Ladyfingers

Shepard Rifkin was a New Yorker born in 1918 whose writing career began in 1956 as the author of several western paperbacks. He shifted gears in 1969 to pen a grisly police procedural mystery called Ladyfingers that remains available today as a $3 ebook. After much searching, I could find no record of Mr. Rifkin’s death, so my hope is that he is enjoying a spry and fulfilling life somewhere at age 100-something.

Rifkin’s best-known novel is his 1970 mystery titled The Murderer Vine set in the shadow of the American civil rights movement. The publication of Ladyfingers preceded The Murderer Vine by about a year and also displayed Rifkin’s interest in the American minority experience by casting our narrator and hero as NYPD Detective Pablo Sanchez, an American of Puerto Rican descent. After orchestrating a large heroin bust in East Harlem, Detective Sanchez is summoned to his boss’ office for a new assignment.

The Police Commissioner (a position historically held by Teddy Roosevelt) has received two small packages each containing a severed finger of an unknown woman. The quality of the manicure makes it unlikely that the digits were from indigent corpses used as med school cadavers. Where is the rest of the woman? Why send the fingers to the Police Commissioner without any demands? Despite a successful, but unremarkable, history as a narcotics officer, Sanchez is assigned the case, and he immediately feels that he’s over his head. His narration concerning his frequent missteps are quite funny.

Sanchez’s humble narration is a total joy to read and is in direct contrast with the cocksure heroes most of these novels feature. He’s a funny, self-deprecating narrator, and Rifkin’s excellent prose makes it all come together quite nicely. The supporting cast is filled with colorful New York characters, and every scene really pops. The investigative steps that Sanchez takes seem credible and realistic while still being entertaining. Fans of Ed McBain’s 87th Precinct police procedurals will feel right at home with Ladyfingers. Recommended.

Buy a copy of this book HERE

The Captive

American author Norman Daniels (real name Norman Danberg, 1905-1995) is best known for re-introducing pulp hero Black Bat in 1939. Daniels authored a number of short stories featuring the character for Black Book Detective. Arguably, Black Bat was the catalyst for DC Comics' iconic Batman. Along with Black Bat, Daniels contributed stories for dozens of pulp magazines like Shadow, Gangster Stories, Thrilling Publications and All Detective. The author's post-pulp career was immensely successful as Daniels utilized a number of pseudonyms to write crime-noir and adventure paperbacks for a variety of publishers. My introduction to Daniels is the 1959 Avon paperback The Captive, which is now available in both digital and paperback editions through Cutting Edge.

Jeff Castle is a WW2 veteran who now lives a quiet life in Africa as a big-game hunter. Upon hearing that his estranged grandfather is dying, Castle arrives on New York's East Side to pay his respects. After stopping in at a local bar for a drink, Castle is seduced by a sultry woman named Alma. After an afternoon of lovemaking at the woman's apartment, Castle steps out to buy a few drinks. Upon his return he discovers that Alma has been strangled to death. In my crime-noir experiences, The Captive was shaping up as a stereotypical “innocent man flees the corpse” novel. Thankfully, Norman Daniels had some interesting variations in store for the reader.

After fleeing the scene, Castle vows to find Alma's murderer. But Castle's quest for vengeance is sidelined when his grandfather advises him that he's the sole heir to his vast fortune. The heart of the estate is 60 small hotels and inns scattered throughout the state. As if it was a dire warning, Castle's grandfather, on his deathbed, pleads that nobody will take the fortune and asks Castle to fight for what is his. Questioning his grandfather's dying wish, Castle begins investigating the hotels he now owns. Shockingly, he discovers that all of the properties are full-staffed brothels.

Digging into the accounting ledgers, Castle discovers a complex earning schedule of rental income and the proceeds from properties' illegal affairs. After attempting to remove prostitutes from one of the larger hotels, Castle is brutally tortured and beaten in a cold dark basement. The Syndicate warns Castle that he may own the properties, but they control and operate all of the affairs. As the plot thickens, Castle learns that Alma's murder may have ties to the Syndicate's warning. In his quest to avenge Alma's murder, Castle finds that he's fighting the mob head-on.

