The Executioner #88 - Baltimore Trackdown

Baltimore Trackdown is the 88th entry in the long-running The Executioner series. Written by journeyman Chet Cunningham (1928-2017), the novel was released by Gold Eagle in 1986. Cunningham contributed to a number of Mack Bolan volumes including the 79th installment, Council of Kings, which includes characters that later appear in Baltimore Trackdown. A series education isn't a prerequisite as these books can still be enjoyed in any order.

Mob kingpin Carlo Nazarione has infiltrated the Baltimore Police Department. With a vast, cascading stream of money, Nazarione and his criminal cohorts have purchased plenty of badges in their quest to run a gambling empire on the East Coast. The mob are using a veteran named Captain Harley Davis to monitor the bribery channels and to solicit new members for the crooked cop brigade. However, one of Mack Bolan's oldest and most trusted confidants, Leo Turrin, has planted an informant within the ranks. It's this collaboration that allows Bolan easy access at his new targets.

For the most part, Cunningham utilizes Don Pendleton's early template to create this rousing Bolan adventure. The paperback deploys series the series trope of a young, innocent woman who's raped and murdered by the criminals as a motivating spark for The Executioner. Bolan, as if he needs more purpose, seeks to avenge her death. Gambling halls and bars are familiar landscapes for Bolan to fulfill his mission, but it's not until page 114 where things really become interesting.

In a clever tie-in with Cunningham's work on The Executioner 79: Council of Kings, a hitman named Vince Carboni appears. What's unique is that there is no mention of this character anywhere in the first 114 pages aside from a line stating that Carboni has been hired to finish Bolan for good after a firefight in Portland failed to eliminate the hero. In research, this recollection links to the 79th entry where Carboni is enforcing for the Canzonari's West Coast mob. None of this really matters, just a simple way to inject Carboni into 44 pages of this book.

The author shines as Carboni and Bolan do battle on a farm in rural Maryland. The cat-and-mouse tactics are some of the best scenes in my experience with The Executioner books. Carboni ultimately controls the high ground, manning a 30-06 rifle from a farmhouse window. Bolan, trapped in a shed, attempts to dodge in and out of farm vehicles, buildings and eventually rooms within the house. The battle spills into cornfields, the road and back to the farm again before this side-story finally reaches its conclusion. This battle echoes David Goodis' effective farmhouse gunfight in Down There, also known as Shoot the Piano Player (1952), only more modern and quite a bit longer.

Overall, this is an exceptional Executioner entry with very engaging narrative and characters. While over the top at times, the book has a surprising sense of realism due to its more personal presentation – urban America on the take. If you are looking for a fantastic post-Pendleton Bolan work, this makes the short-list.

This novel and the entire Mack Bolan universe was discussed on the fifth episode of the Paperback Warrior Podcast: Link.

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Paperback Warrior Podcast - Episode 05

In this episode, we discuss the massive Mack Bolan universe, including the origin, spin-offs and legacy of "The Executioner". Additionally, Eric reviews the 88th "Executioner" novel, "Baltimore Trackdown", by Chet Cunningham. Tom reviews the newest adult western novel, "Gunsmith: Deadville", by Robert Randisi. Listen below or on streaming services like Apple, Google, Spreaker, YouTube, Stitcher, etc.

Listen to "Episode 05: The Executioner Mack Bolan" on Spreaker.

The Penetrator #14 - Mankill Sport

Chet Cunningham remains one of my favorite authors of pulpy men’s adventure fiction, but I’ve had trouble connecting with his popular series ‘The Penetrator’ written under the pseudonym of Lionel Derrick. The series ran for over 50 installments and was launched to capitalize on the success of Don Pendleton’s ‘The Executioner.” Cunningham’s take on the serial vigilante genre was mostly silly and over-the-top and usually not very good. For me, it’s always been a challenge to remain focused on the written page when I’m so busy rolling my eyes.

“Mankill Sport” from 1976 is the 14th installment in the series, and I was seduced by the plot synopsis which touts the book as a 1970s take on Richard Connell’s “The Most Dangerous Game” in which a hunter stalks men through the deep woods as prey. It’s a premise that has been re-worked dozens of times over the past century, and I was curious to see what Cunningham would do with the concept. The book review is below and a discussion of the novel was featured on the Paperback Warrior Podcast on July 8th, 2019 (LINK).

For the uninitiated, Mark Hardin is The Penetrator, a half-Cheyenne former U.S. Army killing machine with a brilliant mind and expert marksman skills. As “Mankill Sport” opens, Hardin is two-and-a-half years into his one-man war in crime and has achieved folk hero status among millions of groupies worldwide. Early in the paperback, he receives an assignment from his mentor to target a Detroit drug lord and big game hunter named Johnny Utah.

At his best, The Penetrator recalls Detective Comics’ Batman - no super-powers but well-resourced, violent, and quick access to cool gadgets. The first half of “Mankill Sport” has Hardin following Utah’s trail across North America to force a deadly confrontation. Because it’s disclosed on the book’s cover, I’m comfortable telling you that Utah’s hobby is kidnapping innocent people and hunting them through the thick Canadian woods like animals, and the climax of the novel finds Hardin in the role of Utah’s prey. Can The Penetrator turn the tables and transform the hunter into the hunted?

I’ve read several paperbacks in ‘The Penetrator’ series, and this one is the best of the batch I’ve sampled. The premise is derivative as hell but it’s extremely well-executed and ultra-violent. Moreover, the entire series is available for purchase on your Kindle for super cheap. I can’t necessarily endorse other books in the series, but “Mankill Sport” is essential reading for men’s adventure fans.

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Jigsaw

Everybody has at least one book they can write in their lifetime, right? I've heard that statement dozens of times. Apparently author Robin Sherman heard it as well. The former real estate agent contributed to the men's fertile action adventure genre in 1973. “Jigsaw”, her only known literary work, has the stereotypical attire that would accompany genre pieces of that era. It's published by Pinnacle (home of 'The Executioner') with a cover painted by the talented Gil Cohen ('The Executioner'). Is “Jigsaw” a diamond in the rough, a treasure buried in decades of used books? Or, simply a one-time use better served as kindling for your campfire?

Sadly, “Jigsaw” falls into the fire-starter category. 

The novel is set in London and consists of a crime syndicate using a stolen weapon to destroy government embassies. With a disposable narrative that begs for 'Killmaster', Sherman's writing is a complicated, contrived work that burdens readers with pages upon pages of cumbersome backstory on characters that have very little plot value. Each chapter is broken down into character conventions – brief history, identity and some connection - no matter how trivial – to the central theme. While readers are begging for a propelling story, Sherman focuses her efforts on mindless introductions. 

