Jack Higgins: The Golden Age Novels

In 1975 a midlist writer thundered onto the worldwide bestseller lists with a World War 2 adventure thriller titled The Eagle Has Landed.  It was published as by Jack Higgins, but the writer was a former college lecturer named Harry Patterson.  Mr Patterson was a veteran writer in 1975; he had already published 34 novels and his work was becoming both more accomplished and more successful.

Mr Patterson’s work can be broken into three easily identifiable segments, (i), his pre-The Eagle Has Landed work (1959 – 1974), (ii) The Eagle Has Landed to The Eagle Has Flown (1975 – 1991), and (iii) Eye of the Storm to his most recent novel A Devil is Waiting (1992 – 2012).  Mr Patterson’s pre-The Eagle Has Landed work tended to be lean, deftly plotted, and very linear suspense novels.  I think of this era as his golden age.  It includes a bevy of truly excellent adventure novels, The Savage Day, A Prayer for the Dying, and The Last Place God Made, which are, by my reckoning his three best novels.

The next period is his bestseller period.  Mr Patterson hit it big with The Eagle Has Landed, and while he wrote several very successful novels he could never quite get out from under the shadow of his “big” bestseller.  The most recent, and final, period is the Sean Dillon era.  He introduced an antagonist in his 1992 novel Eye of the Storm, which in Mr Patterson’s subsequent work became a protagonist.  The Dillon novels are the weakest of Harry Patterson’s canon, but there are several, which are really quite good.

The following is a chronological listing of Harry Patterson’s golden age books.  It includes work published by multiple publishing houses and pseudonyms.  Many of Mr Patterson’s early work disappeared without a trace when it was first released, but most of it, with only two exceptions, are easily obtained today.  I listed the original United Kingdom and U. S. publisher for each title, but most of the books have been published in multiple editions, and all have been republished under Harry Patterson’s primary pseudonym Jack Higgins.    

Sad Wind from the Sea.  Published by John Long in 1959.  It was originally issued as a hardcover as Harry Patterson.  It was not printed in the United States until 2010 when it was issued as an ebook and a POD trade paperback by Open Road Integrated Media.  Read the Gravetapping review.

Cry of the Hunter.  Published by John Long in 1960.  It was originally issued as a hardcover as Harry Patterson.  It was not printed in the United States until 2010 when it was issued as an ebook and POD trade paperback by Open Road Integrated Media.  Read the Gravetapping review.

The Thousand Faces of Night.  Published by John Long in 1961.  It was originally issued as a hardcover as Harry Patterson.  It was not published in the United States until 2010 when it was issued as an ebook and a POD trade paperback by Open Road Integrated Media.  Read the Gravetapping review.

Comes the Dark Stranger.  Published by John Long in 1962.  It was originally issued as a hardcover as Harry Patterson.  It was not published in the United States until 2010 when it was issued as an ebook and a POD trade paperback by Open Road Integrated Media.  Read the Gravetapping review.

Hell is Too Crowded.  Published by John Long in 1962.  It was originally issued as a hardcover as Harry Patterson.  It was issued in the United States in 1978 as a paperback original by Fawcett Gold Medal.  Read the Gravetapping review.

The Testament of Casper Schultz.  Published by Abelard-Schuman in 1962.  It was originally issued as a hardcover as by Martin Fallon.  It was published in the United States as a paperback original in 1978 by Fawcett Gold Medal.  This is the first novel (of six) to feature Paul Chavasse.  It was reissued in 2006 as The Bormann Testament; the new edition included a brief introduction explaining the “testament’ was originally Martin Bormann’s, but due to potential legal issues the publisher requested the title change, and the references to Martin Bormann be removed.  Read the Gravetapping review.

Pay the Devil.  Published by Barrie Rockcliff in 1963.  It was originally issued as a hardcover as Harry Patterson.  It was published in the United States in 1999 as a paperback original by Berkley. Read the Gravetapping review.

The Dark Side of the Island.  Published by John Long in 1964.  It was originally issued as hardcover as Harry Patterson.  It was published in the United States in 1977 as a paperback original by Fawcett Gold Medal.  Read the Gravetapping review.

Seven Pillars to Hell.  Published by Abelard-Schuman in 1963.  It was originally issued as a hardcover as by Hugh Marlowe.  It was published in the United States in 1994 as a paperback original with the title Sheba by Berkley. Read the Gravetapping review.

A Phoenix in the Blood.  Published by Barrie Rockcliff in 1964.  It was originally issued as a hardcover as Harry Patterson.  It has never been released in the United States.  Read the Gravetapping review.

Thunder at Noon.  Published by John Long in 1964.  It was originally issued as a hardcover as Harry Patterson.  It has never been released in the United States.  This title was rewritten and published in both the United Kingdom and the U. S. as Dillinger in 1983.  Dillinger was published by Hutchinson in the U. K. and Stein & Day in the U. S. as Harry Patterson. Read the Gravetapping review.

Wrath of the Lion.  Published by John Long in 1964.  It was originally issued as a hardcover as Harry Patterson.  It was published in the United States in 1977 as a paperback original by Fawcett Gold Medal.  Read the Gravetapping review.

Year of the Tiger.  Published by Abelard-Schuman in 1964.  It was originally issued as a hardcover as by Martin Fallon.  It was rewritten and issued in the United States in 1996 as a paperback original by Berkley.  It is the second novel (of six) to feature Paul Chavasse.  Read the Gravetapping review.

Passage by Night.  Published by Abelard-Schuman in 1964.  It was originally issued as a hardcover as by Hugh Marlowe.  It was issued in the United States in 1966 as a paperback original by Avon. Read the Gravetapping review.

