Malko 8: Death on the River Kwai

SAS L’Or de la Rivière Kwai, published in French in 1971, is one of just a handful of the 200 hugely popular Malko novels written by French former newspaper reporter Gérard de Villiers to be translated into English. That English edition, Malko 8: Death on the River Kwai, came out in 1975.

The hero of this spy series is His Serene Highness Prince Malko Ligne, Count of the Holy Roman Empire, Knight of the Black Eagle, Knight of the Order of Landgrave Seraphim of Kletgaus, Knight of the Order of Malta. This Austrian prince works for the CIA. He does it for the money. He owns a castle and castles cost a fortune to maintain. Despite his mercenary motivations the CIA regards him as absolutely reliable.

The jobs he does for the CIA are the tricky ones that require a certain amount of flair. They can at times be a bit morally murky.

He’s currently in Thailand investigating the disappearance of his espionage mentor Jim Stanford. Stanford is retired from the CIA but spies can never really retire. Their pasts are always likely to catch up to them. Stanford may have been killed or he may have been abducted. And, oddly enough, back in the States his sister is murdered.

The local CIA station chief has given Malko an assistant - his pretty Thai secretary (who turns out to be from an incredibly rich family). Tepin is efficient and helpful. She is a virgin. She makes sure that Malko knows this. Tepin intends to defend her virtue. On the other hand she can’t help noticing that Malko is terribly brave and handsome and he has such sexy eyes. But she’s a good girl.

There are plenty of leads but they just leave Malko more bewildered. Stanford had a beautiful Thai wife, a thriving silk business, a luxurious house and an impressive art collection. But clearly he had secrets. His wife is not saying anything. Her attitude is puzzling and she seems just a little scared.

He discovers that Stanford was a regular customer at a Bangkok massage parlour where he got special favours (very special) from a very cute masseuse. Malko gets the same treatment from her and he can well understand why Stanford was such a loyal customer. She introduces Malko to pleasures he had never even imagined.

Stanford also has a mistress, a Chinese singer/whore. Malko doesn’t get much useful information from her but she teaches him a thing or two as well. Malko finds that the most effective place to interrogate pretty female witnesses is in bed. Even if they don’t reveal useful information the interrogations are still rewarding.

The problem is that while he now knows that Jim Stanford was no Boy Scout none of this offers Malko any clues as to why someone would want to liquidate or kidnap him. Stanford chased women but there are no indications that he was mixed up in anything political. On the other hand, taking into account that his sister was targeted as well, he had to have been involved in something big and something sinister.

Meanwhile Tepin is starting to reconsider this whole defending her virginity thing.

A major strength of this novel is the female characters. They are of course dangerous and sexy but they also have complex and believably feminine motivations. Malko is smart enough to know that one of these women is the key to the mystery but he has no idea which of them it might be.

And after he’s been beaten up several times he’s sure he must be getting close to some answers.

Malko has a tendency to be careless. He gets himself into scrapes that could have been avoided. It’s not that he isn’t a good intelligence agent, but he is not an infallible super-spy.

There’s plenty of action, there’s a well-crafted plot with effective twists, there’s an exotic setting and there are those beautiful dangerous women. It all adds up to a fine spy thriller and it’s highly recommended.

I’ve reviewed five of the other English-translated Malko books - West of Jerusalem, Operation New York, Man from Kabul, Malko versus the CIA and Malko: Angel of Vengence. They're all very much worth reading.

Gardner Francis Fox's Warrior of Llarn

Warrior of Llarn is a 1964 sword-and-planet adventure by Gardner Francis Fox. Maybe Fox wasn’t the greatest writer in the world but I’ve read a lot of his stuff and so far I haven’t come across a single boring book of his.

It has a classic sword-and-planet setup. Alan Morgan is a regular guy living in the modern United States, except that for years he has heard a mysterious voice giving him enigmatic messages. And for reasons he can’t rationally explain he has become an expert swordsman. He believes that something important is expected of him but he has no idea what it might be.

In a sword-and-planet story there is no reason to stress about finding a scientifically plausible explanation for the fact that the hero suddenly finds himself transported from 20th century Earth to a distant planet (called Llarn). It’s a much-used trope in this genre and one of the conventions of the genre is that no explanation is required.

Fox always believed in getting straight into the action so almost immediately Alan is set upon by four horned blue-skinned men riding horned horses. And then a flying machine appears, pursued by four other similar machines. The first machine crashes and Alan rescues the pilot and disposes of the pursuers. The pilot is a very pretty golden-skinned girl.

You won’t be at all surprised to find out that she is a princess. Or that an evil usurper now occupies her father’s throne.

But Alan will soon meet a second princess. She’s a beautiful but evil princess. Or that’s what she appears to be.

