Booked (and Printed): June 2025

 

Booked (and Printed) June 2025   June was a challenging month. It was hot, humid, and the daylight hours—just like they are every year at this time—were too long. According to the weather folks, 15 hours and 29 minutes passed between sunrise and sunset on June 21, but predawn added at least another hour of light. Oy vey! I’m glad the days are getting shorter. Unfortunately, just like May, I had trouble with eye fatigue. And my reading suffered for it. I read only two books—both novels—and four short stories, which is the least productive month I’ve had in decades. Although, my generous wife read a couple books and a short story to me at bedtime: Joyland, by Stephen King (2013), Grave Descend, by Michael Crichton (1970), and “DEATH ROW,” by Freida McFadden (2025). The McFadden was an odd duck with an ending that was less surprising than confusing. My wife, who has read a bunch of McFadden’s tales, said, “it’s not her best.” And I truly believe her. But JOYLAND, which is among my favorite of King’s novels, was as much fun this second time as it was the first. A carnival setting, murder, a haunted scare ride, a wunderkind, and King’s talent with creating living, breathing characters—what more does a reader want? You can read my 2015 review of Joyland here. There’s nothing fancy about GRAVE DESCEND, but the plotting is solid and the Caribbean setting is nice and comfortable. While I enjoyed Grave Descend, I’ll admit I remember liking it better the first time I read it. I thought I had reviewed it back then, too, but when I looked, it turned out to be a phantom memory. But take my advice and if you’re going to read Joyland and Grave Descend back-to-back—read Grave Descend first because Joyland is a tough act to follow.   As for my solo efforts—NIGHT ON FIRE (2011), which is Douglas Corleone’s second Kevin Corvelli novel set on Oahu, is a fun legal thriller with a backsliding hero and a solid mystery. And the setting is perfectly Hawaiian. You can read my detailed review here. I don’t read many modern thrillers, but on a whim (and because it was the large print edition and I figured it would be easier on my eyes) I picked up Brian Freeman’s THE BOURNE VENDETTA (2025) from the library. The twentieth book in Robert Ludlum’s Jason Bourne franchise, The Bourne Vendetta was surprisingly good. The plotting was tight, the pacing brisk, and Freeman’s style is so much more readable than Ludlum’s ever was. I should also say, the last Bourne novel I read and finished was the first, The Bourne Identity (1980), and so a bunch has happened to Jason Bourne in the intervening eighteen books, but I had no trouble figuring out what was happening and I’m pretty sure you won’t either.

All four of the short stories I read in June are from Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine.  The first two—“The White Door,” by Stephen Ross, and “Little Old Ladies,” by Simon Brett—were part of the May 2010 issue. The second two— “The Dilmun Exchange,” by Josh Pachter, and “File #11: Jump Her Lively, Boys,” by Joe Gores—were in the July 1984 issue. Stephen Ross’s “THE WHITE DOOR” is a sparkling Hollywood tale about a perfect murder. Jack Gloucester, a Hollywood screenwriter, hesitantly accepts to help an actress plan the demise of her movie producer husband. On its face, Jack’s decision seems bad, but he figures to play it out and see what happens. The hardboiled narrative is sharp, the Hollywood of the early-1950s is captured nicely, and yeah, there is a nasty twist that made me smile. “LITTLE OLD LADIES,” by Simon Brett, is another gem. This traditional English village mystery is almost perfect with its subtle humor, sneaky amateur detective, and ironic and surprising ending. You can read my complete review here. Josh Pachter’s “THE DILMUN EXCHANGE” is a solidly good traditional whodunit with an exotic setting—a market in Bahrain during an annual sale—about a policeman, a jewelry heist, and the thief’s puzzling escape. Concise, witty, and with clues enough for the reader to solve, “The Dilmun Exchange” is good, happy fun. I have consistently struggled reading Joe Gores—which makes me sad because he is well liked by critics and readers alike—and his “FILE #11: JUMP HER LIVELY, BOYS” was no different. This DKA (Dan Kearny & Associates) private eye tale about agent Patrick Michael O’Bannon’s attempts to either collect back payments or repossess a city-owned fire engine is less story than it is vignette. There is some humor, a sneaky move or two, but there is no mystery anywhere. In fact, it seemed like an amusing anecdote that would be told on a golf course or in a pub. As for my favorite read of the month? I’m going to break all the rules again and choose Joyland, even if I’ve read it before. It’s just that good.  Fin— Now on to next month…

EASY GO by Michael Crichton (as by John Lange)

In the late 1960s and early 1970s Michael Crichton published eight thrillers under the pseudonym John Lange.  The Lange novels are something very different than the science fiction Michael Crichton became famous for writing.  They are thrillers more in the vein of Desmond Bagley, Jack Higgins, and Gavin Lyall, and I like them much more than Crichton’s big bestsellers.

