Review: Kruger's Korps - H.W. Crocker III

I’m just the right age to have been a big fan of the TV series THE RAT PATROL when I was a kid, and I read all the paperback tie-in novels based on the show, too. Plus, the first issue of SGT. FURY AND HIS HOWLING COMMANDOS I bought brand-new off the spinner rack was #6, featuring the classic story “The Fangs of the Desert Fox”. Since those days, I’ve read a lot about the North African Campaign in World War II and have even written about it some in my series THE LAST GOOD WAR.

However, I’ve never read anything about it quite like H.W. Crocker III’s new novel KRUGER’S KORPS.

This yarn has a great set-up: Rolf Kruger, a young lieutenant in the U.S. Navy, looks enough like a German aristocrat and officer that he’s recruited into Wild Bill Donovan’s newly formed Office of Strategic Services and sent to North Africa to take the place of that German officer and infiltrate a special unit in the Afrika Korps. OSS spies have gotten wind of some top-secret German operation about to be launched, and they want to know what it is.

This plot strikes me as just the sort of thing you might find in a novel by Jack Higgins, Alistair Maclean, or W.E.B. Griffin, and for the first third or so, that’s what KRUGER’S KORPS reminds me of. But then Crocker veers off in another direction entirely, and wherever you might guess this novel is going . . . that ain’t it.

I can’t go into too much detail without ruining the surprises, but I will say that there are plenty of the things I love about World War II espionage novels: a stalwart but not infallible hero, some dastardly villains, murders, double-crosses, double identities, and of course, a beautiful woman who may or may not be trustworthy. Those elements are put in service of a plot reminiscent of those authors I mentioned above, but with a considerable amount of Sax Rohmer and Robert Kanigher thrown in.

This might be the first book of a series, or it might not be, but either way, KRUGER’S KORPS is a heck of a lot of fun, with plenty of action and a surprising amount of wry humor. Crocker is known primarily for his non-fiction books about war, leadership, and religion, but he’s written several novels as well, including a series of alternate history adventures starring George Armstrong Custer. I think I’m going to have to check those out. KRUGER’S KORPS is available on Amazon in hardcover and e-book editions.

Review: A Rage of Desire - Clayton Matthews

We’ve all encountered guys like Mitch Sutton in noir novels before, but there are some important differences in Mitch’s character, too. He doesn’t have a great job—he’s a used car salesman in Los Angeles—but he’s good at it and enjoys the work. He’s not exactly trapped in a loveless marriage—he genuinely cares for his wife and their twins—but there’s definitely a spark that’s missing, too. One day, when Mitch drops into a neighborhood bar for his usual beer on the way home from work, that lack prompts him to take a drink of hard liquor instead—and Mitch can’t handle the hard stuff. He knows that, but he gets drunk anyway and picks up a woman at the bar who turns out to be a high-class prostitute. Things don’t work out between them, though, because Mitch is too drunk.

He would have been luckier if things had stayed that way.

But no, the woman winds up marrying Mitch’s boss, but Mitch falls hard for her anyway, leading to a torrid affair that, sure enough, winds up with somebody dead and a murder charge hanging over Mitch’s head.

A RAGE OF DESIRE is the latest reprint from Black Gat Books. Originally published as a paperback original by Monarch Books in 1960, with a cover by Harry Barton, it’s the first novel by Clayton Matthews, who went on to a career as a prolific paperbacker over the next three decades. I’ve read a couple of other novels by Matthews, and this one is very similar, utilizing the sort of crime and noir elements we’ve seen in scores of novels but changing things up enough that the books also work as domestic dramas. Matthews was a very good writer and had that paperbacker’s knack of keeping the reader turning the pages.

Over the years, Matthews wrote Westerns, family sagas, romantic suspense, and traditional mysteries. In the early Seventies, he married author Patty Brisco, and together they produced a bunch of bestselling historical romance novels under the name Patricia Matthews. This is hearsay, or gossip, if you will, but I was told by a mutual writer friend that Clayton Matthews did nearly all the writing on those romance novels published under his wife’s name, in addition to the ones that were credited collaborations. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but the person who told me that was in a position to know.

And speaking of mutual friends, Clayton Matthews was also the cousin of my long-time friend Tom Johnson, who was one of the leading figures in pulp fandom for many years. He always referred to Matthews as “Matt” and told me that some of Matthews’ family sagas set in Texas were based on actual people and incidents. Again, I don’t know if that’s true, but it’s certainly plausible enough.

A RAGE OF DESIRE may have been Matthews’ first novel, but it’s a polished debut, no doubt about that. It’s not as hardboiled as some, but it has a gritty edge and I thoroughly enjoyed it. This novel is available on Amazon in paperback and e-book editions, and I think it’s well worth reading.

