The Complete Adventures of Race Williams

“Knights of the Open Palm”

“Three Thousand to the Good”

“The Red Peril”

“Them That Lives By Their Guns”

“Devil Cat”

“The Face Behind the Mask”

“Conceited, Maybe”

“Say It With Lead!”

“I’ll Tell the World”

“Alias Buttercup”

“Under Cover”

“South Sea Steel”

“The False Clara Burkhart”

“The Super-Devil”

“Half-Breed”

“Blind Alleys”

and three Race-free tales:

“Dolly”

“Paying an Old Debt”

“The False Burton Combs”

The Snarl of the Beast (novel)

“The Egyptian Lure”

The Hidden Hand (novel)

The Tag Murders (novel)

And many more to come. Get 'em HERE.

Coming soon from Altus Press: The COMPLETE Adventures of Race Williams

Yes, it's finally happening - and Volume 1 is now available for pre-order. The write-up from Amazon follows. Sign me up!

Collected for the first time: the stories of hard-boiled detective Race Williams. Originally appearing in the pages of Black Mask Magazine, author Carroll John Daly pioneered the hard-boiled P.I. story and perfected the genre with his classic character Race Williams. Apart from the novel-length Race Williams stories, these classic hard-boiled thrillers have rarely been reprinted, if ever.

Volume 1 contains the first 17 Race Williams stories, all from 1923-26 issues of Black Mask: ''Knights of the Open Palm,'' ''Personal But Not Confidential,'' ''$3,000 to the Good,'' ''The Red Peril,'' ''Them That Lives By Their Guns,'' ''Devil Cat,'' ''The Face Behind the Mask,'' ''Conceited, Maybe,'' ''Say It With Lead!,'' ''I ll Tell the World,'' ''Alias Buttercup,'' ''Under Cover,'' ''South Sea Steel,'' ''The False Clara Burkhart,'' ''The Super-Devil,'' ''Half-Breed,'' and ''Blind Alleys.''

Three additional, early, first-person hard-boiled stories by Daly which laid the groundwork for the Race Williams are included as well: ''Dolly,'' ''Paying an Old Debt,'' and ''The False Burton Combs,'' as well as editorial pieces by Daly himself on his inspirations, writing style, and advice to prospective writers. And it's prefaced by an all-new, scholarly introduction by Professor Brooks Hefner of James Madison University.

Them That Lives By Their Guns: The Collected Hard-Boiled Stories of Race Williams Volume 1 is the most important release in years on the history of the Hard-Boiled Detective story.

Pre-Order here:
Them That Lives By Their Guns: The Collected Hard-Boiled Stories of Race Williams Volume 1

Forgotten (and FREE) Stories: RACE WILLIAMS in "Body, Body--Who's Got the Body?" by Carroll John Daly

Race Williams did a lot of magazine-hopping in the course of his 32-year pulp career. He began in Black Mask, jumped to Dime Detective and had paid a visit to Street & Smith's CLUES by the time this tale appeared in the October 1944 issue of Street & Smith's Detective Stories. (And he wasn't done, with adventures still to come in Thrilling Detective, Popular Detective and Smashing Detective.)

At this time, the Street & Smith mags, including headliners The Shadow and Doc Savage, were published in a digest-sized format, appearing more sedate (and less lurid) than the competition. In Race's case, that appearance was deceiving, because he's still up to his old tricks of smacking criminals around and solving crimes with a bullet bewteen the eyes (or through an open mouth).

"Body, Body" puts Race in an unusual position. For $10,000, he takes a corpse off the hands of a killer and agrees to dispose of it, swearing not to tell where it came from. What he's taking on, of course, is boatload of trouble, and he's eventually forced to shoot his way out. But it's an interesting tale, with more than a few twists, and an ending that put a smile on my face.

I'll be emailing scans of this one to the 100+ stalwart members of Race's Fighting Legion. If you'd like to join, and receive this and the dozen-odd earlier stories I've scanned, just shoot me an email at delewis1@hotmail.com.