There are several humanoid species on Llarn, some closely related and some distantly related. Some of them only came into existence after The War. This is one of those stories in which atomic radiation can do absolutely anything - it can create new species and change existing species but it can also create bizarrely non-human lifeforms. Lifeforms that are possibly not even organic. Maybe not corporeal at all. Lifeforms with extraordinary powers. Powers that resemble magic.

Sword-and-planet stories usually do not involve actual magic. That is one of the things that distinguish the genre from sword-and-sorcery. But they can involve highly advanced technologies that seem magical. This novel does involve magic but it’s not really magic since atomic radiation can explain anything.

I don’t have a huge problem with this. Sword-and-planet stories do not have to follow the rules of hard science fiction. And let’s face it, a lot of actual hard science fiction stories involve impossible technologies that might as well be magic.

What matters is that this is a well-written fast-paced action-packed tale, it has some hints of horror, it has some weird coolness elements and there’s a fine love story. There’s a brave noble resourceful hero and a proud noble heroine. And there’s an interesting romantic triangle. There’s action on land, in the air, at sea and in the gloomy dungeons of ancient castles.

The author understands pulp fiction. This is pure entertainment. Recommended.

A second book, Thief of Llarn, appeared in 1966 but Warrior of Llarn works just fine as a standalone novel.

Gardner Francis Fox wrote in multiple pulp genres. His sexy spy thrillers such as the Cherry Delight books (beginning with The Italian Connection) and the Lady from L.U.S.T. books (beginning with Lust, Be a Lady Tonight) are huge amounts of fun. His 1967 black magic novel The Druid Stone (which combines occult thriller and sword-and-sorcery elements) is truly excellent.

Thomas B. Dewey’s Hunter at Large

Thomas B. Dewey’s Hunter at Large is a 1961 crime novel which has been reissued by Black Gat Books.

Thomas B. Dewey (1915-1981) was a prolific American crime writer.

Hunter at Large is a revenge story. Mickey Phillips is a young police detective. He and his wife Kathy live just outside of town. It’s a bit remote but that’s what Kathy wanted.

Then two guys knock at the door and Mickey’s whole world falls apart. Kathy is brutally murdered. Mickey is shot and left for dead.

The killers make one big mistake. They don’t check to make sure Mickey is dead. He survives. Only just, but he survives. When he recovers he wants revenge. He quits the police force. This is a quest he must undertake on his own.

He has two clues to go on. The killers knew his name but obviously didn’t know what he looked like. They had been hired to kill him but obviously had been given only his name. And one of the killers wields a razor the way only someone familiar with a razor would wield it - someone like a barber. It’s not much to go on but in Chicago he gets a break - he recognises a mug shot. It’s a guy named Lou Roberts.

The chase will take him to Kansas City, Denver and Arizona. To resort hotels and abandoned mines. His problem is that he has no evidence and no idea of the motive for the crime. He just figures that somehow or other he will find both evidence and a motive. Because he has to. But first he has to find Lou Roberts.

Mickey is a trained detective and now that he’s off the police force he has plenty of time. He can afford to be patient. And he is patient.

Along the way he hooks up with a cute prostitute named Irene. He befriends her because he thinks she might be some vague sort of lead. He’s just using her for information but he becomes oddly fond of her. She’s not quite a Whore with a Heart of Gold but she’s rather likeable and he helps her out of a couple of jams and she’s never had a man do anything nice for her before. They don’t fall in love but they develop a certain quirky affection for each other. He thinks he can trust her, up to a point. He doesn’t think she would deliberately betray him but he has had to tell her a few things which she might let slip.

He will meet another woman who might provide a lead and that will get complicated.

There’s a certain amount of action but very little gunplay. Rather surprisingly and perhaps foolishly, Mickey doesn’t even carry a gun and there are occasions when a gun would have come in real handy.

There’s some reasonable suspense and the mystery plot is quite serviceable.

The central issue is whether Mickey wants justice or just revenge. That’s a question that Mickey has asked himself and he can’t answer it. He takes a lot of risks because he feels he has nothing left to lose. Maybe he’s seeking self-destruction. Maybe he can still find some reason to live, or maybe he can’t. You’ll have to read the book to find out the answer to all of those questions.

He’s an archetypal obsessed hero driven by a single passion but he still has some humanity left in him. He treats Irene kindly even though he doesn’t owe her anything because it’s in his nature to do so.

There’s a major twist which is to an extent foreshadowed which is perhaps a weakness.

This is not noir fiction but it’s a competent hardboiled mystery crime thriller and it’s recommended.

Edmond Hamilton’s novella The Starcombers

Edmond Hamilton’s novella The Starcombers first appeared in Science Fiction Adventures in December 1956.

