Continuing to celebrate May as author appreciation
month, I'm putting a quick spotlight on a variety of authors who I appreciate
whose novels are worth your hard earned book dollars. I’m focusing on both current
writers who are flying under your radar, as well as some ghosts from the past
who deserve a revival...
Under the pseudonym James Hopwood, Australian
David Foster has put the fun back in espionage. His three novels (The Librio Defection, The Danakil Deception, and The Ambrosia Kill) featuring neophyte
British agent Jarvis Love of the Global Intelligence Network, have given new
life to the espionage genre. Tearing spy fiction out from under dreary, shadowy
chess game world of John le Carré, and returns it to the cool vibe of the
swinging sixties. The not quite suave and sophisticated Jarvis Love infiltrates
villains’ lairs, takes on evil megalomaniacs, thwarts plans for world
domination, is pursued by beautiful women, and keeps himself ready for
hair-breadth escapes. While retro in flavor, the Jarvis Love books also
maintain a modern sensibility which breaks new ground for this style of spy
thriller.
And don’t miss Foster’s three hard-hitting pulp
tales of boxing and mayhem written under his Jack Tunney pseudonym—King Of The Outback, Rumble In The Jungle, and The Iron Fists Of Ned Kelley...
For more on
David Foster CLICK
HERE
Following on the heels of Robert Parker’s Spenser
novels—which brought the ailing private eye genre out from under Chandler’s
shadow to explode across the literary landscape again—A. E. Maxwell’s Just Another Day in Paradise rose like a
leviathan through the many also rans trying to cash in on the ‘80s hardboiled
revival. A. E. Maxwell is a shared pseudonym for Evan and Ann Maxwell—Ann being
a bestselling romance writer under her own pseudonym, Elizabeth Lowell.
While reminiscent of the tough early Spenser
novels (not a bad thing), the Maxwell’s eight novels featuring Fiddler and his
paramour Fiora still reign as one of the most smoothly written and engaging
series to come out of the private eye surge. The plots are high concept while
remaining believable; Fiddler and Fiora are complex, relatable characters; and
there is enough moral ambiguity to keep things on a rollercoaster—Just Enough Light To Kill is my favorite
in the series…
For more on
A. E. Maxwell CLICK
HERE
Part Shaft and part Batman sans the costume, Gary
Phillips’ Essex Man is one of the many
characters who elevate Phillips to the forefront of the New Pulp movement. In
the spirit of full disclosure, Gary is a good friend whose opinions and real
world savvy I admire. He is an activist at heart, has a voice James Earl Jones would
envy, and looks scary as hell until he smiles and you see the fun and goodness
behind the façade. I highlight him here
not because he is a friend, but because his writing demands a wider audience.
Part noir, part blaxploitation, part pulp, all
wrapped tight in Chester Himes style cool, there are deeper layers to
everything Phillips writes. His hardboiled private eye series featuring Ivan
Monk (including Bad Night Is Falling
and Perdition U.S.A.) is the place to
start before moving on to his tales featuring Martha Chainey—a shadowy
ex-showgirl bedeviling the Vegas mob (Shooter’s
Point)—and his tough guys McBleak, Noc
Brenner, and Luke Warfield in Three The
Hard Way…
For more on
Gary Phillips CLICK HERE
Another hardboiled series to hit the bookshelves
in the wake of the success of Robert Parker’s Spenser novels was Washington
D.C. private eye Leo Haggerty. Psychologist turned author Benjamin Schutz threw
together all the Parker/Spenser ingredients, yet through strong writing also managed
to give his series its own edge.
Leo Haggerty—a jockish/renaissance-type hero
obsessed with moral dilemmas—is slightly harder and more cynical than Spencer.
Arnie Kendall has the Hawk role as the unstoppable, slightly psychotic, but
loyal sidekick. And Samantha Clayton has the insufferable Susan Silverman part
as the smart/sexy girlfriend who helps the hero understand himself. Schutz
described the relationship between Leo and Arnie as imagining Lew Archer with
Mike Hammer for a partner.
The first novel in the series, Embrace the Wolf, has a chilling opening
scene with a father receiving a phone call with the recorded voices of his twin
daughters. Kidnapped five years earlier at five years old, all efforts to find
any trace of them ended in failure. After the brief tape is played of his
daughters’ imploring voices, a male voice comes on the phone saying, “I still
have them,” and hangs up. When the father goes off on a rampage to find his
daughter, the mother—who has long given up her daughters for dead—hires
Haggerty to stop her husband before she loses him as well.
While the six novel in this series owe a debt to
Parker/Spenser they are powerful and well written in their own right and
eventually come to stand on their own.
For more on
Benjamin Schutz CLICK
HERE
Author John Whitlatch is an absolute enigma.
Between 1969 and 1976, Whitlatch ground out eleven novels published by Pocket
Books, each filled with pulp-style action. While The Judas Goat was a WWII Dirty Dozen-style action thriller, and The Iron Shirt was a traditional
western, his other novels all fell into the crime and adventure genre—most
often with a lone man up against everything including motorcycle gangs,
political conspiracies, and corrupt third world regimes.
Whitlatch’s titles were catchy (Cory’s Losers, Frank T’s Plan, Stunt Man’s
Holiday, etc.), but the lurid paperback original covers made each title
immediately collectible. Blazing primary colors set off action illustrations
torn from the Men’s Adventure magazines of the day. While Whitlatch was a more
than competent, if straightforward, writer, it is the covers which make these
paperback originals highly collectable.
My introduction to Whitlatch came through his
second published title, Morgan’s Rebellion.
This was a great adventure tale with our California hero being falsely
imprisoned in Central America. With only his archery skills to help him, he
must escape and overthrow the corrupt regime before chasing his wife and his business
partner down the revenge trail—Oh, yeah!
To check
out the stunning Whitlatch paperback covers CLICK HERE
For more on
John Whitlatch CLICK
HERE
As I stated in last week’s column, writing can be
a lonely trade...During the Author Appreciation Month of May make an effort to
show admiration for your favorite authors by leaving a review on Amazon or
Goodreads. Let them know their efforts are reaching and entertaining readers...
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