Sunday Morning Bonus Pulp: Short Stories, May 25, 1942

I don’t have this issue of SHORT STORIES, and I’m not particularly fond of that Pete Kuhlhoff cover, but Wildside Press just reprinted the lead novella, “Master of Dragons” by E. Hoffmann Price in paperback and e-book editions, and since I just read it, I want to write about it.

Price is a long-time favorite of mine. Some of his stories are better than others, of course, but it seems like he always brought a solid effort to everything he wrote, no matter what the genre or market. Many years ago I got my hands on a copy of FAR LANDS, OTHER DAYS, a massive collection of his adventure stories from various pulps, and I absolutely loved it. I own a copy of that volume now, and I ought to reread it one of these days.

In the meantime, “Master of Dragons” is a World War II espionage yarn. Naval intelligence agent Gil Jordan undergoes plastic surgery to make him look like a shady Australian who may be working as a spy for the Japanese in the Dutch East Indies in the days shortly before Pearl Harbor. When the man is murdered, Jordan takes his place and finds himself up to his neck in a dangerous investigation involving a Japanese society of assassins, a beautiful and mysterious blonde who can’t be trusted, hidden airfields, and a date with a firing squad. Price keeps things moving along briskly, and although there are definitely some pulpish elements, this reads a little more like a serious espionage story of the type that would become more prevalent in the Fifties and Sixties.

I have a strong hunch that it was written a short time before Pearl Harbor, when people suspected the Japanese were about to do something but weren’t sure what, and then the ending was revised before the story was published in May 1942. But like I said, that’s just a hunch. Either way, it’s a good story and I enjoyed it.

Elsewhere in this issue, there’s a really strong line-up of authors, including H. Bedford-Jones, Day Keene, William MacLeod Raine, Caddo Cameron, Robert R. Mill, S. Omar Barker, H.S.M. Kemp, and Phil Richards. SHORT STORIES was a consistently top-notch adventure pulp and this appears to be an above-average issue.

Saturday Morning Western Pulp: Max Brand's Western Magazine, October 1950

MAX BRAND'S WESTERN MAGAZINE was a reprint pulp, but it had new covers including this dandy one by Norman Saunders. Once again, trouble has reared its ugly head at an Old West poker game! MAX BRAND'S WESTERN MAGAZINE usually included a story by Max Brand, naturally, but not this time around. The stories are reprints from various 1920s and '30s issues of ARGOSY and ARGOSY ALL-STORY WEEKLY. The best-known authors are Bennett Foster and Kenneth Perkins. Also on hard are Christopher B. Booth and Carroll Lichty, neither of whom is familiar to me. Even though the stories are reprints, chances are few if any of the readers of this pulp had read them in their original appearances, so they probably got their quarter's worth.

Review: Boss of the Chisholm Trail - Guy L. Maynard

Guy L. Maynard wrote thirteen stories starring red-headed, gunslinging trail boss Flame Burns for the pulp WILD WEST WEEKLY in 1936, ’37, and ’38. But Flame also starred in BOSS OF THE CHISHOLM TRAIL, a Big Little Book published in 1939. Most of you are probably familiar with Big Little Books, those small, thick, chunky juvenile novels that featured text on the left-hand pages and illustrations on the right-hand pages. That wasn’t always the case—there are a couple of places in this book where text appears on both pages—but for the most part the books are about half as long as they appear to be, and the print is pretty big, so BOSS OF THE CHISHOLM TRAIL is more of a novella than a novel.

The question is, did Maynard adapt it from any of his Flame Burns stories in WILD WEST WEEKLY? That certainly seems possible. Most of the Flame Burns pulp stories also feature Billy the Kid as a character, and in BOSS OF THE CHISHOLM TRAIL, Flame meets Billy for the first time, suggesting that this Big Little Book may have been taken from “Trail Pardners”, Flame’s debut novelette in the February 29, 1936 issue of WILD WEST WEEKLY. Not having a copy of that issue, I can’t check for sure.

But what about BOSS OF THE CHISHOLM TRAIL, you ask? Is it any good? Well, I enjoyed it quite a bit, for whatever that’s worth. As the book opens, Flame has just arrived in Santa Fe with a trail herd he had to take over and bring in when the regular trail boss was killed. This is the first time Flame has acted as trail boss, but it won’t be the last. He soon meets the famous rancher known as “Old Man” Chisholm, whose bodyguard and closest ally is Billy the Kid. Chisholm hires Flame to ramrod a trail drive from the Texas Panhandle to Abilene.

This is as good a place as any to mention that Maynard totally mixes up Jesse Chisholm, who laid out the route that came to be known as the Chisholm Trail, and John Chisum, the New Mexico rancher who was both friend and enemy to Billy the Kid at different times. However, is strict historical accuracy all that important in a book like this? Probably not.

