Decoy in Diamonds

Natalie Gates (1895-1980) was the daughter of John Brush, an entrepreneur that became the first owner of Major League Baseball's iconic Cincinnati Reds. Natalie attended the Baldwin School, then Columbia University before becoming active in the Junior League of Indianapolis in the 1920s. In 1967, her first novel, Hush Hush Johnson, was published by Holt. It was a spy-romance that garnered unfavorable reviews. She tried her had a second time with her only other book, Decoy in Diamonds. It was originally published in hardcover by Putnam in 1971 and then by Dell in paperback in 1972. What drew me to the book was Dell's deceitful marketing that promised this was a gothic.

The book stars Elsa White, a doctor that has spend a great deal of time caring for her sick mother. As a reward for her unwavering dedication, Elsa's sister buys her a 12-month cruise. Readers pick up the action as Elsa is aboard a cruise ship that has docked on the South African coast. On an excursion, Elsa acquires a large diamond. There's a prologue in the book of a miner smuggling operation and Elsa, in the right place at the right time, now has herself this big 'ole shiny rock as a product of this smuggling ring.

On the cruise ship, Elsa meets a New York attorney who has been hired by the African diamond mine to weed out the smugglers. Together, Elsa and the attorney lose the diamond and spend chapters attempting to retrieve it aboard the ship. That's the plot of this terrible 200-page paperback.

Decoy in Diamonds suffers from a boring protagonist, a silly plot, contrived “and then...” progressions, and flimsy character development. It isn't a gothic, Dell just dressed it that way hoping someone would buy this lousy romance novel. That's the real smuggling crime. Decoy in Diamonds is horrendous, making it an inductee into the Paperback Warrior Hall of Shame.

I talk about this book with Nick at The Book Graveyard HERE.

Conversations - Bad Taste Books

Bryan from Bad Taste Books joins to discuss 90s young adult horror paperbacks, focusing on imprints like Point Horror and Avon Flare. The chat includes mentions of Goosebumps, The Final Cruise, Christopher Pike, and reviews of two books by Nicole Davidson, along with a showcase of nostalgic book covers. View below or on YouTube HERE.

Matt Helm #27 - The Damagers

By 1993, the Matt Helm series by Donald Hamilton had lost its steam and readers after 33 years and 27 installments. The final adventure was The Damagers, and it was a commercial flop that exists today as a reprint. Did the government assassin series end with a bang or a whimper?

The book begins with Matt Helm living undercover on a luxury 38-foot yacht on Long Island Sound. He meets up with his first partner for the assignment, a beautiful Swedish-American spy named Ziggy from a different agency, who actually knows how to pilot and operate the vessel.

The mission? Well, it’s more of a mystery. The last three people responsible for sailing the boat - named The Lorelei III - died under mysterious circumstances while on the ship. The dead yacht enthusiasts were undercover operatives for a sister U.S. intel agency, and their bosses are very interested in the reasons the last three people on this yacht were clipped. Matt’s little agency is tasked with learning that motive.

So Matt is basically a decoy. He’s told to prevent his own death, capture the would-be killers, and relinquish them for interrogation until their agenda is known. For this assignment, he’s the bait for a counter-assassin operation.

Once Matt sets sail towards Florida on his ruse journey, the author (through Matt’s first-person narration) delves into way too much detail about the fixtures, equipment and operations of a large luxury yacht. Perhaps Donald Hamilton was trying to stretch the page count to 1993 levels when Tom Clancy imitators were dominating spy fiction. In any case, the voluminous maritime specificity throughout this book is a total snooze that can be safely skimmed.

But don’t skip the budding sexual tension between Matt and his sensuous co-pilot. There’s a rather sneaky early plot-twist that I should have seen coming, but didn’t. Even late in his career, Hamilton still had some tricks up his sleeve.

Once the mission and the adversary become clear, we learn that The Damagers is a sequel, of sorts, to the second Matt Helm installment, The Wrecking Crew. A Swedish assassin whose father was killed by Matt in that 1960 novel is out for revenge. There’s danger for Matt at every turn. Every sexy woman he encounters and lays is either a secret adversary or a secret ally.

The conventional wisdom is that the Matt Helm series lost its shine with the last handful of novels, but The Damagers was a lot of fun — like catching up with a dear, old (deadly) friend. Breeze past the yachting nonsense and enjoy the final adventure of a great series character. Get the book HERE.

When Michael Calls

Missouri native John Farris is an author, screenwriter, and movie director. His first novel was published when he was just 19 years of age. He has contributed to suspense, crime-fiction, and romance genres, but is mostly known for his horror and suspense novels. I read Farris' When Michael Calls, a 1967 novel that was made into a television film in 1972 starring Michael Douglas.

