Run, Killer, Run!

Surprisingly, Lionel White was age 47 before he launched his writing career as a published novelist. The heist extraordinaire, praised for his literary contributions to the crime-fiction genre like The Snatchers, The Big Caper, and Clean Break (aka The Killing), worked as an editor for magazines and newspapers before seeing his first novel, Seven Hungry Men!, published by Rainbow Digest in 1952. As his career soared, he revised the novel as Run, Killer, Run! and  sold it to Avon in 1959 as a paperback. Thankfully, Stark House Press imprint Black Gat Books as made this revised book available again as an affordable paperback and ebook.

The book introduces readers to Rand Coleman, a man newly released from prison. But, his newfound freedom was paid for by a slick attorney named Borgman. The spring wasn't charity care - Borgman has a plan to knock off an armored car in downtown New York. The payout is over $2 million. The problem? The devious machinations of the criminal crew. 

In the book's opening act, Coleman, charged with commanding the heist, meets the various personnel. He's happy with two seasoned pros that he's worked with in the past. Yet, there's a couple of hired gunmen that ratchet up the tension, stirring Coleman into violence to prove capable leadership. The wild card is Borgman's nympho seductress Pam, a young woman that keeps popping up in Coleman's bed and backseat. With Pam and Borgman a defined couple, the internal gears that Borgman has greased to pull off the heist becomes sticky. Coleman and Pam is a problem. Complicating things even more is a gunmen's female accomplice that appears after the heist. Her name is Kitty and she has a play for Coleman too.

After reading two to three books per week for decades, there's hyperbole in suggesting this book is a masterpiece. But, books like this prove that White was in a class all by himself. The intensity of every calculated decision is an invitation to violence (the name of a White novel no less). This intensity grows as the strong arm of the law descends on the fleeing group. But, White plays this heist as a bit of nautical fiction, and the atmosphere breeds contempt, distrust, and death as these fugitives conspire against each other for control while aboard a ship destined for a rendezvous in Miami. It is a layered plot that showcases White's strong character development and absorbent pace. The payout delivers the goods in grand fashion. Don't run from this one. Highest recommendation. Get it HERE.  

The Empty Land

Louis L'Amour's The Empty Land was first published in paperback by Bantam in 1969, then again in 1971 and 1995. The book was published in 2021 as a Lost Treasures edition, complete with postscript notes, outlines, plot developments, and an alternate draft. I mostly prefer vintage material here at Paperback Warrior, so I consumed the original paperback publication for review.

In the opening pages, L'Amour uses a unique timeline that begins at the dawn of civilization, and then builds a sequence of events that affect the House Rock Valley area of Utah. As these events develop, gold is discovered by a young mountain man. Decades later, the mountain man, now an older man in the sunset of his life, returns to the region and assists in carving out the remnants of a mining town. All of these things transpire in the first few pages of the novel. 

The basis of L'Amour's novel is the construction of a boom town called Confusion. As more gold is discovered, the town quickly becomes saturated with painted ladies and shady men. One of the town's founders, a miner named Felton, straps on a badge and hopes to bring peace, hard work, and profit for the town, eventually building it into an early metropolis. Yet, heaps of outlaws pour in, short-tempered gamblers, prostitutes, land barons, and a variety of borderline bad guys. The only hope lies in a sure-shot peacekeeper named Matt Coburn. But, L'Amour proves he has more than a few tricks to flesh out this 170-paged western.

There's a number of tantalizing storylines that converse in Confusion. First, there's a young woman named Madge that is being targeted by a group of outlaws hoping to steal her claim. Second, a treacherous transporation mission is underway to haul the first load of gold out of the town. The path to Carson City isn't easy with plenty of robbers staked out hoping to claim the gold. Matt Coburn fits into both of these storylines as a bold hero protecting Madge's interests and as a shotgun rider protecting the gold haul. But, when Felton finds the odds are too great, that's when the western ticks up a notch with Coburn strapping on the badge to bring law and order to the violent town.