Flame sets out to deliver Chisholm’s cattle to Abilene, but trouble lurks along the way in the person of the evil Whiskey Dick Slavens and his gang of rustlers. Flame has a personal run-in with Slavens even before leaving Santa Fe, so the varmint has a grudge against our hero to start with. Stampedes and gunfights ensue as Flame tries to meet the challenges of his first real job as a trail boss.

Despite being aimed at a juvenile audience, BOSS OF THE CHISHOLM TRAIL is no namby-pamby, “nobody dies” kid’s book. On the contrary, guns blaze a lot, and hombres both good and bad get ventilated on a regular basis. The violence may have been toned down a little, but this is a pretty hardboiled yarn. Obviously, kids in the Thirties were expected to be tough enough to take it. The story races along and comes to a satisfying conclusion.

My copy is missing the spine and is in fairly rough shape, but the text is all there and easy to read. The cover is truly ugly. The interior illustrations are by Ralph Hitchcock, and while most of them are pretty crude, some are not bad and do a good job of capturing the action. I’m not a collector or a regular reader of Big Little Books, although I read a lot of them as a kid when they were easier to find. But when one comes my way, I’m not going to hesitate to pick it up if it looks interesting.

I had read one of the later Flame Burns stories in WILD WEST WEEKLY and thought it was okay but nothing more than that. I think I actually enjoyed this version more. It’s an oddity, sure, but an entertaining one.

Movies I've Missed Until Now: The Duke (2020)

The last time I did a movie post, a couple of weeks ago, I wrote about a film called THE DUCHESS. So what movie am I writing about today? THE DUKE, of course. Purely a coincidence, and other than both films being British, they couldn’t be more different.

THE DUKE is set in 1961 and is about an older Englishman who’s a failed playwright and has a hard time holding down a job. His long-suffering wife works as a maid to keep the family together. One son works building boats, and the other is a criminal. All the old guy wants to do is watch TV, but the British government requires people to buy a license to own a television, and as a matter of principle, our protagonist won’t pay it. (Wait, you have to buy a license to watch TV? That’s the craziest thing I’ve ever heard!)

Anyway, the British government is really proud of a portrait of the Duke of Wellington painted by Goya that they’ve just bought to keep it out of the hands of an uncouth American, so our rabble-rousing protagonist steals it from the museum where it’s being displayed and holds it for ransom to raise money to buy TV licenses for elderly people and war veterans. A heartwarming mix of comedy and drama ensues, and as a bonus, not everything turns out to be as it appears at first.

Despite my rather snarky tone above, THE DUKE is a wonderful movie that took me completely by surprise. It’s based on a true story, and it has great characters, nice plot twists, and top-notch acting all around led by Jim Broadbent and Helen Mirren as the husband and wife. I really enjoyed this movie. Nothing flashy, no pyrotechnics or special effects, just a solid story well told. Highly recommended.

Now Available: Johnny Colt #2: No Tears in Hell

The second exciting adventure in a brand new Western series from James Reasoner!

The path to justice winds through the Gateway to Hell. Fourteen soldiers are dead, the shipment of rifles they were guarding is gone, and those responsible are hiding behind whiskey, cards, and dirty money. Johnny Colt arrives in Harker City, where nobody asks too many questions—unless they're prepared to pay for the answer. He is supposed to track down the killers and uncover the truth, but first, he needs to make them believe he is one of them.

Every man he meets seems meaner than the last, and a knife might be hiding behind every pretty smile in town. No Tears in Hell is a gritty Western about stolen guns, border bloodshed, and a Texas Ranger risking everything under an outlaw’s name. On the border, the truth often comes out with a gunshot!

(I realize I'm hardly an unbiased observer here, but I think this novel is a really good Western yarn with lots of interesting characters and plenty of fast-paced action. I had a great time writing it, and I hope many of you will have a great time reading it. It's available now on Amazon in very affordable e-book and paperback editions. I don't promote my stuff often, but if you've been thinking about buying this one, today would be a great day to do it. Release day sales always bump up the Amazon rankings, which help a lot.)

Review: Ezra Flint, U.S. Marshal: Gunfighter's Grave - Paul L. Thompson and Scott McCrea

I read one of Scott McCrea’s Ezra Flint novels a while back and enjoyed it quite a bit, so I wanted to try another book in the series. The most recent one, GUNFIGHTER’S GRAVE, finds Flint teaming up with another U.S. Marshal, Shorty Thompson, the star of his own series of novels from Paul L. Thompson, who collaborates with McCrea on this novel.

