“In two tumultuous stories set in 1950s Florida, a jobless accountant burdened by debt becomes entangled with a seductive femme fatale in a plan to steal her family’s fortune… and a former cop finds himself the prime suspect in a murder he witnessed and must track down the real killer to prove his innocence.
The Squeeze/ —And the Girl Screamed are notable works by the late American author Gil Brewer, a master of gripping crime thrillers. With 50 novels and over 100 short stories to his name, Brewer gained significant acclaim as one of the most popular noir writers of the 1950s.
Initially published in 1955 as an Ace Double paperback original, The Squeeze is one of Brewer’s early works, released four years after his successful bestselling novel, 13 French Street, which sold over 1.3 million copies. In his introduction to this collection, David Rachels notes that Fawcett, Popular Library, and Avon all rejected the manuscript before it was accepted by Ace Books.
Compellingly narrated, —And the Girl Screamed is a nail-biting, tightly woven suspense novel filled with vividly drawn characters and exhilarating drama. Paired with The Squeeze, these novels deliver a thrilling reading experience which keeps you scrambling through the pages to enjoy the final showdown.”
My review of these nail-biting 1950s suspense novels by noir master Gil Brewer, reissued by Stark House Press, was published today in the Lancashire Post and syndicated to these UK newspapers: Blackpool Gazette, Burnley Express, Lancaster Guardian, Sheffield Star, Wigan Today (Wigan Post; Wigan Observer), and Yorkshire Evening Post. Archived online access to these reviews as they originally appeared on August 5, 2025, featuring my byline, can be found at these weblinks:
Blackpool Gazette, Burnley Express, Lancashire Post, Lancaster Guardian, Sheffield Star, Wigan Today, Yorkshire Evening Post.