Johnny Liddell #06 - Bare Trap

Inspired by the countless private-eye novels and shorts, original paperbacks (and some hardcovers) began appearing featuring heroic detectives solving the outrageous cases. There was Mike Shayne, Mike Hammer, and Lew Archer leading the way. Frank Kane's New York private-eye Johnny Liddell was among the publisher's top echelon, The series ran a total of 29 novels and a multitude of short stories, beginning with 1947's About Face (aka Fatal Foursome). I've read a handful of the novels and mostly enjoy them. I have a slew of the series paperbacks, so I picked Bare Trap to read next. It is the series sixth installment and was originally published in 1952. It was later reprinted in 1965 by Dell with different cover art. 

Liddell is finishing up a case in San Francisco when he receives a phone call from series staple and love interest Mugsy. She asks if Liddell can take on a new case in Los Angeles before he flies back home to New York. A young actor named Shad has gone missing and his agent wants the investigation to be hush-hush. If they hire a local PI, the missing kid could make the papers and create a career misstep. With a chance to visit Mugsy in LA, Liddell takes the case.

Shad's agent is a guy named Richards, a fat loudmouth that explains that Shad is set to inherit a ton of money when he reaches the age of 21. There's hints that the kid is in some trouble, but Liddell thinks the disappearing act will solve itself. A few hours later, Liddell finds the kid riddled with bullet holes in the back. 

Liddell's case transforms from a missing person's gig to a murder investigation. With the assistance of Mugsy, a local inspector, and a prolific columnist, Kane's hero runs a convoluted gauntlet of blackmail and deception. The road leads to Richards running a badger scheme where he uses a local honey to photograph high-profile Hollywood celebs. He then uses extortion tactics to push the celebs into writing IOUs, which Richards then turns into gambling debts to repay back the mob to settle his own sheets. Got it? 

Frank Kane was notorious for recycling plots and Bare Trap is no different. In the series debut, About Face (Fatal Foursome), Liddell is hired to find a missing actor in Hollywood and receives help from a journalist and a coroner. The 'ole extortion bit using photographs or videos is an overly used genre trope, most notably Mickey Spillane's third Mike Hammer novel, Vengeance is Mine. Yet, there's a really abrasive tone to the novel – actresses with cut throats, multiple beatings, numerous fist and gun fights, a knife attack, and tons of shady characters - to keep the reader fully invested. While never particularly dense, I still had to consult a short list of characters to remember who everyone was. 

Detective stories can be run of the mill, familiar, and stereotypical, but they still provide a lot of enjoyment for crime-fiction fans. Bare Trap is no exception. 

Buy the eBook HERE.

Stolen Tongues

Stolen Tongues is a 2017 horror novel by California native Felix Blackwell. The novel was an outgrowth of a serialized story on the NoSleep Reddit page, and has become a viral hit thanks to fans raving about his work on social media. There’s also a film adaptation and a prequel novel in the works. 

The book opens with a prologue that will scare your pants off (pants required). Our narrator is a writer named Felix Blackwell and he is house sitting in a remote cabin with his girlfriend, Faye. While at the cabin, they are menaced by an unseen force in a tension-filled scene. Because the novel doesn’t end with the prologue, our protagonist couple lives to fight another day. Bottom line: Don’t skip the prologue. 

Chapter one begins with the same couple, now engaged, headed to another remote cabin atop a Colorado mountain (these people never learn!) for a romantic getaway. The thick woods behind the cabin has plenty of hiking trails that crisscross the frozen mountain jungle. The whole thing sounds legitimately lovely and genuinely romantic until you remember you’re reading an acclaimed horror novel. 

The nearby town of Pale Peak is rich in Rocky Mountain Native American history and traditions. The tales of the tribes that once inhabited Pale Peak are rooted in mystery and mysticism. They were a ritualistic people who have disappeared from modern life, leaving only their artifacts behind. 

Of course it takes no time at all before the happy couple starts hearing ghostly voices being carried by the wind outside the cabin. Nothing menacing, at first — but you just know it’s going to escalate. The author also effectively and terrifyingly plays with the idea that night terrors, sleep walking and sleep talking can be used as conduits for malevolent entities to infiltrate your life. 