And if you've yet to acquire a copy of the Black Dog collection Race Williams' Double Date, this would be a great time to do so. Therein you will discover five cool Race adventures, visits with both Daly's Christ figure - Doc Fay - and Doc's opposite number Satan Hall, several exceptional stand-alone stories, an erudite Foreward by Stephen Mertz, a short essay by Mr. Daly himself, and a few words from yours truly. And the best place to get it is direct from Black Dog Books, right HERE.

Forgotten (AND FREE) Stories: Race Williams in TOO DEAD TO PAY by Carroll John Daly



Race Williams is at it again, practicing his brand of two-gun justice on the streets of New York. This one is a "novel" only in pulp magazine terms, but at 39 pages, it's still a good chunk of reading. As usual, if you're one of the hundred-odd Race fans already on my list, you'll find scans of this story in your email box. If not, shoot me a message at delewis1@hotmail.com and I'll send you this adventure, the previous dozen I've scanned, and those yet to come. For a look at what has gone before, click HERE.

 

Here's a preview:



 

After the little incident above, Race's friend police Sergeant O'Rourke asks him what happened.

     "All right," I told him. "Someone opened up on me with a machine gun from a black sedan. I was nervous and frightened and fired back."

     "You must have been pretty nervous," he smiled. "Tony Fernerro opened his mouth in time to swallow the bullet."

     "You didn't expect him to catch it in his teeth, did you? Just one killer less. What's the beef?"



    
     The man who held the gun said:
     "To the car, buddy, and inside. Understand?"
     I was surprised. Such a stunt hadn't been played on me in years. I don't frighten easily. I don't go for one-way rides. At least I never have yet. I said:
     "Do you know who I am?"
     "It don't matter. A gent wants to see you. If you want to stay alive and see him--hop!"
     "And if I don't hop?"
     "It's curtains here on the sidewalk. I have the getaway car there. I'm on the kill!"
     "So am I," I told him, and before he could even close his finger on the trigger, I shot him twice! He doubled up like a jackknife and lay down on the sidewalk. The car moved from the curb. I stepped back into the building, made my way through the teeming masses who were shouting hysterically and came out on the other street. Was he dead? I don't know; I only shot him. I'm not a doctor or an undertaker.

 

      I suppose I should have been a superman. I suppose I should have shot the knife out of his hand. I had seen his ear, and I had seen the whiteness below it, and I had covered it to shout out my warning. But not now. There was no warning; no time to speak; no time for anything but death!

     My finger closed upon the trigger. His knife shot down, but not at the girl--not even at the bed. The distance was hardly more than fifteen feet. I use a heavy-caliber gun. Just the whiteness below his ear that suddenly became a dull purple. Then the would-be killer spun like a top, crashed against the wall on the opposite side of the bed from me and smacked the floor on his face.

     Was he dead? Don't make me laugh. I'll bet in all his career Dr. Steel hadn't seen a deader corpse.

Now here's a word from Race's sponsor:

 

More Forgotten Books (most of them real novels) at pattinase. 

Forgotten Books: SATAN'S VENGEANCE by Carroll John Daly (1936)

Here's a book so forgotten it's never actually been a book. Seventy-five years after its pulp appearance, "Satan's Vengeance" did finally appear in a book, but only as part of the complete (or Compleat) saga of Satan Hall.

Sporting the fine cover above, "Satan's Vengeance" began its eight-part run in the March 7, 1936 issue of Detective Fiction Weekly. It was the last of three novel-length Satan adventures, the others being The Mystery of the Smoking Gun (reviewed HERE) and Ready to Burn (HERE). Why this one was not promptly issued in hardcover remains a mystery. Story-wise, it's not up to the high standard of Smoking Gun (one of my favorite Daly novels) but is at least as good as Burn.

As usual, New York City is dang near under the thumb of a dang near invincible crime boss, and the only thing standing in this master villain's way is Detective Frank "Satan" Hall. While the rest of the police department is hamstrung by politics, Satan has a free hand. He reports directly to the incorruptible commissioner. It's the next best thing to having a license to kill.

Daly's evil masterminds are fond of melodramatic names such as The Hidden Hand or The Head Tag, and this one calls himself The Other Man. The secret of his success is that he's somehow privy to all the dirt on folks in respectable society, and is able to blackmail them into providing alibis for his hired killers. As you might expect, Satan Hall - the Dirty Harry of his time - is not happy with the situation.