While not intended (who knows?), there are some enjoyable moments. In a humorous scene the chief intelligence officer for an unnamed British agency has his secretary randomly pick one of three agent files. As if performing a magic trick, the woman chooses rookie agent Brendon McCallie. For an important mission, like say government embassies exploding daily in London, the only solution to the problem is by choosing an agent randomly. It is a paradigm of how disposable the writing really is.

While there are some gripping action sequences, it's too little too late to save what is ultimately a dumbed-down effort. As of the time of this writing, Sherman had plans for a crime novel about a “racketeering” tennis player. Just roll your eyes and scan the shelves for something better.

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Stark #01 - Funeral Rites

UK publisher Sphere launched in 1966 and rose to prominence with the 1976 printing of “Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker” by Alan Dean Foster (as George Lucas). But, action-adventure readers know the publisher's work through the myriad of 'Conan' and 'The Executioner' releases. The publisher gained the rights to release Don Pendleton's Executioner series, beginning with “War Against the Mafia” in 1973. Losing the series to rival English publisher Corgi, the company emulated 'The Executioner' motif for a new series entitled 'The Revenger'. 

The Revenger would run for 12 total books, the first ten written by Terry Harknett ('Adam Steele', 'Edge', 'Apache') and the last two by Angus Wells ('The Eagles', 'Jubal Cade'). The house name used by Sphere is Joseph Hedges. Later, Pyramid Books acquired the rights to reprint the books in the US but changed the series name to 'Stark' to avoid confusion with another The Revenger series written by Jon Messman. 

“Funeral Rites” is the debut novel of the series and was released in the UK in 1974 with a printing in the US a year later. The book introduces us to the criminal John Stark, a prison inmate in England. He robbed an electronics company while being employed by a criminal organization called The Company. To keep Stark quiet behind bars, they promise to continue the heroin drop into Stark's lover Carol. The Company henchmen aid Stark in his escape from prison so he can continue to do jobs for them.

After these events transpire in chapter one...this book turns into a real turd. 

Stark is brought to sea and reunited with his arch enemy Ryan. Oddly, Ryan provides Stark a bedroom and a nympho named Sheri. In my opinion, Stark loses credibility when he pounds away at Sheri while thinking of the love of his life, Carol. This just seems incredibly selfish, but considering the lack of depth in the book it makes sense the character is easily disliked. Shockingly, Ryan leaves Stark alone so he can set fire to the boat and escape with Sheri.

The author completely loses direction and focus and dedicates the next 100-pages to Stark sleeping, eating...and sleeping and eating. He goes on tangents about how Stark is ravished from hunger but there's no reason for it. He has money and there's food all over London! Ryan, being the book's villain, does nothing. Instead, the author has our antagonist thinking about his lover Jay and how he misses his vibrator. Ugh. In one astonishing, scene Ryan has a mistress flail him with a tree branch before “impaling” herself on him. It's absolutely bonkers.

Action? Well, there's a little here and there. In one wild scene we have Stark's Colt Python against the bad guy's Tommy – with Stark obviously the immortal hero. In a hilarious scene Stark accidentally elbows Jay, knocking him into a sink where he bleeds to death. To get answers to some question (I stopped following the senseless plot), he thrust Sheri's face into the wound while threatening to drown her in the gash if she doesn't tell the truth. Ridiculous.

I hated this book. And it isn't because the English spell “Pajamas” as “Pyjamas” or that they insult the good guys here by calling them a “Tinker's Cuss” (?). No, it isn't that. This character has absolutely no talent. Stark is a thief who was caught. End of story. There's nothing else to it. The Company wants to capture him, there's a bad guy named Ryan, a lover named Carol Burnett (!) and an effort on the author's part to bury 120+ pages in dialogue and trivial descriptions of tea cups and wall décor. 

How this series lasted 12 entries is beyond me. Why Pyramid felt the need to reprint it, God only knows. For me, this series lasted one book.

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The Terminator #04 - Crystal Kill

In an effort to cross-promote to their own 'The Executioner' consumers, publishing house Pinnacle utilized the same fonts and artistic covers for their short-lived 'The Terminator' series. The books, written by porn editor Dennis Rodriguez as John Quinn, lasted for six installments from 1983-1984. The series features an ex-CIA assassin named Gavin, whose attempts to marry and settle-down were suspended after being set-up on his last assignment (told as an origin story in the series debut “Mercenary Kill”). Now, he's a semi-fugitive living under the assumed name of Bob Evans in a Colorado mountain town. Without his modest retirement benefits and pension, Gavin takes on private investigator jobs for money.

The novel begins with a hired killer named Soto violently murdering a family in Miami. After reconvening with his boss, kingpin El Jefe, Soto is advised to take a new assignment on Catalina Island, off the California coast. A movie director turned drug dealer has received a large amount of product, yet hasn't provided payment for the goods. Soto's job is to become the enforcer and make the man pay. But how does any of this involve Gavin?

A scorned lover has employed Gavin to find her book-selling husband. He ran off with a publishing rep and was last seen on Catalina Island. Gavin, not enthused about his role in a marital dispute, bitterly accepts the assignment for the lucrative payout. Convenient, yet it seems like a lackluster way for the author just to connect beacon points between mafia enforcers and The Terminator.

Once Gavin arrives on the island, he reaches out to his old friend Doug and Doug's wife Marie. Gavin learns that Doug has apparently been killed while fishing offshore. The grieving Marie feels there's more to the story and provides details to Gavin. Combining Doug's hefty business debts with the fact that the body was never found leads Gavin to believe there was malicious intent involved.

Connecting the dots, readers learn that El Jefe and Soto are both after Pierce, an ex-Universal Studios director who's debauchery has pushed him from Hollywood elitist to grindhouse hack. Pierce's distributor has gone missing (readers suspect it is Gavin's friend Doug) with an enormous supply of cocaine, putting Pierce in arrears financially with wholesaler El Jefe. When bone-breaker Soto arrives on El Jefe's behalf, he finds that Pierce is protecting himself with his own team of enforcers.

At the 75-page mark, it's abundantly clear that the author is having a blast writing this. It's a funny, captivating chase story as Gavin and Pierce pursue Doug's whereabouts while tangling with mob killers. Specifically, the interplay between Pierce's two enforcers and El Jefe's hit-men is worth the price of admission. I had no issue that the foursome absorb most of the book's narrative. It seemed as though Gavin was an unnecessary fifth-wheel, but kudos to the writer for realizing where the story's true strengths are. This was thoroughly enjoying and highly recommended.

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The Vigilante #05 - Detroit: Dead End Delivery

Despite the off-putting artwork, 'The Vigilante' series is surprisingly engaging. Debuting for men's action publisher Pinnacle, the series began its six-book journey in 1975 under the direction of paperback promoter Lyle Kenyon Engle and writer Robert Lory. The series' through story is everyman Joe Madden avenging his wife's murder over the course of six-weeks. Following the geographical format of long running series like 'The Executioner', 'The Butcher' and 'The Penetrator', each novel presents a new city to host Madden's vigilance. This fifth novel, “Detroit: Dead End Delivery”, was published in 1976 and is only the second series installment to feature a painted cover.

