Jon Messmann: Vengeance is Mine

The following article appears in the Afterword of the Brash Books edition of the 1973 hard-hitting vigilante novel The Revenger. I wrote this to commemorate not only this series but also Messmann's long and lasting body of work. I hope you enjoy it. - Eric Compton

"Jon Messmann: Vengeance is Mine"

It's a human flaw, either well-conceived or spontaneous, and often is devoid of any real sense of right and wrong. This reactionary process, often spawned by grief and anger, makes it a swinging pendulum that authors can use to transform characters and enthrall readers. This reliable character arc can spur a story into a tumultuous second or third act. The thrills arise from the metamorphosis as the character changes and responds to some sort of emotionally jarring or horrific event.

The concept has remained a steady, consistent staple of literature dating back to ancient Greek tragedies of the 5th century BC. It consumes the third play of the Oresteia trilogy as Clytemnestra kills her husband Agamemnon for the sacrificial murder of their daughter. This sets off a chain of events in which Clytemnestra's remaining children plot to kill her to avenge the death of their father. A compelling, awe-inspiring cycle of violence as family matters turn to splatters.

William Shakespeare's longest play, The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, is perhaps the epitome of revenge tales. Written between 1599 and 1601, the play's central theme is vengeance – served cold and calculated. Hamlet's dead father appears and explains that Claudius murdered him, thus fueling a desire for revenge. Thankfully, it became a rather complicated, emotional murder plot that propelled the play to eternal popularity.

Fast-forward to the 20th century's Western fiction and the classic revenge story becomes a familiar genre trope. Respected author Frank Gruber (1904-1969) codified the Western plots and includes revenge as one of seven basic plots. Gruber described the revenge story as the pursuit of a villain by an individual he wronged, but mentions that it also could involve elements of the classic mystery story. The protagonist's southern drawl can be heard to say something like, “you're the dirty rascal that shot my pa” or “the bastard had it coming.”

Two stellar Western novels exemplify the revenge plot. Charles Portis' 1968 novel True Grit centralizes vengeance as a 14 year old girl hunts her father's murderer with the aid of a rugged U.S. Marshall. The novel explores the price of revenge and the toll it takes on the avenger. It was adapted twice to film, the first time capturing an Academy Award for John Wayne's portrayal of Rooster Cogburn. Two years later, Clifton Adams won his second consecutive Spur Award for the gritty novel The Last Days of Wolf Garnett (published a year before his death). The plot is simplistic, but presented in an atmospheric, crime-noir way. A man is searching for his wife's killer, the despicable Wolf Garnett. But, he later learns that Garnett may already be dead and his opportunity for vengeance has been stolen. It's as dark as a mortuary drape and explores the seeded, deep longing for vengeance.

In men's action-adventure literature, the undisputed catalyst for the 1970s-1990s vigilante heyday is War Against the Mafia. It was authored by Don Pendleton and originally purchased by Bee Line, who then published the book in 1969 under a subsidiary called Pinnacle Books. In the novel, Sergeant Mack Bolan is serving as a U.S. Army sniper in the Vietnam War. With 97 confirmed kills, he earns the bleak moniker, The Executioner. Unlike the decades of vengeance tales before it, Pendleton incorporated a murder-suicide into the character arc. Bolan's sister and father became financially controlled by the Mafia. The stress and financial burdens provoked Bolan's father into killing his wife and daughter before committing suicide. Bolan learns of the deaths and flies home, never to return to the military. Instead, he becomes a one-man army to exact revenge on the Mob. In essence, it is the classic revenge story modernized.

Early editions of War Against the Mafia suggests the book was originally planned as a one-off. However, the sales solidified the idea that readers desired more of Mack Bolan's vengeance. Later printings would include the #1 to indicate that the book was a series debut. Don Pendleton authored another 36 installments before selling the series to Harlequin. Under their subsidiary, Gold Eagle, The Executioner became the most popular men's action-adventure series of all-time with an astonishing total of 464 installments through 2020.

Beginning in 1970, countless publishers wanted to create another Mack Bolan clone to capture the same success that Pinnacle was experiencing. The Executioner directly influenced countless novels, series titles and publisher demands for more revenge stories with a gritty, violent delivery. Like the pulps of the 1930s and 1940s, these titles needed a tragic origin story to propel the hero into action. Publishers, desperately wanting The Executioner readers and consumers to gravitate toward their titles, pitched their ideas and marketing designs to a revolving door of blue collar, working man authors. Along with the look and feel of a vigilante story, the publishers (including Pinnacle and Gold Eagle) created names for their heroes that sounded similar to the word “Executioner” - Butcher, Terminator, Avenger, Hawker, Dagger, Penetrator, Enforcer, Sharpshooter, Stryker, Ryker, Keller, Peacemaker, Liquidator, Inquisitor. Even Marvel Comics received permission from Pendleton to clone Bolan as The Punisher, one of their most consistently selling comic titles of the last 50 years. Obviously, the prerequisite for any proposed paperback warrior was that the title had to end in the letter R.

Or, in some cases begin and end with that letter. Like, The Revenger.

John Joseph Messmann created The Revenger series in 1973 for publisher Signet, then a division of New American Library. But, Messmann's path to vigilante fiction was the proverbial long and winding road. Born in 1920, Messmann began his artistic career by playing the violin, an extracurricular activity forced on him by his parents. By 1940, Messmann began writing for the up-and-coming comic industry, a period known as the Golden Age of Comic Books. His first gig was for Fawcett Comics, an early, successful comic book publisher of that era. His co-workers were a dream-team of comic book icons including Joe Simon, Jack Kirby, and Chic Stone. Messman wrote for a decade on titles like Captain Marvel Jr., Human Torch, Sub-Mariner, Gabby Hayes, Don Winslow of the Navy, Tex Ritter, and Nyoka: The Jungle Girl. He even created a comic strip technique as an education program conducted for the United Nations Information Office.

In 1950, Messmann, now using Jon J. Messmann, co-created Carousel, an 8-page tabloid comics section in the Pittsburg Courier. This featured many of Messmann's ideas including secret agents, historical romance, sea adventure, private-eyes, jungle girls and even fairy tales. Carousel lasted five years and was distributed by New York's Smith-Mann Syndicate. Over time, Messmann was no longer content with the comic industry.

