Created by James P. Cody
Pseudonym of Peter T. Rohrbach
(1926–)
Another rescue from Lee Goldberg’s Brash Books resurrects James P. Cody’s quartet of gritty, action-packed Men’s Adventure paperbacks from the mid-seventies, originally published by Berkley Medallion.
BRIAN PETERSEN, tagged as “The D.C. MAN” on the covers, was a former football player and military intelligence officer with an impressive combination of brain and brawn, who marries a politician’s daughter and becomes a D.C. lobbyist–until his wife and young child are killed in an automobile crash.
Shattered, Petersen hits the skids, and his business starts heading down the tubes, until he cleans himself up, and returns to the land of the living. He returns to his job as a lobbyist–except he’s taken on a new, lucrative side gig, as a sort of gun-toting political fixer: a combination bodyguard, private investigator and go-between, operating in some of Washington’s murkiest and dirtiest corners.
Got a problem? The D.C. Man is ready. He’s shrewd and savvy and armed with an impressive list of DC connections and an even more impressive collection of combat skills. Whatever your problem, he’ll fix it.
No matter what it takes…
Sure, the series flirts with global politics and international shenanigans, but at it’s heart, these are private eye yarns “in everything but name,” as James Reasoner puts it.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Even better, the new edition of the first book in the re-issued series, Top Secret Kill, includes anele-popping intro by private investigator Tom Simon, a former FBI Special Agent and co-host of the Paperback Warrior podcast, cracked the case of who author “James P. Cody” really was. Turns out he was really Peter Thomas Rohrbach, who had departed his previous career as a Roman Catholic priest in 1966, and a writer of several serious academic books about historical Roman Catholic figures and religious orders (Conversations With Christ , Journey to Carith, etc.). He married in 1970, and turned to fiction. He and his wife had a daughter, born in 1974, the same year Top Secret Kill was published. For the full scoop, I highly recommend “Searching For The D.C. Man,” Tom Simon’s 2018 deep dive into James P. Cody’s real identity.
UNDER OATH
- “… if you’re a fan of Seventies men’s adventure or hardboiled detective fiction, I certainly recommend getting to know the D.C. Man.”
— James Reasoner (Rough Edges) - “Fast-moving. He is a lethal operator when he has to be.”
— The New York Times - “Spies and spooks and shady diplomats abound, along with crooks and radicals and everything else good and bad from the mid 70’s. There is also a lot of fun reading.”
— Spy Guys and Gals Website - “The smoke of distrust and corruption of post-Watergate Washington, DC is thick in this story. This is a sexy, violent thriller for American political junkies… The tension is palpable, the characters are vivid, the hero is righteous, and the action scenes are remarkably violent. An action masterpiece.”
— Paperback Warrior on Your Daughter Will Die!
NOVELS
- Top Secret Kill (1974) | Buy this book | Buy the audio | Kindle it!
- Search and Destroy (1974) | Buy this book | Buy the audio | Kindle it!
- Your Daughter Will Die! (1975) | Buy this book | Buy the audio | Kindle it!
- The French Killing (1975) | Buy this book | Buy the audio | Kindle it!
FURTHER INVESTIGATION
- Private Eyes by the Number
P.I.s in Men’s Adventure Books. - “Searching For The D.C. Man”
Tom Simon’s deep dive into the James T. Cody’s identity. (February 2018, Paperback Warrior)
Respectfully submitted by Kevin Burton Smith.
