Luck of the Spindrift

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

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

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

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

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

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Mercy Island

Author Theodore Pratt (1901-1969) was born in Minnesota and later moved to New York, where he worked as a play reader and a writer for the The New Yorker and The New York Sun. He developed his writing skills into a full-time career that included more than 30 novels, some of which were written under the pen name of Timothy Brace. In 1941 his first novel, Mercy Island, was published in hardcover. The film was also adapted for cinema the same year by Republic Pictures. In 1956 the book was published in paperback format by Dell with attractive artwork by Verne Tossy.

Pratt was known to present most of his novels in Florida and the surrounding region. This trope is heavily used with Mercy Island with its Florida Keys tropical location. In the book's opening pages, readers learn that Ramsey, his wife Leslie and an acquaintance named Foster have hired a fishing charter. In an act of reckless abandonment, Ramsey demands that the boat's captain takes the three of them into a choppy stretch of water in a rural portion of the Keys. After catching a big fish, Ramsey's stubbornness with the captain and his companion Wiccy leads to the boat becoming grounded on an isolated tropical island.

Mercy Island's first act is similar to a Burno Fischer short story called "Hostesses in Hell", originally written under the name Russell Grey and published in the March-April 1939 issue of Terror Tales. In the story, a sailor and seven women arrive on a tropical island to escape a devastating storm. Fischer wrote his story like a complete horror tale where Pratt only bypasses the edges of terror. In Mercy Island, the five characters venture onto the island and finds a small house nestled in the dense foliage. There are signs of a turtle that's been disemboweled and eaten as well as indications that more than one person lives in the house. As Ramsey, Leslie and Foster travel further into the house, they begin to realize that the captain and his mate share a secret about the island.

To share anything beyond this premise would be an injustice to prospective readers. Pratt's characters display a number of immoral sins ranging from desire to arrogance. Ramsey's dispute with Foster is adjacent to his battles with the only resident of the island. This is a highly effective melting pot of suspense throughout the first half of the book. The second half was rather slow with a story that seemed to concentrate on island survival, hunting and fishing. As interesting as the characters were, the story itself just fizzled out. I found myself jumping through pages just to escape the boredom of this lackluster island. Mercy Island isn't a tropical destination anyone needs to visit. Read at your own risk.

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Maddon's Rock (aka Gale Warning)

Ralph Hammond Innes (1913-1998) is considered one of the founders of the men's action-adventure genre. As a pioneer, Innes began constructing high-adventure yarns as early as 1937, often setting his novels in exotic and breathtaking locales to create harsh conditions for his heroes to overcome. After reading my first Innes novel, 1947's The Lonely Skier (aka Fire in the Snow), I was underwhelmed by the author's slower pace and long, drawn out dialogue sequences. Refusing to accept defeat, I attempted another of the author's works with 1948's Maddon's Rock, also known as Gale Warning in the US.

This suspenseful adventure is set during the last days of World War II. The novel introduces readers to a British Corporal named J.L. Varny and his brother-in-arms Bert Cook. In the opening chapter, these two soldiers are within a small company of troops in Murmansk, Russia awaiting departure on the Queen Mary. However, their arrival to the ship's departure is late so they are ordered to join the crew of a British freighter called the Trikkala. On board, the troops are assigned the tedious task of guarding a small cargo of crates day and night as the ship journeys through arctic cold fronts on its journey back to England.

Immediately Varny senses that something is strange about the ship's crew. Their captain is a notorious trader who’s experienced a number of mysterious casualties to his crew. The orders suggest Varny and his men to simply stay out of the way. But for what purpose? As the weather becomes more frigid, the boat and its crew are attacked by a German U-Boat. Within minutes, Varny suspects that something is amiss about the attack. Further, upon inspecting the lifeboats he finds that someone on board has disabled the boat's inner planking. Is this a heist, a surrender or simply the war's stress on Varny's exhausted mind? Thankfully, the author uses these options to propel the book's thrilling narrative.

At 220 small-font pages, Maddon's Rock resembles a more dynamic, epic-styled journey. The plot is filled with excitement as Innes injects war, nautical adventure, island peril and even prison into the exciting plot. Unlike The Lonely Skier's heavy dialogue, Gale Warning is brimming with suspense and tension that thrusts the reader into cold and exotic regions. This is truly a masterpiece of adventure storytelling and one that proves to me that Hammond Innes was truly impressive. With over 30 novels to his credit, there's sure to be a clunker or two. Maddon's Rock is absolutely not one of those. If you are new to this author, I highly recommend starting with this one. It's the perfect kick-starter into what surely will be a pleasurable reading journey through the author's robust catalog.