The Graveyard Shift.  Published by John Long in 1965.  It was originally issued as a hardcover as Harry Patterson.  It was issued in the United States in 2002 as a paperback original by Berkley.  This is the first novel (of three) to feature Nick Miller. Read the Gravetapping review.

The Keys of Hell.  Published by Abelard-Schuman in 1965.  It was originally issued as a hardcover as by Martin Fallon.  It was issued in the United States as a paperback original in 1976 by Fawcett Gold Medal.  It was rewritten and reissued in 2002 by Berkley.  This is the third novel (of six) to feature Paul Chavasse.  Read the Gravetapping review.

The Iron Tiger.  Published by John Long in 1966.  It was originally issued as a hardcover as Harry Patterson.  It was released in the United States as a paperback original in 1979 by Fawcett Gold Medal. Read the Gravetapping review.

Midnight Never Comes.  Published by John Long in 1965.  It was originally issued as a hardcover as by Martin Fallon.  It was issued in the United States as a paperback original in 1975 by Fawcett Gold Medal.  This is the fourth novel (of six) to feature Paul Chavasse.  This was extensively rewritten and published as On Dangerous Ground  in 1994; Sean Dillon replaces Paul Chavasse.  Read the Gravetapping review.

A Candle for the Dead.  Published by Abelard-Schuman in 1966.  It was originally issued as a hardcover as by Hugh Marlowe.  It was not printed in the United States until 2010 when it was issued as an ebook and a POD trade paperback by Open Road Integrated Media.  It was adapted as a film titled The Violent Enemy released in 1967.  The novel was retitled as The Violent Enemy and reissued as a paperback in the U. K. by Coronet in 1969. Read the Gravetapping review.

Brought in Dead.  Published by John Long in 1967.  It was originally issued as a hardcover as Harry Patterson.  It was issued in the United States in 2004 as a paperback original by Berkley.  This is the second novel (of three) to feature Nick Miller. Read the Gravetapping review.

Dark Side of the Street.  Published by John Long in 1967.  It was originally issued as a hardcover as by Martin Fallon.  It was issued in the United States in 1974 as a paperback original by Fawcett Gold Medal.  This is the fifth novel (of six) to feature Paul Chavasse. Read the Gravetapping review.

East of Desolation.  Published by Hodder & Stoughton in 1968.  It was originally published as a hardcover as by Jack Higgins.  It was released in the United States as a hardcover by Doubleday in 1969.  This is the first use of the Jack Higgins pseudonym, and the first title published in the U. S. in hardcover. Read the Gravetapping review.

Hell is Always Today.  Published by John Long in 1968.  It was originally published as a hardcover as Harry Patterson.  It was issued in the United States in 2005 as a paperback original by Berkley.  This is the third novel (of three) featuring Nick Miller.

In the Hour Before Midnight.  Published by Hodder & Stoughton in 1969.  It was issued as a hardcover as by Jack Higgins.  It was released in the United States as a paperback original by Lancer Books as The Sicilian Heritage in 1970.  Lancer later released an edition with its original title.

A Fine Night for Dying.  Published by John Long in 1969.  It was issued as a hardcover as by Martin Fallon.  It was released in the United States in 2007 as a paperback original by Berkley.  This is the sixth novel (of six) to feature Paul Chavasse.

Night Judgment at Sinos.  Published by Hodder & Stoughton in 1970.  It was issued as a hardcover as by Jack Higgins.  It was released in the United States as a hardcover by Doubleday in 1971.

A Game for Heroes.  Published by Macmillan in 1970.  It was issued as a hardcover as by James Graham.  It was released in the United States as a hardcover by Doubleday in 1970.  This is the first novel (of four) released under the James Graham pseudonym; interestingly Mr Patterson was a lecturer at James Graham College between 1968 and 1970.  

The Last Place God Made.  Published by Collins in 1971.  It was issued as a hardcover as by Jack Higgins.  It was released in the United States in 1971 as a hardcover by Holt.

Toll for the Brave.  Published by John Long in 1971.  It was issued as a hardcover as Harry Patterson.  It was released in the United States in 1976 as a paperback original by Fawcett Gold Medal.  This is the final novel Mr Patterson published with his long time publisher John Long.

The Wrath of God.  Published by MacMillan in 1971.  It was issued as a hardcover as by James Graham.  It was released in the United States in 1971 as a hardcover by Doubleday.  This is the second novel (of four) released under the James Graham pseudonym.  It was adapted as a film released in 1972.   

The Khufra Run.  Published by MacMillan in 1972.  It was issued as a hardcover as by James Graham.  It was released in the United States in 1973 as a hardcover by Doubleday.  This is the third novel (of four) released under the James Graham Pseudonym.

The Savage Day.  Published by Collins in 1972.  It was issued as a hardcover as by Jack Higgins.  It was released in the United States in 1972 as a hardcover by Holt.

A Prayer for the Dying.  Published by Collins in 1973.  It was issued as a hardcover as by Jack Higgins.  It was released in the United States in 1974 as a hardcover by Holt.  It was adapted as a film released in 1987.

The Run to Morning.  The U. K. title is Bloody Passage.  Published by MacMillan in 1974.  It was issued as a hardcover as by James Graham.  It was released in the United States in 1974 as a hardcover by Stein & Day.  It was reprinted with the title Bloody Passage in the United States by Open Road Integrated Media.  This is the fourth novel (of four) released under the James Graham pseudonym.

FLASHPOINT by Ed Gorman

Severn House Hardcover Edition

Flashpoint is the fourth novel to feature Dev Conrad.  Conrad is a former Army Intelligence operative, and current political consultant.  He has a cynical political view.  The only thing he likes less than politicians are political consultants, but he loves the game.  This time Dev is in Illinois where a client is accused of murder.  Not so much by the police, at least not publicly, but definitely by the news media.  Or, as Dev Conrad puts it—

“Sex.  A senator.  A murder.  An international orgasm.”    