When one of The Other Man's minions threatens to tell tales to the cops, he's slated for a rub-out. Luckily for him, Satan knocks him cold and takes his place (above). When the two gunsels close in, Satan fires both guns through his overcoat and renders them defunct. 

Dan Gargan, one of the city's most vicious killers (on his last job, he aced two children as collateral damage), is The Other Man's head stooge until Satan takes a hand.

So Gargan lures Satan into a trap, where a coldblooded tommy-gun expert waits to take him out. Guess who gets taken out?

Part of The Other Man's racket is selling protection to delicatessen owners. Satan goes undercover long enough to send three more bodies to the undertaker.

Pillar of society Glenn E. Nostrom is providing alibis for The Other Man's killers, so Satan drops in to ask him why. 

Most of Daly's early stories feature a convenient set of curtains for good guys or bad guys to hide behind. In this case, Satan does the hiding, and gets the scoop. The Other Man is holding Nostrom's daughter hostage. 

And as if holding her hostage isn't bad enough, they lay her at the bottom of the grave and begin filling it with dirt, letting her breathe through a tube. In this scene The Other Man finally makes an appearance, and we discover he shares a tailor with The Shadow. 

Satan has practically made a career out of walking into traps and coming out shooting. This time he wears his Doc Savage shirt, but the result is the same. The Other Man, though he doesn't yet know it, is having his last laugh. 

"Satan's Vengeance" occupies about 80 of the 530 king-size pages in The Satan Hall Omnibus (aka The Compleat Adventures of Satan Hall) published in 2011 by The Battered Silicon Dispatch Box. Copies run about a hundred bucks, and are well worth it (I reviewed that HERE). You may direct inquiries to George A. Vanderburgh at gav@cablerocket.com. 

Forgotten Books: THE TAG MURDERS by Carroll John Daly (1930)

Damn! Race Williams just doesn't get any better than this.

Back in the early 90s, Otto Penzler began reprinting the Race Williams novels, with Snarl of the Beast and The Hidden Hand. Sadly, they didn't sell well enough for the series to continue. And the saddest part it is that book three - The Tag Murders - is where the:Race stories really kick into high gear.

This book has everything you expect from Race Williams: action, humor, braggadocio and plenty of shooting. But it also has a couple of mystery stories - complete with plots - and a fine scene in which Race goes all Jack Bauer on a deserving slimeball. But best of all, it features the first appearance of Race's most important co-star, The Girl With the Criminal Mind - The Flame.

Like most (if not all) of Daly's novels, this one appeared first, in pieces, in the pulps. In this case, that pulp was Black Mask, in four consecutive issues beginning with March 1929. In the several cases I've been able to examine, the text of Daly's novels was lifted directly from the pulps with no revisions. Sometimes a paragraph or two was dropped, but nothing new was added. I'm guessing that's the case here, because The Tag Murders breaks nicely into four novelettes.

The first, originally published as "Tags of Death," is an unusually traditional mystery story. It's also unusual in that the novel's main plotline - about a criminal organization killing citizens and leaving metal tags on the bodies - is merely the background to the real mystery.

Part two, "A Pretty Bit of Shooting," takes the Tag killers on directly and uncovers the secret behind the gang's seemingly pointless advertising. It builds to a spectacular climax in a crowded Broadway theater.

By the time part three, "Get Race Williams," rolls around, Race is such a threat to the gang that they put a hundred thousand dollar bounty on his head. And when his murder proves difficult, they bring in the really big guns - the girl/woman, angel/devil known as The Flame. The Flame is Daly's most complex and interesting character and will be tormenting Race on and off for the rest of  his career, so witnessing their first encounter was a real kick in the butt.

Part four, "Race Williams Never Bluffs," takes up 110 pages of the book (more than one-third) and must have been one of the longest Race novelettes ever to appear in Black Mask. This one has everything - including infernal devices and torture - and brings the story home in fine style.

Bottom Line: If you like Race Williams, you're going to love The Tag Murders. As a book, it's dang near impossible to come by, but the text - in PDF format - is readily available from Vintage Library. And right now it's even on sale. They're offering 10% off the usual bargain price of $6.95.  For instant gratification, I suggest you click HERE.

