“[Bill S.] Ballinger, who died in 1980 at the age of 68, wrote scripts for eight feature films, more than 150 teleplays, 30 books, and in 1961, he won an Edgar Award for one of his teleplays for Alfred Hitchcock Presents. His novels, several of which were made into films, have sold more than ten […]
Lancashire Post Reviews Bill S. Ballinger’s Portrait in Smoke and The Longest Second Read More »
Lancashire Post book review by Nicholas Litchfield: Wise-cracking, lecherous homicide detective Lieutenant Al Wheeler investigates the disappearances of pretty ‘˜dames,’ a complex hit-and-run case, and murders at a science fiction convention in three entertaining entries in the phenomenally successful Carter Brown mystery series. Written in the 1950s and long since out-of-print, No Harp for My Angel, Booty for a Babe, and Eve, It’s Extortion are a trio of swift-paced, tongue-in-cheek stories by the incredibly prolific Alan Geoffrey Yates, writing under the house name Carter Brown.
Nicholas Litchfield Reviews Matthew P. Mayo’s Timberline for the Lancashire Post: A train journey through northern Oregon turns deadly when thieves blow a safe and set fire to the train, leaving passengers fighting for survival in blizzard conditions. Exciting new western Timberline, the third instalment of Matthew P. Mayo’s action-packed Roamer series, finds his hapless, nomadic protagonist in high danger once more, this time while travelling by railroad to meet his long-time friend and mentor, ‘crusty old mountain man’ Maple Jack.
Litchfield Reviews Matthew P. Mayo’s Timberline for the Lancashire Post Read More »
“Thought-provoking, entertaining, and eloquent, like so many of his stories in Petites Suites, you can’t help but marvel at Wexelblatt’s ability to move and enchant in just a few concise pages. This inspired and truly original story collection is an exquisite joy, offering the equivalent beauty and charm a fine symphony might accomplish.” Published today in
Litchfield Reviews Petites Suites by Robert Wexelblatt for the Colorado Review Read More »
Floyd Mahannah was a talented but overlooked 1950s writer of hardboiled tales. Although his novels received strong critical reviews and he managed to place his shorter work in numerous popular magazines, Mahannah didn’t achieve the success he was striving for and his writing career fizzled out early. This week, Stark House Press publishes a collection
Invigorating Passages: A Lowestoft Chronicle Anthology “Invigorating Passages is a rare and dynamic literary collection which grabs readers firmly and sweeps them away to strange and exhilarating places, presenting intriguing situations, colourful characters, and making us yearn to strap on the backpack and go exploring.” —Pam Norfolk, Lancashire Post The latest volume in the Lowestoft
Lancashire Post Review of Invigorating Passages: A Lowestoft Chronicle Anthology Read More »
Two more welcome suspense novels from Gil Brewer: “In two turbulent, mesmerizing tales from the 1950s, a Korean War veteran gets involved with a troublesome beauty and finds himself caught up in immense family strife and murder, and a disgraced former aircraft manufacturer is blackmailed into treason. Flight to Darkness and 77 Rue Paradis are two
Litchfield Reviews Flight to Darkness and 77 Rue Paradis by Gil Brewer Read More »
Nicholas Litchfield Reviews Ed Lacy’s ‘The Men from the Boys’ for the Lancashire Post: In a hardboiled 1950s tale of robbery, murder, and retribution, a retired cop turned hotel detective uses his sleuthing skills to track down the gangster responsible for assaulting his stepson. The Men from the Boys, first published by Harper in 1956, is a tough and fast-paced crime novel by Ed Lacy, the pseudonym of Edgar Award-winning American novelist Len Zinberg who died in 1968.
Litchfield Reviews Ed Lacy’s ‘The Men from the Boys’ Read More »
Nicholas Litchfield’s Lancashire Post Review of Richard Wormser’s ‘The Body Looks Familiar’ and ‘The Late Mrs. Five’: In two thrilling, out-of-the-ordinary crime stories, an assistant district attorney attempts to frame the city’s police chief for the murder of his mistress, and a travelling company vice president finds himself accused of the murder of his ex-wife. The Body Looks Familiar and The Late Mrs. Five are both impressive novels by the late Richard Wormser, a prolific American writer of some 300 short stories, 200 novelettes, and numerous crime and detective novels, movie and TV novelisations, screenplays and Westerns.
Colorado Review book review by Nicholas Litchfield: Absurd, thrilling, and wickedly funny, Jean-Marie Blas de Roblès’s rollicking Island of Point Nemo is a wildly inventive novel that crosses continents and oceans and literary styles and genres, attempting to find a narrow path between two entertaining though disparate storylines.
Litchfield Reviews Island of Point Nemo by Jean-Marie Blas de Roblès for Colorado Review Read More »
