Race Williams, as you may know, is a gunslinger in a fedora, and just maybe the most dangerous man in New York. But in "The Super-Devil," a long novelette from the August, 1926 issue of Black Mask, he meets a man who just might be his match. Not only is The Super-Devil fast, accurate and utterly fearless, but he has the advantage of being scruple-free. He'd happily shoot a man - or woman - in the back and be even happier if his victim happened to be asleep at the time.
In this one, Race is forced to break his number one rule - that Race Williams never bluffs. When his gats are taken from him, Race faces down a bloodthirsty gunman with nothing but pointing fingers in his pockets, and scares the guy so bad he crashes through a nightclub window to escape.
If you requested scans of "Alias Buttercup," the Race Williams adventure I featured three weeks ago, I'll be sending you this one too. But for the rest of you folks, if' you'd like to read "The Super-Devil," shoot me an email at delewis1@hotmail.com, and I'll fire it back at you.
More Race stories coming soon!
Forgotten Books (and sometimes Stories) are rounded up each week at pattinase.
4 comments:
I need to read some Race Williams quick!
Many thanks for the story. I'm enjoying it very much, but I'm puzzled by the term "ten, twenty thirty" on page 25.
I'd appreciate a definition if anyone is familiar with this term.
Here is a small snippet of the text:
"Jackson Holiday's words were swiped right out of a ten, twenty, thirty--but his voice and his calm assurance and his utter indifference to murder weren't."
I'd never heard that term, either, Norman, but I found a reference online that makes sense. A ten, twenty, thirty was "a cheap and typically melodramatic theatrical entertainment; also: a theater or touring company offering such entertainment." The term was apparently inspired by the prices paid for seats to such a show.
Daly was big on melodrama. He spent years working in and managing theaters, and there are many theatrical terms, references and devices in his writing.
Thank-you, sir.
Post a Comment