The novel opens with Dev Conrad driving from his Chicago office to Senator Logan’s rural upstate cabin.  The senator telephoned Dev with some unidentified trouble, and Conrad, in a state of confusion and dread, is on his way to help.  The trouble is a beautiful women lying dead in a pool of her own blood on the porch of Senator Logan’s cabin.  The senator has a history with the woman.  She was seen at several of his campaign events in recent weeks, and the senator admits to everything but sleeping with her.

The election is a few weeks away, and the story captures the 24 hour cable news cycle, and one of the networks is aligning Senator Logan with the devil.  Conrad quickly retains Ben Zuckerman, a top-notch Chicago criminal lawyer, but Logan is holding something back.  Conrad doesn’t know what, or why, Logan isn’t forthcoming, but he is certain Logan didn’t kill the woman.

The cast of characters includes Senator Logan’s strong daughter, delicate wife, and manipulative brother.  A less than ethical operative from the other side, a beautiful local attorney, a detective, and a somewhat disconcerting federal investigator.  It is a dark story, almost cynical, without Mr Gorman’s usual wary hope.  It casts the political system in a stark, and corrupt light.  Dev Conrad compares current elected pols with the openly corrupt senators of the late 1800s, which were referred to by the industry each represented rather than their respective home states.

The mystery is top-notch.  The murderer isn’t revealed until the final pages, and I was genuinely surprised, but Flashpoint is more than a mystery.  It is social commentary on the state of the current American political environment from popular sentiment to its elected officials.  It takes a whack at the news media, specifically the cable news networks, and the hatred and misinformation disseminated by certain fringe elements, which have garnered mainstream credentials in recent years.    

Flashpoint is a serious and stark novel; however it is told with a wry sense of humor.  There are a handful of lines, which made me laugh aloud, and more than a few places where I smiled.  Not to mention it isn’t every novel that can make mention of Thomas Eagleton, communists, George W. Bush, conspiracy, and The Manchurian Candidate without devolving into something less than it is.  And what it is, is a very fine novel, but be warned Dev Conrad’s cynicism is catching.

KILLER'S WAKE by Bernard Cornwell

Bernard Cornwell is best known as a writer of historical novels, but between 1988 and 1992 he published five contemporary suspense novels with sailing settings.  The novels are all very good, and are adventure driven.  They are very much in the scheme of Desmond Bagley—men without special abilities placed in impossible situations, and must rely on their wits to survive.  To my knowledge these are the only non-historical novels Mr Cornwell has written, which is a shame, and they are likely the only he ever will write.  On his website Mr Cornwell explains:

“I enjoyed writing the thrillers, but suspect I am happier writing historical novels. I’m always delighted when people want more of the sailing books, but I’m not planning on writing any more, at least not now – but who knows? perhaps when I retire.”

I recently reread Mr Cornwell’s 1989 novel Killer’s Wake—published as Sea Lord in the United Kingdom—and I enjoyed it as much the second time as the first.  John Rossendale, the 28^th Earl of Stowey, is a vagabond sailor who is called home for his mother’s impending death.  He left England four years earlier on his sailing yacht Sunflower, and vowed never to return.  He left under a cloud—he was accused of stealing a Van Gogh painting from his family trust, and while no one could prove his guilt, everyone is certain of it.

Upon his arrival in England his boat is immediately broken in to, he is approached by a millionaire tycoon who wants to purchase the Van Gogh with no questions asked, he is assaulted by a pair of hired toughs, and his twin sister accuses him outright, and very nastily, of stealing the Van Gogh.  Rossendale doesn’t want to be in England, and by appearances England doesn’t want Rossendale. 

Killer’s Wake is written in first person, and while a few of the plot twists are seemingly juvenile (Rossendale determines to give the painting, estimated to be worth 20 million pounds, to an unpleasant millionaire to impress the millionaire’s step daughter) it is an immensely entertaining novel.  The prose smoothly shows the story through Rossendale’s easy going perspective, who is a likable, if stubborn and at times even maddening (think about giving away 20 million pounds when you can’t purchase your own dinner), protagonist.  The sailing descriptions are vibrant and even beguiling, and are really what separate this novel from many of its contemporary, and current thrillers—

“It was nighttime and the wind was rising.  It was England’s homecoming wind, a southwesterly, but there was nothing welcoming about in this malevolent cold force.  At dusk the wind had been force three or four, by midnight it was five and rising, by three in the morning it I’d taken in the first reef, and now, an hour before dawn, Sunflower was riding a hard force seven.”

The mystery is competently executed, but it is the pure adventure of the story, which makes it as entertaining and enjoyable as it is.  If you enjoy the older style suspense novels.  The sort where the hero doesn’t save the world, but rather only saves his world.  The sort Desmond Bagley, Alistair MacLean, Gavin Lyall, and even an early Jack Higgins, wrote you will really enjoy Killer’s Wake.  It is a throwback, even for something written and published in the late 1980s, and it is a damn good throwback.                   

Book Trailer: Murder as a Fine Art by David Morrell

KILLING CASTRO by Lawrence Block

HCC Edition, 2009

A few months ago I purchased a large lot of original mass market Hard Case Crime novels online.  The lot included a bunch of titles I missed when they were issued and I have been slowly making my way down the stack.  I recently read Killing Castro by Lawrence Block, and while it wasn’t what I expected, it certainly wasn’t a disappointment.

The story centers around five American men who are hired to kill Fidel Castro.  The plan is to split the men up to take multiple attempts on Castro’s life.  The novel opens in Ybor City, Florida—Tampa’s Latin district—where the men are brought together for a briefing; each is promised $20,000 if Fidel Castro is killed. 

