Traded Wives

Celebrated jazz musician and author Charles Boeckman authored crime-fiction short stories and novels using his own name through the mid 20th century. However, using the pseudonym of Alex Carter, he authored racy, sexually-charged romance paperbacks for publishing houses like Beacon. I've enjoyed his writing, especially his Alex Carter novel Boy-Lover (1963). I recently purchased another Carter novel, Traded Wives. The book was published in both the US and Canada simultaneously in 1964. The American version was published through Beacon (8711X, cover artist unknown). The Canadian version by Softcover Library (S95157) recycled Clement Micarelli's painting from Orrie Hitt's 1962 novel Love Thief.

The novel presents three couples and a single woman living in a new housing community called Garden Acres. Each of the couples is struggling in various ways that revolve around intimacy. Boeckman depicts each marriage through revolving chapters that explain each character's backstory, the evolution into marriage, and the physical wants, desires, and jealous rage within this sexual suburbia. 

Debbie and Bobby have just moved into Garden Acres after graduating from high school and becoming pregnant. Their parents are wealthy, respectable contributors to the community that can't afford any negative influences. They immediately force the two kids to become married and quickly convert the couple into expecting, stereotypical middle-class suburbanites. The problem is that Bobby is still running around with the town's young hotties and Debbie isn't thrilled to be settling down after bedding down the senior class's male students. That's a real problem.

Charles is an alcohol distributor and sales rep that travels the back roads of America selling booze. He smokes cigars, drives a Cadillac, and has a loud-mouth that mostly spews dirty jokes. After meeting backwoods country girl (and virgin) Barbara Lee, he talks her into marriage and they quickly move into  the thriving sexual landscape of Garden Acres. Barbara Lee wants to pursue a college education and learn more about the modern world. After conquering Barbara Lee, Charles sets his eyes on his neighbor Cheryl. 

Tony is a white-collar guy living the American dream – playing golf on the weekends, mowing green grass, and relaxing in the shade with his newlywed wife Cheryl. The problem is that Cheryl isn't into sex, thus creating a physical barrier between the two. Tony is sexually frustrated with Cheryl and she is equally angered with his insistence on intimacy. 

Boeckman was just such a great storyteller of these noir novels. Despite the titles and covers, these novels aren't any different from a Nora Roberts novel today. There are no graphic sex scenes or much (if any) profanity. In cinematic ratings, these are probably PG-13. But, that doesn't make them any less intriguing or enjoyable. 

The story-lines are detailed with plot and character development that's simply superb. The narrative thrusts these unhappy couples into a wild mix of sex, fantasy, and appeasement. Debbie with Tony and Bobby, Cheryl with Tony, Charles with Cheryl, and Bobby with a divorced, sexually starved woman named April. It's a mingling of affairs and it's fantastic. I also enjoyed the “crime-noir” aspect of Tony, Charles, and Cheryl's love-triangle. It becomes violent and engaging and is probably the real highlight of the novel. The end result is that Traded Wives is highly, highly recommended. 

Buy a copy of this book HERE

Resident Evil #01 - The Umbrella Conspiracy

Resident Evil is arguably the greatest survival horror media franchise of all time. The Capcom video game, known as Biohazard in Japan, began its life in 1996 on the very first Sony Playstation. Countless sequels were created across multiple generations of gaming systems. Six live-action films were produced, a television show, animated films, comic books, and novels. With novels as our primary focus, I picked up a Pocket Books paperback called The Umbrella Conspiracy, the first of a seven-book Resident Evil series published between 1998-2004 and authored by S.D. Perry, daughter of Steve Perry (Conan, Star Wars, Matador).

The first thing you need to know about The Umbrella Conspiracy, and this book series, is that you don't need a Resident Evil education to read and enjoy this. This series starts at the very beginning and mostly consists of novelizations of the video games. This first book is a novelization of the very first game, so those of you unfamiliar with the franchise can start right here. Don't be intimidated.

Raccoon City is a small town with an urban area, lots of dense forest, and rural fields. But, this quiet little community is experiencing an unusual number of vicious homicides. People are found dead in the Victory Lake area, mutilated as if mauled by a savage animal. Rumors run rampant, the police have no solid leads, so a special force is brought in to help solve the case - S.T.A.R.S. (Special Tactics and Rescue). This division is made up of highly trained, paramilitary specialists that are privately funded.

