt a rescue they become lost at sea. It is up to Leif to run the trawler, make a rescue of his uncles and the pilots, while enduring a black frost (when fog turns to ice). 

This 166-page book was a short perfect example of what Catherall does so well – nautical adventure storytelling that features ordinary young people facing life-threatening adult decisions that accelerates their maturity and personal growth. As I always preach in these reviews, throw out the stigma of young adult. The book has an intense survival element with some gritty life choices including possible amputation of a leg, frostbite, hypothermia, and a very personal conflict facing one of the Russian pilots. There's turmoil and intrigue involving the Russian government and their interaction with these Norwegian fishermen. 

Night of the Black Frost is a fantastic adventure that showcases everything I love about this captivating author. If you like books in the style of Hammond Innes (The White South comes to mind) then look no further than this must-read. Highly recommended.

Con & Ginty #01 - Coral Reef Castaway

British writer Arthur Catherall used his own name and a variety of pseudonyms to write adventure novels and stories marketed for young adults. One of those was Peter Hallard, a name Catherall used to write Coral Reef Castaway. The book was published in England by Phoenix House Ltd. in 1958 and in the U.S. by Criterion Books. The American edition, in hardcover, contains illustrations by Terence Greer.

As I've alluded to in my reviews, and discussed on a podcast feature, Catherall's writing was certainly marketed to teen boys, but in reality there's nothing that floats it too far from the adventure buoy established by the likes of Ace, Bantam, or Fawcett Gold Medal paperbacks. Often a younger character is featured as the protagonist which aligns with a teen consumer. That connection is prominent in Coral Reef Castaway.

The book begins with a young man named Con Murray aboard a pleasure schooner in the Pacific. With trade winds blowing from the Queensland Coast, the voyage is sailing peacefully northwards inside the Great Barrier Reef. Due to a whaling accident, Con is accidentally thrown overboard and left behind. When a search of the waters fails to discover Con the ship's crew assumes he is dead. But, little do they know that the ravaged and weary young man has found a cay for sanctuary.

On this small little island Con is saved by another castaway, an old man named Ginty. After nourishment and rest, Con learns that Ginty experienced a ship wreck 21 years ago and he's been on this island since. But, now that Con is there he has a plan to escape the island with hundreds of thousands of dollars in valuable pearls. Shortly before his shipwreck, Giny had invested his time in pearl culturing – deliberately placing a small pebble inside of an oyster so they grow the pearl. Pear farming is explained masterfully by Catherall through his character. I found it nothing short of fascinating and now I want pearls. 

Con and Ginty can now work together to dive to the ocean depths to harvest the pearls. One man to crank the air pump and another to dive. Also, the two can successfully paddle boat the 30+ miles to civilization. But, like any good rags to riches tale, the endeavor introduces a criminal element that shakes the narrative and spins the moral compass of key characters.

Coral Reef Castaway is an enjoyable diving adventure that includes some tense moments in deep water. There's the obligatory ordeal with sharks and razor-sharp coral, but Catherall's leading duo experience the most trouble on land fighting the two-legged predator. There's diving rivalries, gunfire, survival elements, and the aforementioned underseas adventure to keep readers engaged for 200 pages. The central highlight is the old man of the sea mentoring the next generation. Catherall is an experienced journeyman and lived an exciting life of adventure. His resume of fishing, diving, and surviving in exotic locales inserts itself intentionally into the makeup of these characters and how they behave in harsh conditions.

If you love Catherall's writing as much as I do then you'll find plenty to like here. Don't let the cover and young adult stigma fool you. This is a recommended read. If you like both of these characters, Catherall wrote at least one more book starring the duo, Barrier Reef Bandits, published in 1960. I can't locate enough information to determine if Guardian of the Reef from 1961 includes these same characters. You can get these books HERE.

Bulldog #01 - Ten Fathoms Deep

I've recently re-discovered the literary work of Arthur Catherall. He's quickly becoming my destination for instant gratification. His books, marketed for young adults, have adventure ingredients that aren't a far cry from a Fawcett Gold Medal or Ace paperback from the mid 20th century. Catherall authored a number of stand-alone adventures and mysteries, but he created a number of successful series titles as well. I covered one of these titles, the Fighting Four, and enjoyed the tense atmosphere and brisk pace of the WW2 high-adventures. Looking to repeat my enjoyable reading experience I opened up the series debut of Catherall's Bulldog series. 

In Ten Fathoms Deep, readers are introduced to 17-year old Jack Frodsham. After finishing school, Jack arrives in Singapore to meet with his father, Captain Frodsham. The Captain has enjoyed a successful salvaging and freighting career with his tugboat, Bulldog. Based out of the Lion City of Singapore, Frodsham has made his living in the warm rolling waters of the South China Seas. Now, his dreams of Jack joining the family business have become a reality. 