The novel spends time in the perspective of each of the men, including back stories, and motivating factors.  The men range from outright criminals to anti-Castro zealots to adventure seekers.  The story is told in a nonlinear fashion, and there is much less action than expected.  Instead it builds more as a character piece (in a very genre manner), focusing on each of the assassins and their reasons for taking the job.  One is a dying bank clerk, another is running from the law, and another is avenging the murder of his brother. 

The novel is divided into 11 chapters, and every other one is devoted to Castro’s rise to power.  The segments documenting Castro’s political ascendency are seemingly accurate, and Mr Block takes some effort to explain the psychology of political dissidence, revolution and power.  The novel has an atmosphere of weariness.  A weariness of this is how the world has always worked, and this is how it always will work.  Castro could be exchanged for a thousand different tyrants and nothing would change.

Killing Castro is a dark story, but it doesn’t fit very well into a specific category.  The opening line of the novel is both misleading, and indicative, of the novel:

“The taxi, one headlight out and one fender crimped, cut through downtown Tampa and headed into Ybor City.”

It is a precursor for the atmosphere and tone of the novel, but it is misleading because it sets the stage for a very straight forward 1960s suspense novel, which it isn’t, exactly.  What it is, is a very good, and very entertaining story, with just enough action and suspense to keep it interesting, and a bevy of detail about Cuba in the middle Twentieth Century.

Killing Castro was published in 1961 with the title Fidel Castro Assassinated as by Lee Duncan.  A nom de plume Mr Block used only once.           

THE QUIET AMERICAN by Graham Greene

Penguin Trade Paperback Edition

I haven’t read much Graham Greene, but the few novels I have read—generally with years in between—I have enjoyed.  And with every novel I read, without fail, I wonder why I don’t read more of his work.  I recently read his Vietnam novel, The Quiet American.  It was originally published in 1955 and it literarily documents, through the actions of a young American agent, the seeds of the United States’ entry, as combatants, into Vietnam.

The Quiet American is told in first person by an aging British newspaper journalist named Thomas Fowler.  The novel’s opening scene has the arrival of a French policeman with news of the murder of one of Fowler’s friends.  A young American named Alden Pyle.  Pyle worked for the U. S. Economic Aid Mission in Saigon.  He is an idealist who believes it is both possible the U. S. can foster democracy in Vietnam.

Pyle’s knowledge of Vietnam is based on the work of a journalist named York Harding who has written several works about communism in Asia.  Harding wrote of a “Third Force”—something like the partisans in Nazi-occupied Europe in World War Two—that could rally the people into a popular rising for democracy.  The only problem, Vietnam is not Europe and the world is never as simple as we would like it.

The Quiet American is a prescient novel.  It was published 10 years prior to the first major U. S. battle in Vietnam, Ia Drang, but it deftly and accurately defines many of the problems the United States faced in Vietnam.  It explores the gung-ho naïveté with which the U. S. Government entered the country.  It foretells the debacle U. S. intelligence services would create with their secret wars and covert operations.  But the most interesting is its view of America and Americans as innocents unfamiliar with the world beyond its own borders.

It is rich with both historical perspective and its contemporary world.  The author obviously loved Vietnam; it is painted with a tapestry of vivid description and loving detail.  It is a literary thriller—in the best sense of that term.  It is a story first, but Graham Greene expertly weaves ideas, characters and truths into the narrative in a manner that they become an intricate and necessary part of the story.

The Quiet American is also a metaphor for the end of the British Empire and the rise of America as a superpower, and essentially an empire.  Pyle is the new—he is young, strong and full of ideas and ideals.  Fowler is the old—he is cynical, knowledgeable and somewhat world weary and frightened.  He is scared of age, but mostly he is frightened of losing his status and potency as a man.

The Quiet American is a wonderful novel.  The writing is smooth with a certain antiseptic feel—the reader views the events very much as a spectator, but the performance is so compelling it envelopes the reader with its dark and cynical view of how things are.  Its view of America is rough, but it is done in a way that is forgiving and understanding; almost as a parent disapproving the actions of a child.

The Quiet American is the best Vietnam novel I have read.  It is appealing as both a suspense novel and literature.  Its themes are as relevant today as they were in the 1950s and the story (the plotting, the description and setting) is brilliantly executed.  If you haven’t read this novel you should.

After Thought.  The Quiet American has been translated into film two times.  The first was Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s 1958 film starring Audie Murphy and Michael Redgrave as Pyle and Fowler.  The second was Phillip Noyce’s 2002 version starring Michael Caine and Brendan Fraser as Fowler and Pyle.  Michael Caine was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance as Thomas Fowler.

I haven’t seen the original film, but the Noyce version is surprisingly good.  It captures the spirit and atmosphere of the novel very well.    

This review originally appeared on the now defunct blog Dark City Underground August 11, 2010 in slightly different form.  I will be moving a few other reviews from DCU to Gravetapping over the next several weeks.  I will also be posting some original content very soon.

Hubble Images: Sombrero Galaxy (M104)

Every so often I find an image so beautiful and thought provoking I want, almost need, to share it.  This image of the Sombrero Galaxy taken with the Hubble Space Telescope is one of those images.  It is listed as M104, and this image, which is actually a composite of six images, was taken May to June 2003.

The Sombrero Galaxy is visible from the surface of Earth with a small telescope—although nothing so vivid as the Hubble image.  It is 28 million light years from Earth, and 50,000 light years across.  Its beautiful shimmer is a reminder of the majesty, and magic, of our universe. 