Harold Barnaby is an Egyptologist in an age when nothing new or interesting is happening in the field.  His specialty is hieroglyphics, and while translating a text he discovers a reference to the tomb of an obscure Pharaoh in the Valley of the Kings.  In earlier years Barnaby dreamed of the glory of discovering an Egyptian tomb, but now, at the age of 41, he is less interested in glory and more interested in wealth.  He approaches a freelance writer named Robert Pierce with an ambitious plan to loot the tomb, which he estimates to be worth, in 1968 dollars, $50 million.

The novel is written in third person, and is structured in three titled acts—The Plan, The Search, and The Last Tomb.  The scene titles are self-descriptive.  The Plan introduces the genesis of the idea, the plan, and the compilation of the team.  The team arrives in Egypt in the second act, and the third act is the resolution.

Easy Go is all story.  It opens with a flash, and it races from the first page to the last.  The setting is surprisingly rich, and provides, in stark prose, the sounds, smells, and sights of the land—

“The land was flat, desolate, windy; there was no vegetation, no sign of life.”

“The modern traveler’s first view of Egypt is appropriate: Cairo airport, set out in the flat, brown sand of the desert stretching away in silent heat for miles.  It is a landscape that communicates, quite distinctly, a sense of agelessness, unchanging, interminable.”

“The villages were all the same—mud huts, dusty streets, and date-palm trees, stately camels and barking, hungry dogs.”

Easy Go is a thriller as thrillers were meant to be.  It is quick, light, and entertaining as hell.  There isn’t the slightest bit of character development, but it is populated with an exotic group of characters.  There is the wealthy British nobleman financing the operation on a whim who travels with, at a minimum, two young ladies, there is the smuggler, and the thief.  It is exciting, and with just enough of a twist at the end to bring a smile.

Easy Go was originally published in 1968 by Signet and it was republished as The Last Tomb by Bantam in 1974. It was reissued as with its original title by Hard Case Crime, along with Crichton’s other John Lange titles, in 2013.

A Feast of John Lange, Err...Michael Crichton

The best news in publishing, at least at my house, is Hard Case Crime is reissuing the eight novels Michael Crichton published between 1966 and 1972 as by John Lange.  The John Lange novels are superior adventure thrillers strong on plot and action, generally (but not always) set in exotic locations with everyman protagonists.  The majority of the titles have been out of print for decades and cost a small fortune on the secondary market, which is why I’ve read most instead of all. 

I spent the better part of my youth (and a good deal of my adulthood) trolling bookstores with a single goal: FIND A JOHN LANGE TITLE!  And I found most of them (and a bunch of Oliver Lange), but wow a few were elusive, which is about to change because all eight are going to be issued in fashionable trade paperbacks with terrific artwork by Hard Case.  The only problem; will I be able to stop looking for them?

The following is a listing of the John Lange titles in chronological order.  I included the cover art for both the new Hard Case Crime edition, and any other covers I know of (because I love old paperback cover art).

Odds On.  Originally published as a paperback original by Signet in 1966.  This is Crichton’s first published novel, and it is one of the titles I haven’t read.  The cover art is by Glen Orbik.      

   

Scratch One.  Originally published as a paperback original by Signet in 1967.  Scratch One is one of the weaker John Lange titles.  The cover art is by Glen Orbik.

 

Easy Go.  Originally published as a paperback original by Signet in 1968.  It was reissued by Bantam with the title The Last Tomb.  This is one of the better John Lange titles.  The cover art is by Glen Orbik.  Read the Gravetapping review.

 

Zero Cool.  Originally published as a paperback original by Signet in 1969.  This title was reissued by HCC in 2008 as a mass market paperback with cover art by Gregory Manchess.  The cover art will not change, but the book size will be increased to trade paperback.  Read the Gravetapping review.

 

The Venom Business.  Originally published as a hardcover in 1969 by World Publishing Company.  This is another of the titles I have yet to read.  The cover art is by Gregory Manchess.

