Soon to be reprinted as Black Gat Book No. 44 by Stark House Press.
Paul Eugene Conant (1906–1968) wrote only three novels. This was the lone entry under his real name, the other two were as by Gene Paul. Gatskill’s presents a swell premise: Lieutenant Peter Hanley finds himself at the Whitman-Bourne Clinic, unable to remember how beautiful Narcissa Maidstone was killed. Did he do it, as several of the higher-ups in the force believe, or is he innocent as his boss, Inspector Battle, presumes?
Dr. Gatskill, her boss, Dr. Holmka, and a few nurses are tasked with prompting Hanley’s memory for the truth. Hanley was at the murder scene, he either did it himself or witnessed who did. Gatskill administer’s successively larger doses of sodium amytal that leave Hanley sedate and dreamy. Sometimes he’s talking to the docs, sometimes he thinks he’s talking aloud, but it’s all internal narrative. Conant handles the transitions in and out of Hanley’s dazed consciousness with aplomb. The Lieutenant’s memories creep slowly back from his subconscious mind as he relives snippets of the past; the big mystery and the reader’s need to know driving the story forward. The struggle inches ahead over the first 100 pages or so. Some of it is a bit repetitive, but Conant does a good job of keeping things as fresh as possible. As Hanley’s memories return, the pace quickens, the twists turn, and the final chapters bring a satisfying wind-up to an unusual mystery story.
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