The haunting continues after the setting changes, and Felix is determined to get to the bottom of things — even if it means a crash course in Native American mysticism. As is often the case, the paranormal explanations for the haunting are way less satisfying than the haunting itself. 

I’d say the first two “haunted cabin” sequences in Stolen Tongues may have been the scariest prose I’ve read in decades. The rest of the novel exploring the source of those two haunts was fine, but nowhere near as compelling or terrifying as the novel’s twin openers. In any case, the author has placed himself on the map as a horror novelist to watch in the future. I look forward to seeing what he does next. 

Buy a copy of this book HERE.

Nude in the Sand

The 1950s and 1960s publishing industry experienced a trend of authors and readers embracing swamp-noir, a concept that features the average man being tempted by a seductress in the backwoods of a rural southern town. Charles Williams and Harry Whittington both excelled in this type of storytelling, which led countless other low to mid-echelon authors to try their hand. Louisiana author and WW2 veteran John Burton Thompson (1911-1994) authored these types of novels. As expensive collectors items now, these vintage paperbacks demand a hefty dollar. 

Thankfully, Cutting Edge Books have gained the rights to Thompson's literary work and have made a number of his novels into new editions for an affordable price. After enjoying his 1962 novels Kiss or Kill and Swamp Nymph, I decided to take another swig with Nude in the Sand. It was originally published by Beacon in 1959. 

The most entertaining aspect of Nude in the Sand is that there isn't a main character. Instead, Thompson uses the novel to tell many different stories about the backwoods shenanigans of several different characters that have merely six degrees of separation. By the book's end it all wraps together cohesively in a satisfying conclusion that crosses these mini-stories over (and under) each other. 

Lecia is a 20 year old vixen living with her mother on a run-down farm. Hope and aspiration are shooting stars rarely glimpsed and never caught. In a bid for money, Lecia's mother sells her off to a wealthy man named Alex who takes the two to his sprawling estate. Lecia is destined to be the despondent, pregnant housewife pushing out babies to create Alex's dynasty. The problem is that Lecia despises Alex due to his violent sexual craving and his affairs with a black slave.

Across the fields is Abe, a retired wealthy man of nobility that has a young black lover named Charline. Readers learn Abe's history with Charline, how he funded her college education, cared for her needs, and is now secretly engaged in a relationship with her. Abe and Charline frequent a hunting cabin where the two intimately share their love. But, Abe understands the age difference and the fact that the town will be thrown in a violent upheaval if their interracial love affair were to be exposed. 

Abe's nephew Merrit is a college graduate and artist that hasn't quite found his footing yet. Abe allows Merrit to live on his estate and find himself. Instead, Merrit finds an imprint in the sand made by the nude Lecia. Over time, Merrit becomes obsessed with the imprints and starts to make a bronze statue of this unknown woman. Lecia doesn't realize that her daily visits to this jungle swimming hole are being captured by the imprints she makes in the sand. Eventually, Merrit and Lecia learn of one another and are connected through Abe. When Lecia's husband Alex begins making moves on Charline, the narrative becomes more complex and enticing – Abe vs Alex over Charline. Merrit lusting for Lecia despite her marriage to Alex. There's also another side story of a male slave that hates Alex for raping other slaves. 

With this many moving parts, it would be hard for any author to excel at all of these concepts and designs. But, Thompson is such a great writer and purposefully develops this plot into a burning bed of affairs, relationships, violence, and raging sex. The novel certainly possesses enough tropes to make it a swamp-noir, but at the same time it also works as a plantation novel, or what some refer to as a “slave gothic”. Alex's violent encounters with the strong, more domineering slave named Bruce makes for a humorous, albeit savage, thread in the story's web of self-pursuit and sexual gratification. Abe's relationship with Charline is nurturing, but is laced with strong dialogue that reflects the civil unrest of a country at war with itself in the mid 20th century. 

Nude in the Sand is a riveting, hot-blooded account of sexual affairs running rampant in the Deep South. With colorful characters and multi-faceted, interlocking storylines, John B. Thompson creates a whirlwind suspenseful romance novel ripe with violence and racial unrest. Fans of Charles Williams, Harry Whittington, and Erskine Caldwell should find plenty to like. Recommended. 