In the first chapter, Jack's father meets with a man who was purportedly dead. The man, “Husky” Hudson, explains to the Frodshams that he was a mate on the freight ship Tenasserim under the command of Captain Miller. However, the ship was mysteriously attacked and sunk. Hudson was ruled dead by drowning, but he managed to escape the attack. He advises the Frodshams that a criminal enterprise that owned the ship sunk it for insurance money. Captain Miller, who died in the attack, was left posthumously scrutinized under a false public statement that the Tenasserium perished due to the Captain's poor navigation of the the reef. Hudson wants to bring honor to Captain Miller's widow and has a plan in place.

Shortly after meeting with Hudson, Jack's father is nearly killed in a stabbing. Now hospitalized, he asks that Jack meet with Hudson to go over the plan and to take control of the Tugboat for all future jobs. His mate will be Hudson and they are joined with a small group of Malays led by Ahmat. Together, the crew will man the Tugboat to a secret place where Hudson knows that the Tenasserium is lying intact in just ten fathoms of water. If they can successfully retrieve the vessel they can prove that it wasn't the Captain's negligence or a reef miscalculation that led to the sinking. But, as the salvage operation commences, the crew are plagued by two rival tugboats and a crew of cutthroat criminals doing the bidding of a mysterious mastermind. 

Ten Fathoms Deep is an amazing book. First, forget the young-adult stigma that may be associated with Catherall and this series. The book reads like a nautical adventure penned by someone like A.S. Fleischman. In fact, the nautical fiction written by the likes of John Blackburn, Conrad Dawn, Arthur D. Howden Smith, and James Gribben certainly would welcome the Tugboat crew. While there isn't any romance, which is par for the course for a good nautical romp, there's plenty of tense adventure and intrigue that saturate the book under Catherall's excellent prose. 

The book, right at 200 pages, is brimming over with a frantic pace as the Tugboat races against the clock to salvage their target before they are obliterated by rival ships. There's a panic-stricken moment of horror when the Tugboat is nearly bombed and Jack must penetrate a pitch black ocean bottom without a guide. There's shipwrecks, island adventure, sunken treasure, some shady characters, fisticuffs, an aerial romp, and some gun-play. But what really sets this book apart is the amount of contractual intrigue. What I mean by that is that Jack and Hudson must navigate some of the details of the Tenasserium's original logs, their competition with a rival salvage gang, and the swerve of an existing job to take on the Tenasserium retrieval. There's also numerous hotheaded propositions made that force Jack into some really tight spots.

With the level of adventure and exciting locale, Ten Fathoms Deep gets my highest recommendation. This is a must-read and you can get your copy HERE.

Additionally, there were at least eleven of the series installments published between 1954 through 1968. The books were published by J.M. Dent & Sons Ltd. in England and Criterion Books in the U.S.

Cold Hazard (aka Danger Rock)

Richard Armstrong (1903-1986) was a British novelist that wrote adult and young-adult fiction that mostly centered around nautical adventure. He sailed for 17 years in the Merchant Service so his writing contains a great deal of validity. That experience shines through with his 1955 British novel Danger Rock. It was published in the U.S. under the title Cold Hazard.

This 200-page book begins by introducing the protagonist, 18-year old ship apprentice Jim Naylor. He's in charge of a large shipping trawler when it crashes into a floating iceberg. As the ship sinks into the frosty Atlantic, the crew begins to divvy out lifeboats. In the commotion of clearing the decks Jim and four other apprentices are left behind. They manage to get a small craft off and begin a perilous float for survival.

Jim and his fellow apprentices float overnight and eventually find a large island somewhere near Newfoundland. But, this island is nearly drowning in fog and seems to possess no life whatsoever. Saturated in cold mist, razor sharp rocks, and a harsh terrain, it is the last place on Earth the tiny crew wants to beach. But, with no other options available they push their tiny craft onto the rocks and begin weeks of intense struggle that test their endurance and internal fortitude. 

I really enjoy a good shipwreck story and Armstrong's writing is brimming over with atmosphere and desperation. These young men fear that death is within reach as they lay out their meager supply of food and water. Doom and gloom settles in when the group begins to argue politically on who's in charge and what awaits them. Jim's nemesis is a younger man named Pipworthy, a selfish guy who seemingly steals from every man. Over the course of weeks the small group must forage for supplies, build shelter, and create a crafty beacon system to alert any passing ships. 

Like Robb White, Frank Bonham, and Arthur Catherall, Richard Armstrong proves he can write with the best of them. While this book is geared for young adults, there are technical nuances and adult decisions foisted on the group as they strive to survive their Hellish predicament. This was also a mid-career book for Armstrong and I feel like the writing and prose shows him at the peak of his writing career. Highly recommended. Get the book HERE.