Friday's Forgotten Books: THE LINKS - and - Race Williams in "Victim for Vengeance" by Carroll John Daly

Now that Race Williams has your attention, here are the links to the latest batch of Friday's Forgotten Books. (Patti Abbott is taking a well-deserved week off.)

These posts were up as of 9:30am Pacific Time. I'll be adding to the list throughout the morning. If I've missed you (or screwed yours up), give me a shout! delewis1@hotmail.com

Yvette Banek: Six books by D.E. Stevenson
Joe Barone: The Case of the Baited Hook by Erle Stanley Gardner
Brian Busby: The Gynecologist by Sol Allen
Bill Crider: Men Without Bones by Gerald Kersh
William F. Deeck: Disguise for a Dead Gentleman by Guy Compton
Martin Edwards: Vegetable Duck by John Rhode
Curt Evans: Miss Silver Comes to Stay by Patricia Wentworth
Rich Horton: The Man in Lower Ten by Mary Roberts Rinehart
Jerry House: The Golden Summer by Daniel Nathan
Nick Jones: Ripley's Game by Patricia Highsmith
George Kelley: Mystery Writers Handbook, Lawrence Treat, ed.
Rob Kitchin: Briarpatch by Ross Thomas
Randy Johnson: Law of the Trigger by Clifton Adams
K.A. Laity: The Crusts on Its Uppers by Derek Raymond
BV Lawson: Home is the Prisoner by Jean Potts
Todd Mason: Death Rattle, RAW and WW3 Illustrated
Nik Morton: Mission by Philip Spires
J.F. Norris: Moon of the Wolf by Leslie Whitten
James Reasoner: The Dark Mirror by Basil Copper
Karyn Reeves: Night's Black Agent by John Bingham
Richard Robinson: More Than Honor by David Weber, David Drake and S.M. Stirling
Dan Stumpf: House of Whacks by Matthew Branton
Kevin Tipple: The Last Call: A Bill Travis Mystery by George Wier
TomCat: An Old Fashioned Mystery by Runa Fairleigh
Zybahn: "Strange Prey" by George C. Chesbro

VICTIM FOR VENGEANCE by Carroll John Daly

This "Complete Novel" (35 pages of text and 3 pages of art) appeared in the September 1940 issue of Street & Smith's CLUES. In the context of Race Williams' career, it's pretty far down the line (his first story appeared in 1923), but chronologically, Race still has a long way to go. His last adventure was published in 1954.

Almanack-wise, this is the twelfth Race Williams story I've scanned and offered to readers via email. The list of Race subscribers now numbers more than a hundred. If you're already on that list, you'll find this complete story in your mailbox soon. If you'd like to join the gang, and receive this adventure and the previous eleven, just shoot me an email at delewis1@hotmail.com.

As "Victim for Vengeance" begins, Race learns that a gunman known as the Admiral, whom he had previously run out of New York, is back in town. Worse, the Admiral is shooting his mouth off, saying Race is too yellow to come and get him. Race promptly disabuses him of that notion:

We'll, he'll certainly try. Race soon finds himself embroiled in a plot involving a Broadway starlet, a kidnapped child, the vengeful Admiral and a bashful gent known only as "John Smith." Can Race shoot himself out of trouble? Read "Victim for Vengeance" and see for yourself.

P.S. You'll also be pleased to learn that Black Dog Books recently published the long-awaited volume Race Williams' Double Date and Other Stories. These tales were selected by longtime Daly collector Stephen Mertz, and includes an illuminating foreward penned by Steve himself. In addition to five Race Williams stories, there's one featuring Daly's number two hero Satan Hall, one starring Doc Fay (the closest Daly came to a Christ figure), two other fine stories, and "The Ambulating Lady," in which Daly discusses the craft of writing. There are even a few words by me.

To order, click right HERE!

Forgotten (and FREE) Stories: Race Williams returns in "A Corpse in the Hand" by Carroll John Daly

Here's the eleventh in our continuing series of unreprinted adventures of Race Williams. (For a look at the earlier stories, click HERE.) Like most of Race's Dime adventures from this period, this one shows evidence of being part of a larger story cycle. Hopefully we'll someday be able to read them all and put them in context. 