 

Drug of Choice.  Originally published as a paperback original by Signet.  Yet another title I haven’t read.  This was also issued under the title Overkill.  The cover art is by Gregory Manchess.

 

Grave Descend.  Originally published as a paperback original by Signet in 1970.  This title was short listed for the best paperback original Edgar Award.  This title was resissued by HCC in 2006 as a mass market paperback with cover art by Gregory Manchess.  The cover is the same, but the size changes to a trade paperback.

Binary.  Originally published as a hardcover by Alfred A. Knopf in 1972.  This title was translated into a television movie directed by Michael Crichton in 1972 titled “Pursuit”.  The novel is the best of the John Lange titles, but the film was somewhat disappointing.  The cover art is by Glen Orbik.  Read the Gravetapping review.

THE LAST TOMB by John Lange (Michael Crichton)

In the late 1960s and early 1970s Michael Crichton published eight thrillers under the pseudonym John Lange.  The Lange novels are something very different than the science fiction Michael Crichton became famous for writing.  They are thrillers more in the vein of Desmond Bagley, early Jack Higgins, and Gavin Lyall, and I like them much more than Crichton’s big bestsellers.

Harold Barnaby is an Egyptologist in an age when nothing new or interesting is happening in the field.  His specialty is hieroglyphics, and while translating a text he discovers a reference to the tomb of an obscure Pharaoh in the Valley of the Kings.  In earlier years Barnaby dreamed of the glory of discovering an Egyptian tomb, but now, at the age of 41, he is less interested in glory and more interested in wealth.  He approaches a freelance writer named Robert Pierce with an ambitious plan to loot the tomb, which he estimates to be worth, in 1968 dollars, $50 million.

The novel is written in third person, and is structured in three titled acts—The Plan, The Search, and The Last Tomb.  The scene titles are self-descriptive.  The Plan introduces the genesis of the idea, the plan, and the compilation of the team.  The team arrives in Egypt in the second act, and the third act is the resolution.

The Last Tomb is all story.  It opens with a flash, and it races from the first page to the last.  The setting is surprisingly rich, and provides, in stark prose, the sounds, smells, and sights of the land—

“The land was flat, desolate, windy; there was no vegetation, no sign of life.”

“The modern traveler’s first view of Egypt is appropriate: Cairo airport, set out in the flat, brown sand of the desert stretching away in silent heat for miles.  It is a landscape that communicates, quite distinctly, a sense of agelessness, unchanging, interminable.”

“The villages were all the same—mud huts, dusty streets, and date-palm trees, stately camels and barking, hungry dogs.”

The Last Tomb is a thriller as thrillers were meant to be.  It is quick, light, and entertaining as hell.  There isn’t the slightest bit of character development, but it is populated with an exotic group of characters.  There is the wealthy British nobleman financing the operation on a whim who travels with, at a minimum, two young ladies, there is the smuggler, and the thief.  It is exciting, and with just enough of a twist at the end to bring a smile.

The Last Tomb was published by Bantam in 1974.  It was originally published as Easy Go by Signet in 1968, and it is scheduled to be reissued as Easy Go by Hard Case Crime later this year.  It was Michael Crichton’s third published novel, and it is among the best, behind only Binary, of the John Lange titles.

The forthcoming Hard Case Crime edition, which will be published as Michael Crichton for the first time, has artwork strikingly similar to the old suspense novel Valley of the Assassins by Ian MacAlister.

BINARY by John Lange

Michael Crichton was an immensely talented man. His creative work spanned five decades. His first novel, Odds On, was published as a paperback original in 1966 and his final novel—left partially completed at his death—is scheduled for release in 2010. He also wrote and directed films for both Hollywood and television, including Westworld, Coma, Twister and ER.

In the late-1960s and early-1970s Mr Crichton wrote eight slim thrillers under the pseudonym John Lange. The novels were published between 1966 and 1972, and each was competent, exciting and different. Two of these early “John Lange” novels were recently republished by Hard Case Crime and can easily be found, but the other six are more difficult and can fetch princely sums on the secondary market.

I recently read Binary for the second time and I was absolutely blown away. It is different from the two titles HCC republished, in that it is not a straight forward suspense adventure novel, but rather a kind of rare hybrid suspense high-tech whodunit. It harkens more to the fiction Crichton became famous for—The Andromeda Strain, et al—as it contains a flavor of science and technology; explained in simple and easily understood terminology without ever letting the pace slacken or the mystery suffer.