The Empty Land is a multifaceted western. I feel as though many authors would have just stuck to one main plot in hopes of crafting a memorable story. However, L'Amour is just so good that he's able to weave a number of ideas and concepts (and characters) into a rich storytelling experience that is just so enjoyable to read. These characters and events leap from the page, and you can seemingly smell the powder burning with his descriptive details of this explosive mining town and the vortex of violence it breeds. Few could write a western as good as L'Amour, and The Empty Land is about as good as it gets. Highest recommendation. Get it HERE.

The Tormented

I spoke briefly about author Dorothy Daniels on Paperback Warrior Podcast Episode #78 (2021) on the Norman Daniels featured presentation. Norman Daniels was a prolific writer that churned out hundreds of pulp stories, helped create a number of pulp characters, and went on to a stellar paperback original career loaded with series titles and stand-alone books across many genres. 

Norman married Dorothy in 1931 when he was 26. Dorothy had been writing romance short stories that incorporated medical and nurse fiction. Her agent suggested she transcend into the red-hot market of gothic novels. She wrote her first one, Shadow Glen, which was published in 1965. She would go on to write a slew of novels including titles like Dark Island, The Stone House, Ghost Song, House on Circus Hill, Diablo Manor, House of Many Doors, you get the idea. From 1965 through 1975 she had collected sales figures of over 10 million copies and more than 150 titles in print. She also wrote a three book series based on the TV show Strange Paradise. 

I recently collaborated with Nick Anderson of The Book Graveyard for our monthly Guide to Gothic series. We chose to review her 1969 gothic paperback The Tormented, originally published by Paperback Library with a Jerome Podwill cover. It was reprinted by the publisher with different artwork in 1971, then issued by Warner Brothers in 1974 with a favorable Victor Prezzio cover.  

In 1892, young Sharon Aldrich left her parents' sprawling Louisiana plantation, The Pillars, to obtain education at Miss Claybourne's Finishing School. In her absence, Sharon's mother and father both die and the plantation is sold off, displacing Sharon from her childhood home. Now, at age 20, Sharon has submitted resumes to become a governess, a type of live-in teacher for kids. Her resume was approved in the form of a job offer from Craig, a husband and father seeking a governess for his daughter Cassie. Upon Sharon's arrival at the train station, she is shocked to learn that her future employer owns and resides in her former childhood home, The Pillars.

Upon arrival, Sharon immediately meets abrasion from Craig's hateful wife Emily and Emily's spiteful sister Sarah. When Sharon is introduced to Cassie, she learns from the little girl that all the prior governesses fled from the home due to a ghost stalking the house. When Sharon enters the attic in search of old books, she hears a ghostly voice whisper her name. Could this ghost be her dead mother?

The author takes readers on a mystery as Sharon and the family experience this haunting. Sharon's observations of the family's dynamic leaves her with many questions – why doesn't Emily love Craig and Cassie, who is the mysterious woman fatally ravaged by wild dogs, and what agenda does Craig's unruly brother Bart possess?

The Tormented is slightly above average as a disposable gothic-suspense paperback. Its qualities are the atmosphere, strong protagonist, and the addition of the supernatural, something that is typically teased at within the genre, but rarely comes to fruition. Daniels alters that formula with the ebb and flow of ghostly activity, an experience that leaves readers perplexed on what is actually happening to this family. While it isn't particularly spooky, I was invested enough to enjoy the 200-paged paperback escape. I think you may like it, and I have faith enough to offer a tepid recommendation. If anything, Prezzio and Podwill's cover art is worth the price of admission.

Get the book HERE.

The Sinister House of Secret Love #3

I've recently been devouring the DC Comics' 1970s title The Sinister House of Secret Love. The debut issue was published in Sep/Oct 1971. This is a comic that eventually became Secrets of Sinister House by issue five. The first issue was penned by veteran spookhound Mary Skrenes, and the second issue by illustrator Joe Orlando and journeyman writer Len Wein. This third issue was written by Frank Robbins, a comic artist and writer that was experiencing a late career flourish that included work on Captain America, Ghost Rider, Invaders, and DC's licensed version of The Shadow. Artwork for the issue is Alex Toth (House of Secrets, Green Lantern) with pencils by Frank Giacola (Avengers, Amazing Spider-Man).