"A Corpse in the Hand" opens with an intimate picture of Race's lifestyle:

     I'm not exactly what you'd call a nervous citizen. I sleep quietly and respectably even though I do have two apartments, except when the jack runs out. Then I have to drop the Park Avenue penthouse. The money had run out now, a more or less regular occurrence, and I was parked in my walk-up—third floor of five, with its steel door that could hardly be bashed in without awakening me as well as half the people across the Hudson in Jersey. No "soft as a feather" business would work, either. I'd be onto the sound of that floating feather before it ever crashed to the floor.

    Sure I've got good ears and eyes—and a couple of good hands, too. The right one was caressing the trigger of a forty-four revolver beneath my pillow. My other gun was in its shoulder holster, hung carefully over the chair, all of six inches from the bed. Two good reason why I'm alive—and why some others are dead. 

As usual, I'll be sending scans of this story to you hundred-odd stalwarts who have requested earlier stories. If you're not among them, just drop me a line at delewis1@hotmail.com and I'll shoot you the whole collection.

This one originally appeared in June 1939.

Forgotten (and FREE) Race Williams stories: "A Corpse for a Corpse" by Carroll John Daly

Here's a holiday gift from Davy and me (and Skyler Hobbs, too) - a never-reprinted Race adventure from the July 1938 issue of Dime Detective. This time, Race is working for a group of high-minded citizens called The People Versus Crime. On the other side is a gang of hoods with a sense of humor. They form their own society, called Crime Versus the People, and devise grisly deaths for the good guys, laughing right up to the point where Race makes them eat bullets. All in all, a right jolly tale.

As usual, if you've already joined Race's Fighting Legion, and received the earlier nine stories by email, you'll be getting this one too. If not, shoot me a message at delewis1@hotmail.com and I'll send you the whole shebang.

Nope, this is not exactly a Robert Barnard novel, but you should find some in this week's Forgotten Books round-up at pattinase. 

Forgotten Books: MURDER WON'T WAIT by Carroll John Daly (1933)

Detective Vee Brown, trodding in the bloody footsteps of Race Williams and Satan Hall, was Carroll John Daly’s number three hero. But, I am pleased to report, while he shared characteristics with both, he was no carbon copy of either.

Like Satan Hall, Brown is a police detective who works outside the system. He reports directly to the district attorney, allowing him a freedom of action that sometimes brings resentment from cops on the regular force.

Like Both Race and Satan, Brown is lightning quick with his guns and rarely passes up an opportunity to make a righteous kill. Warned that a particular gunman is able to draw and shoot in exactly one second, Brown - like Race and Satan - brags that in that case the bad guy will be exactly one-half second too late. His favorite target is the center of his opponent’s forehead, though he sometimes mixes it up by sending the slug through the guy’s open mouth.

What sets Vee Brown apart is that he’s physically puny, and seems just slightly influenced by Sherlock Holmes. Sherlock Holmes?? In a Daly story? Well, not really. But Brown has a Watson-style narrator (a reporter who sometimes writes up his adventures for the newspaper) and a touch of eccentric genius. In his case, that genius has nothing to do with crime fighting. When he’s not shooting criminals dead, he's locked away in his music room, composing popular songs.

Brown’s Watson, Dean Condon, is reasonably tough and reasonably intelligent, but lacks Brown’s skill with a gun - and his killer mentality.

This illo of Brown accompanied the 1934 story, "The Murder Syndicate."

Murder Won’t Wait follows the pattern of the Race and Satan novels. It’s comprised of four pulp novelettes pitting Brown against a seemingly untouchable crime boss. In each of the first three segments, Brown takes out one of the big guy's vicious and deadly lieutenants, setting up the showdown with the boss in the finale.

Also following the Race and Satan formula, the book features a delicate but schizophrenic bit of femininity who walks the line between devil and angel. When the chips are down, she’s likely to betray the hero to her gangster friends and/or masters. But when the chips are really really down, she shows her true colors and risks all to save the hero’s life.

