Strike Force 7 by Ian MacAlister

Strike Force 7 by Ian MacAlister
Fawcett Gold Medal M2971,
Copyright 1974

"There were only a few passes through the cliffs this high up. By morning there were going to be troops, ambushing every one of them. Tomorrow was going to be hell."

In a three year period in the 70s, Marvin Albert using the pseud. Ian MacAlister, wrote four top shelf adventure novels. They all take place in dangerous locations, they are full of intrigue, and the plots involve extreme risks. The main character is usually a mercenary or ex-commando with a shady past that accepts to lead a mission with a handful of other professionals, some of which you wouldn't invite to your home for dinner.

My favorite is "Strike Force 7", which takes place in Morocco and its vast surrounding desert locations. Canadian gunrunner Earl Jarrell is completing his prison term in a Marseilles hell-hole and needs cash for the future, he's not getting any younger. He gets offered a job, "his last mission", to lead a team of his choosing to rescue an American millionaire's wife and daughter from a violent Arab political revolutionary group. He assembles an experienced team of professional killers, calculates a forceful plan of action, and Jarrell leads them out. There is a short timeline for the rescue, so the action is fast and explosive. Albert creates a prodigious atmosphere in the novel, and the reader can feel the sand in his nostrils and sweat running down his back. All characters are strongly portrayed, along with their psychological and physical features. There is a well developed relationship between Jarrell and A.P. reporter Nora Devlin, who gets involved with the mission. The reader expects this relationship to evolve into a romantic one, instead Marvin Albert leads us to one of appreciation, respect and understanding. And it works perfectly....

Nora Devlin shrugged. "You sell arms and yourself to any side that pays. In Katanga, they said you'd sell yourself to both sides at the same time, if you could."
Jarrell laughed softly. "That's true enough, So?"

Many authors were spitting out adventure thrillers in the 70s. Marvin Albert packed a high quality four punch during that time. "Strike Force 7" is my personal favorite, but all four are superb. The last chapter is truly touching and wonderfully written, It really reveals to the reader what a fine author Marvin Albert was.

Equally as good is "Driscoll's Diamonds." Another adventure thriller involving a mercenary (Driscoll), stolen diamonds, and a man called Royan who taught Driscoll everything he knows. The wicked Royan character is remarkable, as is the Middle East setting.

The four under Ian MacAlister are:

Skylark Mission (1973)
Driscoll's Diamonds (1973)
Strike Force 7 (1974)
Valley of the Assassins (1976)

One Lonely Night by Mickey Spillane

One Lonely Night by Mickey Spillane
Signet 888, Copyright 1951

Talk about classics....

"This time I wasn't dealing in murder, I was dealing in war!"

It's nice to be enlightened by a couple of guys who know more about pulp fiction than I. This was the only Mike Hammer novel that I haven't read in the past, and it turns out to be Spillane's best.

Ridiculed and judged, Mike bounces back with the understanding that the world needs men like him. Men who have to do what is needed and right, no matter what the wishes of society dictate. Great stuff by the great man-Commies, murder, broads and vengeance. This may be Mike Hammer at his most vicious and you go on the hunt with him all-the-way. From the haunting beginning; when he walks the bridge, tormented and chastised on that raining night. To the violent ending; when he understands who he is, what he has become, and why the world needs him. "I killed because I had to and I killed things that needed killing." It's a hell of a ride...

This is a fascinating dark, noir novel (not just another Mike Hammer story) and Mickey Spillane best work!!! I haven't read the Mike Hammer novels in many years, after finishing this one I plan to read again the first "classic six." (1947-1952)

"I laughed and laughed while I put the second clip in the gun. I went around the room and kicked them over on their backs, and if they had faces left I made sure they didn't."

Will Penny by Tom Gries

Will Penny by Tom Gries (and Bob Thomas)
Ballantine U5134, Copyright 1968

"What do I know about love?"-Will Penny

There are times when someone will mention a western movie to me and I’d answer, “Oh, that one is on my top-ten list of favorite westerns.” But in reality I’ll say that to well over ten or even twenty movies, so lately I am careful about say things like “that’s my favorite this-and-that….” Which brings me to Will Penny and I’ll leave how high this western film is rated to others. But there was a novelization written for the film and now I have a new respect for books written after movies are filmed.

I usually don’t read film novelizations, but when I found this one I had to give it a go. The story of an old cowpoke that finds love while trying to protect a mother and her young boy is just as strong in words as it is on film. Lonely Will Penny battles with this new discovery of love and family, something he has never known or felt. There is the heartwarming friendship between the cowhands; Penny, Dutchy and Blue. The pages capture the freedom they share and the way of life they love. We can smell the fresh, cold mountain air and snuggle in the warmth of the mountain cabin. Thrown in the story are some crazy inbreed villains that provide some good western action; and I can’t help but enjoy reliving the story through the pages of the novel.

But of course the strength of the story is Will Penny finding something he never had or felt. Love. The love he found with Catherine and family bond discovered with Button. And yet he has to let it go, because to Will Penny love cannot survive in his world. He realizes that a time for a woman’s love and family has past for him. He has limitations now because of his age, and life would be harder and more uncertain. Will Penny don’t risk the chance, and walks away.