The lead story, “Bride of the Falcon”, is unique in its presentation of a deaf woman, Kathy, as the protagonist. This is a bit more dynamic when paired with an imprisoned woman in the story that experiences paralysis. Her inability to move her lips impairs Kathy's ability to understand her cryptic messages. Additionally, there are other interesting twists and turns that catapult the story into a different look and feel compared to the title's predecessors. 

In a flashback, Kathy answers a classified ad requesting a companion for Count Lorenzo Di Falco at his castle on Isola Tranquillo (Quiet Island). Different era, different security issues in the early 1970s. Kathy arrives at a port searching for boat passage to the island. Yet, ferrymen refuse to take her, issuing dire warnings about her safety if she goes there. This was a throwback to gothic literature, and horror movies, with the tavern owners and bar maids forbidding travelers to journey to the big 'ole dark castle. Eventually, Kathy gains a passage from a young man named Roberto, who comes full circle to appear in the story's finale. 

On the island, Kathy meets the Count and discovers he has a fondness for falcons. He also has hideous scars on the side of his face from falcon claws. His isolation in the robust castle, paired with his facial unpleasantness, led to the advertisement searching for companionship. Kathy falls in love with the Count, but quickly realizes he's a real jerk. He's vicious with the castle's staff, and at times can be a little rough with Kathy. Central to the plot is an older woman that the Count calls his “mother”. Kathy can't confirm the relationship due to the woman's paralysis and inability to speak. The Count explains to Kathy that once she dies they can get married and live happily ever after in the castle. But, there's more to this traditional murderous love affair than you might think.

Again, I am having a blast reading this mini-series, and find the writing and art a real delight. Toth and Giacola create some abstract layers to the presentation that fuels the mysterious elements within the story. The mystery had me until the end, but I knew something was developing between a younger servant there and the Count's “mother”. This is on par with the title's excellent opening issues. Highly recommended.

Rock Paper Scissors

Alice Feeney’s Rock Paper Scissors from 2021 plays like Gone Girl rewritten as a windswept gothic paperback from 1967 — all brooding landscapes, isolated manors, and the slow unraveling of a marriage built on deceit. This is a modern domestic thriller that remembers its roots in the paperback rack: one foot in the psychological suspense of Agatha Christie and the other in the twist-driven storytelling of Gillian Flynn.

The premise is familiar — a troubled London couple retreat to a remote chapel turned vacation rental in the Scottish Highlands to save their marriage. Feeney uses the setup as a springboard for a tightly wound study of secrets and shifting perspectives. The Scottish Highlands stand in for the moors of classic gothic fiction, and the creaking, snowbound chapel-turned-house could easily have graced the cover of a 1960s Dell gothic, complete with a terrified woman fleeing in her nightgown.

Feeney writes with the precision of a screenwriter (which she is), and she structures the novel like a trapdoor. Each chapter rearranges your understanding of what came before, and by the time the final twisty reveal lands, it’s both shocking and inevitable. The unfolding truths recall the best Christie puzzles and contemporary thrillers.

Readers nostalgic for the paperback days of Victoria Holt and Phyllis A. Whitney will appreciate how Rock Paper Scissors updates that tradition for the streaming era: moody, propulsive, and dripping with dread. Feeney’s prose is lean, her pacing brutal, and her sense of place immaculate. It’s the rare “domestic suspense” novel that earns its hype and reminds us that the gothic isn’t dead.

Rock Paper Scissors is a masterclass in misdirection and the kind of modern gothic thriller that would have had Agatha Christie smiling in admiration and Dell editors clamoring for a reprint.

Get the book HERE.

