Maneaters: Killer Sharks in Men's Adventure Magazines

Both Robert Deis and Wyatt Doyle have been doing God's work. Their collaboration on art coffee-table books like The Art of Samson Pollen (Pollen's Women, Pollen's Action, Pollen In Print), Eva: Men's Adventure Supermodel, and Mort Kunstler: The Godfather of Pulp Fiction Illustrators is nothing short of spectacular. But, my favorite of their collaborations is the series titled Men's Adventure Library Journal (New Texture). These books showcase not only great artwork from vintage Men's Adventure Magazines (MAMs) but also the fictional stories that accompanied them. We've covered a number of these titles here and on the podcast. Books like Barbarians on Bikes, Cuba: Suger, Sex, and Slaughter and He-Men, Bag Men & Nymphos. 

The latest entry in the Men's Adventure Library Journal series is Maneaters: Killer Sharks in Men's Adventure Magazines. The book is available in both hardcover (196 pgs) and softcover (172 pgs) editions. This collection features three decades of thrilling vintage shark stories, all complimented by vividly colorful, awe-inspiring artwork one would expect from the Men's Adventure Magazines. 

Inside, Deis' preface and Doyle's "Death Has Sharp Teeth" introductions outline the book's purpose and how sharks became the most common "man versus animal" stories in MAMs. They proved to be the best adversary, an underwater villain that later soared to new heights with the theatrical phenomena known as Jaws. Doyle explains that "...even among the onslaught of tigers, alligators, and bloodthirsty rodents, sharks were something special." Steve Cheskin echoes those sentiments with his informative foreword. Cheskin, the creator of the beloved Shark Week television programming on Discovery Channel, explains how the shows began in the late 1980s. He illustrates that there is a mystery about sharks, a natural fear of them that captivates people. 

Anyone familiar with MAMs, or Deis and Doyle's prior compilations, will appreciate their dedication to preserving the eye-catching artwork that mesmerized readers of these magazines. On Page 89, Mort Kunstler's artwork is presented as a terrific gallery. The gallery includes an informative write-up titled "The Godfather Meets Jaws." Beyond Kunstler, this book is loaded with artwork from the likes of Ken Barr, Bruce Minney, Walter Richards, Clarence Doore, Wil Hulsey, and Robert Stanley. I'm not an art aficionado, but these paintings are simply incredible. 

With nearly 20 stories, there's plenty of meat to sink your teeth into. From Ray Nelson's cleverly funny "The Mail Carrying Shark" (Real, Sep. 1953) to Tom Darcy's gruesome adventure "The Sharks Got My Legs" (Man's Adventure, Oct. 1959), these stories are outrageously scary, but possess action and adventure narratives featuring prevalent heroes. 

If you aren't a Men's Adventure Library Journal consumer, what's stopping you? Beyond just this Maneaters book, there are hundreds of awesome paintings, gripping stories and unique analysis saturating these awesome compilation and coffee-table books. This is such a neat nostalgia that celebrates a special place in American literature. There's no better place to test the waters than this shark-infested feast.

Get the book HERE

Escape from Five Shadows

Elmore Leonard was a prolific author of crime-fiction and thrillers. A number of his works have been adapted to film, such as Get Shorty, Rum Punch and Out of Sight. However, he cut his teeth on classic western tales and novels. One of them, Escape from Five Shadows, was first released by Dell in 1956. It has since been reprinted by a variety of publishers many times.

The main character of the book, Corey Bowen, explains how he ended up in the dusty and dry workcamp of Five Shadows. After his father died, Bowen worked as a miner and a cattle herder. Between jobs, Bowen meets another cattleman named Manring in a bar. After learning from Bowen's experience, he hires Bowen to ride along with him on a small cattle drive. Bowen reviews Manring's bill of sale and determines that he legitimately bought the cattle. However, after only a couple of days on the trail, the law comes. Bowen and Manring are charged with stealing cattle and sentenced to years of hard labor at Five Shadows. 

This Arizona prison is run by a man named Renda. The government provides Renda .75 cents a day for each of the 30 prisoners and cash for supplies. Renda keeps a majority of the money and limits the prisoners to a small diet with very little accommodations. They sleep on blankets, eat wormy food, and suffer health conditions. Renda can't afford any of his prisoners to escape, thus his criminal empire will fold. 

Throughout the book's narrative, Bowen and Manring plan a prison break. This will not be easy due to the use of Apache Scouts and trackers around the camp's outer perimeter. However, in pocket narratives, Leonard creates some inner turmoil within the camp. The superintendent's wife is planning on exposing Renda, but she's being held against her will. She proposes that Bowen kill her husband and make a run for it. At the same time, a young woman named Karla has an attraction to Bowen. She wants to expose the corruption and Bowen's innocence through the courts. What method does Bowen use - escape from violence or patiently await a new trial in a judicial system that has already betrayed him once?

Leonard's western examines political corruption - greed, deceit, and the quest for power. Bowen's decision on how to escape the prison is an interesting one. There's a lot of moving parts and the novel requires the reader's concentration. The narrative isn't laced with action, but instead relies on strong characters and an intriguing story. I found both female characters to be determined to a fault - one craving violence and the other nearly angelic. The contrast was brilliant.