First and foremost, Normal Daniels is an average writer. When compared to mid-20th century contemporaries like Charles Williams, Gil Brewer or John D. MacDonald, there is an obvious shortfall in the prose’s quality. Daniels' dialogue sequences are the heaviest casualty. With that being said, The Captive is still an engaging, thoroughly enjoyable literary work. The pace is brisk and both Castle and a few side characters are really engaging. I particularly enjoyed the author's connection from mobsters to the big-game hunting that Castle is familiar with. In a way it reminded me of the 1951 novel The Killer by Wade Miller (Robert Wade, Bill Miller). The narrative's twists and turns through Castle's new estate left me curious and wholly surprised. Further, I was ecstatic to find Daniels flesh out a familiar opening concept.

With The Captive, Norman Daniels pulls no punches – this is a violent crime yarn from cover to cover. You can buy your copy of the book HERE

Recoil

Oklahoma native Jim Thompson (1906-1977) began authoring his brand of violent, hardboiled crime-fiction in the late 1940s. His 1952 novel, The Killer Inside Me, is regarded as a mid-century genre classic. Often the author's work was written in a fast-paced, unbridled style rich with anti-heroes, sociopaths and violent criminals who serve as story protagonists. In his efforts to push the boundaries of the average paperback, Thompson's craftsmanship is widely respected by literary critics yet is often criticized for his abstract delivery. Case in point is the 1953 novel Recoil originally published by Lion Books.

The story's protagonist, Patrick Cosgrove, is first introduced to readers on his last day of a fifteen year prison sentence at Sandstone State Reformatory. In flashback sequences, it's explained that Patrick had a wild bank robbing accident while deer hunting (gives new meaning to chasing bucks). As a product of the 1950s, the law of that era specifically required someone to mentor or accept the responsibility of taking a reformed prisoner under their wing. Without it, the prisoner stays confined. Patrick doesn't have any friends or family, so he wrote to hundreds of companies asking for employment. After months of silence, Dr. Luther, a psychologist and political lobbyist, responds to Patrick's letter in the form of a job proposal. After his release, Patrick goes to work for Dr. Luther and that's where things become unusual.

Unconditionally, Luther provides free room, food and a car to Patrick. Additionally, he pays him $250/month to be a town surveyor...but provides no real instruction. Confused, Patrick drives around all day and attempts to avoid the seedy side of town. Later, Luther's sexy and flamboyant wife throws herself at Patrick. Instead of restricting the behavior, Luther encourages it! It's as if Thompson just purposefully defies the genre's traditions despite the overall absurdity of the situation. When Patrick hires a private investigator to learn more about Luther and Lila, smoking guns, car chases and corpses begin populating Thompson's otherwise flat, one-dimensional prose.

I wasn't sure what to make of Recoil. My first impression was to fling the book across the room, but then realized I had hardwood floors and the Kindle version. Jim Thompson proves that everyone should do a short, preliminary search to obtain a book's general public reception. Recoil is mostly panned by readers, and I'm only contributing to that consensus. Like an old, rusty Volkswagen, I start and stop repeatedly when I venture into this author's lane. Artistically, there's nothing to celebrate in this paperback. It is filled with awkward scenes that not only fail to entertain, but are just confusing to the reader. Yet somehow I stuck around like some interstate rubbernecker just wanting carnage satisfaction.

In closing, here's a scene summary that is indicative of everything wrong here:

Patrick finds a dead body in an office building late at night. Fearing that he himself will be a suspect in the murder, he attacks the night guard and attempts to stuff the corpse in the backseat of his car.

It's this kind of stuff that brings Recoil ridiculously close to the Paperback Warrior Hall of Shame. Steer clear of this book at all costs.

Buy a copy of this book HERE

Paperback Warrior Podcast - Episode 34

Paperback Warrior Podcast Episode 34 explores the violent and sexy world of Men’s Adventure Magazines and the upstart publishing company  reprinting the stories and art for modern audiences. We review the best anthologies compiling the content from these oddball publications of the 1950s and 1960s. Check it out on your favorite podcast app or stream below. Download directly HERE.

