Saturday, February 28, 2015

Damsels In Distress

Damsels In Distress

The Living Death (1977)
by Jon Messman (1920-2004)


The Cobra Kill (1977)
by Manning Lee Stokes (1911-1976)


Friday, February 27, 2015

Murderer's Maze by John Marsh

A Ray Fenton Adventure





Ray Felton did not want to go back to work but he could not let a woman be set upon by two guys and when he heard why she was attacked, he was determined to see it through. How often is a man given a chance to bring down a crime kingpin and former traitor.

Printing History
Written by John Marsh (1907-1997)

John Gifford
1957 

Thursday, February 26, 2015

The Eye Of Shiva by Lee Grimes

Four multi-millionaires believe that with a human sacrifice to Shiva, the Lord of Destruction, they can gain the gift of longer life. Chandra Smith is hoping to stop their trail of death.
 
 
Chandra Smith, secret agent, matches wits with rich men greedy enough for life to buy it on the bloody alter of Shiva.

Printing History
Lee Grimes (1920-2009)

Warner Paperback Library
76 645
1974

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Deadly To Bed by Don Tracy

While to some the murdered wife of an Army captain was the perfect spouse, but to others she was the next Mata Hari. Giff Speer is told to find out who she really was and why someone needed her dead.
 
 
The nymphomaniac wife of an army officer is found murdered in her own bed. Three months later, the case remains unsolved and all the leads seemed to have dried up.  Sergeant Giff Spear of the Military Police is called in to solve the deadly dilemma of the beautiful war bride who was more dangerous dead than she was alive. 
 
Printing History
Written by Donald Fiske Tracy (1905-1976)
 
Perma Books
M4176
1960

Monday, February 23, 2015

USA Fiction Challenge: Pennsylvania

After a short hiatus the USA Fiction Challenge is back. 
This time around we will be visiting the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania


The Philadelphia Murder Story
by Leslie Ford 


Murder in a wealthy Philadelphia family with secrets to hide.


 Printing History
Written by Zenith Jones Brown (1898-1983)

Popular Library
1945
 
Dell Books
#354
1949 

Saturday, February 21, 2015

Capture The Saint by Bert Barer

The Last Saint Adventure


Simon Templar finds himself up to his halo in murder, mayhem, and intrigue in Seattle, Washington. It is, in some ways, a sequel to The Saint in New York, as the little girl whom he rescued in that story reappears here as an adult enlisting his aid to stop a predatory pedophile preying on Seattle's homeless street kids. He is also approached to find the Treasure of Dolores Costello, a treasure about which the Saint is already well informed. The Saint is back full throttle with old friends making surprise appearances.

Printing History
Written by Bert Barer (1947- )

The Saint Club
1997
 

Friday, February 20, 2015

The Saint In Miami by Leslie Charteris

The Saint uncovers a Nazi Spy Ring operating out of Florida.


One of Patricia Holm's friends sends an invitation for Patricia and her friend, Simon Templar to visit Miami. Upon arrival, however, The Saint and Patricia discover Pat's friend and her husband are nowhere to be found. They take up residence in the friend's house. A few days later, a tanker explodes off the Florida coast and Simon discovers the dead body of a sailor washed up on shore. Attached to the wrist of the body is a lifebelt from the British submarine H.M.S. Triton. Simon suspects a link between the disappearance of Patricia's friends, the explosion, and a millionaire yachtsman named Randolph March. March's yacht is moored not far from the explosion, and Templar launch the investigation by climbing aboard the yacht, leaving the sailor's corpse in a stateroom for the police to find, and challenging March to give up his secrets.


Printing History
Written by Leslie Charles Bowyer-Yin (1907-1993)

  Hodder and Stoughton
1941
 
Doubleday's The Crime Club
1940

Thursday, February 19, 2015

Saint Overboard by Leslie Charteris

The Pirate Saint


The Saint is enjoying a pleasure cruise along the French coast aboard his yacht, the Corsair, when he is awakened in the middle of the night by the sound of gunfire and shouting from another vessel anchored nearby. A group of men pursuing a young woman who is swimming frantically away from the other ship. Simon Templar rescues the woman who identifies herself as Loretta Page, a private detective, who is investigating the mysterious disappearance of sunken treasure from the Atlantic.


Printing History
Written by Leslie Charles Bowyer-Yin (1907-1993)

  Hodder and Stoughton
1936
 
Doubleday's The Crime Club
1936
 

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

The Saint In New York by Leslie Charteris

The first "bestseller" of the Simon Templar series, and was the book that established Charteris as a literary celebrity in both America and Britain. Due to the book's popularity, it became the first Simon Templar story to be adapted for film.


During a visit to Europe, Simon Templar befriends a rich American whose son was recently murdered in New York City. The culprit went free due to police and courtroom corruption. Templar is given an offer he can't refuse, a cool $1 million if he goes to New York and deals out his unique brand of justice to evildoers in that city.
 