Buy a copy of the book HERE.

Mike Hammer #03 - Vengeance is Mine

In 1980, the top 15 list of all-time US fiction bestsellers included seven novels by Mickey Spillane. That's a true testament to the power and popularity of Spillane's iconic private-detective, Mike Hammer. As I make my way through Spillane's bibliography, I found that the Mike Hammer debut, I, the Jury (1947) left much to be desired. However, the book's sequel, My Gun is Quick (1950), was nothing short of amazing with its masterful prose soaked with realism, impending doom, and emotional anguish. Appreciating that particular masterpiece, I held off on reading another Mike Hammer novel for over a year. Now, the time has come for the third series installment, Vengeance is Mine. It was originally published in 1950 as a hardcover by E.P. Dutton and has been reprinted countless times in multiple formats. 

“The guy was dead as Hell. He lay on the floor in his pajamas with his brains all over the rug and my gun in his hand.”

That's the opener to Vengeance is Mine. Thankfully, the remainder of the book remains just as heavy and unforgiving. Throughout this violent, twisting narrative, Spillane slaps readers with Hammer's hardest case yet, one that pays with redemption instead of cash. The plot concerns Hammer awakening after a night of drinking with his friend, Chester Wheeler, dead. Hammer isn't a murder suspect because the police feel that his friend simply committed suicide. But, Hammer knows he always carried six loads in his gun, and two shots were fired. The circumstances lead to Hammer contending with the DA and using his police ally Pat to find a teardrop in the ocean. Who killed Wheeler?

Hammer's investigation leads through a swamp of political blackmail and conspiracy within the slimy walls of a sin palace called The Bowery. It is here that Hammer meets a sexy dancer named Connie and a bit player named Dinky, an old nemesis that Hammer previously shot. Connecting the dots proves to be difficult considering all roads leading to Chester Wheeler are closed. Anyone involved with Wheeler's past is wearing bullet holes or broken necks. But, Hammer is consistently moving forward as he vengefully fights for his dead friend.  

Vengeance is Mine features Hammer's secretary Velda more involved than ever in the investigation. It's also the first novel where she fatally shoots a bad guy. Both Hammer and Velda become more intimate, but Hammer is still plagued by flashbacks and memories of Charlotte Manning, a lover from the series debut, I, the Jury, that he had had to shoot and kill. Like the prior novels, Hammer is also still suffering from PTSD from his war experience. I felt that the emotional baggage added more depth to the character, making Hammer a more dynamic hero when compared to his contemporaries in Johnny Liddell and Mike Shayne.

While not as good as My Gun is Quick, Vengeance is Mine is still an absolute masterpiece and another fine example of Mickey Spillane's extraordinary storytelling. It just doesn't get much better than this. Highly, highly recommended.

Note –  Supposedly, Spillane bet his editor $1,000 that he could write a book that, if the last word was left out, would change everything in the narrative that had happened before. The editor took the bet and lost (credit to author Stephen Mertz for sharing that). 

Buy a copy of this book HERE.

The Pavilion at Monkshood

British novelist Anne Arundel (1910-1993) utilized pseudonyms like Anne Buxton and Katherine Troy to author romantic suspense novels. Her bibliography includes over 40 novels penned from 1937 through 1983. My first experience with her is the gothic novel The Pavilion at Monkshood. It was originally published by Ace in 1965 under Arundel's popular pseudonym Anne Maybury. 

The novel is set in the obligatory British countryside on a secluded estate called Monkshood. Jessica Lothian, a 20 year old servant, has been summoned by the Herriot family to reside in the home and to look after Aunt Julie and cousin Claudine. Technically, Jessica is a Herriot on her father's side, but nevertheless she seems to function as a sort of “Cinderella” character during her time on the estate. Claudine is the horrible, self-absorbent “sibling” who mocks and scorns Jessica relentlessly. But, the idea is that Jessica will soon marry a dignified young man named Kurt in a fixed, arranged marriage. While Jessica doesn't dislike Kurt, she has no intimate feelings for him.