Madden, a structural engineer by day, utilizes his consulting firm as a useful cover. As a frequent flier, Madden's newest assignment is an awards show in Detroit to accept a career accolade. But the Motor City has a lot more to offer, evident in Madden's social engineering on a back-alley where the novel's traditional opening chapter pits the “The Vigilante” against a criminal duo.

Later, Madden meets with an old friend named Hart and a private detective, Voll. Hart works for Regius Developments, an innovative manufacturer designing a new concept in automotive engines. Hart explains to Madden that the company has experienced an inside theft of two-thirds of their development. Hiring the P.I. Voll, the two suspect that an executive named Elliott Tander is behind the theft. However, the suspicion seems slightly misplaced; Tanner is married to the company's majority owner. What's the motive?

The Vigilante certainly doesn't place its limelight on executive, white-collar crime. Within 100-pages, “Detroit: Dead End Delivery” gains genre traction when Madden discovers the crime-ring. From hired killers to gambling debts, Madden stumbles into a powerful Detroit Syndicate that may have ties to his prior wet-work in Chicago and New York.

This is an enjoyable sixth installment that sets the stage for the series finale in Washington D.C. Madden's self-reflection begins to gravitate from anger and grief to remorse. In one poignant scene, Madden is approached by an attractive woman who asks about his career. His guilt-ridden, somber response conveys the character's blackest emotions: “I Destroy”.

After five-weeks and 42 kills (4 of which were female), the series finale, “Washington D.C.: This Gun for Justice,” is shaping up to be an explosive finish. Coming soon...

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The Butcher #01 - Kill Quick or Die

The 35-book series The Butcher was conceived by the Don King of the paperbacks – Lyle Kenyon Engel. Like many of these 70s and 80s action-adventure yarns, a series of literary works about a hot-headed, globe-trotting gruff crime fighter was really par for the course. Based on the overwhelming success of Pinnacle's own The Executioner, Engel formed The Butcher in 1970 as a Pinnacle property possessing a rotating author schedule under house name Stuart Jason. Aside from Lee Floren's contributions to books 10 and 11, James Dockery wrote the first 26 novels. Michael Avallone authored the last nine.

Kill Quick or Die is the series debut and provides the obligatory origin. Bucher has enforced Syndicates for a number of years, but has a change of heart and leaves the rackets. Joining a mysterious crime-fighting organization called White Hats, Bucher receives assignments to battle international crime rings. In doing so, he must contend with the Syndicate and the lucrative contracts they offer for his demise. 

Our introductory mission is tracking down a Chinese scientist named Dr. Fong who's invented some type of micro-transformer that holds a lot of energy. If the bad guys can gain access to it's power, they control Earth...somehow. None of it really makes any sense, but the reader tags along as Bucher fights the baddies in places like Atlanta, Cairo and Israel. 

Meeting a former lover named Tzsenya, the two team-up on a Middle Eastern conspiracy to pipeline wealthy terrorists into the US. Bucher aims to stop the pipeline, but wants to learn how the pipeline works. Putting Dr. Fong and the micro-transformer horseshit aside, Bucher finds a torture fiend named Lobertini who melts his prisoners in the bowels of an old castle. Thus Fong, Lobertini, escaping the hitmen and avoiding Tzsenya's lovemaking invites (Bucher doesn't mix pleasure and business) is the entire premise of the novel. 

Normally, this sort of thing we could file under Killmaster and for the most part just have a lot of silly fun. Unfortunately, Dockery is underwhelming as a storyteller. His abstract writing style (read that as flaky) has more in common with Joseph Rosenberger, another author that I steer clear of. With Kill Quick or Die, and subsequent entires, Dockery uses pulp language to describe 70s action. Our hero routinely says things like “Shuck your heater” or jabs with “Son of camel filth” insults. Dockery describes shots like comic books – Koosh! 

Overall, the plotting is so convoluted that I stopped caring by page 100. It's a literary minefield of bad writing. Kill Quick or Die is simply bad fiction. Here's the pot calling the kettle black – why would anyone spend time reading bad fiction when there's hundreds of golden gems of the 50s, 60s and 70s left to explore? I weep for the time I've wasted on so-called genre classics like The Butcher.  

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The Executioner #70 - Ice Cold Kill

British author Peter Leslie (1922-2007) was a talented writer who penned a number of various literary works in his lifespan. Writing five novels in the popular television tie-in series Man from U.N.C.L.E., Leslie also penned a three book trilogy, Father Hayes, about a Catholic priest battling demonic forces. Along with a trilogy of Chicago gangster novels, Bruno Farrell (as Ed Mazzaro), action fans might remember Leslie best as a heavy contributor to the The Executioner series. Beginning with Ice Cold Kill (1984), Leslie went on to write seven The Executioner titles as well as five giant size Mack Bolan entries. 

Ice Cold Kill offers an interesting assignment for Bolan. The Grand Duchess Rytova, an exile from Czarist Russia, asks Bolan to penetrate the Soviet Union and rescue an esteemed scientist. The scientist, Korsun, has created a complex computer that makes deductions that mirror the human brain. In effect, it can make inspired guesses bases on a infinite number of unrelated data. In reality, none of this really matters. We want to see Bolan kill bad guys.

The interesting aspect to the assignment is that Korsun's identity hasn't been fully established. All Rytova and Bolan know is that Korsun wants to defect from the Soviet Union to China, expecting to serve the cause of communism better. Bolan must escort her out of the country but also persuade her to defect to the west. Bolan's persuasion isn't typically in verbal debate. This mission adds a deeper depth to the typical run 'n gun. 

Leslie provides a ton of fireworks through this 180-page advenute. From breaking into the Soviet Union, meeting Korsun (which turns out to be a surprise for the reader) and escaping, there is plenty of action sequences to please genre fans. Aside from the normal episodic delivery, Ice Cold Kill is much better than average and a firm entry in this long-running endeavor.

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The Scarred Man

By the time the 1970s rolled around, the quality of output from the Fawcett Gold Medal paperback imprint had decreased noticeably. The publisher that practically invented the paperback original was getting its clock cleaned by upstart violent adventure houses like Pinnacle Books anchored by series titles including ‘The Executioner’ by Don Pendleton. Fawcett Gold Medal needed to change with the times or disappear into obscurity.

Enter Basil Heatter.

During this life, Heater wrote 20 suspense and adventure novels - many with maritime themes, including the successful “Virgin Cay” for Fawcett Gold Medal in 1963. However, a decade later when the demands of the market called for bloody paperback vengeance, Heatter delivered his publisher “The Scarred Man.” It’s a violent and shocking revenge story about a mild-mannered attorney forced to hunt and kill the motorcycle punks who raped his wife, and it’s a successful entry in the vengeance genre.