The pair of lawmen prove to be a very potent duo as they set out on the trail of a man who just may be Billy the Kid, although as far as the world knows, the notorious outlaw is dead, gunned down in New Mexico by Pat Garrett. Flint and Shorty, who are old friends, are out to rescue a young woman they both consider a niece/little sister, who has recently married this mysterious stranger who may be one of the West’s most deadly killers.

Thompson and McCrea spin a really entertaining yarn in GUNFIGHTER’S GRAVE, a story that brings in historical characters such as Dirty Dave Rudabaugh and Pat Garrett himself, retired now from being a lawman. The plot and the writing remind me a little of Bob Randisi’s long-running and legendary series The Gunsmith as the book races along in a blend of Old West history and fictional action.

What really makes GUNFIGHTER’S GRAVE stand out, though, are the characters, especially the two protagonists. I already knew I liked Ezra Flint, a brooding, stoic philosopher who enforces the law while quoting Marcus Aurelius. He always puts me in mind of John Carradine. I hadn’t encountered Shorty Thompson before, but I’m glad I have now. Small in stature but mighty tough and feisty, he reminds me of a young Bob Steele. What a great series of B-Westerns those would have been, had these books been written ninety years ago.

You can count me as a fan of both series now, and I definitely plan to read more. In the meantime, if you enjoy gritty, fast-paced Western action, I think GUNFIGHTER’S GRAVE is well worth reading. It’s available on Amazon from Dusty Saddle Productions in e-book and paperback editions.

Sunday Morning Bonus Pulp: Mammoth Mystery, January 1946

MAMMOTH MYSTERY was a fairly short-lived pulp from Ziff-Davis that put out only a dozen issues in 1945, '46, and '47. The first issue truly was mammoth at 276 pages, but by the second issue--this one--it had shrunk to 178 pages, still pretty hefty by pulp standards. This cover is by an artist named Richard R. Epperly, who's not familiar to me at all. Pretty nice back on that lady, though. The lead novel is by Bruno Fischer, an author whose work I've enjoyed quite a bit. I need to read more by him. Also on hand are Larry Holden (actually Lorenz Heller, many of whose novels have been reprinted by Stark House in recent years), Z-D regular Chester S. Geier, and lesser-known authors Phyllis Dayton and A. Boyd Correll. If you want to check out this issue, a PDF of it can be found here.

Saturday Morning Western Pulp: Wild West Weekly, March 12, 1938

I don’t own this pulp, but thanks to the kindness of my friend Cullen Gallagher, I was able to read a PDF of its lead novelette, “Feud of the Haunted Corral”, featuring T.W. Ford’s best-known series character Solo Strant, also known as the Silver Kid. The cover on this issue of WILD WEST WEEKLY is by H.W. Scott, and it’s an excellent illustration of the Silver Kid in action.

Solo Strant is a drifting gunfighter. He doesn’t hire out his gun, but he’s quick to pitch in when he sees someone being taken advantage of or an innocent person being threatened. As this yarn opens, that’s what happens when a gang of gun-wolves attacks a small ranch. Solo rides to the rescue, but as it turns out, he may not have done the right thing after all, since it looks like the rancher he rescued may be a murderer!

That’s the first mistake Solo makes in this story, but it’s not the last one. In fact, he seems uncharacteristically prone to making the wrong decisions. But that may have something to do with the extremely complicated plot Ford comes up with, which deals with a generations-long feud between two ranching families, assorted murders, mistaken identities, and the Haunted Corral, which is not a corral at all but rather an area of badlands where folks go in, but they seldom come out alive. The whole “shadow of the past” element in this novelette reminds me of many of Walt Coburn’s novels and stories.

“Feud of the Haunted Corral” is a fast-moving, entertaining story. Solo Strant is a likable protagonist, and I’ve enjoyed every story I’ve read about him. It’s pretty easy to spot the evil mastermind in this one, but that doesn’t take away from the pleasure of reading it. My thanks to Cullen for making that possible.

Elsewhere in this issue are stories by a number of WILD WEST WEEKLY stalwarts. Norman W. Hay, writing under the house-name William A. Todd, contributes a Risky McKee yarn. (All the Risky McKee stories are by Hay, and while William A. Todd is considered a house-name, it’s possible Hay wrote everything under that by-line. We’ll probably never know for sure.) There’s a Calamity Boggs story by Lee Bond. Guy L. Maynard pitches in with a Reckless Blaine story. (There are six Reckless Blaine stories, published in six consecutive issues of WILD WEST WEEKLY. I’d be surprised if Maynard didn’t cobble them together into a fix-up novel, but if he did, I can’t find any record of it.) J. Allan Dunn, Charles M. Martin, and Carl Raht contribute stand-alone stories. This appears to be a very good issue of one of my favorite Western pulps.