Listen to "Episode 34: Men's Adventure Magazines" on Spreaker.

Hell-Bent for Danger

There is sparse information available today about the life of mid 20th Century author Walt Grove. I speculate that he probably served as a pilot during WW2, evidenced by his aviator-themed novels like Down and The Joy Boys. Perhaps he's best known for his novelization of The Wings of Eagles, a 1957 aviation-war film starring John Wayne and directed by John Ford. My first experience with Walt Grove's small literary catalog is Hell-Bent for Danger, a paperback published by Fawcett Gold Medal in 1950. The novel was expanded from a 1949 short-story appearing in Colliers magazine.

Grove's opening chapter reads like vintage Gil Brewer in its presentation of a heated domestic dispute between main character Robert Warren and his wife Nancy. Feeling restrained in the cold cell block of marriage, Warren's response to his wife's request to return a package to a local department store is awe-inspiring. From the driver's window, Warren throws the package and it's spilled belongings onto the family's lawn as a horrified Nancy watches on. Quickly peeling out of the driveway, readers suddenly learn that this suburban married man and father has reached his breaking point.

Through Grove's skilled hands, Hell-Bent for Danger is like a psychological study of man's downward spiral. As a fighter pilot in WW2, Warren often wishes he could relive one more thrilling bombing run (perhaps a sentiment shared by the author?). His distressed mind even fathoms a new society where working men and women are pitted against savage lions before boarding trains and buses – the ultimate survival of the fittest every weekday morning. But thankfully, Warren's life takes a drastic turn when his old Colonel, a lowly drifter named Bobo, shows up to borrow money.

It's abundantly clear that the author enjoyed stretching Warren's emotional guy-wires tighter and tighter as the narrative threads shift into a surprisingly new setting. Bobo wants Warren to help finance a transcontinental air-shipping business. The goal is to begin a thriving new adventure, but primarily it's so both Warren and Bobo can experience the exhilaration of flying again. The issue is that Bobo's lover Annie is young, sexy and available for Warren's repressed sexual desires. Warren wants to rediscover the thrill of living, yet teeters on a balance beam between lusting for Annie or chasing high altitudes with his friend and former Colonel. Through a roller-coaster of emotions, Grove's narrative explores lust, life's complacency and even criminal intent high over the Canadian Rockies.

Hell-Bent for Danger isn't necessarily a crime-noir. It reads more like a tight, romantic-thriller but retains enough action and masculinity to attract crime-fiction readers. It's clear that Walt Grove was an incredibly gifted storyteller, and I’m curious why his literary career stopped at just a handful of paperback originals. Based on my small sampling size, we were surely cheated out of what would have been an outstanding, robust literary catalog. Hell-Bent for Danger is an outstanding novel despite it's genre misplacement.

Buy a copy of this book HERE

Able Team #01 - Tower of Terror

With The Executioner's overwhelming retail success, it was just a matter of time before publisher Gold Eagle would expand the Mack Bolan universe. In June 1982, Gold Eagle launched two successful spinoff series - Able Team and Phoenix Force. The publisher used The Executioner's creator, Don Pendleton, on the covers of the first three novels of each series as a co-author. Of course Pendleton had no hand in the writing, it was only a marketing scheme to lure consumers familiar with the Pendleton name. Instead, house names were assigned to each series: Gar Wilson for Phoenix Force and Dick Stivers for Able Team. Like the later Bolan installments, the books were really penned by a revolving door of authors. We're examining the debut Able Team book, Tower of Terror, authored by L.R. Payne. It was the first of 51 total series installments.