Edmond Hamilton (1904-1977) was an American science fiction writer who wrote some fine space opera for the pulps in the 1930s and 40s. He was a major contributor to Weird Tales. In 1946 he married Leigh Brackett.

Sam Fletcher works for Harry Axe. Harry Axe runs a space salvage operation. They find formerly inhabited planets and salvage anything that might be of value, especially metals. It’s quite legal but it’s the kind of business that attracts operators who are perhaps a bit shady, or at the very least rather ethically flexible.

Sam Fletcher is the pilot of Harry’s scout ship. He doesn’t like the work but it’s OK as long as he stays reasonably drunk.

Harry’s wife Lucy has become a problem for Sam. She desperately wants to sleep with Sam but he isn’t interested. Lucy reacts the way a lot of women would react in that situation. She feels scorned, so she wants to get even. She tells Harry that Sam seduced her. Harry isn’t sure if he believes her or not but the seed of suspicion has been planted and now things are tense between Sam and Harry. Lucy has caused trouble, which is what she wanted to do.

Harry and his team have found a planet that is pretty much dead. There’s a huge cleft running through it, as if the planet had been almost torn in two. There’s no atmosphere but there are ruins of a civilisation and there’s enough metal to make a profitable haul.

Then Sam spots somebody. Somebody apparently human, or at least human-like - it’s hard to be sure when someone is wearing a spacesuit. The planet is supposed to be uninhabited.

What interests Harry is that the stranger’s spacesuit and helmet are made of an incredibly lightweight incredibly tough totally unknown substance. That could mean money - there are people who would pay big bucks to analyse that substance.

And then all hell breaks loose. The planet is inhabited by a variety of life forms, some humanoid and some very bizarre indeed. They live in that cleft, where the last of the planet’s atmosphere is to be found. They all want food. Food is in very short supply. Harry assumes that this will make trading easy.

All the species native to the planet are constantly at war. Harry thinks he can scheme his way out of anything but maybe this time he’s miscalculated.

Sam is not exactly a standard square-jawed action hero. He’s not a hopeless drunk, but he is a drunk. He’s cynical. He’s not outstandingly brave. What he does have is a burning desire to survive, which is odd since he gives the impression of being a guy who puts very little value on his life.

Whether Harry is a villain or just reckless and foolish remains to be seen.

The story is not short on action and danger.

There are a few moral quandaries that Sam will have to face.

This is space opera but with at least some substance. Recommended.

Armchair Fiction have paired this title with The Year When Stardust Fell by Raymond F. Jones in a double-header edition.

I’ve reviewed some of Edmond Hamilton's other fiction including The Avenger from Atlantis and Crashing Suns.

Who is Number 2? The Prisoner tie-in novel)

David McDaniel’s Who is Number 2? was the second of the original novels based on The Prisoner TV series.

Like the first novel, Thomas M. Disch’s The Prisoner, it appears to take place some time after the events of the TV series.

You do need to be familiar with the television series. But if you are a fan of the TV series it’s worth reading and it’s recommended.

My full review can be found at Cult TV Lounge.

Red Sonja 1: The Ring of Ikribu

Red Sonja 1 The Ring of Ikribu by David C. Smith and Richard L. Tierney is the first of six Red Sonja novels published by Ace. This first book came out in 1982.  Red Sonja had also appeared in a number of comic books.

This is not quite a spin-off from Robert E. Howard’s Conan stories, or at least it is and it isn’t. A character named Red Sonya (with a “y” not a “j”) made a very brief appearance in Howard’s fiction. Red Sonja is however essentially a brand new character.

The setting is ostensibly Howard’s mythical continent of Hyboria. The great thing about Hyboria is that it encompassed many different nations with many different cultures so the fact that Red Sonja inhabits a world that is more medieval than dark age barbarian does’t matter too much.

Red Sonja is a mercenary who is hired by Olin, a king whose kingdom was stolen from him by the sorcerer Asroth. Recruiting mercenaries won’t be easy - even the bravest man is reluctant to face sorcery. But Sonja is broke so she accepts the offer.

We get a brief backstory on the heroine and it’s pretty conventional - she lost her family and her honour to bandits. She had an encounter with what she assumed was a goddess. Sonja was given the strength and skill of a great warrior but had to pledge never to give herself to any man who could not defeat her in combat.

At this stage it seems like this will be run-of-the-mill sword-and-sorcery with a large dash of girlpower. Sonja seems like a standard kickass action heroine, in other words essentially a female character who could just as easily have been male. It all feels a bit generic.

But don’t give up - this book gets better and better as it goes. It also gets a lot darker.

