Saturday, October 30, 2010

Nick Carter in the Caribbean

Nick Carter was sent to Dominica to investigate "Operation Blast". The Terrible Ones is the name of the title and they were beautiful full bodied long legged women to wage revenge on their dead terrorist husbands. The Chinese Communists planned to ring the United States with the biggest funeral wreath. That and the hundred million dollars left over by Dictator Trujillo, buried somewhere on the island. Nick Carter had his hands full. The Terrible Ones is the 13th Killmaster novel and the only one (that I know of) to be published by two different publishing houses in the UK.

Award Books
May 1966 1st Printing                       January 1968 2nd Printing

1970 4th Printing

Mayflower Books

1968 1st Printing                                         1970 2nd Printing
Mayflower and Star Books

1974 4th Printing                                       1979 1st Printing

Printing History
Written by Valerie Moolman

1st Award (A172F) May 1966
2nd Award (A310X) January 1968
1st Mayflower (8619-8) 1968
4th Award (A310X) 1970
2nd Mayflower (583 11175-0-2) 1970
3rd Mayflower 1970
4th Mayflower (583 11175-0-3) 1974
1st Star (352 30421-9) 1979


The Terrible Ones Notes: There is either a phantom 3rd printing from 1969 or an error on the 4th printing fly sleeve.

Friday, October 29, 2010

Chorine Makes A Killing

Chorine Makes a Killing was published by Horwitz Publications in 1957. This title was the 48th in the Numbered  Series. The main character was police lieutenant Al Wheeler. The story goes, Al is fired from the Pine City police force and gets employed by Hammon, Irvine & Snooks, attorneys at law. His job is a special investigator and his first case involves a blonde. The police were holding a big shot financier for a murder of a chorus girl.


Al Wheeler does return throughout the series. In the United States he appears some 44 times. And he appears slightly more times in Australia.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Web Of Spies: Nick Carter #11

Published with Spy Castle, Web Of Spies was also published in January 1966. As with Spy Castle, Manning Lee Stokes was credited as writing Web Of Spies. Those are the only similarities between both titles. In the UK Web Of Spies was published by Mayflower Books in 1967.






Somewhere in Spain's Costa Brava a beautiful Englishwomen was being seduced. Alicia Todd was one of the world's scientific brains. She was being persuaded to defect to the East. Nick Carter was somewhere in the area. His orders were the same as the Soviets, win Alicia Todd over or kill her. But there was a third group in the Costa Brava. Die Spinne..The Spinners. They were notorious for smuggling ex-Nazis out of Germany. Alicia Todd  was the bait.









Publishing History
First Award Printing (A163F) January 1966
Second Award Printing (A288X) September 1967
First Mayflower Printing (9441-8)  1967
Second Mayflower Printing 1968
Third Mayflower Printing (583 11393 1 2)1969
Fourth Mayflower Printing (583 11393 1 2) 1970
Fifth Mayflower Printing (583 11393 1 2) 1974


Second Award Printing                     First Mayflower Printing
1969 Edition                                                1970 Edition
1974 Edition

Spy Castle: Nick Carter #12

Spy Castle was the first title published by Award Books in January 1966 and was written by Manning Lee Stokes. This title was concurrently published with Web Of Spies.

Publishing History
First Award Printing (A166F) January 1966
Second Award Printing (A289X) September 1967
First Tandem Printing  1966
Second Tandem Printing (T174) September 1967
Third Tandem Printing 1973
Fourth Tandem Printing 1975


Britain's top secret group has been infiltrated and subverted. When the bomb goes off, heads of state from around the world receive Pendragon's ultimatum. Nick assumes his cover and meets with Gwen Leith in the Scottish Moors. He meets notorious Lady Brett Hardesty as he breaks in and out of a fortress. Nick wages a one man war against Pendragon.



Second printings from Award and Tandem

  






Notes: There are probably more Award printings with the same book number A289X. Notably from 1969 and 1970. Award had a habit of reprinting titles with the same book number through out the series.

Long Story Magazine

In July 1959 Horwitz Publications started Carter Brown Long Story Magazine. Each month a full length novel was published. Long Story Magazine ran for 21 issues until April 1961.These titles were also published on their own under the Numbered Series. In my collection I possess 12 volumes of the 21.

July 1959                                              August 1959




November 1959                                         December 1959
March 1960                                                May 1960
June 1960                                                July 1960
August 1960                                          September1960
October 1960                                           November 1960
All cover art was used on the original novels.