William Shaw is a Manhattan corporate lawyer who is given some vacation time after a client prevails in a $40 million dispute. William and his wife head down to Florida, purchase an old wooden boat, and begin the repairs needed to sail to the Bahamas together. Through William’s first-person narration, Heatter does a great job conveying to the reader just how much William loves Stacey. She is everything to him.

One day they take a break from sanding, patching, and painting their boat and rent a Honda motorcycle to cruise through the Everglades of South Florida. William is in heaven riding with Stacey behind him, her arms wrapped around his torso. Out of nowhere, they are forced off the road by three motorcycle punks looking for kicks as they beat William’s body and face with a chain. As he’s fading into unconsciousness, William sees the naked ass of a leather-clad ruffian lowering himself onto Stacey while she is being restrained by the other thugs.

William awakens in the hospital (this is still the very beginning of the paperback) to find his face has been mutilated from the attack. He’ll be left with a nasty scar that will also provide the basis for the novel’s title. Stacey has also survived the attack - sedated and severely traumatized from the sexual assault. Unfortunately, neither William nor Stacey recall enough descriptive details to be useful to the police in identifying the attackers. It’s just another unsolved violent crime for the books.

Because this is a 1973 men’s adventure paperback written in the wake of “Death Wish”’ and “The Executioner,” it comes as no surprise to the reader that William decides to hunt and kill the barbarians on bikes who scarred his face and shattered his bride. William’s plan for infiltrating the biker gang subculture is pretty clever, and I won’t spoil it here. The bulk of the novel consists of the investigative steps undertaken by William to locate and get close to his wife’s assailants. As you might expect, neither motorcycle nor hippie youth culture get a particularly fair shake in the story, but this is a vendetta paperback, not a sociology textbook. You get what you pay for, and there’s no shortage of scenes featuring explosive violence.

I have no idea if “The Scarred Man” was a commercial success for Fawcett Gold Medal. I suspect that if it sold well, we would have seen “Scarred Man 2: Mississippi Mayhem”, but no such sequel exists. The stand-alone novel is better written than most entries in the 1970s vigilante genre and, at moments, packs a real adrenaline punch for the reader. Some of the dialogue with bikers and hippies was a bit cartoonish and stereotypical, but that’s par for the course in this genre. Because the novel is out-of-print, you’ll need to find yourself a copy on the used paperback market where it remains available at fairly reasonable prices. If violent revenge fantasies are your thing, “The Scarred Man” is certainly satisfying reading. Recommended.

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The Butcher of Calais

Although he has written a handful of contemporary action novels, Jack Badelaire is best known for his World War 2 adventure fiction. His books generally fall into established series titles - most notably ‘Commando’ and ‘The Revenants,’ but in 2019, he treated readers to a stand-alone novella marketed under the ‘Commando’ brand that will appeal to fans of 1970s vigilante paperbacks like Don Pendleton’s ‘The Executioner’ series.

The story takes place in Calais, France in 1940 as the German forces are bombing and invading. A French math teacher named Andre Bouchard is hiding out with His wife. Yvette, and their young daughter in their modest apartment steering clear of German artillery shells and street-level fighting. It takes no time at all for the town to fall to the Nazis while Andre and his family hide safely away.

A few weeks later, thinks are returning to normal under Nazi occupation. Andre returns to teaching math, and Yvette resumes operation of her bakery when Andre’s school day is interrupted with some terrible news. His wife and daughter have been murdered at their bakery by unidentified German soldiers seen leaving the bakery in a rush. Andre also learns that this wasn’t just a wartime looting gone bad. Yvette was killed in a brutal manner filled with degradation and suffering while his daughter’s head was caved in by the butt of a German Army rifle.

The author does a great job conveying the grief and loss Andre feels accompanying the murders of his family members. It doesn’t take long until grief turns to rage as Andre becomes determined to find the men responsible for the deaths of his loved ones and send them straight to hell along with as many German invaders as possible. What we really have here is “Death Wish in Occupied France,” and the result is a satisfying vendetta tale filled with violent comeuppance. As the Germans take measures to prevent further slaughters of their troops, some thorny moral dilemmas arise for Andre. Could this vigilante action serve as a spark for open rebellion among the French living under the thumbs of Nazi overlords? Or is Andre’s crusade costing more innocent lives?

It’s been ages since I’ve read a book this exciting. At 97 lean pages, it’s a fat-free treat for fans of classic men’s adventure fiction. Even if you’re not a history buff or have any particular interest in WW2, there’s a lot to enjoy in this expertly-crafted “hunt the bad guys” novella. I’m told that the main character makes appearances in other books in Badelaire’s ‘Commando’ universe with “The Butcher of Calais” serving as a stand-alone prequel of sorts - justifying the abrupt ending.

If you don’t want to get bogged down in a large WW2 series with overlapping plotlines, this novella provides a self-sufficient story that can be read and enjoyed with no preconditions. Consider this fantastic short work of war fiction essential reading with a highest recommendation.

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Russell Davis - The Ghost behind the Books: A Paperback Warrior Unmasking

It all began with a haircut.

I was waiting my turn at the barbershop reading a 1970s vigilante paperback, and the guy sitting next to me said, “Have you ever heard of a series of novels called The Executioner about a guy named Mack Bolan?”

I told him that I was very familiar with the series and regarded myself as a fan. In fact, I write for a wildly-popular blog covering vintage men’s fiction.

Then the guy said, “I wrote many of them. And lots of other books like that, too.”

He introduced himself as Russell Davis, a name I confess I didn’t know. It turns out that his anonymity as an author of genre fiction was no accident, and my investigation into his body of work uncovered some interesting business practices among house name authors. His story illuminates the difficulty in unmasking the real authors behind the legendary pseudonyms of men’s adventure fiction.

I checked the guy out with some writers and editors in the genre, and Davis’ claims checked out. He was the real deal. We met for coffee, and I heard his story.

His first sale was a science fiction short story in a 1998 anthology edited by Ed Gorman and Martin Greenberg called “The UFO Files.” The story was published under Davis’ real name.. “I received a letter from a guy in prison who read my UFO story. The guy’s letter was rambling, but the theme – as far as I could tell – was that the creatures we perceive as aliens from outer space are actually angels sent by God. I had young kids at the time and felt increasingly uncomfortable with the idea of unbalanced readers posing a threat to my family, so I opted for pseudonyms wherever feasible going forward. Most of my short fiction has been under my name, though not all of it, and all but a few of the novels I’ve written have been under various pseudonyms.”

