Created by Richard Reinsmith Pseudonyms include Richard Rein Smith, Damon Castle, Ann Taylor, Dan Elliott Journeyman writer Richard Reinsmith caught the Men’s Adventure wave with the eight-book Bodyguard series, published by bottom feeder paperback publisher Tower (and starting with book three, Leisure Books). Its hero/narrator was gray-haired RAY MARTIN, a highly regarded bodyguard working out … Continue reading Ray Martin (The Bodyguard)
Tag: Pulp
Max Spitzkopf
Created by Yoyne (Jonas) Kreppel (1874-1940) “Don’t you dare move a muscle, you murderer….Or I’ll shoot you down like the dog you are.” — Max is no sissy! At first I thought it was a joke — a long-delayed Mel Brooks project, possibly still in development. Certainly the over-boiled publisher's hype from 2025 suggested somebody's … Continue reading Max Spitzkopf
Wolf Lannihan
Created by Lawrence Sanders (1920-98) "She was a little thing but well-machined with everything in abundance and in the right place" "She was all over me like a wet sheet" Before he struck it big with The Anderson Tapes, Lawrence Sanders was just another ink-stained wretch, pumping out blood-and-cum-soaked pulp for Swank Magazine, which may … Continue reading Wolf Lannihan
Morocco Jones
Created by Jack Baynes Pseudonym of Bertram B. Fowler (1893-1981) "Only suckers play straight in my game. Ethics is a word that means holes in your head— bullet holes. I'm one of those old-fashioned operatives. When someone takes out after me I don't bother to haul out my conscience and frisk it for motives. I … Continue reading Morocco Jones
Johnny Ryan
Created by Steve Fisher Pseudonyms include Stephen Gould, Grant Lane (1912-80) Although he wrote a ton of crime and detective stories for the pulps (and later for novels and the movies), Steve Fisher actually created relatively few private eye characters. One of them was JOHNNY RYAN, a New York City dick who's pretty much a … Continue reading Johnny Ryan
Tony Key
Created by Steve Fisher Pseudonyms include Stephen Gould, Grant Lane (1912-80) Former Federal Agent turned hard-boiled Hollywood dick TONY KEY, he of the white shoes, white sweater and jet black hair, appeared in a dozen or so stories in Detective Fiction Weekly, and Black Mask, written by screenwriter and pulpster Steve Fisher. Tony calls himself … Continue reading Tony Key
John Blake
Created by Richard Aleas Pseudonym of Charles Ardai Hard Case Crime founding editor and author Charles Ardai ought to be slapped around at least a little bit for using Richard Aleas as a pen name (even if it is a cockeyed anagram of his own name). But we'll cut him some slack since he's offered … Continue reading John Blake
Ray Corson
Created by Max Phillips "Well, maybe she wasn't all that blonde, but it'd be a crime to call hair like that light brown. It was more sort of lion-colored." One of the first books released under the Hard Case Crime imprint, co-founder Max Phillips' Fade to Blonde immediately set the standard for the feisty paperback … Continue reading Ray Corson
Nick Stihl
Created by Richard A. Olson In the 1930s, Peoria, Illinois was a Big Bad Place, a Sin City stuffed to the gills with mobsters, gamblers, hookers, and enough crooked cops and politicians to start their own baseball league. And a tough guy, name of NICK STIHL. Used to be a boxer. Now he ain’t. Now … Continue reading Nick Stihl
“Special Delivery”
By Hugh LessigAn Alamo Barnes StoryApril/May 2000 The body arrived in the newsroom around mid-morning. It came in a reinforced cardboard box from American Bathroom Fixtures that supposedly held a recessed bathtub. At least that's what it said on the outside. No one paid any attention to it. Corporate flaks mail their stuff to … Continue reading “Special Delivery”