First Collectors Series

The First Collectors Series was published by Horowitz from December1954 until July 1955. There were  14 volumes, each consisting of three novelettes. The only volume I have is number 10.

First Collectors Series Volume 10

Notes: Chill on Chili and Butterfly Nett were published in 1953 as separate stories. Honky Tonk Homicide in 1954.

Monday, October 25, 2010

Carter Brown Second Collectors Series Volume 1

Horwitz began reissuing Carter Brown titles in December 1954 with 14 volumes, each with 3 novelettes. This first collectors series ran until July 1955. In 1957, Horwitz followed with a second collectors series with two volumes each with two regular sized novels. The second collectors series ran until 1960 and featured both novels and novelettes. The first editions correspond the original printing and the second editions are the Collectors Series printing.

Second Collectors Series Volume 1
                                     
Volume 1 No. 3  First Edition 1955 Second Edition 1957
Volume 1 No. 4  First Edition 1955 Second Edition 1957


Volume 1 No. 5  First Edition 1955 Second Edition 1957
Volume 1 No. 8  First Edition 1955 Second Edition 1957


Volume 1 No. 17  First Edition 1956 Second Edition 1958
Volume 1 No. 18  First Edition 1956 Second Edition 1958


 Volume 1 No. 21  First Edition 1956 Second Edition 1959




Notes:
Cyanide Sweeties was published under the title Cyanide Sweetheart in 1953.
Murder By Miss Take was published under the title Murder By Miss-Demeanour in 1956
Lady Is A Killer was published under the title The Lady Is Murder in 1951 (First Carter Brown Lovely Novelette).

Istanbul




The tenth Killmaster novel is Istanbul and was written by Manning Lee Stokes. Istanbul was published in October 1965. If it had been only opium smuggling across the Turkish Border or the savage murder of a girl named Mija at the notorious Cinema Blue. AXE would had never been involved. But the stakes were very high. Nothing less than the total destruction of the world in World War III. Nick's mission was to kill four men. These men were part of a local murder for hire for the largest drug syndicate in the world. The men, Maurice Defarge, Dr Joseph Six, Carlos Gonzalaz, and Johnny Ruthless. At the left is the cover scan of the first printing (A152F).




              Printing History
  1. First Award Oct 1965 (A152F)
  2. Second Award Aug 1966 (A152)
  3. Third Award 1968 (A384F)
  4. First Tandem 1968 (T244)
  5. Fourth Award 1970 (A640X) Error on flysleeve
  6. Second Tandem 1971 (426 5792 9)
  7. Fifth Award 1972 (AN1095) 12 Million mark
  8. Sixth Award 1974 (AN1095) 17 Million mark
  9. First Charter  January 1981 (441 37483 2) Large Print Edition.
                                         


Second and Third Award Printings




1970 and 1972 Award reprints

A 1974 Award Reprint and Charter First Printing from January 1981. Award book has the same cover design as the two previous editions. The only difference is the stated books in print.
 Tandem Printings



Notes: There is probably a 1969 printing out there with the Award book number of A384F. And maybe a stray or two Tandem  reprints.  Thanks for visiting.                                     

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Another Collection Find

I knew I had a copy of A Bullet For Fidel by Brown Watson Digit House.  Here it is, a 1965 first printing.


This copy is in very good condition for its age with the browning of the pages.

Friday, October 22, 2010

Swan Song For A Siren

Swan Song For A Siren was the second title in the Carter Brown Numbered Series published in September 1955 by Horwitz Publications Inc. The title was revised and reissued in 1963 as Charlie Sent Me! The main character was changed from Joe Dunne to Larry Baker. The original story has our hero as a TV show writer. Eddie Sackville is America's number one comedian, and his staff does not think he is even funny. Eddie gets a bright idea for his show to write in a gag private eye. It will be good for laughs with fake bullets. But somebody put the real bullets in and somebody gets killed right before 4 million viewers. Joe goes off to see the person who started it all, a guy named Charlie.

Cover photograph by Bernard Blackburn

New American Library Signet editions. Left is the November 1963 First Printing and on the right the 3rd Printing from September 1971. A note of such. The second printing was the same as the 3rd except printed in Canada.  Cover art by Robert McGinnis.


Horwitz reissued this title under the new title Charlie Sent Me! with book number 114 in the Numbered Series. Sorry no scan of yet.