THE FLY ON THE WALL by Tony Hillerman

Avon Paperback

Tony Hillerman is a writer who nearly slipped past me.  He was a bestseller in my teenage years and I have always had a slight bias against the big sellers because I thought, and rightly so in many cases, their fiction was overstuffed and vapid.  But Tony Hillerman’s fiction certainly does not fall in that category.  It is both lively and interesting.  His work deserves its bestseller status because he was a damn fine writer, which should be a requirement to finding a place on the lists.

I recently read one of his early novels, The Fly on the Wall, originally published in 1971 by Harper & Row.  It is the first Hillerman novel I have read that didn’t star either (or both) Jim Chee or Joe Leaphorn and I really enjoyed it.  The protagonist is a political writer for the Tribune named John Cotton.  The location is never fully identified, but the descriptions and climate make it seem like an Eastern state; probably, a place like Virginia.

It opens with Cotton writing his column, an hour or so before deadline, when a jubilantly drunk colleague interrupts him with the news that he has a huge story about the state governor’s office.  Cotton doesn’t pay much attention, but a few minutes later the man falls to his death in the state capitol building.  He doesn’t really make any connections there either, except that his reporter’s instinct makes him curious about the big story his colleague spoke of.  Then things start to happen that make Cotton more and more curious.

The Fly on the Wall is a whodunit with enough intrigue and action to make it more akin to an American-style crime novel than the old British Agatha Christie-style mystery.  It is plotted with a precision that only solid and professional whodunits are, but it is also filled with suspense and, in a few scenes, violence—not just the hint of violence, but actual violence.  There is one scene in particular that lifts this novel above most in the category; a scene just outside Santa Fe, New Mexico (in the only chapter of the novel the protagonist is outside the bleak wintery locale of his newspaper job) that is a beautifully rendered chase scene.  It is a scene that could have been lifted from an early David Morrell novel, but at the same time it is all Tony Hillerman.

The novel has a sense of reality to it.  Mr Hillerman was a newspaperman, and the book acts as a guide to what the industry must have been like in the 1960s and 70s, particularly what it must have been like to be a political reporter: the deals and counter-deals; trying to report factually while also not angering the politicians enough to freeze you out; the jaded cynicism matched against the idealistic sentiment of the job.

The Fly on the Wall was, according the Wikipedia, Hillerman’s second novel, but it doesn’t feel like the work of a man learning his trade.  It is full-bodied and has the sense of importance.  It is as fresh today as it was when it was first published.  In fact as I read it, it felt as though it was written yesterday, and I bet the same will be true in ten years and then again in another ten.

Do yourself a favor and read this one.

This review originally appeared on the now defunct blog Dark City Underground July 18, 2010 in slightly different form.  I will be moving a few other reviews from DCU to Gravetapping over the next several weeks.  I will also be posting some original content very soon.

THE RED MOON by Warren Murphy

Warren Murphy is best known for his The Destroyer series (he co-created it with the late Richard Sapir), but his body of work is impressively diverse.  He has authored everything from horror to mystery to suspense to fantasy.  He won two Edgar Awards and two Shamus Awards in the 1980s and, while he has been silent for nearly two decades, he is a giant in the field (at least on my bookshelf).

I pretty much enjoy all of his work, but I am particularly fond of his suspense novels.  I recently read his 1982 novel The Red Moon and it is as exciting, vibrant and interesting today as it must have been when it was published more than thirty years ago.  And the book itself seemingly has an interesting history—a history I am only guessing at.  It appears to have been written as a novelization for a film, which was never released.  The copyright holders are Davis/Panzer Productions (a production company that produced the “Highlander” television series) and Stan Corwin Productions.

While the genesis for the novel is somewhat shadowy, the novel is wonderfully shadowy.  It chronicles the story of one Christopher Caldwell—a former CIA agent who dropped off the radar when his wife and child were murdered in a car bombing.  He is reluctantly pulled back into the clandestine world of murder and betrayal when his father-in-law is found dead in what is ruled a fishing accident.  The canvas of the story is broad and it includes a World War 2 art theft, oil, Iran—it was published a mere three years after the Shah was deposed—greed, secrets and betrayal.

The Red Moon was a paperback original published by Fawcett Gold Medal and it is very much a novel of its time.  The plot is straight out of the 1980s: Nazi hunters, big oil, Mideast plotting, sinister corporations and corrupt politicians.  The style is different from many of Warren Murphy’s suspense novels—there is less humor, although he does have some fun with two Israeli Mossad agents who tend to speak with British accents, and it reads something like a contemporary Robert Ludlum novel, less the exclamation marks!

While The Red Moon is different than some of Mr Murphy’s work it is no less entertaining.  It is sharply plotted; the story unwinds with enough surprises to keep the reader wondering.  The bad guys are introduced as the story moves forward, and a few are genuinely surprising.  The prose is simple and effective and the dialogue is used expertly to explain the characters motives and quicken the pace from crisis to crisis.

The Red Moon is an entertaining suspense novel.  It is large and complicated (376 pages in mass market), but it reads better and more swiftly than many of the genres’ novels.  And while its style is just a shade different than most of Mr Murphy’s suspense novels it is also one of his better, which is a big statement since much of his work is pretty awesome.  

This review originally appeared on the now defunct blog Dark City Underground July 13, 2010 in slightly different form.  I will be moving a few other reviews from DCU to Gravetapping over the next several weeks.

The TOR Novels of Jack M. Bickham

TOR published 10 of Jack M. Bickham’s novels between 1983 and 1994; two novels were reprints in mass market and the remaining eight novels were originals published both in hardcover and mass market paperback editions.  Mr Bickham’s TOR novels represent his best work, and each, including the reprints, are superiorly crafted suspense novels worth seeking out. 