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Boon Island

Kenneth Roberts (1885-1957) was a critically acclaimed writer for the Saturday Evening Post before switching professions to full-time novelist and author. While many of Roberts' books are collections of essays and travelogues, the Maine native authored a number of historical novels set in and around the American Northeast. My first experience with Roberts is the last historical novel he wrote, 1957's Boon Island. It was released in both a hardback edition as well as a Fawcett Gold Medal paperback.

Set in the early 1700s, the book is written in first-person as Oxford student Miles Wentworth explains how he transformed from hardworking academic scholar in London to struggling on the battered rocks of Maine's Boon Island. The first 30-pages has Miles befriending a young actor and fisherman named Neal. Miles' father is a judge and quickly Neal, and his financially burdened father Swede, become family friends to the Wentworths.

One evening Neal is attacked by a sexual predator after a performance. During the assault, Neal stabs and kills the man. In an effort to protect Neal from a murder charge, Miles and Swede hide the man's body. Miles' father proposes that the best course of action would be for Neal, Swede and Miles to join the crew of a British ship called The Nottingham under family friend Captain Dean. The ship is headed to Maine on a long exporting trip and the time away from London will insure that Miles, Neil and Swede aren't caught up in a murder investigation.

During the first few days on board the Nottingham, the heroic Captain Dean must contend with a loud-mouthed bully and his three friends. Over the journey, the tension reaches a boiling point and the inevitable physical confrontation begins. The scuffle leads to the Nottingham being shipwrecked on the icy mound of rocks called Boon Island. This is where the bulk of this survival narrative lies.

Like Robinson Crusoe or Treasure Island, Boon Island is an exciting nautical tale that transitions into a harrowing survival yarn. While the first 30-pages is extremely literary, with many discussions on English playwrights and poetry, the slow-burn was absolutely worth it. While the sea-journey consumes a few chapters, Roberts really finds his feet as the book's emphasis revolves around the shipwreck. The novel evolves into a daily diary as Miles translates the horrors of arctic temperatures, wind-swept seas, battered rocks and the consistent strife between the ship's crew.

The author's intimate, more personalized account provoked me into asking myself asking if I could survive the same horrifying events that these men endure. It would take a lot of strength and willpower. Thankfully, Captain Dean steals the show and is the essential “white-hat hero” who fits perfectly into the men's action-adventure formula. With his rugged fortitude, combined with Miles' loss of innocence, the book is a showcase of different human behaviors and perspectives under the harshest conditions. Beyond the human suffering, the book's most amazing strength is that it is a real-life testimony to the events that actually happened to these men. As a historical tale, Roberts bases his fiction on fact. That makes the last few pages a rewarding ending as we learn about the real-life characters and what became of their life experiences after Boon Island.

If you love survival stories, nautical adventures or even novels dedicated to the human spirit, Boon Island is a sure-fire winner. Despite the terrible tragedy, Roberts conveys so much excitement and anticipation into his calculated narrative. This is just a literary classic and one that makes me want to track down more of the author's work.

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South Pacific Fury

Australian born novelist James Edmond Macdonnell (1917-2002) utilized pseudonyms including Kerry Mitchell, Michael Owen and variations of his own name to construct a robust catalog of literary work. Fans of spy-fiction may recognize the name James Dark, a pseudonym that Macdonnell used to write the 14-book Mark Hood series from 1965-1970. My first experience with Macdonnell is South Pacific Fury, one of nearly 150 naval mens-action adventure novels authored by Macdonnell for Australian publisher Horwitz (the same international publisher that printed Carter Brown). South Pacific Fury was originally published by Horwitz in 1968 and subsequently published in the US by Signet with cover art featuring model Steve Holland (Doc Savage).

Like the name suggests, the novel's premise is about a U.S. PT44 torpedo boat in action in World War 2's Pacific Theater. The main character is Captain Walt Kenyon, an admirable hero who commands his small crew to perform at their peak despite the overwhelming odds. In the book's exciting opening pages, Kenyon's crew shoot down a Japanese “Zeke”, a common Japanese fighter craft formally called the A6M Zero. After discussing the plane's placement and mission, the crew then intercepts a Japanese Destroyer in a harrowing firefight.

While these early hit-and-run exercises are a pleasurable reading experience, South Pacific Fury thankfully settles into a central plot. A Coastwatcher named Cook has become trapped on Golo Island, now completely occupied by enemy forces. After months of relaying strategic codes and instructions, the Navy doesn't want to abandon him. Orders are given to Kenyon's crew to circumvent a large Japanese fleet in an effort to successfully rescue Cook from behind enemy lines.

In some ways this reminded me of the excellent novel Skylark Mission, written by Marvin Albert under the British-sounding pseudonym Ian MacAlister. Like that adventure, the exploits of Cook surviving on the island and avoiding detection are carefully inserted into alternating chapters that really helped me escape the small confines of Kenyon's boat. This novel of “land and sea” ratcheted up the suspense and action through the use of both perspectives.