John Graves is a long-time investigator for the Intelligence Division of the State Department. He began his career in the foreign branch of Intelligence, but he has since been transferred to the domestic side—a change he does not approve of, or much enjoy. He stays with the agency less out of loyalty and enjoyment than trajectory. He does it simply because that is what he does.

On the night of August 22, 1972 seven armed men rob a U.S. Army train with a deadly chemical agent aboard; they make-off with ½-ton of the ZV agent. It is a deadly chemical that is without equal in its potency and practicality to cause death. The State Department has information that the chemical is going to be used in an attack on the Republican National Convention at San Diego.

A wealthy Howard Hughes-type—John Wright—is the suspect and John Graves is the lead investigator. The two men—hero and villain—spar in an unconventional manner. It is more of a chess match than a hardboiled investigation as each man tries to outwit the other move by move. There are more than a few intentionally placed red herrings, and Graves must decipher the riddle, and outthink his opponent or more than one million people will die.

Binary was the last novel Michael Crichton wrote as by John Lange and it is a perfect ending for the nom de plume. It is a quick and fast-paced novel. The action takes place over a 12-hour period and it snakes from meeting rooms to the warm August streets of San Diego. It is a strange mixture of a whodunit puzzle, and Crichton parcels out the clues as the novel moves along, with a hard-nosed American suspense novel.

The prose is simple and effective—“In a corner of the bedroom draped over a chair was a sports coat. He found a ticket for the noon plane to Acapulco in the pocket. A first-class ticket, one-way.” It feels almost invisible and never once gets in the way of the story and action.

The setting is easily shaped into a believable place—Crichton alternately praises and whips—mostly whips—California. It is a young and irresponsible place that is too hot and lacks any sort of class.

“The Westgate Plaza was one of the three greatest hotels in the world, if you believed Esquire magazine. If you didn’t, it was a pretentious modern dump decorated with a lot of phony statuary in the lobby and downstairs lounge.”

The dialogue is well shaped and the characters are molded perfectly into the story—there is the villain’s beautiful but dumb girlfriend, and Graves is forced to deal with a micro-managing and very dull supervisor. His team is competent, but not so much that you would notice.

The ending isn't a surprise, as far as the action is concerned, but the manner in which it plays out is very much a shock. In the end, it is the mystery, or the puzzle portion of the climax, that makes Binary work. And it works very, very well.

A NOTE. Binary was published in 1972 and it was made into a television movie that was directed by Michael Crichton titled Pursuit. The screenplay was written by Robert Dozier. It starred Ben Gazzara, and E.G. Marshall. It aired, according to IMDB, December 12, 1972.

In Memorium: Michael Crichton

I learned last night that Michael Crichton died from complications of cancer. Crichton was one of a handful of writers that I read voraciously as a teenager. His later work tended to straddle the line between science fiction and thriller. His earlier work was made of slim 1970s-style thrillers, two of which have been re-published by Hard Case Crime over the past few years.

I read everything Crichton published up through the mid-1990s. I would anxiously mark the calendar when one of his novels would be published; I would mark it about a year later when the mass market paperback would be released because I could never afford the hardcover. Jurrasic Park was a big novel that carried punch and I remember being mesmerized by the world Mr Crichton created. I carried it everywhere hoping I would get time to read a page or two.

My favorites of his novels are Grave Descend and The Great Train Robbery, with Binary as a close third for one simple reason. It is the first novel I read with a scene in Utah. It was a short scene on a train leaving the Dugway Proving Grounds in the desert just west of Salt Lake City. I loved it. Mr Crichton and his work will be missed.

Here is an interview Mr Crichton did with Charlie Rose. It is long clocking in at 57 minutes, but it reveals Mr Crichton as intelligent—if his work isn’t indication enough—and interesting.

Three Reviews

I've fallen hopelessly behind on the reviews I want to write for Gravetapping, so I decided to play a little game. I sat down with three novels I've read and enjoyed in the past few months and imposed a 150-word limit on each review. It probably took me longer than it would have to write my usual 350 to 500 word reviews, but I had a little fun doing it. And the amazing thing, I actually came in under the limit on each.

Zero Cool is the second Michael Crichton--err, John Lange--novel Hard Case Crime has reprinted and it lived up to my lofty expectations. Peter Ross is an American radiologist who goes to Spain to speak at a medical conference and, more importantly, spend some quality time at the beach. Unfortunately his plans are irreversibly altered when he is approached by a nervous little man who warns him away from an autopsy--"If you do the autopsy, we will kill you." This ominous opening builds the foundation for a nearly perfectly executed wrong-man novel.