Printing History
Written by Leslie Charles Bowyer-Yin (1907-1993)

  Hodder and Stoughton
1935
 
Doubleday
January 1935
 
The American Magazine (shorter version)
September 1934
  
The Film
1938

Cast
Louis Hayward as Simon Templar
Kay Sutton as Fay Edwards
Sig Ruman as Hutch Rellin 
Jonathan Hale as Inspector Henry Fernack
Jack Carson as Red Jenks
Paul Guilfoyle as Hymie Fanro
Frederick Burton as William Valcross

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Knight Templar by Leslie Charteris

The title is a pun on the religious organization Knights Templar


The Saint has found himself back in Britain and again on the trail of arms dealer Marius. While executing a scheme to root Marius out from hiding by infiltrating a bogus nursing home, Templar and his associate Roger Conway rescue who they initially think is an elderly man held prisoner by one of Marius' compatriots Templar soon discovers that they've actually rescued the beautiful daughter of a millionaire upon whose safety relies world peace.



Printing History
Written by Leslie Charles Bowyer-Yin (1907-1993)

  Hodder and Stoughton
October 1930

as The Avenging Saint


Monday, February 16, 2015

Enter The Saint by Leslie Charteris

A collection of three interconnected adventure novellas


The Man Who Was Clever: Simon Templar seeks to bring a drug smuggler to justice. In this story, Templar is shown in the process of establishing his reputation as a crime buster working with a team of mysterious individuals 

The Policeman with Wings: A direct follow-up to the above, this story shows Templar's reputation continuing to grow as he and his compatriot Roger Conway investigate two kidnappings connected to a bag of stolen diamonds.

The Lawless Lady: Templar appears only briefly in this story which focuses on one of his agents, Dicky Tremaine, who infiltrates a crime ring intent on some seaside larceny, only to fall in love with its female leader.


Printing History
Written by Leslie Charles Bowyer-Yin (1907-1993)

  Hodder and Stoughton
October 1930

Doubleday's The Crime Club
April 1931

Sunday, February 15, 2015

Meet The Tiger by Leslie Charteris

Introducing The Saint


Simon Templar is introduced as a young adventurer 27 years of age, who is also independently wealthy and is accompanied by a manservant named Orace. Templar and Orace stay in a place that Simon purchased from the Ministry of Defence in the small North Devon seaside town of Baycombe. The intent is to foil a plan by a mysterious individual known only as "The Tiger" to smuggle stolen gold. Templar's motivation is to settle an old score with The Tiger, with whom he has had prior dealings though he's never actually met the villain, and return the gold to its proper owner and collect a reward.


Printing History
Written by Leslie Charles Bowyer-Yin (1907-1993)

 Ward Lock (UK)
September 1928

as Meet – the Tiger!
 Doubleday's The Crime Club
March 1929 

as Crooked Gold 
Amalgamated Press 
1929 

Meet – the Tiger! The Saint in Danger
Sun Dial Press
1940

The Film
The Saint Meets the Tiger
1943


Cast
Hugh Sinclair as Templar
Jean Gillie as Patricia Holm
 Wylie Watson as Horace 
Clifford Evans as the Tiger.

Friday, February 13, 2015

The Star-Crossed Lover by Carter Brown

Who would want to murder a mad starlet?


 She was blonde, beautiful, and begging for Rick Holman's help. Amanda Waring, sexy starlet turned madwoman, was fighting hard for the sanity and success that were only one film away So when the evilly suggestive phone calls and threats started, Amanda yelled for Rick as loud as she could, and he suddenly found himself surrounded by luscious ladies, a sex crazed producer, a gunslinging, maniacal actor, and a secretive shrink. When the fists and knives started flying, and the voices began to hound him, Rick began to wonder if the gorgeous girls and a big paycheck were worth the guns that were pointed at his head....

Printing History
Written by Alan G Yates (1923-1985)

New American Library
Signet Books
ISBN 451-Q5940
June 1974

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

The Longest Day (1962)

Based on the 1959 history book The Longest Day by Cornelius Ryan, about D-Day, the Normandy landings on June 6, 1944, during World War II.


