Created by William F. Nolan Pseudonyms include Frank Anmar, F. E. Edwards & Warren Kastel (1928-2021) Maybe Mars aint the place to raise the kids, after all... And it may not be the best place to run a detective agency either, as William Nolan's wonked-out sci-fi gumshoe is starting to discover. SAM SPACE is a … Continue reading Sam Space
Tag: Ron Goulart
Ron Goulart’s Informal Reading List
From The Hardboiled Dicks Tucked away in the back pages of Ron Goulart's classic collection of detective fiction from the pulps, The Hardboiled Dicks (1965), is a short list of hard-boiled writers worth he considered worth investigating, along with a few suggested titles and even a cursory overview. Hardly definitive or essential, but it is interesting. The … Continue reading Ron Goulart’s Informal Reading List
My Bookshelf: The Hard-Boiled Detective: Stories from Black Mask Magazine
My Bookshelf The Hard-Boiled Detective: Stories from Black Mask Magazine, edited by Herbert Ruhm Almost forgotten now, but the publication of The Hard-Boiled Detective: Stories from Black Mask Magazine (1977), edited by Herbert Ruhm, must have sent pulp fans into a tizzy in the seventies. It was the first real anthology dedicated exclusively to Black Mask since … Continue reading My Bookshelf: The Hard-Boiled Detective: Stories from Black Mask Magazine
My Bookshelf: Four-&-Twenty Bloodhounds, edited by Anthony Boucher
My Bookshelf Four-&-Twenty Bloodhounds, edited and with introductions by Anthony Boucher This early anthology (1950) from the Mystery Writers of America may have seemed to be just the usual grab bag of stories from all across the genre, and indeed the cover of the original hard cover edition promised short stories "of fictional detectives... … Continue reading My Bookshelf: Four-&-Twenty Bloodhounds, edited by Anthony Boucher
My Bookshelf: The Hardboiled Dicks
My Bookshelf The Hardboiled Dicks, edited by Ron Goulart An absolute essential for anyone who loves this stuff, Ron Goulart's 1965 The Hardboiled Dicks (my 1967 paperback reprint is the one pictured above) was one of the first collections of hard-boiled detective fiction from the thirties and forties crime and detective pulps, preceded by only … Continue reading My Bookshelf: The Hardboiled Dicks
Jake Cardigan
Created by William Shatner (1931--) When I first heard about this one, I was all set to lace into this one. I mean, Tiberius Hambone a writer? But he -- or at least Ron Goulart -- pulled it off. The first novel, TekWar (1989), which kicked off the whole franchise, was nothing earth-shattering, but decent … Continue reading Jake Cardigan
Lowe
Created by Ron Goulart (1933--) So when I first stumbled across this story in an old issue of Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, I'm thinking, "A-ha! Another southern California private eye from Ron Goulart!" And it turns out the story, "Undertaker, Please Drive Slow," is pretty damn excellent. We don't even know LOWE's first name. All we … Continue reading Lowe
Harry Challenge
Created by Ron Goulart (1933--) One of Ron Goulart countless P.I. creations, HARRY CHALLENGE is a field operative for the Challenge International Detective Agency, a family business. Receiving his assignments by mail and telegram from his nearly-estranged father, Harry bounces around early 20th century Europe, usually accompanied by stage magician The Great Lorenzo (whose abilities … Continue reading Harry Challenge
Jim Haley
Created by Ron Goulart (1933--) Ron Goulart's fiction transcends genre -- or even easy explanation -- being a general mish-mash of detective, fantasy, satire, straight sci-fi, parody and just plain silliness, reflecting the author's passion for the detective and science fiction pulps and comics of yesteryear. He's a serious scholar, and has published several key … Continue reading Jim Haley
Ben Jolson
Created by Ron Goulart (1933--) BEN JOLSON is a rather unique twist on the old master-of-disguise master-detective bit. It seems Ben's a chameleon, a Special Agent of the Political Espionage Office of the Planet Barnum, part of the Galactic Chameleon Corps, and able to assume the shape of any life species, be it bird, a baboon … Continue reading Ben Jolson