Beginning in the 1960s, Messmann’s transition into paperback, full-length novels began with Lyle Kenyon Engel’s star franchise, Nick Carter: Killmaster. Messmann’s first contribution was the series' 37th installment, 14 Seconds to Hell, published in 1968. The series, authored by a selection of ghost writers under the name Nick Carter, was a firm stepping stone for Messmann. The series paralleled the pulp industry in terms of campy, over-the-top secret-agent action. Messmann’s experience writing comics and comic strips made him a useful workhorse for Engel to rely upon. The author contributed 14 more installments through 1970 before departing the series.

Engel, pleased with Messmann’s production, paired him with another Killmaster author named George Snyder for a series called Hot Line in 1970. The series lasted only three installments with Messmann only contributing to the debut, Our Spacecraft is Missing!. Again, this allowed Messmann to develop a modern secret-agent, in this case a President’s Man type of hero named Fowler. Also in 1970, while writing Killmaster novels and Gothic romance titles (as Claudette Nicole), Messman wrote two books starring a vagabond hero named Logan. They were inspired by John D. MacDonald’s successful character Travis McGhee.

It was just a matter of time before publishing trends would align with Messmann’s literary strengths. His experience in spy-fiction, Gothics, and action-adventure is a product of that era. Genre fiction was consistently reliable for publishers and there were plenty of ideas, authors, and healthy competition. After The Executioner began to develop banner sales numbers for Pinnacle, it was only fitting that Messmann made his own vigilante footprint. In 1973, The Revenger was born.

It’s a mystery on who originally had the idea for Ben Martin, the former military veteran turned Mafia buster. It could be that Messmann had read Don Pendleton and wanted to try his hand or Signet simply approached Messmann’s agent about the story and needed an experienced writer to tell it. By 1973, Messmann had authored books for Award, Fawcett Gold Medal, Belmont-Tower, and Pyramid. He never played hard to get and had a knack for the business dating back 30 years at that point. With the key words “personal tragedy”, “vengeance”, “hero”, “violence”, “sex”, Messmann’s typewriter lit up with possibilities.

Like any 1970s traumatized hero, Messmann’s Ben Martin is a Vietnam veteran. When the series began, it was during the end of America’s involvement in Vietnam’s affairs. Saigon fell. The world moved on. American soldiers were left to rebuild their lives, overcome emotional distress, and become domesticated. Vietnam veterans became the dominant heroes of 1970s and 1980s men's action-adventure literature in the same way that 1950s and 1960s crime-noir was dependent on WW2 veterans. The buyers and readers that were consuming these books could easily identify with these heroes because they shared the same war experience. Arguably, these books served as a type of therapy. These characters, like Ben Martin, understood the “trial by fire” awakening, just like their readers.

When Messmann introduces Martin, he is an honest living, blue-collar family man who owns a grocery store. His nights of silently awaiting targets in a muddy rice paddy are over. But after the character arc, Messmann is transformed from shop owner back into the prowling warrior. By the book’s fiery finale, he’s either alive or dead. Messmann creates this stirring character arc that feeds off of a very personal tragedy. Like Pendleton’s Mack Bolan origin story, it isn’t a straight-up, traditional “you shot up my family” vendetta. In fact, the tragedy is an accident - caused by evil men - but still an accident. Whether anyone would have died otherwise is in the eye of the beholder. But, Martin’s life is deeply affected, and revenge is the only recourse. In these novels, revenge is always the only recourse. Thus, The Revenger rises.

By the end of the bloodshed, the supposed end of Martin’s war, readers are left to arrive at their own conclusions. Why? The Revenger wasn’t planned as a series. There’s nothing to indicate that Signet had any other plans for Messmann or Ben Martin. The paperback's spine, front and back covers and last pages are devoid of anything suggesting this is a series debut. But, it was. Only Signet and Messmann didn’t know it.

At the very least, the sales must have been satisfactory to warrant a sequel. By that point, five more novels became the new goal. Messmann crafted these novels through 1975 with titles that certainly resonate 1970s men’s action-adventure flare: Fire in the Streets (1974), Vendetta Contract (1974), Stiletto Signature (1974), City for Sale (1975), Promise for Death (1975). While revenge is mostly the catalyst for the first novel, Martin’s life continued to be plagued by violence. Each novel builds to a crescendo with revenge as a silent motivator. The protagonist responds with ample destruction in this profession of violence.

As you read and enjoy The Revenger series, a clear genre standout, take note of Messmann’s special treatment of Martin’s psyche. With an uncanny awareness, he delves into Martin’s warrior soul and deciphers dark emotions for the reader. In many ways, Martin could be the most complex vigilante in terms of repressed feelings and temperament. In the second installment, Martin becomes the vigilante, but he doesn’t really want that burden. He dreams of the life that once was, an existence robbed from him by events outside of his control. The old adage “when you look back, it will be what you’ve overcome” is a staple of Martin’s forward outlook, but it’s a reminder of the scars. In reality, Martin realizes that he’s the blood-craving vampire, only it’s revenge that fuels his existence. The emotion makes him alive and whole, ultimately the reason to rise and exist each day. After nights as a sniper in Vietnam, the ongoing war with the mob, and his transformation into a family man, Martin realizes he’s destined to right the wrongs and be the killer of evil. It was the one constant in his life.

Jon Messmann created another character in 1973 as well, Jefferson Boone: Handyman. It's another series standout featuring a U.S. State Department agent extinguishing international flare-ups that could adversely affect America and its allies. It has the same action-oriented intensity as The Revenger, complete with Boone getting laid...a lot. The sexual escapades of both Ben Martin and Jefferson Boone, as well as the Nick Carter series before that, led Messmann to what would ultimately become his meal ticket.

By 1978, adult Western fiction rose to prominence and was led by a series heavyweight in Lou Cameron's Longarm. The concept was simply to incorporate two to three graphic sex scenes into a traditional western paperback. The main character fights the bad guys and pleases the bad girls. Messmann, following the trend, created The Trailsman series in 1980 for Signet. Like Don Pendleton's The Executioner, Messmann birthed an iconic hero in Skye Fargo – lake blue eyes and bed mattress Olympian – and placed him in nearly 400 total installments. Of those, Messmann wrote nearly half up until his retirement in 1998, a testament to his storytelling skills and craftsmanship.

It was rumored that Messmann had never been to the western regions of the U.S., instead writing every Trailsman novel from the comfort of his Manhattan apartment. He would later die at the age of 84 in a New York nursing home in 2004.