Paperback Warrior Podcast - Episode 121

In this episode, Eric embarks on a globe-trotting nautical adventure with a spotlight on Arthur Catherall, exploring his World War II-era series set in exotic locales. He also dives into a recent western discovery, reviews a thrilling novel about a runaway rollercoaster, and shares his thoughts on the latest short story collection from Bruce Elliott, newly released by Stark House Press. Stream it below, watch on YouTube HERE, or download HERE.

Listen to "Episode 121 Audio" on Spreaker.

Dirty Harry #04 - The Mexico Kill

I've had mixed reactions thus far of Warner Books' 12-book paperback series Dirty Harry. These books, published between 1981 and 1983, were authored by Leslie Alan Horvitz and Ric Meyers using the pseudonym of Dane Hartman. The series is based on the film character Harry Callahan, a fictional San Francisco detective portrayed by Clint Eastwood in Dirty Harry, Magnum Force, and The Enforcer. 

In the opening pages of The Mexico Kill, the title's fourth installment, a five-man crew of a fishing trawler called the Hyacinth spot a distressed boat in the Pacific. As they approach the disabled ship they are told that something is wrong with the fuel line and the boat's passengers are needing a lift back to port. Once the passengers are moved aboard the Hyacinth they all pull out guns and overtake the small fishing crew. The whole thing was a violent ruse to steal a boat. 

The Hyacinth is owned by one of Callahan's old friends, a guy named Harold. Harold goes to Harry and explains that his fishing trawler went missing and has now been spotted in a local dock sporting a new name and a paint job. In a previous chapter, Harry gets into a gunfight and is suspended by the department while an investigation concludes. So, with nothing left to do Harry takes the case to investigate his friend's snafu with the boat job. 

The Mexico Kill is a rare look for a Dirty Harry book – nautical adventure. It came as a surprise to find Harry aboard a fishing trawler headed into Mexico to bait a group of smugglers preying on fishermen. There's a backstory with Harry's connection to Harold's wife and their upcoming divorce that eventually connects smoothly to the initial investigation that has Harry suspended. But, readers are here for action and this one delivers sinking ships, drug runners, a fortified Kingpin mansion, and enough targets for Harry to point his big 'ole .44 at. 

Admittedly, Dirty Harry got off to a real bad beginning with the first two installments. But, the fifth book, Family Skeletons, I found entertaining and now it is more of the same value and quality here with The Mexico Kill. Maybe this whole “make my day” thing is working out quite nicely. Recommended!

Get the book 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.

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. 

Bill Easter #01 - Deep Among the Dead Men

John Blackburn (1923-1993) authored nearly 20 thrillers and at least 10 novels of horror during his writing career. The British novelist experienced literary success with his unique blend of using detective, horror, and even nautical adventure tropes to propel his stories. His novels The Gaunt Woman, Destiny of a Spy, and Nothing But the Night were adapted to film and his debut, A Scent of New-Mown Hay was adapted by BBC Radio 2. Scholars often compare him to John Buchan and Geoffrey Household. 

My first experience with Blackburn's writing is the 1973 novel Deep Among the Dead Men. It was published in England in hardcover by The Chaucer Press. While enjoying the book I took a quick detour to learn more about the author and discovered Blackburn wrote a sequel to the book as well, the 1975 hardcover Mister Brown's Bodies. It was published by in England by Northumberland Press.

Like an episode of South Park, Blackburn doesn't reserve his prejudice for any particular race or people. No one escapes the thunder as Blackburn humorously prods and pokes Christians, minorities, and women while subjecting his male protagonist to non-heroic exploits that seem to defy the British thriller standards of spy-fiction. In other words, Blackburn finds fault with everything on the planet, but does have a warm place in his heart for animals. 

Deep Among the Dead Men stars Bill Easter, an adventurer who will stop at nothing to earn a buck. Throughout the book readers learn that he was booted from school after several altercations with the education system. He advanced his education by becoming a smuggler, gun-runner, oilman, gangster, assassin, bodyguard, and a type of mercenary. As I alluded to earlier, Easter isn't a traditional macho-man. While tough as nails, he doesn't possess the talents of a fighting man. Often he is beaten, outgunned, or simply left to die a miserable death. 

As the book begins readers catch up on Easter's current happenings. He's fallen in love with a woman named Kate and has teamed with her and her father, an ambitious anthropologist, to locate a treasure lying in just 100 feet of water off the coast of a fictional West African country called Leonia (probably based on Sierra Leone). To get the goods they must convince a strict Captain and his crew to honorably split the loot. The only thing stopping the plan is a dictator named Asmonda, the newest entry in the revolving door of “here and gone” crime-lords. Asmonda overthrew a General to gain power. To get the treasure Asmonda must be killed and replaced with the previous leader – who will also share in the wealth.

