Reviews – Page 2 – Larque Press | The Digest Enthusiast

Reviews August 25, 2025

BG74: Roadside Night by Erwin S. Nistler & Gerry P. Broderick

Buck Randall is a relatively nice guy. He owns a bar and a few cabins. He’s making a little money, with plans to make some more. There’s a nice girl nearby that adores him and doesn’t hide her feelings. Joyce is a little younger, a little greener than Buck, but she’s grown up right and she’s easy on the eyes. Her Daddy likes Buck too, and could be a real asset for the young man’s plans.

Maybe Buck’s military stint had him seeing and doing things that buckled his psyche just a little too sharply. When he catches his first glimpse of Sylvia Landon, things turn noir.

Sylvia is a knockout. She’s whip-smart, and she’s got big plans for Buck. In-between sheet sessions she slowly uncovers those plans. She’s got the perfect robbery lined up, and Buck’s just the man to make it happen.

Over the middle fast-paced pages of this short novel, while Buck follows her lead, he also begins to learn all about his lover’s past. It’s not good, and he can’t help but wonder what it portends for him.

Nistler and Broderick wrangle elements of classic noir, taking them in surprising directions; driving hard toward an unexpectedly deadly climax.

Reviews July 21, 2025

BG73: The Joy Wheel by Paul W. Fairman

A beautifully metered coming of rage story. Eddie Kiley is on the cusp of manhood, flirting with vice, sex, and moonshine in old Chicago. His role model is his father, a successful salesman who travels frequently and hasn’t always been around to provide guidance to the teen. His mother is devout, a barricade that keeps the family’s skeleton closet shuttered to keep the uglies at bay. Like most older sisters, Eddie’s is further ahead in maturity and overall savvy than her years might attest.

An excellent character study, this fascinating story carefully unravels each person’s flaws over the course of their lives during Eddie’s most critical formative years. The most obvious is his Uncle Frank, who fights a losing battle with moon, stumbling from one self-inflicted crisis to the next. The novel is categorized as a crime book; it certainly skirts the borderline. It could also be cast as noir, but even there it defies expectations. In the end, what matters is Fairman has crafted a beguiling glimpse into the inner lives of one depression-era Chi-town patriarchy with all its heart and hedonism.

Paul Warren Fairman (1909–1977) was the founding editor of the If digest, and also served for a time as editor for Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Amazing Stories, and Fantastic. He wrote a raft of short stories and novels across multiple genres under his own name and several pseudonyms. Several movies and television episodes were based on his stories.

Reviews June 12, 2025

BG72: The Face of Evil by John McPartland

What makes a man, a real man? And what about a real woman? Each equilateral in the messy triangle of Bill Oxford, Nile Lisbon, and Ann Field are soul-searching for the answers. They ponder ‘em plenty, all through their rough-and-ready bar trek—sometimes beside and sometimes behind Mr. Fix-It, aka Bill Oxford, as he bulls his way through his latest commission. A coin-operated candidate, funded by California’s big boys want their man elected to a state-wide office. This dubious puppet is never named—else I missed it the one time it may have been mentioned—and neither is the office he’s steamrolling.

His main rival, Ringling Black, is rising in the polls. Black is fresh and clean, and unfortunately for the big boys, his past is as pristine as his present. No problem. That why they’ve got Oxford. He’ll dream up a juicy scandal and place Black smack in the middle. But he’d best hurry, Black has uncovered some pretty nasty muck on his opponent; bad enough to sink the slimy skunk. The big boys can’t let that happen. They’ve invested too much, and have too much to lose without their preferred corruptoid locked in their beholden grasp.

This gig is a slam-dunk for Oxford. But he’s kind of fed up with himself. In fact, he’s having a mirror moment, and that spells trouble—for every character in sight—most of all, Oxford.

The Face of Evil is a deep dive into the mystery of what makes men tick after a run of wrong turns. Can Oxford reset the balance, or has his past ruined his future? This heady jigsaw is wrapped neatly in the chaos of constant danger that looms closer as every page turns.

John Donald McPartland (1911–1958) served in the Korean War, wrote for Stars and Strips and later Life magazine. After the war, he moved to Monterey (just down the coast from Stark House Press), to pursue crime fiction. After his early death, his second family was uncovered. Hmmm, I wonder how much of his real life influenced the character introspection and love triangle of this particular fiction?

Reviews May 20, 2025

BG71: Make with the Brains, Pierre by Dana Wilson

Frenchman Pierre Bernet is a furloughed film cutter. (I’d call him a film editor, but perhaps film cutter was either the formal or informal designation in 1940s Hollywood.) What makes this novel a crime story is the fact that poor Pierre is contracted to exhume a scripted narrative from a catalog of an actor’s filmography. Unbeknown to Pierre, his client will then insert the second half of the conversation to create an entirely fictitious piece of testimony.

