Created by Ben Kerr
Pseudonym of William Ard
Other pseudonyms include Jonas Ward, Thomas Wills and Mike Moran
(1922-60)
Another series private eye from William Ard, and another series private eye well worth investigating.
Perpetually broke JOHNNY STEVENS is a New York op for the Flannagan Detective Agency, run by gruff “mick” Flannagan, his own self.
A long-time favourite of mine, Brooklyn-born Ard was one of the unjustly forgotten hard-boiled writers of the fifties. An ex-Marine, a publicist and copywriter, he also worked for a brief time, just after WWII , as a detective. His career burned bright but fast, lasting little more than a decade, but in that time he mananaged to create several intriguing New York private eyes Timothy Dane, Lou Largo, Barney Glines, Tom Doran, and Mike (later Danny) Fountaine, as well as several well-regarded westerns (as Jonas Ward). Other pseudonyms included Thomas Wills and Mike Moran. The stuff I’ve read of his has all been solid — check ’em out.
NOVELS
- Shakedown (1952) | Buy this book
- Down I Go (1955)
- Damned If He Does (1956)
- I Fear You Not (1956)
- Club 17 (1957)
COLLECTIONS
- Shakedown/The Blonde and Johnny Malloy (2025) | Buy this book
FURTHER INVESTIGATION
- William Ard: He Coulda Been a Contender
My own ham-fisted tribute to William Ard. - The Three Barney Glines of William Ard
Ard liked the name so much, he used it three times. - William Ard: Hard Boiled Detectives. Western Heroes
Dennis Miller’s fascinating profile of one of the genre’s sadly forgotten writers.
Respectfully submitted by Kevin Burton Smith.