Deep Among the Dead Men was an exhilarating nautical adventure that mostly contains the tropes of spy-fiction. Easter's quest to find and assassinate the dictator is worth the price of admission. Everything else is like a triple-feature combining the nautical adventure with a mystery involving a killer on board the salvage unit. Easter must find the killer, eliminate the dictator, and help prop up the next puppet government while attempting to land his girlfriend in the sack. She won't give up the goods until he gets the goods. The horror!

If you love dry British humor loaded with satire and diatribes not for the easily offended then this book is for you. Deep Among the Dead Men is a surefire winner. High recommendation.

East Indiaman #01 - East Indiaman

Beginning in 1972, Griff Hosker became employed as an English and Drama teacher in northeast England. Upon his retirement after 35 years of service Hosker began his new life – a full-time novelist. He has authored over 150 books of historical fiction including over 25 series titles. He prefers his works to be self-published so he (and his family) have sole control of ownership, edits, and future reprints. I've been curious about his writing and decided to try his newest novel, East Indiaman. It was published in 2024 and is the first in a promised series. 

In the book's Prologue, William introduces himself to the reader in first-person narration. He's a boy without a family or home. His father died and his mother moved away to live in Java. As a wharf rat, William embarks on a life of theft and robbery to survive. After a successful string of crimes he learns that he chose the wrong victim. A notorious pirate is now after William to recover what was stolen from him. With no other recourse William hides on a ship headed north of the Canary Islands. 

In the early chapters William navigates the large boat and steals food and water from the crew and passengers. After stealing a crewman's coat William is eventually caught and brought before the Captain. Generously, they ask William to earn his own way by becoming a hard-working crewman working with sails and ropes. The experience humbles William and he eventually begins to see a life beyond criminality. After he makes a strong defense against pirates, William is asked to join a regiment of British troops – a type of special forces made up of former prisoners – to work for the East India Company.

William accepts the job and then East Indiaman really rolls into action. Through the book's second half William adapts to his new role as soldier, horseman, and killer. As he grows into a man he contends with the rigorous chores of rising through the ranks while in combat with nefarious village leaders, the enemy French regiments, and a secret mission to liberate a missionary family from a stronghold. 

Honestly, I wasn't sure how I would feel about Hosker's work and the fast and furious pace at which he writes and publishes his novels. Thankfully, East Indiaman is probably the best contemporary novel I've read this year. The book is expertly written in the first-person perspective and is presented as an epic adventure in a convenient 200 pages. Hosker successfully removes any fluff from his writing and sticks to the basics – tell a great story that is engaging while competently developing a character that adapts as the pages turn. This was such a treat to read considering historical fiction can lose itself in dense details that surround the plot. For validity, Hosker includes a list of his references to substantiate the story's locale and period as well as a brief history of the East India Company.

If you have the opportunity to try Hosker...please do. I also recommend a podcast interview that he participated in that gives some history on the author and his series titles HERE. I'm already reading another of his books and it is equally as entertaining. Highly recommended!

Get your copy HERE.

Chartered Love

Not much is known about author Conrad Dawn (1933-2002). He served in the U.S.M.C. From 1951 to 1954 and was wounded in action during America's involvement in the Korean Civil War. According to a brief book bio, Dawn was employed as a sailor, newspaper man, and also boxed. He traveled extensively and was married three times. Paperback Parade founder, writer, and literary scholar Gary Lovisi described the author as having “...the background and lived the life to write these kinds of wild action books true and accurate – and kick-ass!”. Lovisi's commentary on Dawn can be found in a new edition of Chartered Love, the author's 1960 paperback that was originally published by lowly Chicago sleaze word-slingers Novel Books. The novel is now available through Black Gat Books, an imprint of Stark House Press, with the original paperback cover. 

The book stars Captain John Darrow, a 200-pound muscular man with a leathery face blackened by years of hot sunny nautical travels. Darrow ships freight with his boat Malacca Maid and a hardened skipper named Adams. While at a bar in Macao, China, Darrow entertains a lucrative offer. A woman named Elizabeth wants to hire Darrow and his boat to help her locate a treasure she believes is in the Sulu Sea aboard a downed ship. Darrow isn't particularly interested until he hears the terms – four-million in gold for the taking. His share is half. 

The first half of the book details Darrow's preparation for the journey and deep-dive. He buys weapons from a suspicious arms dealer and gathers aquatic gear, both of which attract a Chinese gang led by a villain named Hayama. There's a kick the tires and start the fires battle before Darrow and Elizabeth can get up and running.