If you require an action-packed prison break story, Escape from Five Shadows is unlikely to satisfy you. If you want the complexity of crime and the slow unravel of authority, this novel will deliver the goods. It's a smart, well-written novel that offers a rather unique plot for the time period. Recommended. Get the book HERE

Mr. Cables

Mr. Cables is an 82-page novella from 2020 by horror author Ronald Malfi. The story is narrated by a successful horror author named Wilson Paventeau. At a bookstore signing, a fan asks him to sign a 1999 hardcover called “Mr. Cables” by Wilson Paventeau. The problem? Wilson never wrote the book.

He trades the mysterious hardcover for a copy of his new novel and brings the book home. It’s published by an unknown imprint that placed Wilson's photo on the author page with a mostly-accurate bio. Why would anyone go to this much trouble to create a counterfeit book?

Things start getting truly scary once the reader begins to understand the content of the book itself. I won’t spoil it for you here, but Malfi avoids the trap of using the “book inside a book” gambit and instead allows the reader to draw their own conclusion about why the novel scares its readers so much.

Late-book revelations shed satisfying light on what exactly is happening here as Malfi explores the sources of the authors’ ideas and inspiration. I enjoyed Mr. Cables quite a bit and found sections to be genuinely unnerving. As such, I can recommend this book to contemporary horror fans without reservation. This was my first experience with Malfi’s writing, but it won’t be my last. 

Get the book HERE

The Hole

William Meikle (b. 1958) is a prolific Scottish author of fantasy, science-fiction and horror short-stories and novels. He has created a number of series titles like Augustus Seton, Carnacki, and The Midnight Eye Files. Beginning in 2011, Meikle has authored seven Sherlock Holmes novels. I’ve read a number of Meikle’s horror novels, including The Hole. It was originally published in 2013 by Dark Fuse and now exists as an ebook and audio download through Crossroad Press.

The Hole concerns a large sinkhole that suddenly appears in a small rural town. From this deep recess is a piercing hum that begins to affect the town in different ways - nose bleeds, horrific visions, paranoia, etc. The two main characters, the town’s sheriff and doctor, begin interviewing and medically treating their town’s residents. But, when the hole begins to expand it’s up to these professionals to evacuate the town. What is the hole and what are the strange creatures climbing from its depths?

William Meikle delivers a taught, fast paced thrill ride with The Hole. The novel isn't a far cry from the formula concocted by the horror greats long ago. The sleepy setting is like many cookie cutter fictional towns plagued by paperback terrors. Meikle provides an average cast of characters who are placed in extraordinary circumstances to see how they react. It's the crime-noir logic that Stephen King has used for decades, the obligatory road map for authors to attack small towns with their horrifying creations. Meikle utilizes this horror trope remarkably well. His characters are admirable, genuine, and the reader has no recourse other than to care deeply about their fates. 

While the story itself is traditional, leaning on Lovecraft's "Old Ones", The Hole really excels in the pacing, a crucial element that seems to be lacking in fiction regardless of genre. The shorter length is a blessing compared to the 500+ page hardbacks that currently dominate the industry. Once this demonic chasm opens, the story unfolds quickly with a frantic pace that never becomes trapped in the details. Houses are swallowed, people are devoured and a small piece of the reader's nerves are crumbled like the outer edges of this small town. Meikle wraps it all up in a tight package that thrives in the darkest recesses, yet shines as another outstanding entry for this talented storyteller. 

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Crime Cop

Using the pseudonyms Larry Holden and Larry Heller, New Jersey native Lorenz F. Heller (1910-1965) authored two police procedural crime novels in 1959 and 1962 titled Crime Cop and Body of the Crime. Stark House Press has reprinted these lean thrillers in one volume with an introduction by retired LAPD detective and author Paul Bishop. As a huge fan of Heller’s writing, I was excited to plunge into Crime Cop.

Taking cues from Ed McBain’s 87th Precinct series, Crime Cop is set in the fictional metropolis of Hudson. Heller does a nice job of mimicking McBain’s third-person narrative voice. Our featured cops are robbery Detectives Jeff Flavin and George Gilman (presumably before he wrote the Edge westerns), and they are busy dealing with actual crimes, chronic complainers and tips from chatty stoolies.

Amid the day-to-day chaos, Flavin is summoned to a boss’ office to be briefed on a big case. A series of residential home invasion robberies resulted in the death of a female homeowner. Homicide is working the killing, and they need Flavin and his partner to tackle the robberies providing the department with two avenues to solve the crime.

Beyond the normal procedural steps of interviewing potential witnesses, there is some interesting pre-computer police science elements to the plot that were completely fascinating. The compiling of clues and inferences gained from those clues is an exercise in pure Sherlockian deduction. As cops, Flavin and Gilman are logic machines and a pleasure to read.

Smart legwork by the crime cops - punctuated by vivid hardboiled dialogue - develops a viable suspect for the robberies and the killing. There are twists and turns along the way. We also get several vividly-drawn characters filling out the cast, culminating in a satisfying ending.