South Pacific Fury is an outstanding work of war-fiction and, to the detriment of my wallet, has led me down the rabbit hole of Macdonnell's body of work. Highly recommended!

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Satan Takes the Helm

Popular screenwriter Calvin Clements authored three nautical-themed paperbacks in the 1950s – Barge Girl, Hell Ship to Kuma and Satan Takes the Helm. After enjoying my first experience with Clements, Hell Ship to Kuma, I was on the hunt for his other two nautical titles. Thankfully, Stark House Press timed their newest release perfectly. Satan Takes the Helm, originally published in 1954 by Fawcett Gold Medal, is the newest publication of Stark House's imprint Black Gat Books. Needless to say, I was thrilled to obtain a copy.

In the opening chapters, Martin Lewandowski is a rugged freighter captain searching for work on the San Francisco docks. A timely job tip leads him to a hotel room and an interview with a woman named Joyce. Martin explains to the reader that Joyce isn't particularly pretty, but is blessed with a stunning body. Surprisingly, this is an important part of the narrative. When Joyce inquires about Martin's non-vocational skills and personal attributes, the interview takes a slight detour. Caught up in the moment, Martin kisses Joyce which apparently seals the deal. Martin is then hired as the chief officer on the Trader, an Asian freighter that is currently helmed and owned by Captain Sloan, Joyce's horribly disfigured, aging husband.

After Sloan provides a touching, personal account of his life on the old ship, Martin begins to appraise the boat's sea-readiness. After given full permission to whip the crew into shape, the narrative's first half begins to resemble the early stages of the proverbial sports underdog story. Martin condemns the lackadaisical effort by Sloan's crew to maintain the ship's peak performance, but he also questions their loyalty and work ethic. He's determined to rebuild the Trader into a worthy sea vessel in return for 10% of the profits. However, before you conjure up images of Gene Hackman transforming a looser Hoosier into a champion, Clements injects a femme fatale archetype into the novel's story. Suddenly, this venturesome nautical tale begins to resemble the classic crime-noir.

The author, or the original publisher, chose the perfect book title for this crime-driven story. Satan Takes the Helm is exactly that. As an angel, Martin appears to have rescued Sloan from the red ink that threatens to drown his operation. But once this mysterious, seductive married woman offers up her body, Martin's clear path to sterling leadership and lucrative profit becomes overgrown with evil vices. As the narrative unwinds, Martin's admirable persona has transformed into a guilt-ridden spiral of madness and regret. Is his role on the Trader divine intervention or inglorious malice? That's the slippery edge that Clements navigates.

Satan Takes the Helm is an adventurous nautical tale that surprisingly serves as a sexy and crafty crime-noir. As readers ride the choppy waves, the characters become more dynamic and mentally unbalanced. It's this sort of downward spiral from the promised land to the depths of Hell that made writers like Day Keene and Gil Brewer literary superstars. Calvin Clements uses that tried-and-true formula and places it in a unique setting. The combination makes for a compelling, thoroughly enjoyable story that completely validates the decision to reprint the vintage paperback for modern audiences. Clements rightfully sails again and you should get on board.

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A Great Day for Dying

While very little is known about author Jack Dillon, it appears that he worked advertising creating a series of commercials for Polaroid. This advertising-executive experience was the catalyst for Dillon's 1972 dark fiction novel The Advertising Man. My only experience with the author is his men's adventure novel A Great Day for Dying, published by Fawcett Gold Medal in 1968.

The book's protagonist is Jimmy O’Neil, a boat captain who illegally runs arms from San Juan to Cuba. When readers first meet him, he's down on his luck and making ends meet while attempting to fix his boat. As the opening chapters unfold, it's disclosed that O’Neil used to work for a mid-tier mobster named Red. Their partnership ended, but their friendship persevered. In fact, O’Neil still shares a lover with Red and occasionally works side-jobs for the mob if it doesn't involve drugs.

When Red double-crosses his mob boss to the tune of $500K, he initiates an elaborate plan to smuggle heroin within a large camera shipment. But to make the delivery, he needs a fast boat and an experienced operator like O’Neil. Together, the two take on the tough assignment despite the U.S. Navy's presence and the mob's far-reaching influence.

I really enjoyed Dillon's writing style but it doesn't come with some distractions. While O’Neil's portions of the narrative are presented in the first-person, the chapters dedicated to the  mob are in the third-person. It's a unique effort by the author to keep readers more intimately connected to the protagonist, but also left me a little seasick with the choppy narrative flow. The cover's tag of comparing the story to Hemingway is pure marketing hyperbole. Dillon's characterization of O’Neil doesn't have any deeper meaning (that I could find) to the story beyond what was presented in the dialogue and action sequences.

Overall, A Great Day for Dying was a fun, entertaining nautical adventure with a subplot of compelling mob-related activities. According to my research, it has never been reprinted. It is definitely worth your money if you can locate a used copy.