In the Vietnam War, Sergeant Mack Bolan commanded a special forces unit called Team Able. Much later, Bolan's crusade against the mafia warranted Bolan to call upon his old team again. These events occurred in The Executioner #02: Death Squad. Unfortunately, the entire team was killed in that battle except Bolan, Rosario “ Politician” Blancanales and Herman “Gadgets” Schwarz. Both of these former members have served Bolan periodically throughout his war (and the book series). Carl Lyons is a former Los Angels Police Sergeant that became Bolan's ally during his West Coast mob fight. Under the direction of Bolan and Stony Farm director Hal Brognola, these three men combine as a trio to fight criminal cells within the U.S. Thus, Able Team is born.

In the series debut, a Puerto Rican terrorist group called FALN have claimed a Wall Street skyscraper. Thankfully, they chose to do this on a Saturday morning when the building is mostly empty. Quickly the terrorists commandeer the facility and plant bombs on nearly every floor. A Vietnam Vet turned business executive ushers a dozen employees to safety on one of the building's higher floors and the call goes out that the building is wired to blow. The NYPD calls the FBI who then calls Stony Man to get Able Team on the scene.

The problem lies in the fact that Able Team spends 160-pages of this 187-page novel running all over town hunting clues on who the terrorists are. Mercifully, they arrive at the building as the book closes but only have a brief encounter with the primary villains. This is acceptable if the hunting was more of a character developing storyline that delved into police procedural. Maybe it is my love of mid 20th Century crime-noir, but I found the investigation to be a sluggish exercise with very little to offer readers. Gadgets played with gadgets, Lyons rode around in a cab and Politician seemed like an unnecessary character here.

Needless to say, I hated this book. I counted the pages down just hoping it would end or the book would spontaneously combust. It isn't Hall of Shame material, but it is safe to say Able Team was unable to fulfill my reading pleasure. Perhaps another author will produce a different result. I'm in no hurry to find out.

Buy a copy of this book HERE

Adam Steele #01 - Rebels and Assassins Die Hard

Terry Harknett is a British author that specialized in writing violent, sometimes humorous western novels. By using a variety of pseudonyms, Harknett is one of the most dominant authors of the western genre. His most prolific work is the 61-book Edge series, the 27-book Apache series and the subject at hand, the 49-book run of Adam Steele novels. In fact, after Harknett's phenomenal success with Edge, the Pinnacle publisher was clamoring for another series in the same style. In 1974, the debut Adam Steele novel arrived with the title Rebels and Assassins Die Hard. Harknett's pseudonym was the same one used on the Edge series, George G. Gilman.

The story begins with the assassination of Abraham Lincoln at the Ford Theater in Washington, DC. With the town stirred up, three guys in a bar start targeting anyone with a southern accent. After brutally beating an older patron, the trio, with the help of the bartender, accuse a defenseless old-timer with providing Lincoln's assassin with the proverbial smoking gun. Despite the victim's pleas of innocence, the foursome cruelly hang him in the bar.

Adam Steele arrives in town and quickly learns about Lincoln's murder. He chances on the same bar and finds the old-timer still hanging in the saloon. After Adam gets a closer look at the victim, he gains some information from the bartender regarding the identities of the hangmen. Then shockingly, he tells the bartender that the man they hung was his father! After shooting the bartender pointblank in the belly, Adam rides back to the old family farm to bury his father.

Things get really interesting at this point in the narrative. First, Steele has a confrontation with his childhood best friend Bishop, now a deputy. Adam is a wanted man, which is like blood in the water for a cold-blooded bounty hunter named Lovell. While that narrative comes to fruition, another thread has the Army searching for the assassins involved in Lincoln's assassination. This leads them into a enthralling head-on collision with both Bishop and Lovell, the hangmen and Adam Steele.

This debut entry is just a remarkable western tale. There are so many narratives weaved together, yet it's presented seamlessly under Harknett's experienced hand. Just when I thought the frantic pace would slow, a new adventure would quickly begin. By story's end, Adam Steele resembled an enjoyable Fargo installment. There's even a small The Most Dangerous Game thread as Adam is hunted through the mountains by Native Americans led by a deranged British Captain. To say this is an unorthodox western is an understatement.

Terry Harknett's debut Adam Steele novel is a mandatory read for genre fans. Buy your copy HERE.