New York Times bestselling author Lee Goldberg and his Brash Books imprint have been doing God’s work for years by reprinting and reintroducing classic novels by forgotten talented authors for modern audiences. Thankfully, Jon Messmann’s stellar body of work has been recognized and included in the publisher’s superb lineup of novels and collections. I can’t think of a more deserving author than Jon Messmann. I also feel that if he were alive today, he would already be writing a new series of heroic fiction for Goldberg and pitching character concepts for another.

The greats like Jon Messmann never ran out of ideas — they just ran out of time.

01/29/2022
Eric Compton
Paperback Warrior

Jon Messmann - Partial Bibliography

As Nick Carter:
Nick Carter: Killmaster #39 Carnival for Killing 1969 (Award Books)
Nick Carter: Killmaster #43 The Amazon 1969 (Award Books)
Nick Carter: Killmaster #44 The Sea Trap 1969 (Award Books)
Nick Carter: Killmaster #45 Berlin 1969 (Award Books)
Nick Carter: Killmaster #48 The Living Death 1969 (Award Books)
Nick Carter: Killmaster #49 Operation Che Guevara 1969 (Award Books)
Nick Carter: Killmaster #50 The Doomsday Formula 1969 (Award Books)
Nick Carter: Killmaster #51 Operation Snake 1969 (Award Books)
Nick Carter: Killmaster #52 The Casbah Killers 1969 (Award Books)
Nick Carter: Killmaster #53 The Arab Plague 1970 (Award Books)
Nick Carter: Killmaster #54 Red Rebellion 1970 (Award Books)
Nick Carter: Killmaster #55 The Executioners 1970 (Award Books)
Nick Carter: Killmaster #57 Mind Killers 1970 (Award Books)
Nick Carter: Killmaster #60 The Death Strain 1970 (Award Books)

Nick Carter: Killmaster #37 14 Seconds to Hell 1968 (Award Books)

As Claudette Nicole:
Bloodroots Manor 1970 (Fawcett Gold Medal)
The Mistress of Orion Hall 1970 (Fawcett Gold Medal)
House at Hawk's End 1971 (Fawcett Gold Medal)
Circle of Secrets 1972 (Fawcett Gold Medal)
The Dark Mill 1972 (Fawcett Gold Medal)
The Haunted Heart 1972 (Pyramid)
The Chinese Letter 1973 (Popular Library)
The Haunting of Drumroe 1973 (Fawcett Gold Medal)
When the Wind Cries 1976 (Pyramid)

As Pamela Windsor:
Forsaking All Others 1977 (Jove)
Rebel's Rapture 1979 (Jove)
At Passion's Tide 1980 (Jove)

Jefferson Boone: Handyman
The Moneta Papers 1973 (Pyramid)
The Game of Terror 1973 (Pyramid)
Murder Today, Money Tomorrow 1973 (Pyramid)
The Swiss Secret 1974 (Pyramid)
Ransom! 1975 (Pyramid)
The Inheritors 1975 (Pyramid)

Canyon 'O Grady series (as Jon Sharpe)
Dead Men's Trails 1989 (Signet)
Silver Slaughter 1989 (Signet)
Shadow Guns 1989 (Signet)

The Revenger:
The Revenger 1973 (Signet)
Fire in the Streets 1974 (Signet)
The Vendetta Contract 1974 (Signet)
The Stiletto Signature 1974 (Signet)
City for Sale 1975 (Signet)
A Promise for Death 1975 (Signet)

Hot Line (as Paul Richards):
Our Spacecraft is Missing! (with George Snyder) 1970 (Award Books)

Logan (as Alan Joseph):
Logan 1970 (Belmont)
Killers at Sea 1970 (Belmont)

Stand-Alone titles:
The Deadly Deep 1976 (New Amerian Librery)
Phone Call 1979 (Signet)
Jogger's Moon (aka To Kill a Jogger) 1980 (Penguin)
The Last Snow 1989 (Random House)
A Bullet for the Bride 1972 (Pyramid)

Non-Fiction:
Choosing a Pet 1973 Grosset & Dunlap

Comics:
Don Winslow of the Navy 1940-1951
Gabby Hayes 1940-1949
Human Torch 1943
Sub-Mariner 1943
Nyoka: The Jungle Girl #50 1945
Tex Ritter 1950

Captain Marvel Jr. 1940-1949

Dead White

The back cover of Alan Ryan's horror novel Dead White contains blurbs from fine authors like Peter Straub, Stephen King, and Whitley Strieber applauding the book. Here's news for you – they never read this book! It's not even remotely plausible that these talented wordsmiths read a single word of this lousy unedited poorly constructed excuse for a horror novel. If they read one chapter of this book they would have unanimously panned it as amateur nonsense. Somehow, Alan Ryan was able to get this novel through Tor's editing department, which clearly had no input as to the novel's structure, basic plot outline, or any pedestrian passerby say in what the cover should be. This book is absolutely horrible and somehow Tor allowed these 356 pages to escape a destiny of pulverized packing materials.

The book (using the term sparingly) is set in a rural upstate New York town called The Kill. Ironically, this is the same town featured in Ryan's first novel, the equally deadpan Hall of Shame-winner cleverly titled The Kill. A blizzard of epic proportions is hitting the town and most of the residents decide to seek shelter in the Centennial Hotel. The Kill haven't had a train in town for decades and the railroad station and tracks are abandoned now. But, a train of carnival clowns has just rolled up to create mayhem for The Kill. 

Anyone with any sense of storytelling talent can easily make this book work. It seems so simple. The town is sheltered in the Centennial Hotel. The carnival clowns show up and hunt the residents in the hotel's hallways and rooms. It would have been a wonderful survival horror novel with a handful of characters fighting the clowns while trapped in a blizzard. Would have. Could have. Should have. But, Alan Ryan doesn't do any of that. No, he completely circumvents this entire plot device to focus on day to day activities of the residents. Each chapter is the time of the day. For example, the chapter is 8:42 A.M. and a character that has no impact on the book's resolution or plot is making coffee and eating breakfast. That's it! Then the next time, a few minutes later, will be another character walking to the mailbox or tying their shoe. Nothing happens in the book until the last couple of pages – as senseless as they are.

I could make a half-hour video on how bad this book really is. I'm close to a comparison with Roadblaster, Swampmaster, or TNT as the epitome of negativity when it comes to vintage paperback fiction. Dead White is darn close to being one of the worst published books ever written. But, I'm propping it a few notches above the above-mentioned titles simply because the book would have worked in the hands of an actual author and an editor that didn't call in sick the week this pile of wood shavings somehow assembled into this disasterpiece of fiction. Alan Ryan – fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice shame on you again. Damnit. Hall of Shame. Absolutely. If you want to purchase this drivel do it HERE so I can at least make a few cents off this hackjob. 

Conan - Conan

Many of Robert E. Howard's Conan the Cimmerian short-stories were out of print for decades, or had steep auction house pricing that prevented casual fans from reading them. Aside from one Ace paperback, and a series of Gnome Press hardcovers, these previously published stories existed in back-issues of Weird Tales. 

Beginning in the late 1960s, Lancer began publishing affordable paperbacks collecting these original Robert E. Howard published Conan stories. In addition, these collections also included unpublished Conan manuscripts and new material edited or authored by Lin Carter and L. Sprague de Camp. You can journey down any pulp sword-and-sorcery rabbit-hole and read more about the development of these Lancer paperbacks, the discovery of manuscripts by Howard heirs' literary agent Glenn Lord, and both the praise and criticism of Conan pastiche writing, which is included in these Lancer editions. 

I want to simply highlight the stories including in each paperback, beginning with the very first Lancer edition aptly titled Conan. The collection was first published in 1967 and features a Frank Frazetta cover. The paperback, weighing in at just 221 pages, includes two of Howard's most respected and well-known Conan stories, “The Tower of the Elephant” and “Rogues in the House”, with the latter selection influencing the book's cover art. 

“Introduction” - As I alluded to earlier, the development of the Lancer paperbacks is a much talked about event that populates the sword-and-sorcery community. In this five page introduction, author L. Sprague de Camp introduces readers to Robert E. Howard with a brief biography. He also cites a specific letter that Howard wrote to fellow author Clark Ashton Smith explaining how the Conan character was created. In addition, de Camp analyzes the term “heroic fantasy” and how it came to fruition. 

“Letter from Robert E. Howard to P. Schuyler Miller” - This is four and a half pages showcasing a letter that Howard wrote to the science-fiction writer and educator Miller. In the letter, Howard explains the Hyborian nations and comparisons to medieval Europe, Asia, and Africa. The letter also displays Howard's explanation of Conan as the king of Aquilonia for many years. This letter was originally published in the The Coming of Conan hardcover by Gnome Press in 1953.

“The Hyborian Age, Part 1” - Howard's 14-page essay outlining the entire Hyborian kingdom and the rise and fall of the various cultures that make up the sprawling landscape. This was originally contained in the The Phantagraph in 1936, and subsequently in the volumes The Coming of Conan, King Kull, and Skull-Face and Others.

“The Thing in the Crypt” - Some find fault that this book, which is a celebration of Robert E. Howard's Conan creation, offers a non-Howard work as the first fictional story in the collection. “The Thing in the Crypt” was authored by L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter, but the reason it is the first actual story in the collection is because the books, edited by Carter and de Camp, are a road map of Conan's chronological life. This story features Conan as a teenager who just escaped a slave pen after being captured after a raid in Asgard. Later, there is a story that Bjorn Nayberg authored (with assists from Carter and de Camp), “Legions of the Dead”, that predates the events in this story. It is found in Conan the Swordsman. In “The Thing in the Crypt”, Conan finds a cave containing a mummified corpse holding a sword. When he takes the sword, the mummy comes to life and the two battle. This story also influenced a similar scene in the Conan the Barbarian film. “The Thing in the Crypt” first appears in this story collection. 

“The Tower of the Elephant” - This first appeared in the March, 1933 issue of Weird Tales. A young Conan arrives in Arenjun and overhears a conversation about the wealth and riches contained in a tall structure deemed The Tower of the Elephant. Always looking for thieving opportunities, Conan climbs the tower with the help of another thief, Taurus. Conan discovers cosmic horror inside the tower and fights to escape. Howard’s endless imagination just flows onto the page with this wild, action-packed adventure. It quickly pulls you into the story with just a few opening paragraphs. The author's prose is just so smooth and stimulating, providing excellent plot development and pacing.

“The Hall of the Dead” - This was a fragmented Conan the Cimmerian document created by Howard and then re-worked by L. Sprague de Camp. This version was first published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science-Fiction's February 1967 issue. Like many other stories, the era of “The Hall of the Dead” is set during Conan's thieving years, around 18-20ish. It picks up when Conan enters an abandoned, ancient city called Larsha. In a hot-pursuit is a group of Zamorian soldiers who have been assigned to arrest Conan for theft. As Conan explores this abandoned city, he teams up with another thief as the two fight giant slugs and other baddies that are protecting gold within this abandoned city. There's nothing to really dislike about “The Hall of the Dead”, but loyalist complaints favor Howard's original version, which is shorter and features some differences in Nestor's actions in the story and the disappearance of the giant slug. In essence, I felt the story as a whole, regardless of writer, effectively placed Conan in a gloomy post-apocalyptic setting of an abandoned city, albeit a very short visit, and that was very rewarding. 

“The God in the Bowl” - This Robert E. Howard story wasn't published in the author's lifetime. It was rejected by pulp magazine Weird Tales, and after Howard's death, went undiscovered until 1951. It was then edited by L. Sprague de Camp and first published in Space Science-Fiction's September, 1952 issue. The premise reveals that “thief” Conan accepts a job from Nemedia's Governor's son to break into an antique house to steal a precious diadem. This diadem is being kept in a sarcophagus that was apparently discovered in the dark realm of Stygia. However, there is a monster lurking in the house and and the overnight clerk is found dead. The story has a really unique flavor for a Conan story and nearly borders on detective-fiction. Overall, I can recommend “The God in the Bowl”, but there are plenty of other Conan stories you should be reading before this one.

“Rogues in the House” - This story first appeared in the pulp magazine Weird Tales in January, 1934. That same year, it was also featured in a short story collection, Terror by Night, published by Selwyn and Blount. The premise has Conan being assisted by an aristocrat to escape prison. In a series of wild events, Conan, the aristocrat, and a priest are trapped inside of a large house. The house contains a number of deadly traps used to enslave and kill the priest's political rivals. But, this story also influenced the Conan paperback's front cover with Conan battling Thak, an ape-like creature that prowls the house. This story is one of my all-time favorites by Howard and is filled with political intrigue, action, and savage violence. A must read.

“The Hand of Nergal” - Originally a fragmented story authored by Howard  in the 1930s, Lin Carter completed the manuscript and titled it. Along with appearances in Conan, “The Hand of Nergal” was also featured in The Conan Chronicles and Beyond the Gates of Dream. In the story, Conan is a mercenary serving Turan. In the heat of battle, Conan is battling these crazy giant bats when he nearly falls unconscious. Thankfully, Conan had discovered a strange amulet days before, which helps to repel the bats. Conan meets a female warrior and the two of them journey to the city of Yaralet to battle the sorcerer responsible for conjuring up these crazy bats. I really enjoyed this story and found Carter's stroke of science-fiction and fantasy a great blend with the more “on the nose” carnage that Howard's Conan typically creates. The Carter and Howard blend worked well, in my opinion, on the Kull stories, and you get that same sense of adventure, dark sorcery, and utter doom in this story.

“The City of Skulls” - This paperback collection is the first appearance of this story, which was originally titled “Chains of Shamballah” in the first printing's table of contents. This is one of only two stories in the collection that is authored by both Lin Carter and L. Sprague de Camp, void of any Robert E. Howard writing. In this story, Conan's military unit is massacred, leaving only himself, his friend Juma, and a princess alive. The three are taken captive and forced across mountains, through bitter cold winds, and into a warm jungle called Shamballah, the City of Skulls. It's an epic story with Conan and Juma eventually sold into slavery aboard a ship and the princess being promised to a Toad-God-Thing. The story locations are described so well and thrust these characters – unwillingly – into the heart of madness with high altitudes and low temperatures. Mix in the ruthless rowing expedition as testaments to Conan's internal fortitude to soldier on. That's why we read these harrowing adventure tales. Carter and de Camp can tell a great story and I feel like “The City of Skulls” is a worthy addition to this stellar Conan collection. 

Buy a copy of this book HERE.

Commander Shaw #08 - Skyprobe

United Kingdom author Philip Donald McCutchan (1920-1996) was the creator of the 22-book spy series starring British Naval Intelligence Commander Edmonde Shaw - a literary rival to Ian Fleming’s James Bond series. My first exposure to the series was the eighth installment, Skyprobe, from 1966.

I approached this series with some trepidation because of the whole “Commander” routine and my lack of interest in British Naval fiction or maritime adventures. I’m happy to report that there was no Navy stuff at all in the paperback, and Shaw may as well have been an operative for MI5, U.N.C.L.E., or The Salvation Army. He’s just a fairly generic British Spy working for The Crown.

While enjoying a beer at a pub, Shaw is approached by a man whom he immediately makes as a Polish Intel Officer. The Pole tells Shaw that there is a threat against the American spacecraft, Skyprobe IV, now in orbit. Soon thereafter, the informant is found dead in a park.

The man on the other side appears to be a Swiss mercenary who is clearly working for the dirty commies. But what harm could he cause an orbiting space mission that’s been in the sky for 13 days? The Brits care deeply about this mission because one of the astronauts on-board is a renowned British scientist, and the ship is using an experimental new fuel that will be a game-changer in the space race.

Shaw basically serves as a detective running down logical leads to learn who wishes to menace the orbiting spacecraft and why. The action cuts between Shaw on the ground and the astronauts inside Skyprobe IV blindly going about their mission while unknown forces are trying to undermine it.

I enjoyed this book and found it to be a good place to enter the series. Shaw is smart and tough, but not brimming with personality like, say, Matt Helm. You still like the guy because he’s competent and properly inquisitive. It was clearly written to be a James Bond clone, and I enjoyed the novel about as much as the Ian Fleming books I’ve read. I’d put Commander Shaw at the same quality level as Adam Hall’s Quiller series. It’s way better than Nick Carter: Killmaster, yet still inferior to Matt Helm.

Skyprobe is an easy recommendation for anyone enjoying a good spy yarn without the cartoonish conventions the genre often employs. In short, the novel made me want to explore the series further.

Buy a copy of this book HERE

Conan - The Hall of the Dead

As most Robert E. Howard fans know, literary agent Glenn Lord located several boxes of the author's unfinished manuscripts in 1966. In an effort to collect the manuscripts into printable short stories, Lord acquired the talents of Howard scholars Lin Carter and L. Sprague de Camp to assist in editing and re-writing these stories. 

One of these stories, “The Hall of the Dead”, was a fragmented Conan the Cimmerian document created by Howard and then re-worked by L. Sprague de Camp. This version was first published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science-Fiction's February 1967 issue. It was also placed in the popular Conan paperback published by Lancer in 1967 and later reprinted by Ace. It also appears in 1989's Sphere publication The Conan Chronicles. Howard's original version, unedited by de Camp, was later published in the 2000s in two separate omnibus editions, The Conan Chronicles Vol. 1 and Conan of Cimmeria Vol 1.

Like many other stories, the era of “The Hall of the Dead” is set during Conan's thieving years, around 18-20ish. It picks up when Conan enters an abandoned, ancient city called Larsha. In a hot-pursuit is a group of Zamorian soldiers who have been assigned to arrest Conan for theft. These soldiers are led by Captain Nestor, who somehow escapes a trip-wire that befalls the entire group of men with an avalanche of rocks. With Conan in the abandoned city, Nestor enters hoping to solely capture him. 

de Camp is often criticized for not “getting” Conan, and there may be sufficient evidence for that argument, but in stories like “Hall of the Dead”, it is all about telling an exciting story. Whether it was Howard or de Camp describing the empty streets, desolate houses, crumbled buildings, etc., the visual imagery is very evocative. It sets up the story and the atmosphere quite well. 

As Conan engages in urban exploration, a giant slug squirms into the narrative to wreak havoc on the trespasser. This is typical “boss level” writing for sword-and-sandal or fantasy, when the hero matches power and strength with a big baddie. But, alas, this isn't the final boss. When the two characters decide to team-up and steal precious, forgotten treasures in Larsha's Royal Palace, a host of scary monsters appear to harass the thieves. This sets up the final boss battle.

There's nothing to really dislike about “The Hall of the Dead”, but loyalist complaints favor Howard's original version, which is shorter and features some differences in Nestor's actions in the story and the disappearance of the giant slug. In essence, I felt the story as a whole, regardless of writer, effectively placed Conan in a gloomy post-apocalyptic setting of an abandoned city, albeit a very short visit. Fans of Conan literature will easily recognize the moral preaching – bad things come to thieves. It's a recurring theme for these stories that feature a criminal-minded Conan on a self-serving mission to steal treasure. But, the fun is watching the struggle and inevitable loss. For that reason alone, “The Hall of the Dead” is worth the price of admission. Recommended. 

Buy a copy of this book HERE.

Conan - Rogues in the House

The Conan the Cimmerian short story “Rogues in the House” first appeared in the pulp magazine Weird Tales in January, 1934. That same year, it was also featured in a short story collection, Terror by Night, published by Selwyn and Blount. Other appearances of the story can be found in Skull-Face and Others (1946), More Not at Night (1961), Conan (1967), and The Conan Chronicles (1989). Additionally, the story was adapted into comics by both Marvel and Dark Horse. 

A lot of Conan scholars and fans point to “Rogues in the House” as a prime example of Robert E. Howard's literary greatness. Visually, Frank Frazetta's  cover art for the 1967 Lancer paperback Conan depicts the famed scene from the story when Conan is fighting Thak, the hideous ape-creature. That may resonate in some way with fans gravitating to the story as well. But, there's no denying that it is a fantastic Conan offering and one that is certainly treasured for specific reasons.

The premise is that an aristocrat named Murilo has committed illegal affairs with foreign powers. A priest named Nabonidus, who is probably involved in the corruption as well, threatens Murilo by gifting him a box containing a co-worker's bloody ear. Murilo understands that he could be on a hit list and needs protection. Murilo visits Conan, who has been arrested for public intoxication, in the local jail. He bribes him that he will provide an escape as long as Conan agrees to kill Nabonidus that night. 

Things don't necessarily go as planned, and the subsequent events all culminate with Murilo, Conan, and Nabonidus all meeting at the priest's cavernous house. In a wild exchange, Conan and Murilo learn that Nabonidus has laid out a number of deadly traps throughout his house to enslave or kill rivals. One of these traps is a large enclosure where Thak, a wild ape-creature, prowls around. When Nabonidus' and Murilo's rivals arrive at the house, the trap is set for Thak to kill them. Again, things don't go as planned and the three are caught in their own trap with the savage Thak.

As I mentioned above, this is a great Conan story with a well designed plot considering the story's length. The political intrigue at the story's beginning propels the story, which leads to a familiar exchange between a government leader and Conan. In stories like “The Hall of the Dead” and “The God in the Bowl”, readers see that Conan is often sought after by government officials or becomes a partner in some sort of heist. This extends that theme with Conan and Murilo's mutual agreement that each needs something the other has – assassination skills and freedom. It's a wonderful criminal balance.

The complex housing structure that Nabonidus has created hosts the bulk of the story. With the addition of Thak, a wild creation by Howard, the story features the inevitable showdown between man and beast. The action is blood-soaked as Conan battles Thak with a razor sharp poniard, a scene that seemingly channels Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan, which was published 22 years before this Conan story. The government treachery, dialogue, and awe-inspiring action is a great blend that easily catapults “Rogues in the House” into the top echelon of Howard's Conan stories. Highly recommended. 

Buy a copy of this book HERE.

Killinger #01 - Killinger (aka The Turquoise-Yellow Case)

I read something online the other day that said Hell will be attempting to insert a USB into your computer for eternity. The catch is that no matter which side you place up, it will never properly fit. While that form of Hell would certainly warrant good behavior for a lifetime, I have a different version of Hell. It would require the condemned party to be placed on a small deserted island for eternity with an indestructible copy of Keith Parnell's paperback novel, and Hall of Shame inductee, Killinger. 

The front-cover blurb of the 1980 Pinnacle version, placed cleverly beside a rifle-toting, fit-as-a-fiddle Steve Holland, says this about Killinger:

“He likes his wine good, his women bad, and his enemies dead.”

What it fails to mention is that the book is nearly 250 pages in length and that anyone subjecting themselves to one page of this nonsense will suffer unimaginable horrors. This is Roadblaster bad, which is the epitome of bad literature. Whether it slides into the fiction-abomination, smelly cesspool as that novel is in the eye of the beholder, or nose of the sniffer. 

Jedediah Killinger III is retired and lives on a large yacht called Sybaris, docked in uneventful Santa Barbara, California. The boat has a secretary, a Japanese houseboy, 13 flavors of ice-cream, wood carvings of sexual positions, and lots of wine and fresh fish. In his spare time, he works as a maritime insurance investigator. Which brings him into an assignment to look into a shipping junk called Katja that was damaged at sea. Conveniently, the damaged vessel is docked near his own boat.

Killinger's investigation is basically just trying to bed down the daughter of the vessel's owner. He never leaves the dock area, has no actual purpose in the book, and just stands by eating, drinking, and partaking in intercourse with various characters. But, there's a heavy wooden crate on the damaged vessel and two people desire the crate. 

The plot is so dull and boring that it pains me to even outline it here. Two criminals, K.Y. Smith and Count Vaclav Risponyl, both want the crate. But, they feel like they must steal the crate. Think of the old roadrunner and coyote cartoon. There's elaborate attempts to steal the crate, which requires a giant crane, that end in disaster. These attempts are unintentionally comical, convoluted, and completely uninspiring. It's like how a great action installment, like Executioner or M.I.A. Hunter, would have a plot like this for about a half-page just to further the actual plot. Unfortunately, Parnell uses this simple plot for a full 250 page novel. 

Killinger should be avoided at all costs. It's tough, because Pinnacle released two versions, one in 1974 with a different cover and title as The Turquoise-Yellow Case, obviously cashing in on John D. MacDonald's nautical private-eye series Travis McGee and its color-coded naming convention. The 1980 version is simply Killinger. To add lemon juice to the wound, there is a second Killinger novel called The Rainbow-Seagreen Case. Essentially, three opportunities for you to have a Hellish reading experience. Stay alert in the book stores for this literary danger. Handle with care. See something, say something. 

Buy a copy of this book HERE 

Blood of my Brother

Roll out the red carpet. Vacuum it. Fluff it a little with the heel of your shoe. Why? The festivities are about to begin. The Hall of Shame is receiving its newest member, the 1963 paperback Blood of my Brother, written by the very talented Stephen Marlowe (real name Milton Lesser). Only, Marlowe didn't want to use his name for this turd. Instead, he used the name C.H. Thames. To rub salt in the wound, Armchair Fiction reprinted this book. 

In the opening chapter, spoiled college kid Johnny Baxter is with an unknown person cracking a safe in a mansion. Next chapter, Johnny is found floating in the ocean. Dead. His car went off of an embankment and crashed into the lake. Johnny's father is devastated and regrets some of his fatherly decisions in life. Johnny's step-brother Dave is a modest attorney in town and the star of the family. He goes to identify the body and believes his brother was murdered. 

Dave believes there is foul play because Johnny's car is turned the wrong way in the lake. That's it, that is the big piece of evidence. Pay no mind to the flask, the fact that his brother was an alcoholic, the reckless lifestyle, the fast Jaguar. Just the wrong direction in the lake. The next 129 exhausting pages consist of Dave interviewing the college faculty, Johnny's roommate, the fraternity brothers, and Johnny's father. Readers already know that Johnny was stealing money from his father, so that little little morsel is quickly chewed up and dismissed. Second, if Dave can't figure out that Johnny's roommate, Tony, is the killer, then there is no reason for him to be an attorney. Here's some clues:

1 – Tony is flatass broke. 
2 – Tony has clothes and jewelry belonging to Johnny.
3 – Tony has a freakin' gun under his bed.
4 – Tony won several medals for killing a ton of bad guys in the Korean War.
5 – Tony tells lies.
6 – Tony seems jealou....nevermind, you get the idea. TONY IS THE DAMN KILLER! 

But, Dave interviews hundreds of people and discovers that Johnny has cleverly blackmailed every one of them. He's taken photos of them doing the humpty-hump, caught them in elaborate forgeries, threatened to report cheating to the faculty, and on and on. It's ridiculous to think Johnny Baxter has this many blackmailing schemes in the works and that this little California college is hosting this many blackmailing schemes. These people aren't that interesting. But, none of it matters! Pages 12 through 141 serve absolutely no purpose whatsoever. You can read the first 12 pages and the last 9 and that's the book. Open, shut, the end. A pointless endeavor. My suspicion is that Marlowe knew this book sucked. That's why he didn't want his name associated with it. I also think that he gave his readers a secret code so they would stay away from this novel - the title. The acronym is B.O.M.B. 

It brings me great pleasure to return this book to its little plastic book condom, complete with a piece of sticky scotch tape across the horizontal flap. I have no plans to ever open it again. I'm placing it in our virtual purgatory for bad books. Thus, the Hall of Shame remains open. This book does not. 

Buy a copy of this book HERE.

Champions Wear Purple

Oklahoma native Clifton Adams authored over 50 full-length novels and around 125 short stories for the magazines and digests. His first professional sale was the short story “Champions Wear Purple”, published in Adventure in January, 1947. Being a huge fan, I tracked down a copy of the magazine online and was surprised to find that it is an Oklahoma Wildcatter boxing story. Loving both boxing and Clifton Adams, it was a match made in Heaven.

In the story, an unnamed narrator tells the reader that he's an oil-rig worker on the Woodard Wildcat. With his throat as “dry as an Arizona test hole”, he strolls into Bert Harrison's Beer Hall to tip a few pints with his co-workers. While there, a young man walks into the bar carrying an Army duffel-bag. When he orders a glass of water, the narrator steps in and offers him a drink. But, the kid says he doesn't drink, but would like to locate a man named Winters.

The narrator takes a moment to explain to “The Kid” that Winters is the old guy sitting by himself at the bar reading an out of town newspaper. The narrator explains to the reader that Winters has never been known to say a nice thing and the only time he opens his mouth is to curse at someone. The Kid walks over to Winters and introduces himself as Lee Robertson. He explains to the old man that he was in France fighting the Germans with a guy named Pete. Before he died, Pete told Robertson to find Winters because he could make a fighter out of him. Winters, shocked and dismayed to learn that Pete was killed, yells at Robertson and told him to get out. 

The narrator, feeling sorry for Robertson, chases him down in the street and offers him a job on the oil-rig. While Roberson contemplates joining the crew, the narrator advises readers that Winters and Pete were like father and son, and that Winters was Pete's boxing trainer. Upon the verge of becoming the light-heavyweight champion of the world, the war came along and took Pete away. Now, Pete is dead and Winters is left to ponder what might have been. Robertson agrees to join the oil-rig crew, but also takes an offer to fight in the town's arena. 

Robertson becomes the local boxing hero and a real friend for the wildcatters. They make Robertson their new hero and he earns their accolades by knocking out the competition on regular Wednesday night fight cards. Winters on the other hand despises Robertson and won't offer a single word of encouragement to the young man. At the bar one night, the bets begin rolling when Winters finally says, “There's a man in Hobartsville he can't beat.” Winters bets all of them that Robertson will lose to the fighter. The match is then set and Robertson discovers that the Hobartsville fighter is a former pro that almost became a world champion. With his respect and fistfuls of cash on the line, will Robertson beat this seasoned, experienced opponent?

There was so much to enjoy about this story and I love how it all ties into a purple ring robe. In just a few pages, Adams forces the reader to care about these characters. There are a number of underlying elements that make this story exceptional. First and foremost, the idea that Winters only hates Robertson due to Pete dying. He nearly begs for it to have occurred the other way around with Pete living and Roberson dying. Second, I love that Robertson, despite being floored by Winters' disrespect, still soldiers on and continues his dream. The in-ring action was superb with a number of rounds described in great detail. If you love boxing, you will appreciate these swift scenes. 

From the narrator's cool, laid-back presentation to Robertson's fighting skills, "Champions Wear Purple" is a real treat. Despite it being his first published work, it is easy to spot Adams' storytelling talents. He was destined for greatness and this story is just a small preview of what was to come. You can read the entire Adventure issue, including this story, for free: 

Paperback Warrior Primer - Edward S. Aarons

Author Edward S. Aarons is mostly associated with his long-running and successful series Assignment, starring a CIA agent named Sam Durell. However, Aarons was extremely prolific in the decades prior to his Assignment books. In today's Paperback Warrior Primer, we reveal who Edward S. Aarons is and delve into his remarkable literary career. 

Edward Sidney Aarons was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1916. He attended Columbia University and gained degrees in both literature and history. At the young age of 17, Aarons had his hands in writing short stories while also working through college as a newspaper reporter and a fisherman. This experience probably lends itself to his crime-noir novels, which typically feature reporters and/or fishing towns in the Northeast.

By the end of the 1930s, Aarons had three full-length novels written - Death in a Lighthouse (aka Cowl of Doom), Murder Money, (aka $1 Million in Corpses), and The Corpse Hangs High. These novels were published by Phoenix Press and authored under the name Edward Ronns. 

Like most of the mid-20th Century authors, Aarons served in WW2. He was part of the U.S. Navy between 1941-1945 and reached the rank of Chief Petty officer. During his military service, Aarons sold a lot of his short stories to the pulps. He was featured in the late 1930s and 1940s pulps like Thrilling Detective, Angel Detective, Detective Story Magazine, Complete Detective, etc. According to Crime Mystery and Gangster Fiction Magazine Index, I found 92 short stories listed from the 30s through the 50s under the name Edward Ronns. Needless to say, by the time Aarons was discharged from the Coast Guard in 1945 he transitioned smoothly into full-time writing. 

In 1947, his hardcover Terror in the Town was published. It was later reprinted in 1964, complete with a suspenseful, horror-styled cover. I had the opportunity to review it for the blog HERE. In 1947 and 1948, Aarons wrote two novels starring Jerry Benedict, a newspaper cartoonist who functions as a private-eye. The first one was called Lady, the Guy is Dead, which would also be printed as No Place to Live. The second book was called Gift of Death and I had the opportunity to review it HERE. Like Terror in the Town, Aarons used a distinct atmosphere with moonlit graves, dark cornfields and a weird menace styled-subplot involving a family curse. Also in 1948 Aarons saw his novel Nightmare published internationally. I also have a review of that novel HERE.

Up until 1950, each of Aarons' published novels listed his name as Edward Ronns. But, in 1950 he used the pseudonym of Paul Ayres to contribute to the Casey, Crime Photographer series created by George Harmon Coxe. The series installment was Dead Heat. In 1951, his novel The Net was published by Graphic and reviewed HERE. Most of the author's 1950s crime-noir novels were published by the top crime-fiction company at the time - Fawcett Gold Medal. They published stuff like Escape to Love, Passage to Terror, Come Back, My Love, The Sinners, Catspaw Ordeal, The Decoy and so forth. But at the same time, Aarons was also being published by Harlequin, Graphic and Avon. In 1950, he had five novels published, two in 1951, two in 1952, two in 1953, and then one more in 1954. 

It is remarkable to think that Edward S. Aarons had 20 novels published before he really struck gold. His career trajectory is very similar to John D. MacDonald. Aarons honed his craft in the pulps and wrote stand-alone novels until he was ready to launch a series character that carried him financially for the rest of his career. For Aarons, this was his Assignment series starring CIA operative Sam Durrell and published by Fawcet Gold Medal.

The first series installment is Assignment to Disaster, published in 1955. After the debut, the series ran for 48 installments through 1983. Each book in the Assignment is mostly a stand alone title - the original printings weren’t even numbered. The series hero, Sam Durrell, is a Cajun from Louisiana who left the swamps to attend Yale. It's there that he learned several foreign languages. Later, he served in WW2 in the OSS - which was the real-life precursor to the CIA. When readers first meet Sam in 1955, he’s an operative in the CIA’s espionage division.

Each novel is a single assignment for Sam. He needs to carry out each mission for the CIA, with his adversaries generally being the Soviets, the Chinese, or one of their client states. Many of the books provide the setting in the title: Assignment Bangkok, Assignment Peking, Assignment Budapest, etc. Others are named after the sexy vixens Sam encounters on his adventure: Assignment Helene, Assignment Madeline, Assignment Zorya, etc. Sam meets a lot of different people trying to get his mission off the ground, and they all join forces to succeed. Assignment is like a combination of Nick Carter: Killmaster and Matt Helm. Better than Killmaster, not as good as Helm. 

Edward S. Aarons wrote the first 42 Assigntment installments up until his death. His last book, Assignment Afghan Dragon, was released post-humously in 1976. Then, also in 1976, the 43rd installment, Assignment Sheeba, was released under the by-line of Will B. Aarons - the brother of  Edward. There were six Assignment books under the Will Aarons name released through 1983. There are two important things to know about the Will Aarons installments.

First, series fans generally agree that these books don't possess the same quality. Second, Will Aarons didn't author these books. He hired a ghost writer named Lawrence Hall to write them. This mystery was crowdsourced and solved on the Mystery File website, and you can read the sequence of edits to their article solving this authorship HERE.

But, aside from the Assignment installments, Edward Aarons was able to sprinkle in another 10 unrelated novels through 1962. Some of these were based on screenplays like Hell to Eternity, published in 1960 and reviewed HERE.

Edward Sidney Aarons died from a heart ailment in New Milford, Connecticut in 1975 at the young age of 58. His obituary in the NY Times stated that his Assignment books sold more than 23 million copies and were reprinted in 17 languages. Get his books HERE.

Cop with Wings

In 1950, Bruno Fischer became a success story with his bestselling novel House of Flesh. Prior to that, Fischer was concentrating on writing full-length mysteries while also contributing to the dime magazines and pulps. He authored hundreds of stories in the 1930s and 1940s for magazines like Dime Mystery, Dime Detective, and Black Mask. I recently located a July, 1946 issue of Mammoth Detective and was happy to find a Bruno Fischer story inside. 

Fischer's "Cop with Wings" is a 5,600 word short story with illustrations by H.W. McCauley. In the story, Van Sheridan is the protagonist, a bold detective sergeant working in a crime-infested town. The city's town hall and most of the businesses and interworking are controlled by a savvy criminal named Peter Holland. Sheridan has butted heads with Holland before, but on this night it's over something unexpected.

Tonight, Van Sheridan and his girlfriend Emily are in Peter's house asking for his marriage blessing. Confused? Emily is Peter's daughter. Van Sheridan is forced to swallow his pride, accept a partial defeat, and ask his nemesis for a marriage blessing. Peter is outraged by the request and angrily advises Emily that she won't receive a penny of his fortune if she marries Van Sheridan. Further, Peter swears that he controls the city's police force and that Van Sheridan will be fired. After the heated argument, Emily asks Van Sheridan to leave the house and that she will discuss the affair with Peter alone.

As Van Sheridan is leaving the house, he overhears Peter telling Emily that she is "messing around with other men..." Contemplating the accusation, Van Sheridan strolls the streets and decides to go back to the house. In the drive, Van Sheridan overhears Peter yelling at someone before the booming sound of a gunshot. Racing into the house, Van Sheridan discovers Emily is standing over a dead man. Shockingly, he also sees Peter holding the smoking gun.

This was such an effective story and Fischer's writing is top-notch. I found the character development as a smooth presentation that changed the roles significantly by the story's end. Fischer's ability to transform this simple "whodunit" into a riveting mystery is reliant on the key statement of "...other men." Just that simple piece of dialogue creates a completely different narrative. The reader is aligned with Emily, but then doubt and suspicion quickly sweep in to create emotional confusion. This is just brilliant writing and I loved the way it was presented. You can read this story for free HERE.