The Regensburg Legacy.  Mr Bickham’s first novel published by TOR, and it is one of the best.  It was a reprint—originally published by Doubleday in 1980—released by TOR in mass market in 1983.  TRL is a swift and entertaining suspense novel in the vein of Robert Ludlum; however it is superior to Ludlum’s work because of its plotting is tight and its prose is lean. 

Ariel.  A mass market reprint.  It was originally published by St. Martin’s Press in 1984, and the TOR reprint was released in 1985.  Ariel is the largest of the titles published by TOR.  It is a technology based tale about a commercial attempt to develop artificial intelligence.  The technology is dated, but the story is still vibrant due to Mr Bickham’s use of plotting and character motive; however, it shows its age more than any of TOR titles.

Miracleworker.  The first original Jack M. Bickham novel published by TOR.  It was released in hardcover in 1987, and mass market in 1988.  It is a sort of medical thriller, and it is heavy on suspense.      

Day Seven.  It was published by TOR as a hardcover in 1988, and mass market in 1989.  It is an exciting technology centered suspense novel.  It features a somewhat farfetched storyline—a mission to Mars is sabotaged by an assortment of bad guys—but it features Mr Bickham’s trademark sharp plotting and character motive development.  This is one of my favorite non Brad Smith novels.  Read the Gravetapping review.

Tiebreaker.  This is the first (of six) novel to feature Brad Smith.  It was published in hardcover in 1989, and mass market in 1990.  I can’t say enough about the Brad Smith novels.  Mr Bickham managed to make each of the titles a very personal affair for Smith without the melodrama, which often bogs down serial character novels. Read the Gravetapping review.   

Dropshot.  The second novel featuring Brad Smith.  It was released in hardcover in 1990, and mass market in 1991.  Smith nemesis Sylvester (a sort of Moriarity) is introduced as more than a shadow to both the reader and Brad Smith. Read the Gravetapping review. 

Overhead.  The third Brad Smith adventure was issued in hardcover in 1991, and mass market in 1992.  This is the weakest of the Smith titles, but it is still a very readable and entertaining novel. Read the Gravetapping review.

Breakfast at Wimbledon.  It is the fourth Brad Smith novel.  It was released in hardcover in 1991, and mass market in 1992.  BAW is the first Jack Bickham title I read, and I can still remember picking it off the bookstore shelf on an overcast, and unusually cool day, in July. Read the Gravetapping review.

Double Fault.  The fifth Brad Smith novel.  It was released in hardcover in 1993, and mass market in 1994.  DF is the best of the Brad Smith novels.  It is the first to move away from the cold war story; it is a Vietnam revenge story, and it is the most personal of the Brad Smith novel. Read the Gravetapping review.

 The Davis Cup Conspiracy.  The sixth, and final Brad Smith (and Jack M. Bickham novel), published by TOR.  In this case it was published by TOR’s imprint Forge.  It was released in hardcover in 1994, and mass market in 1996.  The significant lag between the release of the hardcover and mass market paperback make me think this title didn’t sell as well as the earlier titles.

DAY SEVEN by Jack M. Bickham

TOR Hardcover Edition, 1988

Jack M. Bickham wrote several suspense novels for TOR, and its imprint Forge, over a ten year period between the mid- 1980s and 1990s.  The most commercially successful were his six novels featuring aging tennis player and part time spy Brad Smith.  While the Smith novels were the most popular, the other novels Mr Bickham wrote for TOR were also fine examples of the thriller, and very much worth seeking out.

The 1988 novel Day Seven is one of the better non Brad Smith novels published by TOR.  It seamlessly joins science fiction, suspense, and mystery into an entertaining yarn.  The year is 1994, and the United States and Soviet Union are in a race to Mars.  The goal is to reach Mars and find the source of a radio signal broadcasting from its surface.  The storyline is large, and it could have taken countless directions, but Mr Bickham chose to play small ball with it.  Instead of creating high level political and diplomatic hijinks he keeps the action close to the field, which allows the story to generate a much more personal and believable tension.

The majority of the action is in Houston, Texas, with several scenes set in space, and even a few in Dallas.  The protagonist is a successful psychologist who discovers the U. S. mission has been sabotaged, and the story plays out as a clock race, first attempting to convince NASA something is wrong and then doing the hard work of solving the case himself.  It is as much a mystery as anything, but the plot is very much dependent on the technological aspect of the space mission.

Day Seven is a template for plotting.  It is plotted and structured precisely as Mr Bickham teaches in his writing book Scene and Structure.  The action builds perfectly from one scene to the next; every action has a reaction, and the pacing of the story builds slowly and steadily.  It doesn’t scream out of the blocks with nowhere to go but back to the bookshelf.  It pulls the reader along from one scene to the next, the protagonist’s situation getting worse with each page until it seems everything is lost, which is exactly how a suspense novel should be. 

The characters’ motivations are perfectly revealed.  There is never a doubt why a character does one thing rather than another, and it is not just the main players whose motivations are explored.  An example is a character stealing computer code from NASA.  His role is not large (although it is essential to the climax), but his motivations are explained well, and fit Donald Cressey’s fraud triangle perfectly: pressure, opportunity, and rationalization:

“‘You don’t understand!  I had no choice!  Nothing I’ve copied is of any significance!  My wife—my financial situation—you don’t understand the pressure I’ve been under—please!’”

Day Seven is exactly what a suspense novel should be—exciting, tense, and interesting enough to keep the reader turning the pages. 

TESTAMENT by David Morrell

I have been reading the work of David Morrell since I was a teenager.  The first novel I read was Brotherhood of the Rose and then I quickly read its two succeeding, loosely related novels, The Fraternity of the Stone and The League of Night and Fog.  It is a trilogy that is related by theme rather than character, although one character does appear in two of the three novels.  If you haven’t read them, you should.