Race and Satan have a tough time with these ladies. Though it’s clear both find them attractive, and even harbor feelings for them, they’re too tough to admit it to themselves. The tandem team of Vee Brown and Dean Condon eliminates this problem. Condon can fall in love and make no bones about it, while Brown remains aloof and untarnished by emotion.

Vee Brown made his debut in Dime Detective in 1932 and appeared in the magazine eighteen times before making his last bow in 1936. His career was cut short when Joe Shaw left the helm at Black Mask and Daly moved his chief money-maker, Race Williams, over to Dime.

Brown's debut story, “The Crime Machine,” was once anthologized, and eight others formed the basis for two hardcovers, Murder Won’t Wait in 1933 and The Emperor of Evil in 1936. Fortunately, thanks to Altus Press, the entire saga will soon be back in print. They’re now assembling the complete works, and the first volume could be available as soon as January. Watch this space, because when it happens I’ll be shouting about it.

More Forgotten Books at pattinase!

Forgotten Books: THE COMPLEAT ADVENTURES OF SATAN HALL by Carroll John Daly (2011)

This book has two titles, so you can take your pick. The dust jacket calls it The Compleat Adventures of Satan Hall, while the title page, copyright page and embossed spine bear the title The Satan Hall Omnibus. No matter. Both titles are good, and the book is great.

As I've said before, police detective Satan Hall is my favorite Carroll John Daly character (yep, I like him even better than Race Williams) and one of my all-time favorite fictional heroes. This guy is just cold-blooded and cool. I won't sing Satan's praises here because I've done that before. You'll find all that HERE.

Prior to this volume, Satan's only foray into the world of pulp reprints was the 1988 Mysterious Press collection The Adventures of Satan Hall. That book contained four of his early novelettes from Detective Fiction Weekly. This volume goes way beyond that, featuring all twenty-three of his novelette-length adventures (from Street & Smith's Detective Story, Black Mask, Detective Tales, Flynn's, New Detective, Black Book Detective and Famous Detective), plus the eight-part serial "Satan's Vengeance," which was the third Satan Hall novel. Satan's pulp career spanned twenty-three years, from 1931 to 1954, and it's all here.

The first two novels, The Mystery of the Smoking Gun (1936), reviewed HERE, and Ready to Burn (1951), HERE, were each comprised of earlier pulp novelettes. So, in effect, this book truly contains the complete (or Compleat) adventures of Satan Hall. And if that weren't enough, each story also features all the original pulp illustrations.

This massive volume, 8 1/2 inches wide, 11 1/2 inches tall and 531 pages thick, was released in 2011 in a limited edition of 1000 copies, and is available direct from the publisher, George Vanderburgh of The Battered Silicon Dispatch Box. It will run you about a hundred bucks, but it's damn well worth it. For ordering info, drop George a line at gav@cablerocket.com.

More Forgotten books at pattinase.

Forgotten (and FREE) Race Williams stories: "Anyone's Corpse" by Carroll John Daly

Here's the NINTH exciting entry in our series of unreprinted Race Williams adventures. This one comes to you direct from the October 1937 issue of Dime Detective. This was a transitional time for Dime. Frederick Nebel's Cardigan had made his last appearance (of 44) in May, leaving Daly as the magazine's undisputed headliner. The next issue, November, marked the first appearance (of seven) by Raymond Chandler. February 1938 saw the debut of the Dime's second busiest character, Mr. Maddox, the creation of the mag's all-time busiest author (80 stories), Black Mask alumnus T.T. Flynn. (For these pertinent factoids I am indebted to the Altus Press book Dime Detective Companion by James L. Traylor. Great job, James.)

If you're one of the growing legion of Daly fans who received scans of the eight earlier stories (HERE) by email, you're on the list, and you'll be getting this one too. If you'd like to join, just write me at delewis1@hotmail.com and I'll shoot you all nine adventures (and more to come). Want a sample? Read on . . .

For more Forgotten Books (mostly the kind are actual books), check in at pattinase.

Forgotten (and FREE) Stories: Race Williams in "Hell with the Lid Lifted" by Carroll John Daly

Davy and I are proud to present the eighth in our series of rare and unreprinted adventures of Race Williams, the Fasted Gun in the East. "Hell with the Lid Lifted," from the March 1939 Dime Detective, begins with Race impersonating a doctor - a doctor who's expected to saw the leg off a healthy young woman. And while he's still reeling from that, he's rushed into a wedding ceremony - with him as the groom.