Throughout the narrative, the Herriots and a close family friend are plagued by a mysterious stalker. This stalker is harmless enough in the beginning, occasionally spying on family members, taking heirlooms, and moving around others. Jessica becomes obsessed with locating the identity of the stalker. But, things turn deadly when the stalker pushes a young woman off of a cliff. Jessica's probe into the mysterious stalker's past leads her to an old tunnel that connects the mansion with a pavilion hosting a bizarre statue of the ancient god Pan. 

Through 190 pages, the narrative covers Jessica's interest in the family friend, his business arrangements with growing a fleet of schooners, and a backstory of the Herriot family enduring the loss of their daughter. Aunt Julie's behavior borders on psychosis and there's a number of dances and evening dinners for readers to wattle through. 

I've read other reviews of Maybury's novels and they mostly point in the direction of traditional romance. Mostly The Pavilion at Monkshood is a straight-up romance novel with all of the upper-crust white lace and long tassels. But, the stalker portion of the story was intriguing to me and panned out just right to allow for a storybook ending. There is a Lifetime Movie of the Week aura to the plot, but it didn't discourage me. Maybe I'm just a sucker for a dress in distress. 

Buy a copy of this book HERE.

Cornered!

James McKimmey (1923-2011) was a Nebraska native that studied architecture at the University of Nebraska. Later, he served in the 102nd Infantry Division during WW2 and returned home to write fiction for magazines and pulps. His first novel, The Perfect Victim, was published by Dell in 1957. McKimmey would go on to write westerns, science-fiction, and more crime-fiction, some of which have been reprinted by Stark House Press as twofers that we've covered here at Paperback Warrior. In 2016, Stark House reprinted The Long Ride and Cornered! as a twofer. We loved and reviewed The Long Ride and it was just a matter of time for us to read the second novel, Cornered!. It was originally published by Dell in 1960.

Tony Fearon ran a California mob family for years. Instead of allowing his premier gunman, Bill Quirter, to shoot his chief rival, Tony took it upon himself to deliver the killing blow. Inexperienced and enraged, Tony didn't think of witnesses, so he missed the beautiful Ann Burley, who just happened to be walking by. Tony went to prison based on Ann's testimony, and as Cornered! begins, Tony is a few hours away from eating cyanide via California's taxpayers. However, the cool caveat is that Tony has placed a hit on Ann. If Bill (the best gunman west of the Mississippi River) can track down and murder Ann before Tony dies, Tony will filter out a password through the prison so Bill can locate a cool $50,000 for the job. Tony will die happy knowing that the woman who put him behind bars is being killed on the same day. Alternatively, if Bill can't get the job done, Tony will go to his grave as a begrudged man and Bill will be $50,000 poorer (and still unemployed). Cool premise, huh?

I challenge anyone to find me a book with an opening chapter as exciting and memorable as this one. McKimmey's first chapter has Bill and a partner outside of the small Nebraska town of Arrow Junction. It's snowing, both are in a bad mood, and the target is within a few miles. However, a simple accident leads to a furious gunfight in a small gas station and Bill finds himself alone and on the run from the cops. After scampering around in the cold, Bill locates a small diner for shelter. Inside, he points a gun at the customers and stands his ground. 

Like The Perfect Victim, McKimmey has this uncanny talent of turning the reader into an everyday citizen of Small Town, USA. Over the course of a few hours, I became a citizen of Arrow Junction and felt like the town pastor, doctor, restaurant owner, station attendant, and fill-in sheriff were all people I've grown up with and had a fond fellowship for. McKimmey is just that good as he smoothly thrusts readers right into the action. In some ways, the book's plot development and through-story reminded me of Bill Pronzini's thuggish writing style. It's gritty, action-packed, and develops into a real slobber-knocker by the book's finale.

Cornered! is one of the best books I've read in ages. Any other plot points or insider wisdom would just ruin the experience for you. Do me a favor – get the book, read it, post comments below. In the meantime, I'm on record to provide the highest possible recommendation for James McKimmey and Cornered! 

Buy a copy of this book HERE.

77 Sunset Strip (aka The Cases of Stuart Bailey)

Roy Huggins (1914-2002) wrote and produced a number of popular television shows like Maverick, The Fugitive, 77 Sunset Strip, and The Rockford Files. Beginning in the early 1960s, Huggins became the vice president in the television division at Universal where he worked for 18 years before becoming an independent producer and signing with Columbia Pictures Television. His television career was plagued with denied credit and compensation, leading to a more controlling contract that he created known as the “Huggins Contract”, a template used by other Hollywood producers later. 