That’s the plot. It’s central, but in many ways secondary. It provides the framework for the real story, a dueling pair of love triangles that completely engulf Pierre. Author Wilson provides a tour de force of inner dialogue and shifting emotions, sometimes shared aloud and sometimes ricocheting around our hero’s prodigious brain. This extraordinary crime story may not revel in non-stop action, but its fascinating, confounding character depths provide a more than satisfying payoff again and again.

Bonus: Randal S. Brandt provides a brilliant introduction revealing the impressive cred of the book’s beautiful, behind-the-scenes Hollywood mogul.

Reviews April 25, 2025

BG70: The Wicked Streets by Wenzell Brown

Wenzell Brown (1912–1981) wrote nonfiction, historical fiction, and true crime. But he shared the spotlight as one of the top three of juvenile delinquency (JD) fiction writers of the ’50s, alongside Hal Ellson and Irving Shulman. The Wicked Streets is heaped in NY’s hipster scene with jazz clubs, reefer, switchblades, nabs (cops), punks, the dives.

Buzz Baxter is a wild man on the ivories and in his one-way trajectory toward pushing, crime, womanizing, and narcissism. Young, naive Diane Griscom hears him play once and is hooked by his bad-boy charisma and wild rhythms. Buzz knows this blond, blue-eyed knockout is the daughter of old man Griscom, a guy with connections and dough—plenty of dough, so he plays things cagey and cool. A smart operator like Buzz could end up on top if he works this dish into his plans.

But despite his talents, Buzz is a loser. He has enemies. He’s short on cash, because every time he scores some scratch he fritters it away on whims and self-gratification. The Wicked Streets follows Buzz’s sketchy plans that never seem to unfold as he figures. His downward spiral drags the dewy-eyed Diane along in his wake. Will he turn himself around? Will Diane finally see beneath his hipster exterior? What level of trouble would scare either of them into a change in direction?

Brown crafts a fascinating tale of inner fantasies and grim realities of life just barely off the streets of the Big Apple. What happens is generally predictable, but often specifically surprising. And that keeps the pages turning and the danger ever-present. A screaming example of ’50s JD novel-length fiction.

Reviews April 11, 2025

SC-012: Vaught’s Practical Character Reader by L.A. Vaught

Staccato Crime #12

Jeff Vorzimmer rescues a bizarre gem from publishing’s forgotten past. His introduction explains the oddity of phrenology, “the science of discerning personality traits from the shape of a person’s head and its bumps.” One of its leading proponents helped bring phrenology into its heyday, roughly around the jazz era. In fact, he wrote the book on it—and this is it.

Character Reader is packed with illustrations depicting Vaught’s looney ideas. It’s kind of like judging everyone’s character by their appearance. The more “handsome and normal,” the more good and true; and of course, the opposite too.

This is a book that’s more fun to browse than study or read front-to-back. The ideas are outrageous and the attributed traits can be somewhat repetitive. It’s a great novelty piece and could also serve as a sort of catalog of character traits, perhaps of use to creatives in character development. Collectors of the Staccato Crime line will also want a copy.

The book also as a lesson in time. What was once considered an emerging science was later proved to be ridiculous speculation with no basis in fact. A conman’s handbook for the ages. What’s next, a nineteenth century recipe book for snake oil? Who knew the lessons of the phrenology con would remain so prescient 100 years later?

Reviews March 22, 2025

BG69: Cornered by Louis King

Black Gat No.69

Originally published in 1958 by Ace books, Cornered is Louis King’s (1898–1962) only novel. Sometimes known as Lewis King, the author spent most of his career in film and television. Beginning as an actor during the silent era, King went on to direct westerns and adventure films, and transitioned to television in the 1950s directing episodes of Gunsmoke, Zane Grey, and Wild Bill Hickok. Although he directed a lot of westerns, he also had plenty of experience with detective pictures including three entries into the Bulldog Drummond series, and Charlie Chan in Egypt (as Luis King).

King’s familiarity with crime stories no doubt helped him craft a fast-paced, engaging novel for Ace. Steve Grogan is a tough, seasoned cop. He married well, and when his wife’s father died, she inherited a fortune. Fast forward a few more years, when she herself died after giving birth to a daughter, Betsy, and Grogan is left a widower, single father, and rich. He soon quits the force, but before leaving, vows to testify against gangman Marc Henderson. As our story opens Henderson is out to put an end to Grogan through assassination or kidnapping young Betsy to force the ex-cop from testifying. Grogan does his best disappearing act, but Henderson is smart, savvy, and resourceful. In short order, Grogan is cornered, with Henderson and his minions closing in for the kill.

Black Gat brings back buried treasure with Cornered. It’s a nonstop juggernaut with barely a moment spared to catch your breath.

Reviews March 9, 2025

Switcheroo by Emmett McDowell

Jaimie MacRae, operative of Gibbs & Stackpole, likes the detective melee so much he even reads those cheap PI paperbacks that were so popular in the 1950s. He is cocksure, tougher than chestnuts, and quick as a cat. His boss, Isaac Dunn, manager of the Louisville branch, assigns him a missing persons case. Amiel Warren, a crooked lawyer who represents “Little Steve” Hockmiller, wants the widow of Big Steve Hockmiller found—that would be Corinne Hockmiller.