The Brooding Lake (aka Lamb to Slaughter)

Dorothy Eden was born in Canterbury Plains, New Zealand on April 3rd, 1912. She worked as a legal secretary before moving to London, England in 1954 to become a full-time writer. She is best known for her writings in the historical, suspense, and gothic genres. Her first novel, The Singing Shadows, was published in 1940. During her lifetime, she wrote more than 40 novels including, Let Us Prey, The Vines of Yarrabee, Melbury Square, The Shadow Wife, An Afternoon Walk, The Salamanca Drum, and An Important Family. She also contributed to several magazines, including Redbook and Good Housekeeping. She died of cancer on March 4, 1982 at the age of 69. 

From what the internet produced, Eden's The Brooding Lake was originally published by Ace in January 1963 as a gothic paperback. The book was published the same year in Europe as Lamb to the Slaughter. In the late 1970s, both Ace and Coronet recycled those same titles for paperback editions of the novel. I attempted to make the novel relevant again by teaming up with Nick from The Book Graveyard to review it on a recent podcast episode and video discussion.

In the book, protagonist Alice arrives in a sleepy New Zealand town after receiving an invitation from her friend Camilla. However, Alice is shocked to learn that Camilla isn't home upon her arrival. Instead, there's a mysterious note that suggests Camilla has run off with a man. It is up to Alice to discover that all is not what it seems in the town. There are some vague notions that Camilla had at least three different relationships with men in town. When Alice delves into Camilla's disappearance, she "lives" Camilla's life by striking up a friendship with two of the men. As the book progresses, Alice's life is in jeopardy as she inches closer to the truth.

The Brooding Lake emphasizes relationships and boundaries, both of which entangle the characters and the plot in a crafty way. This is an actual gothic novel, complete with all of the expected genre tropes like a stranger in a strange land, a large house in which the main character can flee, and a unique isolation that envelops the characters and reader. I found myself enthralled with the central mystery, and the plot moved along in an investigative way that was enjoyable. Recommended. Get it HERE.

Batman - Dead White

John Shirley (The Specialist, Traveler) has experience writing movie, game, comic, and television tie-in novels. He has authored books in the Alien, Predator, Hellblazer universe as well as gaming platforms like BioShock, Borderlands, Resident Evil, and Halo. I learned about his Batman novel, Dead White, when interviewing one of Shirley's writing protegees, David Agranoff. Dead White was published in paperback by Del Rey in 2006.

The plot concerns a white supremacist deemed White Eyes amassing a cult following through a network of high-tech weapons. When these weapons appear on the streets of Gotham, Batman swoops in to investigate. The novel's informative first-half hones in on Batman's search for the weapons and the various tentacles operating from White Eyes' operation. With this being a sort of “ret con” approach, Shirley is careful to explain that despite the year of 2006, Wayne is fairly new in the role of Batman. He's experimenting with what works, how to improve various technologies and systems, and the importance of maintaining a day/night contrast of the Wayne/Batman persona.

While Dead White is a Batman novel, it easily could have been one of Shirley's The Specialist adventures. I kept visualizing Jack Sullivan in place of Bruce Wayne. As the first-half closes, some of the book's action takes place in San Francisco through the eyes of a former Gotham policeman named Cormac. He's in California searching for his missing son. His investigation leads to a rural Pennsylvania mining town in the fictitious Hatchet Mountains. Cormac's arrival in the small town aligns with Batman's own arrival there to track down White Eyes' and his operation center.

While Batman purists may object to the body count, the high-rise levels of violence, and the overall mythology of the character, I felt that Shirley's novel was enjoyable and provided a sort of action-adventure fantasy that placed the Dark Knight in a type of vigilante Mack Bolan adventure. I did enjoy Shirley's introspective analysis of Batman hypnotically seeing the costume in various places, a representation that he's not only the suit, but the embodiment of justice. The costume appearing in the dark recesses of the cave, and at the height of battle scenes, was a neat admission that emphasizes the character's ambiguous struggle. 

Dead White is a men's action-adventure paperback worth pursuing no matter if you are a casual Batman fan or a hardcore Batfanatic. Recommended! Get the book HERE.