"A man can't change, not when he's lived one way most of fifty years. I came closer with you than I ever done, I wish it woulda happened long ago. It's too late for me."

All that was wonderful in the movie is captured in the novel. I may have enjoyed it so much because the movie was exceptional, I’ll never know since I saw the film first. But I do picture Charlton Heston as Will Penny and Joan Hackett as Catherine when I read it, and why not they were terrific. I certainly enjoyed this enough, to take a chance and read more novelizations of films. As for Tom Gries, the writer and director of the movie, he created a magnificent western film and a memorable western character in Will Penny.

There is even a statue of the Will Penny character in the National Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma.

Death Stalk in Spain by Don Smith

Death Stalk in Spain by Don Smith
Award Books AN1040, Copyright 1972

Here one that's a bit different. Take a PI that works for a special department of the CIA and send him around the world performing investigations for the USA. The "Secret Mission" series by Don Smith are a blend of adventure, intrigue and decent PI story. Phil Sherman is our world traveler PI, a pretty sharp guy that isn't afraid to bend the rules at times.

In "Death Stalk in Spain," Sherman is asked to help the U.S. Navy in locating a missing rescue submarine and it's rogue captain, Lt. Kelly. Kelly has obtained information on the location of ten tons of gold that was sunk by a German U-boat during WWII. He needs the U.S. sub to retrieve the gold from the depths and has the ex-captain of the U-Boat that sunk it as his partner. Sherman starts piecing it together and then a beautiful Spanish woman is thrown in the mix, playing both sides of the fence. After a couple of close encounters with death, he stays on the trail and pursues the surviving conspirator in a suspenseful climactic chase at the end.

"I heard the gunshot as I hit the water and stayed under as long as I could. I came up and gulped down a lungful of air, and a rifle cracked at the same instant as the bullet snapped overhead. I went under again and changed direction. The rifle did worry me. It had the range."

Not a bad mystery story, with a good amount of exciting action that is the norm for these series books. Phil Sherman doesn't have special Hi-Tech weapons or other spy tools; in fact he doesn't even carry a gun. What he does is follow the leads and perform some nice detective work. As in all of these, there is plenty of heated activity at the end to wrap it up. Sherman isn't afraid of the ladies and can be a charmer, throwing a joke or two. The dames always seem to be involved with the caper, but he'll show compassion for them and lets them off in the end. What works well is that Sherman comes off like an average PI. Not a super spy, just a “dick on a case” whose turf just happens to be locations throughout the world.

Don Smith creates an entertaining novel. As these adventure novels go, the "Secret Mission" series is one of the better ones out there. Smith even gives us a geography lesson; in this one we get a full understanding of the coast of western Spain. I liked that and it definitely helps the story. Overall a very intriguing novel that kept me glued to the story all the way through. This is the only book of the series that I own, but it was good enough for me to hunt down another. As for Don Smith, I don't know much about him but I may have read a book of his in the past about the mafia. I vaguely remember it followed the success of Puzo’s "The Godfather"-but I could be wrong, it was a while ago.

Prognosis Negative by Floyd Mahannah

Prognosis Negative by Floyd Mahannah
Short Story in Manhunt March 1953

I always enjoy the PI stories that Manhunt published and this one is excellent. It's a story of a "two-bit dick" who finally shows some guts before he "punches out."

Jim Makin is a California PI, who was just informed that he has an inaccessible tumor in his brain and has about a year to live. He's in a middle of a case in which his client, a female illegal immigrant, has taken $60,000 from the racket boss-Ernie Fidako. The big guy wants the dough back, and knows Makin is hiding her. Makin is a bit scared of Ernie and his boys, but after his negative prognosis he musters up some courage and a "what the hell" attitude. He goes after Ernie. Eventually, Makin stubbles, and Ernie nabs him and the tamale. Ernie roughs both up, before Jim Makin makes his move and violently takes on the four of them.

"I'd crossed Ernie Fidako, and in this town that was poison. He left it lying there-the alternative-the slug in the back, the concrete coffin, the long sleep under the Bay."

I love these Manhunt short stories and this one is definitely hardboiled. Hell, Ernie Fidako even sets the girl's hair on fire to make her talk. A top-notch story, with an ending that is rough, violent and the bullets are flying. Jim Makin is an interesting PI character and too bad he only had a year left-would of loved to see him in a whole novel. The transition from a guy who yesterday would of been running scared, to the nothing-to-lose attitude Makin has now, is ingeniously handled by the author. A fine little noir short story.