The S.T.A.R.S. unit is divided into two teams, Alpha and Bravo. While there are a lot of members in the unit, the ones that really matter to this series are Alpha's Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine, Rebecca Chambers, Barry Burton, and Albert Wesker. If you enjoy all of those 70s and 80s team-commando paperbacks, then this group should be easily likable. The members realize that everything has been searched at Victory Lake, but there is a large abandoned mansion, the Spencer Estate, at the foothills of The Arklay Mountains that may hold some answers.

Wesker sends the Bravo team in by chopper, but soon they radio back that the helicopter has crashed in a secluded area. Alpha team is sent in by chopper and immediately discover that some of Bravo have been attacked and mutilated. Soon, the team is attacked by ravenous, skinless dogs. In an effort to stay alive, Chris and others flee through the forest to the Spencer Estate. Inside, they find that it isn't abandoned at all. Instead, the mansion is filled with research equipment, labs, and evidence of hideous experiments. When Chris is attacked by a zombie, the proverbial sh#t hits the fan.

I absolutely loved this book. I immediately finished the last page and hopped online to order the second installment, Caliban Cove. From an action-adventure stance, this book is loaded with firefights in all parts of the mansion. There's the undead to contend with, a traitor in the group, and monsters galore as the team navigates the cavernous house in search of clues. As a horror novel, it works on a violent, gory level as the survival horror introduces puzzles and traps for the squad to solve. 

While there isn't much to really complain about, I did get confused often as the point of view changes to different squad members throughout the house. Rarely are they all together in the same room. Instead, the book feels slightly “epic” at 260 pages due to the constant change in characters. I really enjoyed both Rebecca and Jill, and from what I understand they make a big impact in future books. In researching the series, it appears that Wikipedia has the series listed as:

1 The Umbrella Conspiracy (1998) Novelization of Resident Evil (1996) video game

2 Caliban Cove Original novel (1998)

3 City of the Dead (1999) Novelization of Resident Evil 2 (1998) video game

4 Underworld (1999) Original novel

5 Nemesis (2000) Novelization of Resident Evil 3 (1999) video game

6 Code: Veronica (2001) Novelization of Code: Veronica (2000) video game

0 Zero Hour (2004) Novelization of Resident Evil: Zero Hour video game 

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Dark the Summer Dies

Walter Untermeyer Jr. (1915-2009) was a New York lawyer and a WW2 Navy veteran who only authored two books in his life. His first paperback, Dark the Summer Dies, from 1953 has been reprinted by Stark House as part of a trio of vintage femme fatale noir novels from Lion Books. 

Our narrator is an affable, wet-behind-the-ears, 18 year-old kid named Tony who is working at a swanky country club pool as a swim and dive instructor for the summer. The poolside babes are always wearing next-to-nothing and it’s making the poor boy horny as Hell. Sadly, his sweet high school girlfriend doesn’t put out. 

At the club, Tony meets a super-hot flirtatious married woman named Vicky, whose husband is frequently away on business trips. You see what’s coming? Of course you do. She invites Tony over to enjoy a porterhouse on the grill, and you know the steak isn’t the only meat getting tenderized that night. 

When writing in Tony’s voice, Untermeyer mimics the colloquial tone of Holden Caulfield from J.D. Salinger’s A Catcher in the Rye, a successful novel released two years earlier. His plotting, however, needs some serious help. The paperback is a relationship drama about pushing the limits of social norms and sexual taboos, but not much happens for most of the book. It’s certainly not a crime novel, and the “shocking” ending will land with a thud to anyone accustomed to reading actual shocking paperbacks from the era. 

I wanted to like this novel with every fiber of my being, but it was pretty lousy — despite some well-written prose. The Stark House collection containing this book also includes Sin Pit by Paul S. Meskil, an absolute masterpiece of the femme fatale noir genre, so it’s probably still worth your $20. 

Buy a copy of the book HERE.