Beginning in the days leading up to D-Day, the film concentrates on events on both sides of the channel such as the Allies waiting for the break in the poor weather and the anticipation of the Axis forces defending northern France. The film pays particular attention to the decision by General Eisenhower, supreme commander of he Allies, to go after reviewing the initial bad weather reports as well as the divisions within the German High Command on where an invasion might happen or what response to it should be. The film chronicles most of the important events surrounding D-Day. From the British glider missions to secure Pegasus Bridge, the counterattacks launched by American paratroopers scattered around Sainte-Mère-Église, the infiltration and sabotage work conducted by the French resistance and SOE agents, and the response by the Wehrmacht to the invasion and the uncertainty to whether it was a feint in preparation for crossings at the Pas de Calais

Directed by
Ken Annakin
Andrew Marton 
Bernhard Wicki 

 Based on the Book
The Longest Day
by Cornelius Ryan (1920-1974) 

Cast
John Wayne  Kenneth More
 Richard Todd  Robert Mitchum
Richard Burton Sean Connery
Henry Fonda  Red Buttons
Peter Lawford  Eddie Albert
Jeffrey Hunter  Stuart Whitman
Tom Tryon  Rod Steiger, Leo Genn
Gert Fröbe, Irina Demick, Bourvil
Curt Jürgens, Robert Wagner, Paul Anka and Arletty.

Monday, February 9, 2015

Citizen Kane (1941)

Thinly disguised biographical film about William Randolph Hearst

 

A story examining the life and legacy of Charles Foster Kane, played by Orson Welles, a character based in part upon the American newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst, Chicago tycoons Samuel Insull and Harold McCormick, and aspects of Welles's own life.

Cast

Orson Welles as Charles Foster Kane
Joseph Cotten as Jedediah Leland
Dorothy Comingore as Susan Alexander Kane
Everett Sloane as Mr. Bernstein
Ray Collins as Jim W. Gettys
George Coulouris as Walter Parks Thatcher
Agnes Moorehead as Mary Kane
Paul Stewart as Raymond
Ruth Warrick as Emily Monroe Norton Kane

Sunday, February 8, 2015

Dragon Slay by Jack Canon

Last Book Of The Series

N3's ultimate mission
A no holds barred battle 
With the Asian mastermind of death

Bombings, Assassinations, Kidnapping, Blackmail
A new wave of terrorism threatens to drown the world. The Red Dragons are a secret society within the Chinese army, led by the hard line fanatic Dr. Sim. Their motive is to discredit the Chinese government and destroy the delicate process of democratization. Chinese intelligence must eliminate Sim and his cadre of killers. But any connection to the deadly operation could detonate an explosive diplomatic situation. And shatter international relation. The solution is to borrow AXE's top agent, Nick Carter and use him to do the dirty work. And then return him...if he survives.

Killmaster #261

Printing History
Written by Jack Canon

Berkley Publishing Group
Jove Books
Published by arrangement with The Conde Nast Publications, Inc.
ISBN 515 10312
May 1990

Saturday, February 7, 2015

The Dreamers by J. Bigelow Clark

Prisoners
They passed their days in pleasure
Their nights in revenge

Cover by Stan Borack

Reality intrudes into the lives of a group of pleasure seekers on a Mediterranean paradise when Nazis seize the island for use as a submarine base. But when a German sentry is found knifed to death, the island paradise became a hell of terror and torture as the forces of good and evil were locked in a life-and-death struggle.

Printing History
Written by John Bigelow Clark

Doubleday
August 1945

Perma Books
M3020
1955

Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Play Now....Kill Later by Carter Brown

 Though she was a playwright's daughter,
her body had lines no man could master...
no blackmailer could murder!
  
Grant Roberts Cover

The Cast
Antonia: Tall and elegant, looking like an Egyptian Pharaoh's dream of bliss after a hard day at the pyramids. "Any friend of Pop is a friend of mine. If you don't like his plays, lets discuss them in bed. I'm sure I can change your mind!"

Sandy: Blond, bountiful in body, a pretty face, and a private eye to boot. "Twenty-three years old and just one small birthmark strategically located.You've seen the rest already."

Jackie: Mistress of the moment to anyone with the time. "Nobody says you have to get involved. Just research a little and we'll both know if anything zings between us!"

Helen: Graying, middle aged and wearing a bullet hole over her left eye. she  could have said a lot, but kept silent. Supported by a variety of males, some scared, some stupid, some stoned, and all trouble.
 
Robert McGinnis Cover
 The Star
Rick Holman: The most important man to know in Hollywood, especially when you're being blackmailed.

The critics said "Great!" but the coroner said "Murder."
The Time: The present
The Place: Bel Air, California

Printing History
Written by Alan G Yates (1923-1985)
 
Horwitz Publications
Numbered Series #131 (1966)
International Edition #77 (1972)

New American Library
Signet Books
D2906 May 1966
T5013 1972

Bonus Covers

Germany
Die Mitternachtbucher
#319
1967

Denmark
Winther
1981

Finland
Valpas-Mainos
1968

Monday, February 2, 2015

Give Me Murder by Gordon Ashe

John Dawlish #15

UK First Edition


German Edition
as Tod Hoch Im Kurs


UK Reprint


Printing History
Written by John Creasey (1908-1973)

John Long
1947

Ulstein Bucher
#936
1963 
 
Lythway Press Ltd
August 1971
ISBN  0850462304