As for Floyd Mahannah, a fine writer that wrote some excellent novels for Signet in the 50s. Bill Crider wrote a fine review for The Broken Body. (Signet 957)

As for this issue of Manhunt, check who else is inside:
Mickey Spillane (Part III of "Everybody's Watching Me")
Richard Prather (Scott Shell story)
Leslie Charteris (A Saint story)
Craig Rice (John J. Malone story)
Bruno Fischer
Frank Kane (Johnny Liddell story)
William Lindsay Gresham
Harold Masur (Scott Jordan story)
Evan Hunter (Matt Cordell story)
Robert Patrick Wilmot
Richard Marsten

The Erection Set by Mickey Spillane

The Erection Set by Mickey Spillane
Signet 5120, Copyright 1972

When I was in the U.S. Navy in the mid-70s, it seemed that wherever you went on the ship this paperback was laying around. Sailors being what they are, most of them were attracted to the paperback for the cover, the title, or both. Even though I read a few Mike Hammer and Tiger Mann novels prior, I was taken back at seeing Spillane’s name on “The Erection Set.” Well, somewhere probably in the Mediterranean Sea, I crawled in my rack and started it, and of course I’m glad I did. It’s was a true awakening.

Mickey Spillane brought this one up a big notch. He throws all into it and leaves little out. The main character, Dogeron Kelly, is possibly the toughest SOB in print. In fact he’s a bastard, but a "good guy" bastard. I have yet to find another character that comes close. It’s a violent story of a man with a secret past, out to make things right. Like the cab driver said looking at Kelly as they leave Kennedy Airport, “Shit, man, you’re loaded for bear.” Kelly has been away from New York City for a while, and returns to blow the town wide open. Bad guys beware! Strictly for the men of course. Was it controversial?-probably, I had no idea what the critics or Spillane fans thought of it at the time. And of course I didn’t care.

Almost like a magnet, I pick up this paperback every few years. Sometimes I read just a few choice pages and other times I’ll read it all. And I always thought it was just to bring back memories from a time when I was younger, careless, or remembering lonely days at sea. But of course I know that is not why, I read it because of one thing-the main character, Dogeron “Dog” Kelly. And thanks to the Mick, we have the original, ultimate, son-of-a-bitch, .45 packer, who do anything for the sake of justice….

“So I broke every finger on Bridey’s hands, too, then stitched him up the side of each cheek, so he’d never be invisible in a crowd again. I opened his belt, pulled his pants and shorts down, and waited the two minutes until he started to wake up, holding the point of the pick right over the two goodie sacs, and just as a groan wheezed through his lips and his eyes opened and rolled toward mine I drove the ice pick through those lumps of tissue into the rubber-tiled floor and the frenzied yell of horror he started never got past the sharp hiss of his sucked-in breath before he fainted.
The next person to go in that bathroom would do more than relieve his bladder or bowels.”

Of course later I had to read Mickey Spillane’s second “dirty little book” published a year later, “The Last Cop Out.” This I thought had the slightly better plot, with a similar type character in ex-cop Gillian “Gill” Burke. In this one Burke is asked to go up against a Mafia family alone. Violent and downright gross at times, but damn good. But Dog Kelly came first and left the impression that is forever etched upstairs.

Could these two novels be Mickey Spillane’s best pieces of work?
I believe so…

Never Say No To A Killer by Jonathan Gant

Never Say No To A Killer by Jonathan Gant
ACE D-157, Copyright 1956

Here I go again, singing the praises of Clifton Adams crime stories. In this gem published under the pseudo. Jonathan Gant, Adams gives us a story of a psychotic killer who sees opportunities and uses violence to reap the gains.

“ That was when I brought the rock up with all the strength I had in my two arms. It cracked the point of Gorgan’s chin and I heard his jawbone snap under the impact.”

The novel starts fast and violent, with con Roy Surratt escaping from a prison work detail. Dorris Venci, the widow of his ex-cell mate, aids in his escape and takes him to her hometown, Lake City. To pay her back, she wants Surratt to kill an ex-governor. Surratt knows what makes women tick and quickly discovers Dorris is a sexual masochist. He uses this for his gain. He agrees to kill the corrupt ex-governor and in return he wants the blackmail information her late husband collected on other influential people. After the killing, he falls for the ex-governors mistress Patricia Kelso. Money quickly starts to come in because of his blackmail schemes and Dorris starts to be in his way for future plans with Patricia Kelso. Surratt ends his relationship with Dorris. Dorris tragically devises a way to get even with Surratt. Her plan starts him on a rapid decline from his dreams and his freedom.

“Why, you simian sonofabitch, I thought, you make one move in my direction, just one single move, and you’ll be till sundown gathering your teeth off the sidewalk.”

Again, Clifton Adams excels in creating an excellent hardboiled noir novel. This is a story of a dangerous criminal who is both smart and evil, with a studied knowledge of philosophy. Surratt leaves a trail of corpses throughout the story, as he calculates his moves to achieve financial wealth. A triangle of deception is created between the three characters, Surratt and the two dames. Surratt uses his egotistical knowledge of philosophy to manipulate one and in the attempted manipulation of the other. Later at the end, he realizes that he outsmart himself. All this turns out tragic for everyone involved, as we realize there are no respectable people in this story. They are all dark and narcissistic, caring only about money and revenge. Excellent last paragraph as Surratt talks to the reader giving his personal thoughts on his empty feelings.

In the 50s ACE had many hit-and-miss paperbacks, some were downright poor, this is not one of them. You'll fly through the 148 pages. And a big bonus with this flip double novel edition- it's a secret agent Paul Knox novel call "Stab in the Dark" by Louis Trimble.