Huggins dabbled in writing crime-fiction as well. He wrote three full-length novels – The Double Take (1946), Too Late for Tears (1947), Lovely Lady, Pity Me (1949). In The Double Take, Huggins introduced a Los Angeles private-eye named Stuart Bailey. Bailey is hired by a man who is being blackmailed due to his wife's past. Through the narrative, Bailey digs into the woman's past to free the man from extortion. The novel was serialized in The Saturday Evening Post and appeared in a condensed form in the March 1946 issue of Mammoth Mystery. 

Bailey appeared three more times in short stories featured in The Saturday Evening Post and Esquire. These three short stories were compiled into a compilation by Mystery House in 2019 called The Cases of Stuart Bailey. There was also a compilation of these stories released digitally in 2015 by Jerry ebooks under the title The Complete Cases of Stuart Bailey. However, the best version of these three stories is the compilation called 77 Sunset Strip. It was published as a paperback by Dell in 1959 and makes the three stories flow seamlessly into one novel. The stories are connected as Bailey weaves in and out of these three assignments while dating a woman named Betty Callister (who appears as a character in the first ten chapters). 

I've read the three stories and here are my thoughts on each:

“Now You See It” (The Saturday Evening Post, May 25 1946)

Bailey is invited to a Westwood mansion by a man named Mr. Trist. However, when he arrives at the man's front door, Trist advises him his services are no longer needed and gifts him $150 for his troubles. But, when the man's son appears, Bailey is quickly ushered inside and introduced to a dinner party as an old family friend named Mr. Tate. Just when Bailey finds that the scenario couldn't become any stranger, the lights go out, Trist is stabbed through the heart, and all fingers point to Bailey when the lights flick back on. According to the police, Bailey isn't a chief suspect, but they want Bailey's assistance in investigating the murder. Huggins builds the case around the innovative technique of disguising the murder weapon by morphing it into something entirely different. The story was a bit convoluted and I didn't entirely understand the plot, but Bailey was captivating enough and I enjoyed his interaction with the characters and police. 

“Appointment with Fear” (The Saturday Evening Post, September 28 1946)

Bailey receives a telegram from a woman named D.C. Halloran asking him to meet her at a bar in Tucson, AZ. When he arrives for the meeting, he finds that Halloran is a beautiful woman that is suffering from a paranoid personality with depressive tendencies. She feels that someone is looking to murder her and she wants Bailey to find the who, when, where, and how. Against his better judgment, Bailey spends the night with Halloran and awakens to discover her dead. Huggins uses the familiar premise to place Bailey as the chief suspect on the run from Tucson's finest to clear his name. I thought the story was fast-paced with a number of twists and turns. It also showcased Tuscon's night life and landscape of that era, which I found fascinating. Recommended.

“Death and the Skylark” (Esquire, December 1952)

This was my favorite of the three Bailey shorts. In this case, Bailey is hired by a boatman named Callister, who feels that his next voyage will lead to his own murder. Bailey takes the case and becomes a passenger on Callister's yacht. The crew is Callister's wife, first mate, and daughter – not exactly a prime suspect list. But, as the pleasure cruise commences, Bailey discovers that each character has a deadly agenda. Sure enough, Callister is fatally shot and it is up to Bailey to survive the cruise while determining who the killer is. I love boat stories and I really enjoyed this trio of characters. The story was tight and slightly confined, but developed into a real showpiece of Huggins' descriptive and fast-paced writing style. Highly recommended.

Huggins used The Double Take novel and these three short stories to develop the Stuart Bailey private-eye character. By slightly retooling the character, he successfully transitioned him from printed page to the small screen. Bailey became the private-eye character of 77 Sunset Strip for six seasons. The show featured Bailey working with another PI named Jeff Spencer out of an office located at 77 Sunset Strip. The show's last season featured episodes that starred only Bailey.

* Thanks to The Thrilling Detective blog for providing some of the author's backstory. You can also read all three shorts online for free HERE. Buy a copy of this book HERE