Marvin H. Albert had great pseudonyms. Can you think of a better one than "Nick Quarry" for a writer of hardboiled p.i. novels in the Spillane vein? Okay, maybe you can, but "Nick Quarry" sure is a good one. (Later on, Albert used this for a couple of "In the Tradition of the Godfather" novels for Gold Medal, too.)
The p.i. in this case is Jake Barrow, and a killer is after the daughter of his old war buddy. The killer has just shot Jake's girlfriend in the stomach. He's also shot Jake's buddy, and he's going to kill more before he's done. Jake isn't happy, and he doles out a lot of punishment. He takes a lot, too.
One thing you can count on in nearly every Albert novel, no matter the pseudonym, is an extended chase scene, always well done, always detailed. In this one novel, Barrow is chased into the drain tunnels under New York City. After he gets in, no one's pursuing him, but he still has to find a way out. It takes him fourteen pages to do it. There's another chase at the end of the book, but this one takes place in quite a different setting: Santa Fe. Albert must have enjoyed doing these scenes, and they're always entertaining.
There's a lot of violence in this book. It's the kind of book that blurb writers used to describe by saying, "Out-Spillanes Spillane!" I'm sure you get the idea. There's never a dull moment, and one of the interesting things about it is the basis of the plot. It's very up to date and might have come from last week's headlines. Check it out.
Update: I thought I'd bring Lee Goldberg's comment up here in case some of you don't read the comments. Here it is: Brash Books is bringing back all of the Albert crime novels and thrillers ... Except for Tony Rome. The rights to the Tony Rome novels are held by 20th Century Fox, which is developing a new TV series version. You can find out more about Brash at www.brash-books.com and we've got a Facebook page up with some of our new book covers.
Update: The covers are also on Pinterest. Click here to see them.
Notice how I cleverly insinuated myself into the background while famous guys like Mickey Spillane and Max Allan Collins signed books.
Friends,
Bit by bit, we're getting closer to the re-launch of Hard Case Crime with our new publisher, Titan Books. Our backlist titles are already available for pre-order from bookstores and online booksellers such as Amazon.com and BN.com; copies will start shipping in February. And we've got new books on the way, too -- if you go to our Web site, www.HardCaseCrime.com, you'll find cover art and sample chapters for four upcoming titles, all of them brand new:
* GETTING OFF: A Novel of Sex and Violence by Lawrence Block (writing as Jill Emerson) -- The story of a beautiful young woman who sets off on a mission to kill every man she's ever slept with (and she's slept with quite a few). For this book, Lawrence Block is reviving a pseudonym he hasn't used in almost 40 years, under which he wrote seven particularly sexy books back in the day. When he saw how sexy this new one was coming out, he thought...that's the Jill Emerson in me coming out again...
* THE CONSUMMATA by Mickey Spillane and Max Allan Collins -- In the late 1960s, Mickey Spillane announced he was writing a new novel featuring the star of his bestseller THE DELTA FACTOR, but after writing half the book, he set he manuscript aside. Twenty years later, he handed the unfinished manuscript to his friend Max Allan Collins, suggesting that Max might finish it someday. And twenty-some years after that...it's finally done. It's the story of one thief going after another against the backdrop of Miami's Cuban-American community, and it's classic Spillane. Anyone who misses the Good Old Stuff will find plenty to love here.
* QUARRY'S EX by Max Allan Collins -- This is one I know you've been waiting for a long time, the next story in the saga of the hit man known as Quarry (star of THE LAST QUARRY, THE FIRST QUARRY, and QUARRY IN THE MIDDLE). This time, Quarry sets out to protect a movie director who's been marked for murder...only to discover that the director is married to Quarry's ex-wife, the woman whose infidelity pushed him into a life of crime in the first place.
* CHOKE HOLD by Christa Faust -- Another long-awaited title, this is the follow-up to Christa's Edgar Award-nominated MONEY SHOT. Ex-porn star Angel Dare is back; when a old co-star is gunned down in front of her, it's up to her to get his 18-year-old son, a hotheaded MMA fighter, to Las Vegas in one piece while two separate groups of killers are gunning for them.
Lots to look forward to! Do check out the covers -- and if you're hungry for some great reading now, you can prepare for the new books coming out (which doesn't happen till September/October) by ordering any of the old ones you've missed. If you haven't met Quarry or Angel Dare yet, you're in for a treat -- grab yourself a copy of MONEY SHOT or the earlier Quarry books. For Spillane fans, there's DEAD STREET, Mickey's last novel. And we have five other books by Lawrence Block you can enjoy while waiting for GETTING OFF to come out: GRIFTER'S GAME, THE GIRL WITH THE LONG GREEN HEART, LUCKY AT CARDS, A DIET OF TREACLE, and KILLING CASTRO.
Other news...
Things are moving forward on the film adaptation of LITTLE GIRL LOST -- I spent an afternoon with the screenwriter who's penning the adaptation, showing him around some of the real-world locations where scenes from the book take place. (And scenes from its sequel, SONGS OF INNOCENCE. We checked out the tunnels under Columbia University, and the all-night tempura joint on Broadway, and FAO Schwarz...) No guarantee the movie will go before the cameras, but...every step we take makes it that much more likely.
And HAVEN, the TV series based (loosely) on our 13th book, Stephen King's THE COLORADO KID, is gearing up for its second season on SyFy. The writers are working in a white-hot storytelling heat, with filming scheduled to begin in a few months. I'm biased, but I think the show really hit its stride in the second half of the season last year, and there are some great stories coming up. We don't have a premiere date yet for the second season, but I'll let you know as soon as we do.
One final bit of news (if you'll forgive a bit of boasting by a proud father): the Ardai/Novik clan saw an addition in December, a baby girl named Evidence ("Evi" for short).
We'll add a photo of her to the Web site just as soon as she's old enough to wear a fedora.
Best,
Charles
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Charles Ardai
Editor, Hard Case Crime
I have to admit that I didn't know until Beth Foxwell pointed it out that Mickey Spillane and William Campbell Gault shared this day as their birthday. Two great guys, two writers I've enjoyed for many years. Both gone now, and that's too bad.
