WEIRD TALES 59, 60 & 61 (1928)

See the first 58 issues HERE. 

Forgotten Books: TWELVE "CHINAMEN" and a WOMAN (1940)

Yeah, I know the real title of this book, and so do you, but the copy I read said “Chinamen,” so I have a valid excuse (other than a creeping case of pc-itis) for calling it this.

Published in 1940, this one finds Dave Fenner, the extra-hardboiled detective introduced in No Orchids for Miss Blandish (reviewed HERE), having moved his office from Kansas all the way to New York City, and taken his office assistant/secretary Paula Dolan with him. His work on the Blandish case brought him plenty of jack, and his name is known far and wide, but there still isn’t much business coming through the door.

So Fenner and Paula are pleased to get a visit from a good-looking dame who gives them $6,000 to save her sister, who is somehow mixed up with 12 Chinamen. The opening scene is loaded with overtones of the opening chapter of The Maltese Falcon, making it one of the best in the book. Then a defunct Chinaman with a slit throat appears in Fenner’s office, and when he goes looking for his client, he finds only a severed arm and a female torso missing legs and head. In between there somewhere, a couple of Cubans show up to search his office, bringing shades of Joel Cairo.

The trail then leads to Key West, taking Fenner away from Paula, which is too bad, because their interplay is the best thing about this (and the Blandish) book.

Once in Florida, the story shifts into Red Harvest mode, with Fenner cozying up to two gang leaders in hopes of starting some fireworks. There’s plenty of tough talk, face punching, head kicking and other such mayhem, but almost no humor, as Fenner bulls his way through the Key West underworld.

The title is taken from a line of dialogue, and refers to the preferred racket of one of the gangsters. He smuggles twelve Chinamen at a time into the country, charging them around a thousand apiece for the privilege, then sells them for half that to West Coast employers. On the run Fenner takes part in, a “special” is included, that being a Chinese woman.

Yes, there are at least a dozen Chinamen in this book, but none play major roles. There’s a seemingly endless supply of nasty gun-toting Cubans, none of them named, doing dirty work for the gangsters. And of course there are plenty of gangsters, most of whom end up dead.

The finish offers a nice twist, and is reasonably satisfying, but getting there would have been a lot more fun if Chase had been half the stylist Hammett was, or had half the sense of humor.

The good news is, this is only the second half of the Stark House volume including the finally-published-in-America unexpurgated text of No Orchids for Miss Blandish. Together, these two (of only two) adventures of P.I. Dave Fenner make a nice (if brutal) package.

Cavalry Paperbacks

Mort Künstler Sweat Mag Paintings

More of Künstler's sweaty art HERE. 

Pulp Gallery: DIME WESTERN (1935-36)

Dan Turner, Hollywood Detective comics: "Quicksand Caper"

This thrilling adventure appeared in the April, 1945 ish of Hollywood Detective. More Dan Turner in Pictures stories HERE. 

AMAZING! ASTONISHING! WEIRD!

We here present another sampling of images from Todd Frye's AMAZING! ASTONISHING! WEIRD! - The Complete Pulp Magazine Covers Vol. 2, the book that brings you color pics of every ding dang cover of these three magazines, plus South Sea Stories and the Marvel sci-fi pulps. Our first set of samples from this book is HERE, and you can get a copy of your own at http://www.toddfrye.org/

Forgotten Books: THE SNATCHERS by Lionel White (1953)

I’d say that this book has echoes of Richard Stark’s Parker novels—but I can’t, because it was published seven years before the first Parker book, The Hunter. What’s the opposite of echoes? Beats me, but the feeling was there, the whole way through.

The author doesn’t fool around here. As the story begins, the crime has already taken place, and tensions are rising. The plot is simmering on page 1 and keeps getting hotter until—on the final page—well, you’ll have to read it and see. It’s the kind of thriller that keeps your eyes glued to the page.

Our hero is Cal Dent, the guy who masterminds and bankrolls the kidnapping of a little rich girl. As Parker will do so many times in years to come, Dent chooses the crew, then struggles do deal with their potpourri of personality disorders to keep the job from going off the rails. And while each member of the gang has a skill Dent requires, each has a nasty quirk that worms its way to forefront. By the end of the story all four quirks are quirking full blast, and Dent is battling an unexpected one of his own. I don’t remember Parker ever having it this tough.

Lionel White manages to shift point of view anytime he wants, and gets away with it, immersing us in every scene from multiple angles. We know what each of the Snatchers is thinking and feeling about the situation—and about each other—at every step of the way. Instead of being distracting, it heightens the tension.

As you’d expect, Cal Dent is the clearest thinker of the lot, and the closest to a normal human being. Though a career criminal, he has scruples—even a conscience—and has carefully planned this kidnapping to be his last job, the one that sets him up for life. Commensurate with his management skills, he expects to walk away with half the take, a cool $250,000.

Under Dent’s skin right from the start is Pearl, a hard-edged dame who oozes sex appeal and wields it like a weapon. At the moment, she’s hooked up with a brutal and ignorant thug named Red, who seems to be on hand chiefly as a driver. Hating everyone, and being hated in return, is an even more brutal, bestial and utterly merciless thug named Gino. Aside from Dent, the only member with any brains is Fats, an unkempt, foul-smelling rat who proves too smart for Dent’s own good.

Also on hand, and a major factor in the proceedings, is the kidnapee’s nanny, a hot-but-clean young babe who fires the blood of every Snatcher but Pearl.

The whole bunch are lot are holed up in a beach-front house in a rural area of Long Island (which presumably still existed in 1955), from which they venture out for sustenance and the needs of Dent’s scheme, and where they are bedeviled by a small-town cop who’s a lot smarter than he lets on.

It all comes to a boil with a slam-bang finish, with plenty of surprises along the way. This was White’s first book (with 35 or so more to come), and was filmed in 1968 as The Night of the Following Day, with Marlon Brando, Richard Boone and Rita Moreno.

Published as a Gold Medal original back in 1953, The Snatchers is now back in print as the first half of a twofer from Stark House Press.