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The Executioner #59 - Crude Kill

Chet Cunningham authored six Executioner novels between 1983 and 1986 beginning with the 59th installment, Crude Kill. I have always enjoyed Cunningham's blunt writing style, and I liked his violent Executioner novel, Baltimore Trackdown, the series' 88th entry. With another exceptional Gil Cohen cover, a solid author and the promise of quality consistency, there was no hesitation behind choosing Crude Kill to read and review. 

After liberating hostages from a Milan stronghold, Bolan learns that a mastermind-terrorist named Lufti has targeted an enormous oil tanker called The Contessa. His evil plan is to dump thousands of tons of oil into the Mediterranean Sea if he doesn't obtain millions in gold and the obligatory freeing of all criminal cohorts associated with his criminal empire. Of course the ransom won't be met because Bolan arrives just in time to terminate the baddies. The real enjoyment is the journey to get there.

After working closely with series mainstay pilot Jack Grimaldi, Bolan's first target is to destroy a commandeered former German U-Boat that Lufti's forces are using as protection. Cunningham soaks 40 pages with blood and guts, propelling the narrative, along with Bolan, onto the oil tankard's deck. The remaining 150-pages is saturated with bullets, bravado and bombs. Cunningham's literary style always borders on the grotesque – brains jellied, intestines splattered, flesh searing – but it’s all just an over-the-top attempt to please his dominant male audience. The intense violence factor is probably a prerequisite to write Bolan books. Trust us, none of his fans were tipping off Tipper Gore in 1983.

Crude Kill is another enjoyable Bolan saga sure to please fans of the series. The book also features an explanation from Don Pendleton regarding why he handpicked Chet Cunningham to join his revolving carousel of Bolan authors. Based on just Crude Kill, the reason is obvious.

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Aground

Charles Williams was a phenomenal crime-noir author who often set his stories in rural small towns. Many of his books included a tramp or a statuesque beauty who wreaks havoc on the male protagonist's moral compass. Like his contemporary John D. MacDonald, Williams also wrote a handful of men's action-adventure novels with nautical themes.

Scorpion Reef (aka Gulf Coast Girl), The Sailcloth Shroud, And the Deep Blue Sea were all hits with crime-noir enthusiasts and the author's fans. One of Williams' most respected works is the 1963 suspenseful sea-thriller Dead Calm. The novel was adapted for cinema in 1989 and featured Nicole Kidman and Sam Neil. However, some readers may not realize that Dead Calm is actually a sequel to Williams' 1960 novel Aground, so I’m beginning at the beginning.

The author introduces readers to WW2 veteran John Ingram. Through flashbacks we learn that John's wife tragically died in an auto accident and that his former business, a port harbor, was destroyed in a fire that also killed his business partner. Now, John works as a boat broker, a profession that has him inspecting boats and assessing their value to lower the cost for his perspective clients. In the book's opening chapters, readers learn that John has been hired by a man named Hollister who wants to purchase a boat for business purposes. After surveying a schooner called The Dragoon in Key West, John calls Hollister and reports that the yacht is in great condition and ready for purchase. John then returns to Miami where he is met by the police.

Unbeknownst to him, John was tricked into participating in stealing The Dragoon from its port. The owner reports that the inspection routine was really just a way to scout the boat for his accomplices. On the night of John's departure, the boat was stolen by three men including Hollister. The whole purchasing routine was really just a ploy to find a suitable yacht worth stealing. John was conned.

After talking with the boat’s owner, a widow named Rae, the two team up to try and locate the missing yacht. Rae wants her property returned and John, feeling partly responsible for the crime, agrees to assist. The police find a dinghy containing Hollister's watch and clothes, yet there's no sign of the Dragoon. Hiring a pilot, Rae and John eventually locate the yacht on a sandy knoll. During high tide, an inexperienced operator ran the boat into a sandy knoll where it remained aground. But once John and Rae board the Dragoon, they discover why the ship was  stolen.

Like Williams' rural crime-novels, Aground features a likable male protagonist who finds himself in an extreme situation. While Rae could be viewed as the suitable replacement for the author's obligatory sexy seductress, she's presented as a more intelligent, brave addition to the story's twists and turns instead of a cunning swamp nymph. As a nautical adventure tale, Williams doesn't quite do the genre justice. Aground seems to be a high-seas clash as the prey attempts to outwit the predator, but the narrative is more effective as a variant on the home-invasion sub-genre of suspense-thrillers. I can't reveal too many details, but John and Rae are forced to fight criminals in a very confined location. It's this edgy, tightrope anxiety that makes Aground so entertaining.

By keeping your expectations geared towards the survival/invasion prose, this book should provide plenty of entertainment. The novel is available as an affordable e-book by Mysterious Press and you can purchase a copy HERE