This is a suspense thriller, but the first half of it is steeped in the idea of a paranormal ghostly haunting. The reason is that the main character, a widow named Helen, is receiving phone calls from a little kid that claims to be her nephew Michael. The problem is that little Michael died in a blizzard years ago when he was a child. Helen, who now has a child of her own named Peggy, receives these calls and finds them disturbing because Michael frequently refers to her as Auntie Helen, an endearment that only Michael would have known. As the plaguing calls continue, they trend into more ominous warnings that people in town are going to die. 

The novel's murders all play out like a slasher horror film. Victims will hear noises or see shadows and, when investigating, meet their demise in some heinous fashion. Along with the murders is a robust list of suspects that could be Michael. The main suspect is Michael himself either as a ghostly demonic child or existing in a plausibility that he never really died as a child. The other is Michael's older brother Craig, who works in town as a psychiatrist and still has a great relationship with Helen. Other suspects are Craig's girlfriend Amy and also the idea of an out-of-town stranger.

The phone calls are creepy. The kills are satisfying. But, my favorite part of the book is a character named Doremus. He's a hardboiled retired homicide detective that is a widow himself. He comes to Helen's aid after the sheriff is killed, offering a charismatic approach to the investigation. He rides a scooter, plays chess, and provides a captivating backstory on how he lost his wife years ago.

Overall, When Michael Calls is an enjoyable book and I felt the pace was just right to allow the murders to happen in a way that keeps the investigation plot-propuslive. It was a chain reaction that worked really well. Amy, Helen, and Doremus are all excellent characters that have plenty of time to develop in the novel. If you haven't seen the movie, definitely steer clear of it until you read the book. This is a book that probably doesn't have as much impact once the culprit is revealed.

Get When Michael Calls HERE.

Conversations - The Book Graveyard

The Paperback Warrior collides with The Book Graveyard for another "Guide to Gothics" episode. On this show, Eric and Nick discuss a 1972 Dell Gothic paperback titled, "Decoy in Diamonds". The episode includes a review of the book, discussion of the author Natalie Gates, the Cincinnati Reds, the New York Giants, and a showcase of 10 Gothic paperbacks. Stream below or download the episode HERE. Also, Nick and I did the conversation on video and you can watch that HERE.

Listen to "Conversations - The Book Graveyard" on Spreaker.

Joyride (Video Review)

Eric's love affair with the subgenre of horror slashers is on display with a video review of the 1983 Pinnacle paperback, Joyride. Check it out HERE.

Your Body Will Never Be Found

A master of blending horror with razor-sharp humor, Jeff Strand has carved out a unique niche in the genre with stories that are as unsettling as they are laugh-out-loud funny. With dozens of novels under his belt, ranging from splatterpunk chaos to darkly comedic thrillers, he’s earned a cult following among horror fans who like their scares served with a side of satire. His 2025 release, Your Body Will Never Be Found, is a fine entry-point to his “body” of work.

The 222-page paperback begins with a family of four lost in the deep woods of rural Georgia with their car’s GPS in constant recalculation mode and the fuel gauge approaching empty. They are Arden (Dad), Laurie (Mom), Nick (15) and Misty (6).

When the car finally konks out with a blown out tire and lack of gasoline, the family is at the foot of a long driveway snaking into the forbidding woods. At the base of the driveway is a sign reading, “If you’re here, you’re clearly lost. What you do next will determine if you stay that way.”

Of course the house’s resident is Finch, a giant scary redneck with a shotgun. But is he dangerous or just worried about coyotes? Would he allow little Misty to use the restroom inside his shack while they await roadside assistance? What could go wrong?

The author does a great job of ratcheting up the tension gradually playing with the tug-o-war between normal human manners and the gut feeling that something isn’t right. When violence finally breaks out, we have a nonstop, extreme horror bloodbath.

Nick and Misty will go to any length to keep their kids safe, and they have a secret history of their own that does not make them the soft targets you’d imagine. Meanwhile, the occupants of the home also have a creepy backstory that adds to the sense of danger and foreboding.

To be sure, Your Body Will Never Be Found is an extremely violent and visceral novel with some truly vile and disgusting scenes. Be warned. Strand also writes some of the best violent fight scenes in horror fiction — as evidenced throughout the novel’s second half.

Overall, this was not a masterpiece of horror fiction, but it’s probably a fine entry-point if you want to dip your toe into the extreme horror pool of blood. He’s a solid writer and the novel’s perspective changes had a cinematic, Tarantino quality. By now, you should know if this is your thing. If so, consider this a recommendation.

Get the book HERE.