Wolf Cop

I enjoyed my experience with Richard Jessup's Monty Nash series of hard-hitting spy-fiction novels, a five-book run he published under the pseudonym Richard Telfair for Fawcett Gold Medal. In reading up on Jessup, he had a remarkable literary career that spanned three decades and more than 60 books. The Savannah, Georgia native spent his early years as a merchant seaman before transitioning into a career as a full-time novelist. Jessup wrote across many genres, including western, espionage, action-adventure, young adult, and crime-fiction.

Jessup has gained the attention of Stark House Press recently, with the stellar publishing company reprinting his 1956 novel Night Boat to Paris (Dell) as a Black Gat Book in 2025, and they followed a few months later with a beautiful twofer containing the author's 1961 offerings Wolf Cop and Port Angelique (Fawcett Gold Medal). This review focuses on Wolf Cop.

Unlike most mid-20th-century police procedurals, Jessup places Wolf Cop in an unnamed midwestern town, probably Cleveland, based on places featured in the narrative. The protagonist is Tony Serella, a police sergeant who has recently transitioned from robberies to homicide. This promotion opens up new cases for Serella, but also requires that he complete the remaining 14 robbery cases. It's a lot of work, but Serella prefers it that way. He's a career cop, focused on nothing more than the next case. He's single, void of any social pipelines, and has few aspirations for anything beyond the badge. 

Jessup's narrative is a winding plethora of unrelated cases, propelled by three rigorous crimes that compete for Serella's time. There's a case of three homicides that may feature the same killer, a narcotics bust that may stop an impending bank vault heist, and a large turf showdown of prime-time players that may bathe the city in blood. With the enormous pressure of working these investigations comes a complex judicial hearing regarding Serella's physical confrontation with a young assailant. Serella's emotional defense ties into his relationships with department heads – those supporting his decorated servitude and the bullheaded powerhouses wanting failure. The sprinkling of Serella's relationship with a young woman provides a unique look at a career investment plagued by loneliness.

While I haven't read many of Jessup's novels, I can't imagine any of his novels dethroning Wolf Cop as his best work. This is a powerhouse police procedural that presents so many facets of the job, some that are somewhat ignored by other notable authors dedicated to the procedural craft. The transition from departments is an elementary yet pivotal plot device that thrives under Jessup's clever imagination. With these cases comes an ensemble cast of pushers, users, tramps, and nefarious wiseguys all looking for deals to either bypass the law or simply upend it. Through these tense scenes, the bullets start to fly, elevating the narrative's most dramatic moments into a frenzy of violence. 

Wolf Cop is a stirring police novel that easily competes with the best of the business, Ed McBain's 87th Precinct and Frank E. Smith's Pete Selby. Highest possible recommendation. Get it HERE.

Sinister House of Secret Love #4

I've been on a run every weekend reviewing the DC Comics' title The Sinister House of Secret Love. After reading, and enjoying, the first three issues, I'm saddened to tackle the fourth and last installment of the title, the May 1972 issue. Of course, the title would continue for a couple more years, but it transformed with issue five to Secrets of Sinister House with an enjoyable, yet campy traditional horror flavoring. The gothic tropes are mostly removed from the series going forward.

“Kiss of the Serpent” is the lead story for this fourth issue and the artwork is by Tony De Zuniga, the artist that also contributed to the title's second issue. The plot was created by Tony's wife Mary, and the story written by Mike Fleisher, a creator that worked on Spider-Woman, Ghost Rider, and properties for Fleetwood Publications.

In the story's beginning, Michelle Harlinson is experiencing a rough patch in her life. Her parents are both killed in a car accident, and weeks after the funeral she accepts a job opportunity in India presented to her by uncle. Weeks into the new job, her position is eliminated. Thankfully, she receives an invitation to meet a wealthy man named Rabin Singh. He offers her the job of governess for his two children. She accepts the position, and the lodging offered to stay in Rabin's enormous house. But, as these things go, the Kool-Aid is never stirred quite right. 

There's a central mystery on Rabin's brother being fatally bitten by a viper, and another of Rabin's brothers hints that Rabin himself is the murderer. Michelle falls in love with Rabin, but does voice concerns that he may have sinister motives. There's also a weird element where Rabin's mother believes that her dead son is living in a viper that she keeps in a basket. Like any good gothic fling, Michelle is nearly killed in “accidents” and eventually suspects Rabin's brother may be trying to kill her.

As a finale to The Sinister House of Secret Love run, I felt this issue is the weakest of the four. Atmosphere is key to these stories and the bright sun, intense heat, and desert setting just made the story feel misplaced. I'm a sucker for stormy nights and shore-front castles nestled in cliffs. This also seemed very modern with some frames of airplanes, corporate settings, and cars. I liked the idea of the story taking place in India, compared to Maine, France, or England, but with that comes a different look and feel for a gothic. The only other gothic tale that I know of with an India location is the paperback 1975 novel The Song of India, written by Mozelle Richardson. The other obvious issue is that the story just lacked any real depth. There's emotional highs and lows experienced through the protagonist, but it just didn't have much of an impact. 

Overall, all four of these issues are worth pursuing if you love gothic suspense. Recommended.

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.