His first novel sale came in 2001 as co-author of “Tom Clancy’s Net Force Explorers #17: Cloak and Dagger,” and the success of that book opened new doors for Davis in the world of house-name fiction. “My mom met Tom Clancy before he died and told him that her son wrote one of his books,” Davis said. “Needless to say, Mr. Clancy was not amused.”

For Davis, 2008 was a big year for his writing career as a professional ghost. He sold two novels in Gold Eagle’s ‘Room 59’ spy series published under the house name Cliff Ryder. Gold Eagle, a Harlequin imprint, had always been generous with giving the real authors a writing credit on the copyright page. But having learned his lesson from his prison fan mail experience a decade earlier, Davis opted to have the writing credit go to a pseudonym he created to hide beneath the house name. “I began using the names Garrett Dylan and Dylan Garrett for the house name books I wrote to preserve my anonymity,” he said.

At the barbershop, Davis told me that he wrote two adult Western novels in ‘The Trailsman’ series as Jon Shape, but I was unable to find any record that this was true. Weeks later at coffee, I asked him about this, and he let me in on an industry secret. “Ed Gorman was contracted to write two books in The Trailsman series, but he was swamped with work at the time,” he said. “Ed called me and asked if I’d be willing to write the books for him in exchange for $2,000 per novel. Ed was probably making $4,000 per book for the job, so it was a win-win. I asked him if he’d created plot outlines, and he said he’d sold them on the basis of the titles alone – ‘Louisiana Laydown’ and ‘California Crackdown’ - so I had to write them with no guidance other than the titles. I finished the books quickly, and the publisher was never the wiser. Subcontracting your house-name work to other ghostwriters for a reduced fee was a common practice, but it was rarely discussed in public.”

Davis’ ability to write fast, high-quality genre fiction landed him an opportunity to work on the legendary Don Pendleton series, ‘The Executioner.’ “I was a fan of the series from way back, but I hadn’t read one in years,” he said. “The editor sent over a box of recent Bolans, so I could get a feel for the current format, and I got to work on my first one.” His initial outing was published in 2009 as “The Executioner #371: Fire Zone,” and the going rate for a Pendleton ghost at the time was a flat $4,000 fee per book. “I can only assume that the more seasoned and popular authors of the series – like Michael Newton or Mel Odom – commanded a higher fee,” Davis said. The success of his first venture lead Davis to author a total of eight installments of ‘The Executioner’ series as well as double-sized ‘Super-Bolan’ paperback.

Gold Eagle worked hard to maintain a continuity in the Mack Bolan universe. When Davis wrote a scene in ‘Super Bolan #148: Decision Point’ (March 2012) that found Mack flying an airplane, he quickly heard from an editor at Gold Eagle. “Mack can’t fly a plane,” the editor said, and this was news to the author. “I told her that he could fly a helicopter,” he said. “Why not a plane? She replied that it was in the Bolan bible. The problem was I had never been provided the document telling me what Mack could and couldn’t do. I’d learned on-the-job by reading books in the series. Despite my argument, rules are rules, and the airplane scene was cut.”

In keeping with his low-profile approach, Davis’ work on the Mack Bolan brand was credited to either Dylan Garrett or Garrett Dylan on the copyright pages. “And then for one book, Gold Eagle screwed up and gave me credit under my real name,” he said. “The moderator of the Mack Bolan fan website somehow put it all together and sent me an email asking if I had written all the Dylan Garrett titles in the series. I told the truth, and he amended his website crediting me for the books I wrote. Basically, I was outed.”

Davis has also worked on media tie-in novels connected to The Transformers, The Librarian, and The Twilight Zone. He’s also been active in the science fiction writing community, and is a former president of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA). These days he spends his time working on screenplays and as a university professor at a Master of Fine Arts Program for Genre Fiction. “If you want a master’s degree in how to write paranormal vampire romances, I guess I’m your guy,” he said. “I’m also going to be back writing original novels soon, and there are some announcements coming very soon on that front.”

In any case, Davis’ days as a ghost writer for media tie-in books are likely over. “I enjoyed the work while I was doing it, and it was a good way to make some money. But there’s only so many hours in the day I can spend writing, and the idea of doing my own thing with screenplays and original novels is ultimately more fulfilling from an artistic standpoint.”

Selected Men’s Adventure Bibliography of Russell Davis

‘Net Force Explorers’ as Tom Clancy:
- #17: “Cloak and Dagger” (2001)

‘The Trailsman’ as Jon Sharpe:
- #319: “Louisiana Laydown” (2008)
- #324: “California Crackdown” (2008)

‘Room 59’ as Cliff Ryder
- #2: “Out of Time” (2008)
- #4: “The Ties That Bind” (2008)

‘The Executioner’ as Don Pendleton
- #371: “Fire Zone” (2009)
- #392: “Shadow Hunt” (2011)
- #395: “Hazard Zone” (2011)
- #405: “Lethal Diversion” (2012)
- #415:  “Ivory Wave” (2013)
- #416:  “Extraction” (2013)
- #428:  “Desert Impact” (2014)
- #436:  “Perilous Cargo” (2015)

‘Super Bolan’ as Don Pendleton
- #148: ‘Decision Point” (2012)

Super Bolan #04 - Dirty War

In Don Pendleton's “Death Squad” (1969), the second of the long running vigilante series 'The Executioner', we are introduced to Mack Bolan's Vietnam colleagues - Bill Hoffower, Tom Loudelk, Angelo Fontenelli, Juan Andromede, Gadgets Schwartz, Pol Blancanales, Jim Harrington and George Zitka. While it's a short-lived cameo, this death squad assists Bolan with a Mafia hit that goes south. While the entire team is nearly wiped out, it was an interesting concept that would eventually lead to more team-based action in its affiliates like Able Team, Stony Man and Phoenix Force.

Pendleton would pen 37 of the first 38 Executioner novels before handing Gold Eagle the rights to produce the books using a myriad of authors. The stipulation that the author's name be printed on the copyright page is important, allowing fans like myself an easy peek at the book's creator without having to roll the sleeves up for a paper trail (I'm talking to you Killmaster). After 60 volumes of 'The Executioner' (titled 'Mack Bolan' at this point), Gold Eagle decided that they could increase the profits from $2.25 per book to $3.95 by increasing the size to 350+ pages under the 'Super Bolan' series. These were simultaneously released at the same time Executioners were flooding the market, providing plenty of paperback Bolans to meet reader demands.

Writer Stephen Mertz was a Pendleton prodigy and by the early 1980s was knee-deep in the Bolan universe. His resume and experience with Bolan provoked a “retcon” idea of re-imagining earlier events in Bolan's life. Thus, “Super Bolan #4 – Dirty War” is written as a time capsule piece depicting events that would happen to the character during his second tour in Vietnam. The idea of a sprite young Bolan in the hands of a veteran author like Mertz is altogether intriguing. The stars aligned to even have veteran artist Gil Cohen design the cover, the ultimate Bolan fan's dream.