Thanks to Kim Anderson, who scanned the story for us, this classic tale is now available for delivery direct to your email box. Just shoot me a message at delewis1@hotmail.com, and I'll fire it back to you (along with the earlier stories too). 

If you've received the other seven stories, don't sweat it. You're already on the list, and should find this in your email pronto. If you don't, give me a shout!

For the dope on all our Race adventures click HERE. 

More Forgotten Masterpieces at Sweet Freedom.

Forgotten (and FREE) Stories: Race Williams returns in "Monogram in Lead" by Carroll John Daly

Here's another in our continuing series of never-reprinted adventures of Race Williams, the Grandfather of Hardboiled Dicks. This "novel" (actually a 35-page novelette) is from the February 1937 issue of Dime Detective. Race made the jump to Dime in 1935, after spending the first twelve years of career in Black Mask.

If you've already received scans of our first six Race adventures, you'll find this one in your email box too. If not, and you'd like to read "Monogram in Lead" (and the others, detailed HERE), write me at delewis1@hotmail.com and I'll shoot them back to you. More to come!

And get your weekly dose of Forgotten Books at pattinase!

Forgotten Books: Satan Hall in "Ready to Burn" by Carroll John Daly

Last month I reread and reviewed the first Satan Hall novel, The Mystery of the Smoking Gun (that's HERE), and enjoyed it so much I was anxious to revisit the second book, Ready to Burn.

Well, I have to admit, I liked the first book better. Not because it was a better novel, because none of Daly's books are truly novels, but because it was pulpier. The Mystery of the Smoking Gun was composed of five complete novelettes, while Ready to Burn was made from three not-quite-so-complete short novels. Simply put, Smoking Gun has more action, more intrigue and more shootouts.

Satan Hall, in case you haven't been introduced, is a New York police detective who just happens to look like Old Nick, and has a disposition to match. He solves crimes by shooting the bad guys dead. The hardest part of his job is tricking the villains into shooting first, so he can snuff them in self defense.

By the time the three connected stories that became Ready to Burn appeared in Detective Fiction Weekly, Daly already had nine and half books under his belt (including six featuring Race Williams) and most, if not all, employed the same technique his Mask-mate Dashiell Hammett used to construct Red Harvest and The Dain Curse.

It seems clear that Daly intended these three tales, published in 1934 and 1935, to be recycled in book form, but it was a long time coming. The book Ready to Burn did not appear until 1951, and then only in England. This time out, Daly was trying harder to set up a plot that would not be resolved until the third story, but in doing so he took some of punch out of part two - originally published as "Satan Laughed."

Actually, Our man Satan didn't have much to laugh about in that one, because he promises the police commissioner he will not kill ruthless gunman Eddie Jerome. Instead, he'll bring the guy in alive, so the State can burn him in the electric chair. For Satan, that proves to be just about the toughest case of his career, because his normal solution is to put a bullet smack between the bad guy's eyes. Though it nearly kills him, Satan succeeds, and Eddie Jerome gets a reprieve until part three, "Ready to Burn."

The head villain of the piece is a blubbery mass of flesh named Hollis Daggett, who controls judges, politicians and an impressive criminal empire, but has the misfortune to fall for a clean, pure society gal named Nina Radcliffe. When Nina falls for Satan instead, Daggett turns to trickery and threats to win Nina's affections. And when she still won't come across, he resorts to a bullwhip. No kidding.

Anyway, here's the bottom line. Read The Mystery of the Smoking Gun first. A pdf version is available HERE from Vintage Library. If you like Satan Hall, you''ll want to read Ready to Burn too, which is also offered by Vintage Library. A third Satan novel, "Satan's Vengeance," appeared as an eight-part serial in 1936. That one remained unreprinted until just this year, when The Battered Silicon Express Box published The Compleat Satan Hall, a huge volume containing all three novels and all 21 other Satan Hall adventures (for more info on that collection, click HERE.)

Don't forget: More Forgotten Books at pattinase.