Olin’s army sets out to reclaim his city of Suthad and the terrifying nature of Asroth’s sorceries becomes more apparent. The army’s march becomes a march into Hell. Asroth conjures up monsters which is bad enough but it’s when Olin’s warriors find themselves battling against their own slain comrades who have been zombie-fied that morale starts to crack.

And disoyalty becomes a problem. Olin’s mercenaries were never keen to begin with and they soon abandon him. Even his own troops are increasingly wondering if their suffering are worthwhile - maybe they’re up against an invincible enemy, and maybe defeat will mean worse things than death.

One thing I like is that Asroth’s magic isn’t all-powerful. The monsters are not as formidable as they look. The zombie warriors are unskilful and vulnerable. It’s the gruesomeness and the disgustingness of the creatures and the fact that Asroth is able to keep creating them that creates fear, and it’s the fear rather the creatures themselves that is the enemy.

Asroth remains offstage for most of the story which makes him more menacing. And there are villains who may not be straightforward villains, and allies who may be very untrustworthy, and they make the story a lot more interesting. Duke Pelides had been a servant of Asroth. Now he has joined Olin, but whose side is he really on?

And there are the Stygian priests of Ikibru. They’re enemies to Asroth, but whether that means they’re good guys or just another faction of bad guys remains to be seen.

It’s all about a magical ring. Asroth wants it. The Stygian priests want it. Duke Pelides wants it. Red Sonja has it, but she doesn’t know what to do with it. She’s not a sorceress so she cannot unlock its full powers. But would it be wise to entrust it to either Olin or Duke Pelides?

Sonja has personal matters to worry about as well. Olin is in love with her and wants to sleep with her. And she is discovering that despite her vow she is still a woman and she has emotional and physical needs and she could easily fall in love with Olin.

The authors keep things moving along in a brisk fashion, the action scenes are handled well and there’s some very effective very visceral horror. And an excellent atmosphere of paranoia and doom.

This is a hugely entertaining novel. Highly recommended. Now I need to find more of the Red Sonja novels.

It was the positive review at Paperback Warrior that convinced me to buy this book.

Carter Brown’s The Wind-Up Doll

The Wind-Up Doll, published in 1964, is the sixth of Carter Brown’s Rick Holman mysteries.

Australian author Alan Geoffrey Yates (1923-1985) wrote more than two hundred novels and seventy-five novellas using the pseudonym Carter Brown. His books sold well over a hundred million copies. One of his many series characters is Hollywood troubleshooter/private eye Rick Holman. The studios, and the stars, employ Rick whenever they need a very very discreet private eye to get a star out of an awkward spot and avoid scandal.

Toni Astor is a rising movie star. She is twenty-one years old but really she’s twenty-one going on twelve. She was adopted by her aunt Naomi who steered her on the road to stardom. Toni is about to get married for the second time, to the latest pop singer sensation Larry Gold. Her manager has hired Rick to do some digging into the singer’s background. He just wants to make sure Toni doesn’t make a second disastrous marriage.

Rick gets to meet Toni’s cousin Lisa. The two cousins hate each other.

There have been some shady goings-on regarding the careers of both Toni Astor and Larry Gold. Both the film and music businesses are awash with crooked producers, managers, financiers and talent agencies and the careers of both Toni and Larry are complicated webs of dubious deals. And there are complicated webs of family jealousies and family hatreds.

And then the accident happens. A fatal accident. Seventy-foot falls into empty swimming pools usually are fatal.

The police are satisfied that it was an accident. Rick is not so easily satisfied. There are so many potential financial and personal motivations that might be temptations for murder. The problem is trying to make sense of those webs of personal and financial entanglements.

Toni is a nice enough girl but she’s immature and unstable and she knows how to make use of her considerable sexual allure. She certainly qualifies as a dangerous dame who should not be trusted too far. Her cousin Lisa and her mother Naomi seem just as dangerous and just as unpredictable.

Most of those involved in managing Toni’s career are either borderline gangsters or people who are accustomed to sailing very close to the wind when it comes to the law.

As you would expect in a Carter Brown novel there’s quite a bit of sleaze. There’s glamour as well and Brown knows that sleaze and glamour is always an irresistible cocktail.

The plot is nicely twisty.

And as you expect in a Carter Brown story the plot motors along at a brisk pace and there’s some fine hardboiled dialogue.

The Wind-Up Doll might not be great literature but it is great pulp crime fiction and it’s highly recommended. And the Signet paperback edition has a great Robert McGinnis cover.

I enjoy all of Carter Brown’s stuff but the Rick Holman books are rapidly becoming my favourites. Sex, scandal and murder in Hollywood always works for me. I’ve also reviewed one of the later books in this series, Where Did Charity Go?