The second half of the book focuses on Darrow's chemistry with Elizabeth. The book was presented to consumers as a sleeze novel ripe with graphic sex. Like so many sleaze novels from the likes of Beacon and Monarch, the sex is tepid at a mere PG rating. But, Dawn has a flirtatious style to his writing that describes Elizabeth's undressing in such a marvelous and provocative way. These scenes counterbalance the propulsive central plot. As Darrow and Adams eventually find the ship embedded in the ocean floor, the struggle to free the gold safely becomes the prevalent story arc. Dawn adds in Hayama's fierce determination to rob Darrow as a side-quest that enhances the action and gunplay quite well.

Conrad Dawn had a real knack for nautical adventure and Chartered Love, despite the poor title, is a testament to his talent. The book's plot was reminiscent of another stellar 1970s adventure novel titled Pieces of the Game, authored by Lee Gifford and published the same year. If you are a fan of nautical adventure then Chartered Love is sure to please. Highly recommended! Get it HERE.

Ranking November Reads

In this video, I'm ranking my ten favorite reads from the month of November. Included are book covers, insert scans, and capsule reviews of books in the horror, crime-fiction, science-fiction, and fantasy genres. Watch below or directly on the YouTube channel HERE.

Assault on a Queen

Jack Finney's first three novels – 5 Against the House, The Body Snatchers, House of Numbers – all appeared in glossy magazines before being compiled into full-length published novels. All three of those novels were so successful that they were adapted into films. As expected, Finney's fourth career effort, Assault on a Queen, followed that exact same trend. It was first published from August through September of 1959 in the Saturday Evening Post under the title The U-19's Last Kill. This serial was later published as Assault on a Queen by Simon & Schuster in the same year as a hardcover. In 1966 this book was adapted into a film starring Frank Sinatra.

Other than the opening segment, the narrative is presented in first-person by Hugh, a former Navy Lieutenant that served in WW2 on a submarine. After the way Hugh has floundered from job to job and can't find a steady romance. He often dreams of being an independent person who isn't reliant upon a job to rob him of his valuable time. There is a particular tirade that Hugh unleashes about jobs (corporate America) robbing everyone of their life. He explains that we sell our time for mere dollars and never gain any satisfaction. Finney nails the perspective of middle-class Americans and it speaks volumes even 65 years later. He was a smart guy.

Hugh runs into a man named Vic that also served on a submarine in the Navy. The two were never friends but knew each other during their time in the war. The two strike up a conversation and Vic takes Hugh to a house on the beach to meet some other veterans. There, Hugh meets three other men, each representing England, Germany, and Italy. There is also a woman there named Rosa. It is quite the motley crew. Vic then explains the purpose of their meeting.

The German, a guy named Lauffner, has found the submarine he commanded during the war. It is on the bottom of the Atlantic just a few miles from the coast. The group of men want to bring the submarine to the surface so it can be restored and operational again. But what's the purpose?

In a clever way, Finney doesn't reveal to the reader what the submarine will be used for. Granted, there is a discussion about the wealthy people on board a British passenger ship called the Queen Mary and the book's title to give it away, but the first 100 pages leaves out the details. These first half of the narrative is spent with the men getting to know one another and the work they put into the submarine. There is a side-story with Hugh competing with the Italian over Rosa. 

The book's second half is the heist itself which I won't spoil for you here. In many ways the book works like 5 Against the House but on a grander scale. Finney concentrates on character development and emphasizing why these men want wealth and independence. This is a theme that I've pointed out before with Finney's literary work. Even in The Body Snatchers there is a sense of alternate perceptions and the need to transform into something else. Finney has a unique way of connecting the reader with the characters and he makes that connection in Assault on a Queen.

If you love heist novels by the likes of Donald Westlake, Dan Marlowe, and Lionel White, then the formula will please you – plan, execute, getaway. The idea of making it a nautical caper is genius. Jack Finney was an amazing storyteller and this book showcases that talent. Highly recommended! Get your copy HERE.

Riverboat

Colorado resident Douglas Hirt has been an accomplished author of western fiction since 1991. Later, he threw his talent for historical fiction into a three-book series about a Mississippi riverboat during the 1800s and the ensemble cast of characters traveling on the steamship. The first novel in the series, Riverboat, was initially published in 1995 and remains available today from Wolfpack Publishing.

The Tempest Queen is the riverboat in question running up and down the Mississippi River filled with passengers and limited cargo in the years before the Civil War. Every passenger has a story, and Hirt leverages that reality into a Love Boat/Fantasy Island 300-page ensemble epic of criss-crossing and overlapping stories.

The captain is William Hamilton who has been on the river for 30 years and finally has a ship of his own. For this journey, he’ll be headed down the Mississippi for a week to The Tempest Queen’s home port of Baton Rouge. The boat is a football field long with multiple decks and 63 passengers plus crew. The ship is used for human transport but has many of the amenities of a Carnival Cruise lines and the passengers live in luxury on the journey.

