My essay, “The Further Adventures of Fearless Agent Hart Muldoon,” introduces the volume Murder in Monaco / Death’s Lovely Mask, published recently by Stark House Press. These 1950s spy thrillers mark the final time Muldoon saw the Mediterranean. His final adventure, set in the Sixties, sent him beyond Europe and into the midst of battle on one final mission. But I’ll stop there, as that’s for another day.
Yet More Espionage from John Flagg Read More »
This month, Bookgasm gave a very encouraging review of the recent Stark House Press publication WOMAN OF CAIRO, and DEAR, DEADLY BELOVED— two Fawcett Gold Medal originals that are back in print for the first time in decades. “John Flagg, the pen name for John Rex Gearon, introduces us to his series character, Hart Muldoon, in the two novels from the 1950s reprinted here by Stark House Press,” writes book critic Alan Cranis of Bookgasm. “An introduction by editor and author Nicholas Litchfield traces Flagg’s career, the development of the Muldoon character, and how Flagg’s various occupations provided material for his novels and short stories. Both novels are noticeably more hardboiled than other spy novels of the era, but remain as alluring and entertaining as they were when first published.”
WOMAN OF CAIRO and DEAR, DEADLY BELOVED Bookgasm Review Read More »
Back in November 2016, I read an excellent pair of novels by John Flagg, pseudonym of American crime writer John Gearon (1911-1993). Death and the Naked Lady (a thrilling tale of stolen jewels, murder, and espionage aboard a luxury ocean liner) and The Lady and the Cheetah (a deadly case of blackmail and sabotage among European nobility at an Italian palace) featured an interesting introduction by bestselling author James Reasoner. The volume also contained a very good short story concerning murder in high society (“Faces Turned Against Him”). You can read my verdict on the collection in the Lancashire Post or one of its 25 syndicated UK newspapers. You’ll find at this weblink archived online access to my review as it originally appeared in the Lancashire Post, featuring the Nicholas Litchfield byline: https://web.archive.org/web/20170105140113/https://www.lep.co.uk/lifestyle/books/book-review-death-and-the-naked-lady-and-the-lady-and-the-cheetah-by-john-flagg-1-8316256/.
John Flagg’s Colorful Tales of Freelance Agent Hart Muldoon Read More »