Island of the Pit

According to Goodreads, Irish author James Gribben (1915-1986) authored plays, short stories and novels under his own name and also under the pseudonyms Kingsley West and Vincent James. There isn't much information online, but I did locate a paperback he wrote under the James name called Island of the Pit. It was originally published in England by Ernest Benn, Ltd in 1955 as a hardcover, later published by Messner in the US in 1956. My version is the 1957 Popular Library (800) paperback, although it was reprinted a second time in paperback by Digit Books (R379) in 1960. 

Joe Trasker and his wife Helen have been casually sailing the Pacific Islands the last two years. On their return trip to the US, they stop by an inhabited island to buy supplies for the voyage. It's here that Joe is reunited with an old war buddy named Kane Hadley. In the brief backstory, readers learn that Joe is disabled due to mortar-shell fragments in his leg. Kane was the guy that carried Joe to safety while under fire.  

After a night of drunkenness, Joe and Helen start their return trip, but unfortunately make an invite to Kane to join them. Kane accepts, and then things grow chaotic over time.

Kane has an affection for Helen, and she becomes uncomfortable in his presence. Joe notices that Kane hasn't gotten over the war, as if he still misses the action. The three of them discover an abandoned island, and upon further inspection, learn there is gold laced throughout the rocky terrain. Kane, who has experience as both a smuggler and gold miner, insists that they stop for a few weeks and get as much gold as they can carry. Joe and Helen are simple people, and don't have a deep desire for wealth. Kane is the opposite, lusting for gold so he can buy another boat to capture more gold.

Island of the Pit is a character study of two very different people and their conflicts with insecurity, greed, jealousy, and other weak conditions of the human spirit. Kane's discovery of the gold, combined with his own restless demeanor, is a negative combination that's further hampered by his attraction to Helen. This greedy darkness envelopes Kane's thoughts and actions, eventually transforming him into a lethal aggressor. 

Gribben's writing is so descriptive and I really enjoyed his use of lighting to depict the story's mood. There are a number of passages where light is used to foreshadow coming events. It's a really unique presentation that helped broaden the limited setting of these three characters on a deserted island. I also enjoyed the commentary on marriage and the “less is more” message that reinforced Joe and Helen's position as the wiser, level-headed supporters. They truly want to rehabilitate Kane, but realize that his self-interest is too prevalent. 

Island of the Pit was just a real pleasure to read. It's a smart, emotional journey that's compelling despite the predictability. The descriptive writing style, dynamic characters, and social commentary were well worth the price of admission. You owe it to yourself to track down this lost gem. 

Buy a copy of this book HERE

The Pilot's Daughter

Audrey J. Cole in a former nurse and current contemporary thriller writer living in the Pacific Northwest. Reviews for her 2021 aviation hijacking potboiler were universally favorable, and the Kindle sample sucked me into the story. 

An aircraft cleaner is blackmailed into stashing a package containing a handgun onto a Seattle aircraft bound for Honolulu. Eventually, the hijacking occurs, and the terrorist’s demands are different than the ones we’ve seen before. Leave it at that as I don’t want to spoil it for you. 

We also meet a bunch of the passengers, including a spoiled socialite and a homicide detective. The action unfolds in the air with an awesome fight scene and close-up gun-fighting, resulting in the deaths of the pilots and the need for someone to fly and land the plane in Hawaii. 

Cora is a recent widow who is on the flight to Honolulu. She’s en route to American Samoa to attend a ceremony honoring her dead husband who recently perished in a helicopter crash while doing relief work. We quickly learn that her dad was a pilot, so the title of the novel gives it away that she’s an important character. 

As information about the terrorists comes to light, it becomes clear that the reader’s assumptions about the motives and ideologies is a barrel of red herrings. Not every passenger is who they claim to be, and the surprises and twists are doled out slowly over the course of the terrorist-adventure-mystery. 

The adventure story of getting the plane safely on the ground — allowing the main characters to find romance on Earth — was genuinely exciting and worth your time. However, the real agenda of the hijackers was a major let-down and required a suspension of disbelief that made me question if the author really stuck the landing. 

Overall, The Pilot’s Daughter is a well-written aviation adventure by an author worth discovering. If you don’t take it too seriously, you’ll probably have a lot of fun reading it. 

Buy a copy of this book HERE.

