Created by Richard Ellington (1914-80) "Broadway is my beat and murder is my business!" -- cover blurb from Shakedown Over the course of five novels and a few short stories, former actor and G.I. and current Broadway wisenheimer STEVE DRAKE finds that private investigation may not be the nicest work in the world, but "it's … Continue reading Steve Drake
Tag: World War II Veteran
Max Dexter
Created by Chris Laing MAX DEXTER is a former Mountie and WWII vet who came back from overseas with a bum leg, now working as a private eye, going down the mean streets of post-war Hamilton, Ontario in Canada, a hard town now--a hard town then. They don't call it "The Hammer" for nothing. Max … Continue reading Max Dexter
Rocky Steele
Created by John B. West (1905-60) Perhaps not surprisingly, ALOYSIUS ALGERNON STEELE prefers to be called "ROCKY." Can you really blame him? After all, neither Aloysius nor Algernon is the kinda monicker any self-respecting hard-boiled P.I. wants to go by. And as a Lucky-smoking, cognac-swigging, ex-boxer and former commando (he saw action in the Pacific … Continue reading Rocky Steele
Aloysius Archer
Created by David Baldacci It's 1949, and rough-and-tumble WWII vet ALOYSIUS ARCHER is a hard-luck drifter and a total shit magnet, freshly sprung from Carderock Prison, when he hits the road in  One Good Deed (2019), a sly, noirish change of pace from  the #1 New York Times bestselling author Baldacci. His parole conditions are pretty … Continue reading Aloysius Archer
Harry Kilmer (The Yakuza)
Created by Paul & Leonard Schrader and Robert Towne "A man never forgets. A man pays his debts." -- from the poster. Â Imagine Chandler writing a samurai flick... In this forgotten classic from the mid-seventies, Robert Mitchum is HARRY KILMER, an aging former G.I., and sometime P.I. (his past is suitably murky), set loose in … Continue reading Harry Kilmer (The Yakuza)
Byrd (Hawaiian Dick)
Created by B. Clay Moore & Steven Griffin "Thank God the Tiki Bar's still open Thank God the Tiki lights still shine Thank God the Tiki Bar's still open Come on in and open up your mind..." --John Hiatt If Raymond Chandler had worn a few more Hawaiian shirts and learned how to chill, maybe … Continue reading Byrd (Hawaiian Dick)
Jim Sader
Created by Dolores Hitchens Pseudonym of Julia Clara Catherine Maria Dolores Robins Other pseudonyms include D.B. Olsen, Dolan Birkeley, Noel Burke (1907-73) "The carhop came and thanked him for the tip and took the tray away. As she walked into the light her legs shone like silk below the fluffy skirt, and Sader yawned, and … Continue reading Jim Sader
John Steel
Created by ?? Â Â Initially, JOHN STEELÂ was a "Special Agent" working for British Intelligence during World War II. Prior to the war, he'd been a sergeant in the London Police, but when duty called, he did not hesitate. He tried to enlist in 1939, only to be denied. That didn't stop him, though--he promptly … Continue reading John Steel
Matt Mercer
Created by Day Keene Pseudonym of Gunnar Hjerstedt Other pseudonyms include Lewis Dixon, William Richards, Daniel White, John Corbett & Donald King (1904-1969) "Matt Mercer had come back from the South Pacific, leaving his arm behind on some Jap-infested island until, six-thousand miles away from that hell-hole, he found that the Little Yellow sons had returned--to claim … Continue reading Matt Mercer
Carney Wilde
Created by Bart Spicer Pseudonym of Jay Barbette (1918-1978) "If Bart Spicer's been forgotten, it's a real shame. He was one of the best writers of private-eye fiction in the last century." -- Bill Crider Philladelphia's CARNEY WILDE was one of the few P.I.'s who ever seemed to make money and remain respectable. Over the … Continue reading Carney Wilde