My favorite passenger is the raffish professional gambler, Dexter McCay. There’s also an interesting subplot about a runaway slave who was captured in the woods and is now being transported in chains back to his cruel master’s estate by a loathsome and violent slave catcher. This sparks the novel’s action scenes and the author does a nice job using this as a vehicle to explore the variety of opinions regarding human enslavement in the run-up to the Civil War.

At 300-pages, the novel was a bit overlong and meandered at times, but this is a fine historical novel definitely worth reading. I’m thrilled that Wolfpack Press re-discovered it for modern audiences, and I’m looking forward to the next installment.

Get Riverboat HERE.

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

Sea Curse

Robert E. Howard earned $17 when he sold his story “Sea Curse” to Weird Tales. The magazine published the story in the May 1928 (Vol. 11 Number 5) issue with a Curtis C. Senf cover. This selection falls into the category of Howard's horror/weird stories and has been featured in dozens of publications over the past 94 years including Marchers of Vahalla (Sphere 1977), The Howard Collector (Ace 1979), and Shadow Kingdoms (Wildside 2004). My reading of the story is from a paperback titled Eons of the Night, published by Baen in 1996 with a Ken Kelly cover.

“Sea Curse” is set in the small coastal village called Faring. Howard used this same town for his stories “Restless Waters” (pub 1969, aka “The Horror at the Window”), “Out of the Deep” (pub. 1967), and his poem “A Legend of Faring Town” (pub 1975). Don't be thrown off by the impression that these stories are somehow connected. They aren't. The characters are specific to just the story and never spill into the other tales.

The story begins as readers learn of old Moll Farrell, a rumored witch that has very little to say to anyone, minds her own business, and makes a living from gathering clams and driftwood while raising her young niece. This is a fishing town, which brings lots of weathered sailors in and out of the harbor. Unfortunately, two of the very worst hang around Faring – John Kulrek and his pal Lie-lip Canool. Off-page, Kulrek rapes and kills Moll's niece, casting her broken little body into the raging sea. 

After a few days, the young girl drifts to shore, cold and lifeless. Word quickly makes it to the village and they all run to the coastline. Standing over the dead girl, a drunken Kulrek raises his drink and says, “A health to the wench's ghost!”. Immediately, Moll Farrell screams a curse on Kulrek with the main point being addressed to Canool:

“You shall be the death of John Kulrek and he shall be the death or you! You shall bring John Kulrek to the doors of Hell and John Kulrek shall bring you to the gallows-tree! I set the seal of death upon your brow, John Kulrek! You shall live in terror and die in horror far out upon the cold grey sea!”

Kulrek and his small crew set sail at dawn on a long voyage. Months later, Canool arrives in town and tells the village that Kulrek deserted ship in Sumatra after a fight with the skipper. 

Later, the narrator of the story, a “harum-scarum” lad (no name provided) and his friend Joe are out in the water in a thick white fog. They hear the sounds of a large boat, but can't make out the direction. They spend hours drifting through the fog honing in on the sound of the oars. They finally locate a gloomy rotten galley and climb aboard the rickety planks. I won't ruin the surprise for you, but they discover a horrifying sight that ties into Kulrek's desertion and departure from Canool. Moll Farrell's curse comes to fruition in a terrifying climax.

I can't say enough great things about this Robert E. Howard horror story. While the idea of a curse being wielded to avenge the loss of a loved one or friend is overused in these types of stories, the format works perfectly for this eerie tale. Howard's writing is so descriptive with the veiled sea, grey fogs, and the shivering end of the wharf. I love the way he presents the story's most emotional and moving aspect, the grisly discovery of the young girl. He does it in such a smooth, elegant way that hits like a fist on a hollow coffin:

“All the while beyond the shoals, we heard the never-ceasing droning of the heaving, restless grey monster, and in the dim light of the ghostly dawn Moll Farrell's girl came home. The tides bore her gently across the wet sands and laid her almost at her own door. Virgin-white she was, and her arms folded across her still bosom; calm was her face, and the gray tides sighed about her slender limbs.”

That is just such a powerful description that contrasts with the loud-mouthed drunken rage of the girl's killer. As Moll Farrell screams the curse, Howard digs in deep with rage and despair clashing with insults and warnings for the two sailors. It's nothing short of brilliant. 

If you love nautical stories, then you'll be seduced by the coastal atmosphere of Faring and the chill of this ghostly seaside tale. Highest possible recommendation. 