Big Steve was a big-shot racketeer loaded with dough, clout, and territory. When he got clipped, Corinne got rich—and immediately disappeared. Meanwhile, the sharks are circling. They want to take over Big Steve’s racket, with Little Steve left to try and fill his father’s big-shot shoes.

MacRae’s task is simply to find the missing woman, but his search is quickly compromised. Somebody don’t like him nosing around in their playground.

The subplot of MacRae’s pushy/pull romance with co-worker Margaret Ives is dated and you end up wondering what the heck she sees in this gumshoe. No matter, the real action is in the chase. Switcheroo is a nicely plotted detective story, loaded with all the familiar elements of its ilk, and written with solid prose.

Reviews February 15, 2025

BG67: Vice Trap by Elliott Gilbert

A quintet of disparate misfits embark on a flimsy alliance to escape their busted lives and start anew just a few miles across the border in Mexico. Taking the lead is Nick Beiades, an ex-con who left his one-chance love, a bombshell named Lona, to our second fiddle Dave Madrid, a crooked cop who’s crafted a sure-fire bank job on “Fiesta Day.” The parade during the long Labor Day weekend will draw all the local’s attention, and Madrid himself will be on duty to ensure peace and order—far from the bank. Plus, it just so happens an armored car loaded with payroll dough is scheduled to unload at the bank that morning. Madrid’s plan is foolproof and to prove it, he partners with three fools: Nick, and his “associates” Sand-o and Graemie.

Gary Lovisi called it “a mini-masterpiece” of hard crime noir. It is that, and author Gilbert has plotted an excellent setup and storyline, infused with shady characters and suspicious agendas. It’s fast-paced and delivers more than a few knockouts. However, these attributes are marred slightly by Gilbert’s penchant for jargon, and him knowing more than his readers, which means readers have to wait for clarity.

This is Gilbert’s second crime book, written in the late 1950s. His favorite term seems to be “crut,” which I eventually figured out was not an f-bomb, but an s-bomb. There are more, but here’s another example:

“The other must be clouting Magallanes’ Dodge.”
“They’ll turn a spike outfit in it.”

“They” are cops. Clouting infers impounding, and the spike is a syringe, but these elements didn’t click at first glance. These uncertain moments are short-lived, but they break the fictive flow, taking you out of the story. Otherwise, Vice Trap fires on all available cylinders.

Reviews January 6, 2025

Day of the Outlaw by Lee Wells

Black Gat No. 66 January 2025

Accountant turned pulp fiction writer Lee Wells (1907–1982) began his writing career with short stories for pulp magazines until about 1940, when he switched his focus novels. He wrote mostly westerns, and this Black Gat reprint from 1955, may be his most famous one. It was filmed by André de Toth in 1959, starring Robert Ryan, Burl Ives, and Tina Louise.

Day of the Outlaw was Wells’ eleventh novel, so he was deep into the territory and packed in just about every conflict you can think of: man against man, man against nature, and man against himself. The friction starts between Blaise Starrett owner of the Star Ranch and his foreman Dan Murdock. Starrett has designs on his rival Hal Crane’s ranch, and presses Murdock to help him get it by any means possible. Add to that, they’re both smitten by Paula Preston, whose father runs the lumberyard in the town of Bitters, aptly named for both the weather it endures, and the drama that ensues as the novel’s title comes into play.

Jack Bruhn and his gang of nine, fresh off the trail with $50 Gs in loot, need a place to hide out for a short bit and the Wyoming Bar in Bitters looks to fit the bill. There is no law in Bitters, so Bruhn and his gang have no trouble confiscating all the weapons in town and taking over.

Meanwhile, a relentless rain leaves the streets and surrounding prairie a sucking slog that makes leaving or reaching the town from outside, impossible. The outlaws can relax, drink whiskey, play cards, and flirt with every young thing in their wake. Any posse that may be in pursuit can’t reach them, and they bide their time until the trail dries up a bit.

Tension mounts in every direction. Not all the outlaws are happy with their leader—or each other. The townsfolk want to fight back, but without weapons, feel miserable and helpless. Despite these stressors, romance blooms in several hearts, some real and some deceitful, some doubtful, and some unrequited.

The outlaws scour every home and business in the small town for guns. But they miss one, and spark the beginning of a counterattack. As tensions grow in every direction, there are fist fights and gun fights; and casualties. The action is frequent and raucous as Murdock, the story’s hero, frantically reaches for a foothold to turn things his way.

Wells revisits nearly every conflict he creates in an effort to increase the suspense and anxiety of his characters. Sometimes it works, but other times in slows the action a mite. Nevertheless, he’s written a kinetic wildfire about to ignite with the flick of a smoldering cigarette. Now, I’m anxious to see the movie.