The Haiti Circle

Our coverage of beautiful women running from scary places continues with The Haiti Circle, a 1976 gothic paperback with the name Marilyn Ross on the cover. The author is really William Edward Daniel Ross, a prolific Canadian writer that authored over 50 gothics in the 60s and 70s. A few of his books have been published as audio books recently by Paperback Library with narration by Romy Nordlinger. 

In The Haiti Circle, a woman named Agnes is suffering from the recent loss of her mother. After a nervous breakdown, Agnes journeys to Haiti for a vacation and a life reset. It is here that she meets a Creole doctor named Martinez, who immediately falls in love with her. Understanding she is a teacher, Martinez introduces Agnes to wealthy widow Mr. Dodge and his daughter Germaine. Agnes learns that Germaine's mother committed suicide by jumping from the high walls of Seacrest, the family mansion. Now, Germaine is in need of a tudor and caregiver.

Once Agnes starts her new job, she begins hearing rumors of voodoo rituals on the island. There are a number of shady characters living at Seacrest, so speculations runs rampant on which white people are involved in the voodoo cult. Agnes is targeted by some sort of curse that places a tarantula in her bed and bats in her room. Further, Agnes sees a “zombie” outside of the mansion and learns it is a link to a prior suicide before the Dodges took ownership of Seacrest. 

Ross uses essentially the same character as the female protagonist in each of his novels. Agnes is the same cookie-cutter character as Jan (Phantom Manor), another Jan (Dark Legend), Victoria (Dark Shadows series), and Stella (Fog Island) – teacher/tudor, vulnerable, single, unsuspecting. The mysteries are numerous, which makes the book a little more tolerable. Also, the idea of a zombie and the whole voodoo-cult-thingy is just wacky enough to make the book interesting. I had a few guesses on who the culprit was, but the ending surprised me. 

The Haiti Circle is one of the better Ross novels I've read. Recommended for its spooky ambiance, a number of compelling characters, and a surprise ending. I also enjoyed the audio book version, although I'm tired of Nordlinger's narration. 

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The Old Man and the Sea

Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) is one of the most popular, influential and respected authors of all-time. He was involved in WWI and WWII, won the Nobel Prize in Literature, and was a world traveler. I confess I've never read Hemingway and felt that he may be too literary for my tastes. But, as I read more and more classic literature, I've become less intimidated by the greats and find a deep appreciation for their literary work. Thus, my first Hemingway experience is one of his last great works, The Old Man and the Sea. Hemingway wrote the novella in 1951 while in Cuba and it was published in 1952 by Scribner. It was adapted to film three times.

I believe The Old Man and the Sea's beauty lies in its simplistic prose. Hemingway, known for avoiding wasted motion, tells a very rudimentary story that is exactly what the title implies. It's a simple fishing story about a very old man, seasoned by the sea, attempting to capture the big one. 

The protagonist is Santiago, an experienced fisherman that has gone through a rather uncanny streak of fishing 84 straight days without catching a fish. His peers have come to think of him as unlucky. His only real friend, it seems, is a young boy named Manolin, who is Santiago's protegee. The boy takes care of Santiago by bringing him bait, food, and covering him up when he gets cold. The two share a common interest in American baseball, specifically the New York Yankees and Joe DiMaggio. 

Santiago ventures out to sea again, only this time he goes further out into the gulf stream, where he uses four fishing poles. Eventually, Santiago captures the biggest fish of his life, an 18 foot marlin that may weigh more than 1,000 pounds. The issue is that Santiago has spent two nights at sea, far from home, and now must transport this huge fish. There's a wound to his hand, lots of sharks, and the hot sun to contend with on the return journey. 

This is a very light adventure story that has an underlining premise that shines through. Hemingway's writing addresses aging, but also alienation. Santiago is originally from Spain and speaks a form of Spanish that isn't necessarily welcome in Cuba. His unlucky streak and age makes him very different than his peers, ousting him to the fringes of his own society. The story also speaks of human kindness and the idea that human companionship is a cycle. Santiago was there for Manolin when he was younger, now Manolin is there for him when he is older. It is really quite beautiful and Hemingway tells the tale in his own remarkable, signature, way. I hope to read more Hemingway. 

Buy a copy HERE.