Buy a copy of this book HERE

Devil Wind

It’s 1985ish and I’m a young adolescent walking around our local K-Mart department store with my $5 allowance for the week. I’m typically scoping out the latest Hardy Boys installment, those cool “modern” ones with the explosive painted covers, or an R-rated movie novelization (living in the bible-belt, R-rated flicks were off the table, so my only option was to read the novelizations). But today…I see the incredible covers for a series of young-adult horror paperbacks called Dark Forces. I snag Devil Wind, the fourth installment, and camp out in my porch rocker to consume black magic, the occult, and the Dark Forces. I don’t recall the quality of the book, but I do remember enjoying it and picking up a few other books in the series before moving on to Stephen King, John Saul, and Dean Koontz.

 
Bantam published 15 Dark Forces young-adult paperbacks from 1983-1984. These were all stand-alone novels - roughly 160 pages – that challenged for market superiority among the crowded ranks of Point Horror, Goosebumps, Private School, and prolific author Christopher Pike (Kevin McFadden). That guy was everywhere. The series was authored by a rotating blend of writers including Scott Siegel, Les Logan, Bruce Coville, and Jane Polcovar. The collaboration of Paul Alexander and Laurie Bridges produced three series installments - Magic Show, Devil Wind, and Swamp Witch. 

For funsies, I tracked down a copy of Devil Wind and gave it an adult spin nearly 40 years removed from my first experience with the book.

 
The novel stars Peter Wardwell, a high schooler living in the small coastal New England town of Northport Bay. In the book’s opening pages, readers learn that a dilapidated house was recently demolished, and Peter found an old whistle in the rubble. With his new whistle, and his family’s boat, he takes his sweetheart Mary Jane (human not plant) to a small, hidden cove he discovers down the coast. Mary Jane immediately gets the creeps there and the place reeks of rotted flesh. But Peter insists they stick around and soon pulls out his whistle and takes a blow. A thick fog rolls in and the two become separated. Peter falls into a deep slumber and Mary Jane is rescued by a salty sailor. The two soon find Peter and bring him back home. Only, this isn't really Peter.

 
Over the course of the book readers experience Peter’s transformation from a kind American boy into a Satanic warlock from the 1700s. You see Northport Bay experienced a curse from Simon Wardwell, Peter’s great-great-gr….you get the point. Simon died in the little cove, along with his sadistic followers. But, when Peter blew the whistle, his body was possessed by this creepy Satan-worshiper. Between Mary Jane, the salty sailor, and a wise old woman in town, they must stop Peter from raising Hell on Northport Bay on Halloween.

As a breezy horror paperback, Devil Wind is a lot of fun to read. The four key characters made a great team-up to fight the forces of evil, complimented by the authors' emphasis on character development (despite the short page count). It's a young-adult novel, so don't expect any Jack Ketchum or Bryan Smith slaughterhouse action. Instead, the storyline is your classic small-town horror that places average people into extreme situations. I got the vibe of John Carpenter's excellent The Fog, so if that's your palette, then this should please any age group. 

Buy a copy of this book HERE

A Gun for France

According to IMDB, Charles Tenney Jackson (1874-1955) wrote the novels The Golden Fetter (1917), The Show (1927), and The Eagle of the Sea (1926). Jackson also wrote hundreds of stories for magazines, including Argosy, The Popular Magazine, and Short Stories. He also penned a number of stories for Adventure, which is where I discovered his February 1943 entry "A Gun for France". I'm always in the mood for buried treasure and nautical adventure, so the illustrations by Samuel Cahan immediately spoke to me.

The story begins in Timego in the West Indies as Bill Jett stares at a sunken 65-foot yacht lying in Morani Cove. Jett was piloting the ship, along with a handful of mates, on the way up up from Trinidad. But, the engine went out and the ship was steered into the cove and then promptly disappeared under seven fathoms of water. Jett explains how the crew had picked up a Frenchman named Lenier, an escaped prisoner off the coast of a Guiana prison, and how the man had went overboard in an accident. This is important. Also, Jett's skipper is a guy named Ordel. That's important too.

Later, Jett overhears Ordel talking with a notorious rum-runner about important boxes that are still on the yacht. Apparently, the two – plus a mysterious third partner-in-crime – are arranging a dive underwater to salvage these boxes from the ship. They don't want Jett to learn of the cargo, nor do they want to reveal their nefarious doings. That's up to Jett and the readers to discover. 

At roughly 12 two-column pages, Jackson's nautical salvage-heist plays out like a grand adventure. Jett teams up with his only real ally on the island, a Malay boy that helps him discreetly uncover the plot while outwitting Ordel. The wild card is the appearance of the third partner in the trio of criminals, but as you can probably guess, it all ties back to the escaped prisoner. 