Crime Cop reminded me of an exceptional Ed McBain 87th Precinct cover band. In many ways, I preferred Heller’s writing and plotting to McBain’s work. The good news is that - thanks to Stark House - readers don’t need to choose. Read them both.

Fun Fact:

There’s a homicide detective in Crime Cop named Ben Tutchek who is the main character in the author’s Body of the Crime. Interestingly, the 1962 paperback was published under the quasi-pseudonym of Larry Heller. The author was setting himself up for a Marvel Universe (or 87th Precinct) of inter-connected cop stories from Pyramid Books, but tepid sales couldn’t justify a third novel. Thanks to Stark House for reuniting this two-book “series” into a single volume.

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One of Us

According to his Amazon home page, Thomas Simpson lives in Glasgow, Scotland. He wrote and directed the short film I, Alive, whose premiere took place in 2011. He is also a horror author with two self-published novels, One of Us (2019) and Blackened (2020). I borrowed a copy of One of Us from a friend, hoping for a good old-school novel about slashers.

Michael is slipping out of his daily office job. After taking some needed PTO, Michael heads out into the open air to soak up the sun, fish, drink beer and kill. That's right, kill. You see, Michael is a serial killer. He tortures and kills one person annually. After meeting Fred, both men formed a special bond that allowed them to enjoy this annual killing ritual. This year is pretty special. Michael is bringing his younger brother Jason to show him the ropes. Think of it as a gruesome internship. As a trio, they hope to earn a trophy in the wild.

While Michael, Jason and Fred are loading up for a vacation gorefest, Sarah is also looking forward to a vacation. She hopes the great outdoors is the remedy to heal her estranged relationship with her brother Kevin. They've recently lost their mother and are grieving. With two of Sarah's friends, the foursome arrive at the family cabin. With no electricity or cell phone service, these four may be the perfect prize for the killers.

It is clear that Simpson is a fan of horror, but above all a fan of the slasher subgenre. These three murderers (named after horror icons) attack a young woman before finding Sarah's friends. In addition, in the flashbacks, readers relive sessions of torture and murder of previous outings. These scenes are not for the squeamish. There are the mandatory chase scenes, the stigma of the final girl and the atmosphere and location of the classic outdoor slasher film.

With One of Us, Simpson creates the perfect horror novella, complete with compelling characters, a fast pace and plenty of grisly horror to please the diehards. 

Get the book HERE

Pop. 1280

Jim Thompson (1906-1977) is a celebrated author of noir paperbacks from the 1940s through the 1950s. I've struggled with his writing style and haven't latched onto that one Jim Thompson novel that inspires me enough to fully appreciate his literature. Many point to Pop. 1280 as one of his finest works. It was originally published in 1964 by Fawcett Gold Medal and has been reprinted numerous times since. 

Nick Corey is Sheriff of Potts County, a rural riverside town with a population of 1,280. Corey sleeps late, drinks at work, accepts bribes from the local whorehouse and rarely carries out police work. He's the ultimate scoundrel. After years of being verbally and physically abused by two town pimps, Corey requests the aid of a nearby county sheriff named Ken Lacey. Corey sits down with Lacey to explain his dilemma. After ridiculing Corey, and providing a lot of racist comments, Lacey instructs Corey to become deadly aggressive. 

When Corey comes back to town, he takes Lacey's ill-informed advice to heart. He shoots and kills both pimps and tosses their bodies into the river. These murders push Corey to continue this vicious aggression and put caution to the wind. Corey also begins having an affair with his wife's friend Rose while simultaneously engaging in a sexual relationship with a town woman named Amy. Throughout Thompson's speech, Corey plans and kills people while ensuring his re-election in the upcoming vote.

If Pop. 1280 is Thompson's masterpiece, then I have little hope that I will ever like the author. I hate novels where I must reside in the mind of a psychopath. The novel is presented in the first person of Corey's perspective and I just wanted to escape his model of thinking. While these types of "ride with the killer" novels are popular, I just can't seem to enjoy them. With the killer, and the killer's intentions, in full display, there is no real mystery or suspense. It's like trying to get the toothpaste back in the tube. Once it is out, it's out.

Like most of Thompson's novels, every character is a worthless human being devoid of any common decency. I didn't have any reason to love anyone, and I didn't care what happened to them. I need a well-written narrative with characters that I can identify with and sense a kind of connection with. I need to care about the characters. Thompson provides none of that. Instead, his objective is just to create excessive characters that are profane, too sexual and have very little common sense. In poor taste, he passes these characters off as an inbred race of rednecks.  

I know I don't understand the full significance of Thompson's writing and what makes it truly unique. That's okay, I don't have to understand it or like him. His dialogue, murderous viewpoint and morally flawed characters attract generations of worshiping fans. I'm glad he has a fan base. After trying to enjoy a handful of his novels, I probably will never open another one. This kind of literature seems beneath me. There are remarkable books from remarkable authors. From my perspective, Jim Thompson is not one of those. 

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