Zero Cool really is cool. The dialogue is sharp, the characters are uniquely over-the-top, the plot is quick and tricky in that great early-Seventies way, and the story is enormously entertaining. If you buy only one HCC this year, make it Zero Cool.

Triple Identity is Haggai Carmon's first novel. It is a financial thriller with doses of international intrigue, action, and trade-craft--as in barebones spy stuff. Dan Gordon is a Department of Justice lawyer who tracks large sums of laundered money that has crossed the border. When the novel opens he is on the trail of ninety-million dollars that went missing from a failed California bank and it doesn't take long for Gordon to realize there is more to the theft than bank fraud. And when the CIA and Mossad enter the chase he has no doubt there is something sinister in the background.

Triple Identity is an entertaining and interesting novel--some of the international finance is fascinating--that starts quickly, but falters slightly in the middle with too much backstory and not quite enough action. Fortunately it ends with a flourish and, overall, it's pretty fun.

Winter of the Wolves is, by my reckoning, the last novel published by James N. Frey; it hit print in 1992. And it is an entertaining and exciting little spy thriller. Tom Croft is a burned out operative for the super-secret organization The Exchange. He walked away from the game a few years earlier and now he's trying to forget his past in upstate-New York. Unfortunately his former partner has gone rogue and The Exchange wants Croft to hunt him down and kill him.

Winter of the Wolves is an extremely enjoyable novel. I guessed the ending in the third chapter, but it really didn't bother me. The writing is smooth, the protagonist is a tough-guy cutout that Frey gives just enough life to make interesting, the dialogue is crisp, and if you don't mind a journey you've probably experienced before it's really a pretty terrific read.

New Hard Case Crime: ZERO COOL

I don’t know how this got past me, but it did. Hard Case Crime announced the publication of another John Lange novel a few months ago. The title: Zero Cool. You may remember HCC also published Lange’s Grave Descend in November 2006. You should also know that John Lange is a pseudonym of Michael Crichton, why they don’t promote them as such I don’t know; unless Crichton is concerned his current readers won’t like them, but I really can’t imagine anyone not liking his John Lange novels.

They are all nearly perfect 1970s adventure novels. They all take place in exotic locations. They have a protagonist who never really wants to be involved, but once he is look out, and they each have enough mystery to keep them interesting. Not to mention they are written in a stark and very readable style that lends itself to brevity and action.

I found the Lange novels in the early-Nineties, and I spent years skulking through used bookstores—usually on my knees since, for some reason, the “L” section always seemed to be on the bottom shelf—looking for any John Lange title I could find. And I did find a few, but Zero Cool wasn’t one of them.

Zero Cool's release date: March 2008.
The cover art is by Greg Manchess.
The HCC description reads:

American radiologist Peter Ross just wanted a vacation. But when he meets the beautiful Angela Locke on a Spanish beach, he soon finds himself caught in a murderous crossfire between rival gangs seeking a precious artifact.

From Barcelona to the rain-swept streets of Paris, from the towers of the Alhambra to its darkest catacombs, Peter Ross is an ordinary man in desperate circumstances: racing to uncover a secret lost for centuries, before he becomes its next victim.

Too cool.

To visit the HCC promotional website for Zero Cool click Here.

Jack Pot: A Few Lucky Finds

I have to be honest, I'm a poor student and the high cost of new books is often beyond my budget, which makes me a window shopper of the worst kind. The kind who buys only on special occassion. But yesterday I hit the motherlode! It wasn't a wide vein of gold or silver, but rather a table loaded with dozens of titles--new titles released in the past year--listed at 2 for $5.98. When I saw them my pulse quickened, my heart fluttered and that damn vein on my forehead began a morbid little dance. Hell, I probably even turned red from excitement. Maybe cut a few years off my life from the stress of surprise.

I found several titles I have wanted, but was too cheap to shell out hard currency for, including, Grave Descend by John Lange (a pseudonym for Michael Crichton), The Peddler by Richard S. Prather, The Guns of Heaven by Pete Hamill, Witness to Myself by Seymour Shubin, and Off Season by Jack Ketchum. These are all either Hard Case Crime, or Leisure titles. And they are all books I have wanted to read, or in two cases reread.

Woohooo!