Jackson's writing did require some short note-taking, but it was a very light chore. His prose is filled with a lot of description, with the escapism reading like a tourist guide to exotic locales - 80-foot cliffs nestling the calm Caribbean and its white sands and even keels. Readers enjoy these stories because it takes them away from the dull 9-5 grind. In that regard, “A Gun for France” easily does the getaway trick. Highly recommended. 

The Island Monster

I've recently become enamored with the writings of Arthur D. Howden Smith (1887-1945), particularly his glossy magazine stories. His offering “Pirate's Lair”, published in the October 1933 issue of Blue Book, was mesmerizing as a highly-charged revenge yarn on the high seas. Thumbing through more back issues of Blue Book, I found his August 1937 novella The Island Monster and had to read it.

The first-person narrative is told by Terry O'Malley, an adventuresome newspaper reporter that globe-trots for sensational stories. While back in his office in New York, a Major Rattray walks in and introduces himself as an officer in King's African Rifles, a British Colonial Auxiliary force. With a letter of explanation, Rattray explains to O'Malley that his fiancé went to work for a man named Lipscomb Hope, a scientist that focuses on breeding different types of animals together – like pythons and crocodiles. In letters that she writes to Rattray, she happily advises him that she will continue to work for Hope and that she will need to postpone their wedding arrangement. But it is just a front. Beneath the stamps on each envelope is a small hand-written message urging Rattray to come rescue her from the hideous experiments and the psychotic Hope. She's in real danger.

Rattray and O'Malley immediately form a plan to go to the Bahamas and rescue the young woman from the dastardly Hope. In doing so, they hire a pilot and yacht captain that can navigate the scientist's well-placed fortified encampment in Nassau. The foursome discuss the base's defenses, including robot machines that spit lead from watchtowers and hideous mutant pythons that patrol the churning waters leading into the base's spacious lagoon. 

It is obvious that Smith's writing is heavily influenced by H.G. Wells' 1896 novel The Island of Doctor Moreau. But, the high-adventure adrenaline remains the same as my prior Smith reading of “Pirate's Lair”. While not a revenge yarn, this is still a hard-hitting violent affair as the group battle the monsters, bomb the camp, and ultimately attempt to rescue the vulnerable beauty in distress. Aside from some racist things that were unfortunately a product of the time, this story was just so easy to read and enjoy. It's a simple formula, but Smith seems to excel when he allows himself very little to work with. The old adage of “keep it simple stupid” works just as well in 2023 as it did in 1937. The Island Monster is a recommended read for adventure fans.

Pirate's Lair

I'm always searching for the next great sea-adventure. In my quest for a good nautical romp, I started thumbing through digital copies of Blue Book from the early 20th century. I found a copy of the October, 1933 issue, featuring an incredible cover painting by Joseph Chenoweth, and decided to try a story called “Pirate's Lair”. It was written by Arthur D. Howden Smith, a prolific pulp writer for the magazine Adventure, who created a number of popular serials featuring characters like Captain McConaughy, Swain the Viking, and Grey Maiden. 

“Pirates Lair” introduces Captain Cahoon, a courageous New England ship-captain of the Cotuit Lass schooner. The ship is off the coast of Cuba when it is assaulted and boarded by a cutthroat crew of pirates captained by Gomez, a vicious scoundrel that the crew members call “One-Eyed”. After lining up Cahoon's crew, Gomez's men tie all 18 sailors and two boys with their hands behind their back. Cahoon knows what is to come, the dreaded “over the side” dumping as each man is thrown from the ship to drown in the ocean depths or to be mauled by hungry sharks. This part of Smith's story has such a profound impact on Cahoon and the readers – he's the last man that Gomez pushes off. As each man hits the water, splashing and gasping for air, Cahoon can hear the men's voices in his head and the mothers of the boys that asked that Cahoon look after their babies on the voyage.

The narrative moves into a more gritty, action-oriented second act as Cahoon, the last man over the side, dives deep into the water and brutalizes his lungs in a desperate swim to the pirates ship. By using a piece of their ship underwater, Cahoon is able to free his bonds. Through the evening, he swims to the shoreline to discover the pirates lair, a small village that the bastards use to drink, fight, and rape various women they have enslaved. Like a mean and gritty Mack Bolan revenge yarn, Smith's narrative explodes into a frenzy as Cahoon goes after the men who killed his crew and burned his ship. Only Cahoon isn't empty-handed. Instead, his weapon of choice is an axe.

Man, “Pirates Lair” was absolutely awesome. Smith can write his ass off and was able to inject so much emotion and doom into the opening pages that it sparked off a white-hot firestorm as the book kicked into the revenge tale. I truly felt for Cahoon's character and how much the loss of his men and ship decimated his soul. I also loved how Smith finished the story with an introspective thought as Cahoon questions the night's events. 

You can read this awesome story for free on archive.org HERE or stream it below: