Former World War 2 paratrooper Charles E. Fritch (1927-2012) was mostly known as an author of science fiction short stories, but he also served as editor of “Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine” from 1979 to 1985. He wrote a couple crime novels under the pseudonyms of Eric Thomas and Christopher Sly, and half of an Ace double from 1959 titled “Negative of a Nude” under his own name.
Mark Wonder, our narrator, is a Los Angeles private eye taking pictures of a philandering husband on the beach with a younger woman. He meets a hot redhead named Cherry, who turns out to be an off-duty stripper, and takes her back to his place. Just as Mark is about to get lucky with the babe, a crazy sequence of events occurs (no spoilers, here), and Mark finds himself without the girl or the film from his camera bag.
Meanwhile, Mark has another photographic-related mystery to solve. A new client is being blackmailed by someone threatening to release nudie pics of the client’s wife. The client wants the Mark to identify the blackmailer and recover the negatives before the wife’s private parts become a public record.
Of course, the mysterious photographic happenings evolve into a murder mystery with a wrongfully-accused man needing to clear his name. Mark is a very enjoyable, wise-cracking private eye to join for 140 pages, and the novel is sexy, breezy, enjoyable fun. There were a few to many characters to keep track of, but mostly I enjoyed the heck out of “Negative of a Nude” and want to read more of Fritch’s work.
Postscript
Author James Reasoner worked with Charles Fritch when Reasoner was a regular contributor to Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine. Reasoner recalls, “Sam Merwin Jr. was the editor when I broke in there, followed by Larry Shaw, who came and went so fast I never had any contact with him, then Chuck [Fritch] for the rest of the magazine's run. Chuck was Sam's assistant when I started and I assume was still there for Shaw's brief tenure before taking over himself. Wonderful, wonderful guy. He got out of editing after MSMM folded and wound up working at the California DMV for many years. I reconnected with him on-line the last couple of years of his life and was glad I did. He also wrote short stories under the name Chester H. Carlfi, an anagram of his real name.”
“Negative of a Nude” has slipped into the public domain and reprints are available in hardcover or paperback from Fiction House Press, a company that really should be sending Paperback Warrior free review copies of their excellent output.
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You’re in for a real treat this episode as Tom discusses his favorite series of all time, the Matt Helm books by Donald Hamilton. Eric reviews “Death Squad #1” by Dan Streib while Tom covers the inspiration for the movie “Bullitt” starring Steve McQueen, a paperback titled “Mute Witness” by Robert Pike. Stream below or on your favorite podcast service. Download directly at (LINK).
Listen to "Episode 18: Matt Helm" on Spreaker.
Author George Fennell is a former US Army Special Services Security Agent. While little is known about him, he did author a two-book series starring US Army Special Forces Captain Mike Brent. Both were printed by Pinnacle in 1970 and caters to the men's action-adventure consumer who enjoys cover art riddled with bullets, bombs and bravado. I enjoyed the debut book, “Blood Patrol” and was hoping that the sequel would be just as enjoyable. Did it deliver the goods?
“Killer Patrol” drops Mike Brent and his first Lieutenant Hans Schmidt (the only two survivors from the debut) into Costa Verde for a Latin American undercover adventure. The US is facing backlash from the United Nations due to a revolutionary band of guerrillas using signature American firearms, the M-16 and M-60. However, US intelligence is reporting that these weapons are being manufactured by Russia and supplied to the fighters as a means to smear the US name while maintaining communist influence in the region. Brent and Schmidt are assigned to trace the supply train and destroy it.
If I were asked to introduce genre newbies to 70s men's action-adventure, I'd certainly entertain “Killer Patrol” as a logical choice. It's short, explosive and maintains a furious pace. Further, it runs the gambit of every mandatory genre trope – sex, espionage, gunfights, explosions. But, it's also so symbolic of the genre. Consider this: in one fell swoop, Fennell delivers an underwater detonation of a submarine, a climactic train battle, a nautical boat battle, interrogation/torture (they are the same in these types of books), a prisoner escape and an aerial battle while still dedicating the entire third chapter to sex. Incredible!
While “Blood Patrol” was nearly perfect, the last chapters of the novel suffered with too much stimulation in one place. Here, Fennell seems to have a little more space with moving targets in a coastal country. The dialogue exchanges between Fennell and Schmidt are darkly hilarious, but still conveys a violent aura. In terms of violence, this one rivals any Bolan body-count by allowing the heroic duo to utilize a variety of firearms. It's like one of those video games where the player just grabs victim's guns and keeps charging on.
“Killer Patrol” is fun, over-the-top and insanely addictive. Unfortunately, these two books comprise the entire series. Pinnacle canceled the novels shortly after publication. I'll never fully understand how a series like 'Death Merchant' could be wildly successful while these novels just fell by the wayside. It's one of the more frustrating aspects of reading these old books. Nevertheless, you'll have a blast with this short-lived series.
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“The Thrill Killers” was the third and final installment in the short-lived 'Super Cop Joe Blaze' series from Belmont Tower. All three novels were released in 1974 under house name Robert Novak. The authors of the first two books are a mystery, with some guessing it was either Nelson DeMille or Paul Hofrichter. However, it's a fact that Len Levinson ('The Rat Bastards') authored “The Thrill Killers.” Len advised Paperback Warrior that it was his fifth published novel and it is “probably a little rough around the edges.”
In an interview with the Glorious Trash blog, Levinson admits that “The Thrill Killers” wasn't originally a Joe Blaze novel. The first two books feature Sergeant Blaze working with his partner Nuthall and Captain Coogan. Neither of those two characters are in “The Thrill Killers.” Instead, Nuthall is swapped for a character named Olivero. Additionally, this third installment unveils that Blaze is divorced from a woman named Anna. The main character remains gruff and savage although he's now packing a Browning 9mm instead of the old-school revolver he survived with in the series' first two books. The displaced continuity is simply because Levinson had written a totally different character for an unnamed series. Belmont Tower editor Peter McCurtin insisted that Levinson just change the name to Joe Blaze and submit it. Thus, “The Thrill Killers” forever exists as a Joe Blaze novel.
Under the skilled hands of Levinson, Joe Blaze #3 is written as more of a police procedural. There are a number of suspects, locations and side-stories that add a more dynamic, mystery approach compared to the “all guns, all glory” approach to the prior novels. In this installment, New York City's nurses are being targeted by two sexually charged lunatics. The perps rape women in a VW van before cutting the victims’ throats and dumping the bodies. Levinson's writing has never been for the squeamish, and this is no exception.
Blaze dons his gumshoes and hits the streets searching for clues while breaking every rule in the book. His hot-headed temperament leads to bar fights, gang assaults and a fairly intense parking garage shootout. Between eating sausage and pepper sandwiches, he has a one night stand with a middle-aged woman and ponders his life as a cop. There's an elevated violence in Levinson's writing style, with pushers and peddlers adding a seedy, authentic element to the trashy New York streets of the 1970s. Surprisingly, the book's finale is in a courtroom...imagine that.
Overall, “The Thrill Killers” was an entertaining conclusion to this quite satisfying police series, and it’s an easy recommendation to readers of violent adventure fiction of the 1970s.
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Carter Brown, real name Alan Yates, was an English-born Australian writer who authored over 300 short mysteries. His stirring, sultry formula starred three interchangeable investigators in Al Wheeler, Danny Boyd and Rick Holman. Occasionally his work would dabble in supernatural themes that were easily debunked and solved in the book's finale. “The Lady is Transparent”, published in 1962 by Signet, adheres to that consistently fun formula.
Lieutenant Al Wheeler becomes a ghostbusting investigator after receiving a call from the county sheriff. There's been a murder on an eerie locale called Old Canyon Road at the top of Bald Mountain. With a fiery crescendo of thunder and lightning, Wheeler arrives at the sweeping Gothic mansion in the forest. His welcoming host is Justine Harvey, a beautiful vixen adorned in a skimpy white gown. Wheeler's lust for the woman nearly supersedes his assignment.
Through a spacious network of halls and rooms, Justine leads Wheeler to an immensely large door that's locked from the inside. Justine explains that her family heard a scream from inside, and they feel that “The Gray Lady” killed Henry Slocombe behind the door. Wheeler, ignoring the folklore, shoots the lock out and indeed finds Slocombe dead in bed with wounds that appear to have been created by a wild animal.
Confined in the locked room mystery genre tropes, Wheeler interviews all of the home's residents. He learns that wealthy Ellis Harvey owns the home. Ellis has allowed his brother Ben to reside there along with Justine, her equally attractive sister Martha, and a planned groomsman for Martha in George Farrow. Wheeler concentrates his efforts on learning more about Martha's dead lover Slocombe and Ellis' arrangement for Martha to marry George.
The supernatural aspect of Carter Brown's novel is The Gray Lady, the ghost of a dead woman who haunts the room where Slocombe was murdered. Further, Slocombe was entranced by the folklore and kept a tape recorder running in the room. The audio results are surprisingly convincing – there was definitely a mysterious woman in the room. The questions abound – who is she, how did she get in and is she truly the dead woman's ghost?
At 120-pages, “The Lady is Transparent” delivers the patented Carter Brown experience. With Wheeler's obligatory scotch and skirt-chasing, he stumbles his way through a locked room/haunted house mystery permeated with scorned love, jealousy and greed. It's an atmospheric, entertaining quick read that delivered what the author intended – a sexy, whodunit romp.
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It appears that in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Bantam Books launched their “Bantam War Book” line of military-fiction paperbacks. In my research, Lyle Kenyon Engel packaged previously published novels from Ballantine and Bantam into reprints catering to military history fans and readers. In some cases these were brand new titles as with 1982’s “The Double Cross Squadron” by unknown author William Parker Evans. Copyright research seems to support the theory that Evans was a real person, but there's no evidence to suggest he wrote any other books. Whether Evans or someone else authored this book is anyone's guess. We may never find the answer, but what we do know is that “The Double Cross Squadron” kicks total ass.
The novel follows five special agents working for British intelligence in 1941, months after the Battle of Britain. These men, and one woman, are led by John King and have been intensively trained to be pilots in Germany's Third Reich Air Force. Hitting the Germans internally, through a strategic network known as Operation Eros, the “Double Cross Squadron” gain access to important German secrets used to thwart the Nazis. Interestingly, as much as this looks and feels like a daring WWII adventure tale, it's really a heist book in disguise.
King and company learn that the Nazis are importing a large shipment of industrial diamonds from Amsterdam. The Allies need the diamonds to continue manufacturing weapons – whoever has the most industrial diamonds can make the most sophisticated weaponry. An elaborate plan is hatched to intercept the diamonds during transfer. To make a successful getaway, King disguises himself as a German Commander, risks his team's lives, and jeopardizes the network of underground operatives that support him.
I can't give away too much in this review because I don't want to rob you of the enjoyment you'll surely receive by reading this novel. Evans, whoever he might be, is a superb writer and transforms what could have been a rather dry, complicated spy story into a fun, easy-read paperback ripe with humor and compelling characters. The author creates a unique “casino for spies” that really helps lighten the mood. Also, there's an unforgettable knitting scene between four Nazis in a bar...believe me you don't want to miss that.
“The Double Cross Squadron” should be on your shopping list. I'm hoping the other Bantam War Books are as equally entertaining. This one was a real treat and deserves a wider audience.
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Lawrence Cerri (1923-1987) wrote a number of war novels in the 70s and early 80s under the pseudonym Lawrence Cortesi. As a veteran himself, serving in the South Pacific Theater during WWII, Cerri's literary work is somewhat technical, constructing timelines, battle plans and scenarios within the detailed ranks and divisions that participated. While fictional, this New York author had a real expertise of the subject matter, relying on veterans and families' accounts to document his novels. My first experience with Cerri is the 1979 Belmont Tower paperback “Rogue Sergeant”.
The protagonist is battle-ridden Private Mike Renna, a three-year veteran of WWII. Distinguishing himself with a Purple Heart, the Silver Star and a Bronze Star, Renna was promoted three times to Sergeant. Each time Renna went AWOL, refused orders or generally just refused to conform to military hierarchy. From Normandy to the Battle of the Bulge, Cerri's novel is really just a five-month account of Renna's service.
“Rogue Sergeant” isn't the rousing men's WWII adventure novel I was expecting. Most of the action takes place during the book's last 20-pages. If this was a lightweight, early Belmont novel at 154-pages, the author may have effectively gained a foothold. But at 220-pages, this is a slow-burn chore as Renna gains an injury and recuperates repeatedly through the plodding narrative. Thankfully, the only saving grace is a romance tale buried in the counterfeit bravado – not a real attribute here at Paperback Warrior.
Other than this novel, I have one other Cerri paperback, 1978's “Escape from Mindanao”. Based on the quality of “Rogue Sergeant”, I'm in no hurry to read it.
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