The point?  Other than David Morrell is a terrific writer?  I recently reread Mr. Morrell’s second novel, Testament, and really had a good time.  It is a suspense novel with a stark and brutal plot and even better writing.  It is similar to First Blood in that both are essentially chase novels.  The difference between the two are the characters—John Rambo is a major league tough guy with not much to lose, and Reuben Bourne (the protagonist in Testament) is a family man with everything to lose.

The novel opens with Bourne and his family—his wife, his young daughter and his infant son—enjoying the morning meal, but everything is about to fall apart.  He is a writer and several months earlier he wrote an unflattering article about a Militia leader.  When it was published the subject of the article threatened Bourne and his family, but Bourne didn’t think much about it until the final morning with his family; a morning that left Bourne a shattered, scared and a nearly broken man.

Testament opens with a flash.  The opening line reads:

“It was the last morning the four of them would ever be together: the man and his wife, his daughter and his son.”

And it never lets up.  The chase begins in Bourne’s house, but it quickly moves to a small cabin in a rural town.  Then it moves into the wilderness where Bourne is drawn to his limit.  It is written in a starkly realistic style.  The action is quick, hard and believable.  There is a scene in a ghost town—a town that isn’t marked on any maps, a town that is nearly intact, the buildings upright, whiskey still on shelves, glasses and plates set at tables and blankets and beds—where a battle ensues between Bourne and his pursuers that is as well written and suspenseful as anything I have read.

I came across Testament late.  I read it for the first time in 2005, but it has become my favorite of David Morrell’s novels for the simple reason that it terrifies me.  The situation is frightening—a man against real, solid bogeymen who also must battle the harsh reality of winter in a wilderness without provisions.  It is something of a mix between Jack London and Geoffrey Household; particularly Household's Rogue Male.  It is reminiscent of these older tales, but it also still fresh and invigorating nearly forty years after its first publication.

This review, in slightly different form, first went live at Dark City Underground on July 29, 2010. 

OPERATION NIGHTFALL by John Miles (Jack M. Bickham) & Tom Morris

Berkley Medallion Edition

Operation Nightfall is the final of four suspense novels Jack Bickham wrote for Bobbs-Merrill’s Black Bat Mystery imprint.  It was published as by John Miles with a coauthor named Tom Morris.  I’m not familiar with Mr Morris, and to my knowledge this is Bickham’s only coauthored novel.  It was published by Bobbs-Merrill in 1975, and reissued as a mass market in April 1976 by Berkley Medallion (K3087).

Operation Nightfall is a caper novel.  It features six men—three pilots and three crew—who plan a high jacking of Atlanta International Airport.  Not an airplane departing AIA, but the entire airport.  The novel opens as a minor scam ends, and while the getaway is flawless Tom Keel is less than satisfied with the take.  It netted only a few thousand, and he wants a big score.  The kind of haul that will allow him to disappear, which is how he gets from small time crook to big time criminal.

The novel is developed in three acts, and it is executed so concisely it could easily, and should be, translated as a screenplay.  The first act is measured in days, and it slowly develops the scene, setting, and characters.  Each is introduced, with an emphasis on the three pilots, and the audience is ushered quickly to the point where the protagonists, pushed by Keel’s sense of alienation and inequity, encounter the catalyst of story—the team will either be successful in its attempt to highjack the airport, or it will fail.

The final two acts are measured in minutes beginning with the team’s arrival at AIA.  The meat of the action is in these final two acts, which makes up slightly less than 2/3^rds of the novel.  The original question—succeed or fail—is in doubt throughout the climax.  And, while the structure of the novel is simple and straight forward, it doesn’t harm the story a bit.  In fact it is the purity of the plot and the targeted character development, particularly motive, which elevates Operation Nightfall from the generic to the excellent.

Although everything else works, too.  The prose is simple and sparse, which lends credibility to a plot on the outside edge of believability.  The dialogue is concise and surprisingly believable.  The characters interact with each other with a believable ease; the underlying distrust, fear, and anger shimmers with each word, but so does the reliance of each on the other.  The flying sequences tingle with a sense of reality:

“Easing over on the yoke and rudder, he cleared the tower on yet another pass and hurled the Cherokee east and then southeast.  He could see Keel out in front of him, turning over the far runway.  A little close.  Abercrombie touched the power, easing off perhaps 50 rpm; no time to look at gauges; it had to be all feel.” 

Operation Nightfall is the real deal.  It is a tightly spun suspense novel, which is entertaining and thrilling all at once.  It is an example of Jack Bickham’s best work, and it is a shame it, and much of Bickham’s other work, never obtained a larger audience.  And if there are any filmmakers in the ether, it would make a terrific film. 

A listing of Jack Bickham's Black Bat titles are here.

MIDNIGHT NEVER COMES by Jack Higgins

This is the fifth part of an essay about the six novels Jack Higgins wrote featuring Paul Chavasse titled “Paul Chavasse: An Introduction to the Cold War Spy Story”.  The novels were written throughout the 1960s, and owe much to the James Bond and Matt Helm novels.  The novels were published as by Martin Fallon, and before you read this post, you should read the first four segments of the essay here and here and here and here to put this post in context.

Midnight Never Comes made its debut in 1966.  It was published by John Long in the United Kingdom, and it was a 1974 paperback original published by Fawcett Gold Medal (M3190) in the United States in a pre The Eagle Has Landed edition.  It has been one of the more difficult Paul Chavasse titles to find in the U. S., and large segments of the novel were used, word for word, in Higgins’ On Dangerous Ground published in 1995.  I wrote more about this here.  It, however, has since been republished as an ebook and in trade paperback by Open Road Integrated Media.

