Coming soon: Black Gat No. 37.
Originally published as Passion Killer by Don Elliott for Sundown Reader in 1965, this sleaze paperback seems like an odd choice for the Black Gat imprint. Maybe it’s an experiment to test the waters. Weighing in at 163 pages, I’d guess well over three quarters of this is one boring soft-core sex scene after another. Marie and Dolores’ cups runneth over explicitly above the waist, but anything below is a mere hint and a wink other than their rear ends that are described a lot like their tatas sans nipples.
The plot that moves intermittently forward as interludes between all the sex scenes ain’t bad. It could’ve easily been the basis for a good crime novel about a rich dude who hires a hit man to snuff his wife so he can marry his much younger, voluptuous girlfriend. Obviously, Silverberg can write. Unfortunately, the soft porn dominates too many pages and I couldn’t wait to finish unfulfilled.
Collectors will want this volume to keep their Black Gat runs complete, but I hope if Stark House continues with this genre they’ll spin it off in a line of its own.
