Stark House Press

Litchfield Reviews Flight to Darkness and 77 Rue Paradis by Gil Brewer

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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 […]

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Cover image of The Men from the Boys by Ed Lacy

Litchfield Reviews Ed Lacy’s ‘The Men from the Boys’

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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.

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Cover of The Body Looks Familiar and The Late Mrs. Five by Richard Wormser

Litchfield’s Lancashire Post Review of Richard Wormser’s ‘The Body Looks Familiar’ / ‘The Late Mrs. Five’

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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.

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Book review: Never Say No to a Killer by Clifton Adams

Litchfield Reviews Never Say No to a Killer by Clifton Adams for the Lancashire Post

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Lancashire Post book review by Nicholas Litchfield: Never Say No to a Killer is a fast, lean, effective tale by a writer who was very proficient at penning marketable men’s adventure fiction. Although not as complex and stimulating as some of his Westerns, Adams’ tough crime novel has sufficient action and plot twists to make for a swift, entertaining read.

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Book Review of ‘The Desperado’ and ‘A Noose for the Desperado’ by Clifton Adams for the Lancashire Post

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In two masterfully written, fast-paced Westerns reprinted from the 1950s, a hot-headed teenager on the run from the law becomes a bandit… and the fastest gunman ever to come out of Texas. The Desperado and the follow-up, A Noose for the Desperado, penned the following year, are two thrilling tales by Clifton Adams, a two-time

Book Review of ‘The Desperado’ and ‘A Noose for the Desperado’ by Clifton Adams for the Lancashire Post Read More »

Litchfield Reviews The Last Notch by Arnold Hano for the Lancashire Post

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Reprinted for the first time under his own name, American author Arnold Hano’s innovative, provocative Wild West tale of greed, self-loathing and redemption sees a legendary outlaw attempting the perilous, complicated path toward amnesty. Hano, now aged 95, is a distinguished sportswriter who has authored nine sports books and contributed many sports-related articles to periodicals

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Virgin Cay and A Night Out by Basil Heatter

Litchfield Reviews Virgin Cay and A Night Out by Basil Heatter for the Lancashire Post

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Lancashire Post book review by Nicholas Litchfield: In two suspenseful novels set in and around the Gulf of Mexico, the late American author Basil Heatter tells the stories of a shipwrecked boatman who is persuaded to commit murder for the price of a new ship, and a shrimp boat captain who unwittingly gets embroiled in a drug smuggling operation. A blend of crime fiction, nautical fiction and suspense, Virgin Cay and A Night Out are two exceptional novels by sea-loving Heatter, son of renowned newscaster Gabriel Heatter.

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Smith by Timothy J. Lockhart

Litchfield Reviews Smith by Timothy J. Lockhart for the Lancashire Post

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Lancashire Post book review by Nicholas Litchfield: Blackmailed into working for a secret government organisation, a hard-bitten former servicewoman overcomes a perilous training programme to become a highly skilled and extremely resourceful assassin in a taut, action-packed thriller.In his explosive debut novel, Smith, former US Navy officer Timothy J. Lockhart draws on his years of experience working with various government intelligence agencies to craft a gripping tale of international intrigue.

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The Affair of Lady Westcotts Lost Ruby and The Case of the Unseen Assassin by Gary Lovisi

Litchfield Reviews The Affair of Lady Westcott’s Lost Ruby and The Case of the Unseen Assassin by Gary Lovisi for the Lancashire Post

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Lancashire Post book review by Nicholas Litchfield: In a pair of intriguing novellas set in London in the 1890s, the deductive skills of Sherlock Holmes and his protégé, Inspector Alec MacDonald of Scotland Yard, are severely tested by a string of random killings of ‘gentlemen of consequence,’ and a plot to bring down the monarchy and plunge the British Empire into chaos.

Litchfield Reviews The Affair of Lady Westcott’s Lost Ruby and The Case of the Unseen Assassin by Gary Lovisi for the Lancashire Post Read More »

Angels Flight by Lou Cameron

Litchfield Reviews Angel’s Flight by Lou Cameron for the Lancashire Post

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Lancashire Post book review by Nicholas Litchfield: Reprinted for the first time in 57 years comes a hard-hitting crime noir tour de force charting a gutsy musician’s bruising journey through the cut-throat American music business during the Dirty Thirties to the Fabulous Fifties.

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