Paul Chavasse is a shadow of the man he was before he was stabbed and nearly killed in Albania.  He is weak, tired, and prone to error.  The novel opens with Chavasse running a training course.  He is stalked by one of the Bureau’s top agents, and it goes less than well.  The opening paragraph acts, as opening paragraphs should, as a thematic harbinger.

“The moment he pushed open the door and paused on the edge of darkness, Chavasse knew that he had made a bad mistake.  Somewhere deep inside, a primitive instinct, that slightly mystical element common to all ancient races and inherited from his Breton ancestors, combined with the experience that came from ten hard years of working for the Bureau touched him coldly, sending a wave of greyness moving through him.”

It touches on Chavasse’s history, his Breton roots, his present—his broken psyche—and the mysticism ties his past and present to the future.  It is a brilliantly constructed opening paragraph.  It foreshadows the entire story in 70 words, which does not mean the novel is a serious study of mysticism, human frailty, or anything else of the kind, because it’s not.  Rather it is a straight up, straight forward, linearly plotted mid-1960s suspense novel.  It is entirely plot driven.  It is adventure in its purest form:  the good guys are good, the bad guys are bad, and everything else exits to serve the story.

Midnight Never Comes is really two novels masquerading as one.  The first several chapters deal in the rehabilitation of Chavasse from broken super hero, with the help of an obese Chinese master of ch’i—a martial art that focuses on the mental and spiritual power over the physical power—named Yuan Tao.  The novel then shifts gears when Chavasse is approached by The Bureau and offered a mission to the Hebrides Coast of Scotland where a Soviet scheme to steal a newly developed British missile is unfolding with alarming speed.

The setting is reminiscent of Alistair MacLean’s When Eight Bells Toll.  The main action of the novel is on the Western coast of Scotland.  It is harsh, and gray with a very sparse population.  The climax of the novel shifts to a fictitious island in the Outer Hebrides called Fhada, which interestingly, means island in Gaelic.

Midnight Never Comes is a cool little thriller.  Chavasse is, as usual, smooth, competent and tough as nails.  The bad guys are exactly what the thriller gods meant them to be—hard, destructive, remorseless, and single minded in their mission.  The setting is stark and exotic.  And there is just enough humor laced throughout to keep the outlandish plot firmly in cheek.  The best moment is when a street tough albino, who is pretty good with his heavy boots, makes an appearance in the opening chapters.

"The Plunge" by David Goodis

I recently read Dark Passage by David Goodis and really enjoyed it.  It is a novel where everything works.  It is plot controlled, but the characters are given just enough room to be interesting, and the atmosphere vibrates between something close to despair and almost, but not quite, hope.  When I finished I had the sharp desire to flip back to page one and start again.  Instead I dug out a David Goodis’ short story I read a few years ago titled “The Plunge” and reread it.  It was better this time than the last, and rather than satisfy my urge to reread Dark Passage, it made the itch more demanding.   

The following review originally appeared in 2009, and be warned it is a spoiler.

David Goodis is a writer that every hardboiled reader should know.  His work is dark—about as dark as you will ever read—heavy and literate.  It is often difficult to differentiate between the good and the bad, and the tales are drenched with a self-loathing that gives the stories a deep and sinister glimpse into the darkness of the human condition.

His short story “The Plunge” is one of his best, and a perfect example of what Goodis did well—create men who are, for the most part, good and then twist their world just enough to push them out of bounds into waiting darkness.

Roy Childers is a clean cop in a corrupt department.  He has risen through the ranks quickly; he is a homicide lieutenant with a bright future.  He has four children and another on the way.  His wife loves him and he seemingly loves his wife, but that isn’t enough for Roy.  He doesn’t consciously understand that he wants more, but he does.

His world begins its slow descent when a warehouse is taken down for $15,000.  The robber killed one security guard and blinded the other. It is a trademark Dice Nolan score.  Dice is a man whom Childers has a special connection; they grew up on the same street and Roy has put him behind bars more than once.  Now Childers wants to take Nolan down one last time, but he isn’t ready for what happens.  Nolan has something Roy wants and it will be his undoing.

“The Plunge” is a brutal story.  It chronicles the unwinding of a man.  A man who seemingly has everything.  A man who is better than his end.  And a man who should know better. It is literate and the prose is pitch-perfect:

“Seven out of ten are slobs; he was thinking.  There was no malice or disdain in the thought.  It was more a mixture of pity and regret.  And that made it somewhat sickening, for he was referring specifically to the other men who wore badges, he fellow-policemen.  More specifically he was thinking of the nine plainclothesmen attached to the Vice Squad.  Only yesterday they’d been caught with their palms out, hauled in before the Commissioner, and called all sorts of names before they were suspended.”

The story opens in normal enough fashion.  The protagonist is a cop who wants to find a murderer.  There is even something special and personal about this particular criminal, but Mr Goodis takes the premise and smudges it with his own recipe.  He marks it with weakness and greed.  He takes a good and strong man and chops him down with life, fear, and hunger.

The best part is, he does it all without ever losing his grip on the story or its impact on the reader.  He makes it interesting and entertaining from beginning to end.  He builds a path into darkness and then shows the reader the way out—a cleansing, but a rather messy and permanent one.

“The Plunge” originally appeared in Mike Shayne’s Mystery Magazine October 1958. I read it in A Century of Noir edited by Mickey Spillane and Max Allan Collins.

An Interesting BBC Interview with Jack Higgins

I found a television interview aired on BBC in 2010 for the publication of The Judas Gate.  It runs nearly six minutes and it is really an interesting short piece.  It touches on his early years in Belfast, his love of writing (he describes it as a compulsion), and he said, regarding books and his writing, “books are everything.”

He named The Great Gatsby as one of the books that influenced him the most as writer: “The sheer grace of the writing, absolutely.  The wit of it.  The use of words. The haunting descriptions.” 

The video is here.