The book begins in the present day as Bolan is thinking back to his Death Squad's unfortunate deaths. He's on a Mafia hit of his own and thinking back to his time in Vietnam as sergeant and the various missions that his men performed. In a unique chapter one, 30-yr old Bolan is at Pittsfield Municipal Airport in Massachusetts with his family. We know this would be the last time he would see his parents/sister and Mertz writes this into the narrative. Bolan has premonitions that he won't see his family again. Kudos to the author for also allowing some backstory on Mack's father Sam and his early fights with the mob enforcers. At one point, before Mack's departure, Sam is attacked and Mack comes to his aid. It's this aspect that I don't think was conveyed by Pendleton – that Mack knew what was happening back home prior to the first few letters arriving on his second tour. In this re-imagining, he knew all along. 

The action heats up in Vietnam as we see Bolan and his death squad liberating a young woman and child from a NVA stronghold near the Cambodian border. It's intense cat-and-mouse tactics that mirror Bolan's solo fights much later in life. But here we have Bolan as squad leader, effectively orchestrating the Hell that is unleashed on the NVA base. In a neat fan experience, Mertz provides a cameo of pilot Jack Grimaldi. Familiar readers will know that Grimaldi and Mack originally meet in Executioner #10, later to become longtime allies within the Stony Man group. Retconning that exchange, Mertz has Grimaldi rescue the Death Squad from the NVA fight and pilot the group to safety. While Grimaldi and Bolan never officially meet here, both are respectful to each other leading Grimaldi to think to himself, “I wonder if our paths will ever meet again”. This is fun stuff. 

“Dirty War” eventually tangles with plenty of firefights and escapes, building in a hot lead assault on Bolan's camp, a hunt and destroy mission and the eventual escape from enemy patrols in Cambodia. At 376-pages, it never gets too exhausting with dialogue or slow motion. This is 80s Bolan – 1,2,3,Kill at its finest. Mertz is clearly having a lot of fun with the concept and adds tremendous depth to the characters that made up that original Death Squad. Without giving away the spoilers, we know that Gadgets and Pol would survive that Mafia battle and go on to form Able Team (launched in 1982 by Gold Eagle).

Fans of the Bolan universe, this is simply mandatory reading. It's fun, indulgent and clever. It's clearly designed for the series' fans but should be considered an important part of the Bolan origin story. If you are new to the series, I would start here and then work into Executioners 1 and 2. But regardless of order, just read it.

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Geneva Force

Author Joseph R. Rosenberger wrote a number of men's action adventure novels throughout the 70s and 80s. His 70-book vigilante series 'Death Merchant' ranks in the highest echelons of popularity alongside 'Nick Carter', 'The Executioner' and 'The Butcher'. Prior to his death in 1993, the author had conceived a new vigilante series entitled 'Tenkiller', paralleling the same format he utilized with 'Death Merchant'. The debut, “Geneva Force” (1989 Pageant), stands as the only series contribution.

This “Geneva Force” refers to Mason Tenkiller, a globe-trotting fighting man who seeks to punish terrorist cell The Red Brigade. In the opening pages we read newspaper clippings advising that Tenkiller's wife and son were killed in a terrorist blast. But, do we know if Tenkiller has the ability to wage a one-man war on international terrorism? 

After a furious fire-fight in an abandoned German brewery, chapter two settles in with a resume showcasing Tenkiller's validity as the “Geneva Force”. He graduated from Notre Dame with a master's degree in psychology. After refusing an appointment at West Point, Tenkiller joins the Fifth Special Forces Group Airborne and serves four years in Vietnam. Later, he's recruited by the CIA and excels as a GS-12 rating and promoted to the European Terrorist Desk at the U.S. Embassy in Rome. After his family's murder in 1984, Tenkiller begins his crusade to right the wrongs of Europe. 

Rosenberger's deeper plowing was in hopes of harvesting a rogue killing machine that was courted by both the CIA and KGB. In a fertile story-line, heads of the CIA and KGB meet under the assumption that they will capture Tenkiller and force him to be a lone member of a joint taskforce used to kill targets for both agencies. It's a unique twist that aligns the two super-powers in a conventional way. This novel focuses on Tenkiller's annihilation of Red Brigade hierarchy while evading capture by the CIA and KGB men. There's even a brief reference to Rosenberger's claim to fame – the Death Merchant himself, Richard Joseph Camellion. 

By 1989, Rosenberger had clearly ran out of ideas. After two decades of cashing checks for 'Death Merchant', along with entries like 'C.O.B.R.A.', 'Kung-Fu' and 'Shadow Warrior', this series spark is simply re-imagining Camellion as the newer Tenkiller. So much that the body count reaches extraordinary heights, the gun porn outweighs the writing and this character uses wigs and make-up to hide his killing agendas. These are all consistent with the 'Death Merchant' series. So, why do we need another? Ultimately, I'm not sure if Rosenberger had any more entries drafted or submitted for this ill-conceived series. Regardless, his death just five years from this book's release would erase any further volumes of Tenkiller's fate. 

Read “Geneva Force” if you absolutely need 'Death Merchant' part 71. 

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The Executioner #39 - The New War

There's no denying that Don PendletonDon Pendleton's The Executioner (1969) was the catalyst for 70s and 80s men's action-adventure fiction. The series went on to spawn hundreds of imitators with the majority fixed on the idea of “er” at the end. Thus, The Enforcer, The Butcher, The Punisher, The Avenger brands are born. Other than one novel, the first 38 books are penned by Don Pendleton (the oddity was the 16th entry, William Crawford's Sicilian Slaughter). After legal battles with publisher Gold Eagle, and maybe just lack of ideas, Pendleton left the series in 1980 to focus on Joe Copp and Ashton Ford installments. In turn, Gold Eagle continued on without Pendleton's pen, rebranding it as Mack Bolan with entry number 39, The New War. 

Like all great bands, there comes a time when the act either calls it quits or simply evolves into the next lineup featuring the “replacement” singer. They've all done it – AC/DC, Journey, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden...it seems to be the rite of passage. With 1981's The New War, Mack Bolan's life changes under new writers. The mission remains the same, but the methods vary drastically. Under writer Saul Wernick, familiar readers find Bolan fighting crazed terrorists in Central America – for the US government. 

Bolan, fugitive from justice, wanted by the F.B.I., C.I.A. and even a “Bolan Taskforce”, is now working for the US government. It would only make sense right? Can't beat them, join them. But it's the other way around here – the government is joining Bolan's fight. 

The book's opening pages is not only important to the direction of the series, but it also builds what we now consider the Bolan Universe – the series of Able Team, Phoenix Force and Stony Man gain a foundation here. The Executioner series regulars like April Rose and Hal Brognola are now in charge as a directive of the C.I.A. (sort of). Specifically, Mack Bolan no longer exists, instead he has been created as John Macklin Phoenix, a retired Colonel. The entire Phoenix Program is now a covert operation running out of a Virginia farm called Stony Man. It's officially a C.I.A. “quiet house” spread over 160 acres. 

Behind the curtain are plenty of familiar Mack Bolan allies. Carl Lyons, Hermann “Gadgets” Schwarz and Rosario “Pol” Blancanales are at Stony Man. These three would later collaborate as Able Team (series debut in 1982). Other Stony Man players are here as well, including Jack Grimaldi and Leo Turrin, both supporting characters as far back as single-digit entries in The Executioner. Billed as “Stony People”, they are mostly just spectators in The New War. 

Bolan's mission is to locate an American secret agent named Laconia. He's been captured by Islamic terrorists and imprisoned on a jungle base between Colombia and Panama. After days of intense torture he's hovering between worlds and the rush is on for Bolan to capture or kill him. Bolan, understanding the sense of urgency, is battling overwhelming forces and a looming hurricane that could play havoc for any air support. 

First and foremost, Saul Wernick isn't a remarkable writer. While average at best, his prose contains plenty of exclamation marks that were outdated and unnecessary even for 1981. Pulpy hyperbole isn't typical for a Bolan novel, thus Wernick's writing style alienates fans and creates even more abrasion. However, I'm probably committing an act of treason when I say that I want Bolan fighting internationally. I prefer Bolan vs Armed Terrorist more than any mafia war. I love Pendleton, but after more than 10 novels of Mack vs Mob...I needed some liberation. 

The New War introduces a lot of interesting ideas and expands the vigilante idea into a robust and entertaining concept. Even though this novel isn't written with a distinct literary prose, it's a much-needed new Bolan that introduces me to the Stony Man universe. From here, one can use The New War as an “origin” story. A simple reboot for a new generation of fans. I'm one of them.

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Bloody Vengeance

“Kill-crazed cops on a mission of vengeance - to wipe up the scum the law can’t touch” is the cover tagline of Jack Ehrlich’s 1973 stand-alone novel, “Bloody Vengeance.” Ehrlich was an Edgar Award-winning mystery writer whose 1972 Western, “The Fastest Gun in the Pulpit,” was adapted for the screen in a 1974 TV movie starring Slim Pickins.

I can only assume that “Bloody Vengeance” was Pocket Books’ attempt to capitalize on the vigilante fiction craze started a few years earlier by Don Pendleton’s successful series, “The Executioner.” Unfortunately, the publisher slapped a cheap photo cover on Ehrlich’s paperback, and it remains largely forgotten.

The novel itself is surprising compelling - largely due to the fact that Ehrlich wrote the narration of police Lieutenant Rob Royce in first-person as if it were a memoir. Through some solid police work, Royce is able to solve the murder of Mary Gunner, who had been dismembered and raped with a Coke bottle. Solid police work leads to the arrest of psycho subject, Harry Jako.

In a normal mystery novel, that would have been the satisfying ending, but it’s only the start of a vigilante paperback. You see, Jako beats the case and walks free thanks to some legal technicalities, and this understandably irritates the hell out of Royce who exacts a little - you guessed it - Bloody Vengeance with the help of his partner, Seargent Harry Willis.

Royce and Willis find the experience of frontier justice so satisfying that they decide to settle another old score with another deplorable criminal who also beat the system. It’s through these actions that the officers find their true north and reinvigorate their sense of right and wrong, good and evil. Word spreads around the department and other officers want to get in in the act.

Without spoiling anything, one man’s vigilante action evolves into a secret organization and then a movement. Imagine if the Guardian Angels were all off-duty cops who kick ass with the understanding that the on-duty cops were willing to look the other way? That’s the basic premise. The story evolves into an interesting parable about the corrupting nature of power and celebrity.

Downsides? The author fails to address many of the thorny issues that the premise of unchecked police power should beg. For the purpose of fictional escapism, that doesn’t pose a problem as long as this novel isn’t serving as a blueprint for a more perfect union. I’d also say that the first half of the book was far more exciting. When the vigilante action becomes a political movement, the action slows down a bit and it becomes a more thoughtful novel. 

But why quibble? Guys, this is a fantastic paperback. It’s a crime-fighting, right-wing, wish-fulfillment fable with awesome action scenes that never veer into cartoonish territory. I’d go so far as to call it among the best 1970s vigilante novels I’ve ever read - rivaling Pendleton’s “War Against the Mafia” for the top spot. It would have been a monster hit with a better cover, and that’s a damn shame. As of this writing, it’s not available on Kindle (another crime), so you’ll have to seek it out on the used paperback market. Please do. You won’t regret it.

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So Dead My Love

The problem with Harry Whittington is that he wrote so many books that it’s hard to differentiate his crime fiction masterpieces from the so-so paperbacks he authored for a quick paycheck. While I consider him one of my favorite authors, I find myself repeatedly acquiring and reviewing novels that just aren’t his best work.

Whittington’s “So Dead My Love” was released in 1953 as half of an Ace Double paired with Stephen Ransome’s “I, The Executioner.” At some point, “So Dead My Love” was also released in Australia under the title “Let’s Count Our Dead,” and it was also included in the 2001 “Pulp Masters” anthology edited by Ed Gorman and Martin Greenberg.

Jim Talbot is a New York private eye returning to his hometown of Duval, Florida (population 35,000) after a ten-year absence. He’s come at the request of Mike, an attorney and politician who functions as the benevolent political king of Duval. Mike needs Talbot’s help to find Mike’s missing law partner, and Talbot owes Mike a big favor from a decade earlier. Because this is a Harry Whittington novel, Talbot quickly learns that Mike is now married to Talbot’s old flame, Nita. Did I mention that she is beautiful and stacked?

Anyway, Mike seems to be a pretty honest politician, but his rival is a corrupt sheriff who controls the rackets in Duval. Could the sheriff have anything to do with the missing lawyer? Perhaps Nita knows more than she’s saying? Can Talbot navigate the corruption of Duval to learn the truth? Throw a spicy young stripper into the plot to further confuse Talbot’s loyalties, and we have a pretty traditional hardboiled mystery. 

I’d describe “So Dead My Love” as a middle-of-the-road Whittington novel. It’s nowhere near as brilliant as “A Ticket to Hell” but it’s way better than “Saturday Night Town,” for example. The mystery was legit, and Talbot was a compelling main character to follow through the twists and turns thus making this paperback a fairly easy recommendation. Don’t move heaven and earth to buy a copy, but if you can read it on the cheap, it’s worth your time.

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The Executioner #10 - Caribbean Kill

It's no secret that I really didn't care for the ninth installment of Don Pendleton's vigilante series The Executioner. Vegas Vendetta was a marathon of complacency, resting on the laurels of Bolan's status as the mob killer. With that novel, the narrative was one-dimensional, relying on planning and plotting The Strip's war of attrition, but Pendleton just never got to the white-knuckle action. Or, really any action. Thankfully, the author shifts gears with the tenth volume, Caribbean Kill. It begins and ends with a bang.

Bolan, fresh from his Vegas hit, boards a plan and haphazardly flies it smack dab into a mob mansion on Puerto Rico's southern shoreline. Bailing before impact, the flying firebomb scorches the site, scattering Glass Bay's mob army into the jungle. The tone is set as Bolan diagnoses his situation: 

"He had two full eight-round clips of ammo, plus six rounds in the service clip. He was literally up a tree, soaked to the skin with sticky salt water. He was hungry, and he was just about physically exhausted. Less than a quarter-mile away, an army of some fifty to seventy-five guns was methodically sweeping the periphery of the bay in a determined hunt for his person." – page 32.

From some brief but captivating cat and mouse tactics, Bolan begins to diminish and demoralize the ranks, eventually catching a ride into San Juan where the majority of the book's action takes place. Bolan eventually befriends a female cop named Eve. She's running a covert scheme to take down a mobster named Sir Edward. The two become a romantic item, with the author going as far as describing Eve as the Female Executioner. They hide out with farming couple named Juan and Rosalita while the mob scours the countryside for their whereabouts. 

With the help of a pilot named Grimaldi, Bolan is able to ebb the tide. Hunting both Sir Edward and Quick Tony Lavagni (had a cameo in Executioner #05), the fight takes him through the jungle, up the shoreline and into the city streets. It's this wild-ride that's bumpy, thrilling and laced with gunfire. With Caribbean Kill, Don Pendleton is firing on all cylinders. Place this one up there with the series debut, Nightmare in New York and Chicago Wipe-Out as early standouts.

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The D.C. Man #03 - Your Daughter Will Die

In 1975, Berkeley Medallion Books released the third of four installments in The D.C. Man series by James P. Cody, a pseudonym used by former Roman Catholic Priest Peter T. Rohrbach after he left the priesthood and struck out to make a fortune in the lucrative world of men’s adventure pulp fiction. Although the series never took off commercially, I really enjoyed the first two books and was exited to dive into this one.

The D.C. Man is lobbyist and Washington troubleshooter, Brian Petersen, whose practice functions as a private investigative agency generally helping out Capital Hill types with serious problems. This time around, the client is Senator Lester Rankin whose daughter appears to have been kidnapped by a leftist revolutionary group demanding a ransom. Contacting the FBI is out of the question for the Senator, so he hires Brian to broker the cash-for-daughter exchange. 

Right away, Brian believes there is more to this than meets the eye. Could this be a Patty Hearst-style fake kidnapping? Why don’t these revolutionaries want media attention for their cause? Like a regular private detective, Brian fills his time following logical leads to learn more about the kidnappers while also preparing for the upcoming money exchange.

As with the previous two D.C. Man books, Brian’s big trick is that he is so well connected with the Washington power structure - both with the official hierarchy and the folks with underground power. If you need an ex-CIA operative to bug a phone, Brian knows a guy. If you need someone to quietly launder cash for a kidnapping ransom, Brian has a connection who can make that happen. The author’s fictional version of a capital that works - if only you know the right people - is a fun city to set a mystery-adventure series. I found a particular scene noteworthy in which Brian has his C.I.A. electronics expert install a “car phone” in furtherance of the mission, technology that must have seemed pretty space age in 1975.

Your Daughter Will Die neatly brings together the hardboiled mystery of a meticulously-logical gumshoe who follows leads to find a missing girl and the balls-out gunplay and exploding heads of Don Pendleton’s Executioner series. Way more than the mispackaged first two installments in The D.C. Man series, this one is a true men’s adventure novel.

And it’s also the strongest of the series’ first three paperbacks. The tension is palpable, the characters are vivid, the hero is righteous, and the action scenes are remarkably violent. If you’re only going to read one book in The D.C. Man series, let it be this unknown action masterpiece. Highly recommended.

All four books are available in new editions by Brash Books. You can purchase a copy of this book HERE.

M.I.A. Hunter #06 - Blood Storm

Author William Fieldhouse utilized pseudonyms like Chuck Bainbridge and John Lansing for the action series' 'Hard Corps' and 'Black Eagles'. As Gar Wilson, he penned over 30 'Phoenix Force' novels. Fieldhouse contributed to the Mack universe with six 'The Executioner' titles and a handful of 'Stony Man' entries. In 1986, Fieldhouse stepped in as house name Jack Buchanan to draft “Blood Storm”, the sixth volume of Stephen Mertz's 'M.I.A. Hunter' series.

While many of these books focus on Mark Stone's trek into Laos, Columbia or Vietnam to rescue P.O.W.s, “Blood Storm” really expands on that idea with a more dynamic presentation. Under Fieldhouse's vision, the narrative branches out to incorporate drug smugglers, a C.I.A. kill team, a team traitor and the obligatory prisoner rescue. Mertz's editing keeps the book cemented in series mythology, but the story is a different one this time.

Due to Hog Wiley's injury in “Exodus from Hell”, Stone and Loughlin are forced to recruit a new third member for their rescue mission into Laos. A mercenary by the name of Gorman requests a meeting at a dive bar called Golden Butterfly in Thailand. Loughlin hates Gorman right off the bat, but the three come to a monetary arrangement and the mission is set. Before they can exit the bar, hardmen burst in and a raging gun fight fills up Chapter Three. Loughlin suspects Gorman is behind it, allowing the author to utilize the mystery to propel the storyline. 

After the typical weapon purchases at An Khom's house (where Stone often retrieves his intel and firepower), Stone heads off to sever a C.I.A. operation that he thinks was behind the Golden Butterfly assault. After a heated exchange with old nemesis  Coleman, Stone heads to the rescue party with Loughlin and Gorman. There's a bit of a plot spoiler here with Gorman's background, but I'm going to save it for you to discover on your own.

Soon, the rescue attempt is in full-swing in Laos. There's exciting gunplay with Laotian leader Captain Luang, including some brutal scenes of torture involving simple thorns and branches (those Inquisition guys had it all wrong). Up until this book we've seen Stone in some precarious situations but those pale in comparison to the happenings here. Mixed into the break-out are opium dealers who want to capture Stone alive to sell to the highest bidder – the C.I.A., K.G.B. or Vietnam. This all culminates into a pretty hefty storm as the book finalizes with a surprise visit from series mainstay Hog. 

The bottom line, “Blood Storm” is yet another entertaining installment of this beloved series. Mertz's series continues to gain new readers and the books have been reprinted for mass consumption in our digital age. Grab it for a buck. 

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