Burt Arthur (1899–1975)

Wildside Press Megapacks are truly a great deal. Here, you get four novels for the price of one, three by Thomas B Dewey and one by Burt Arthur (who appears to be someone other than Dewey - ?) There might not be a particular reason these were bundled together.

Two of the Dewey novels are top-notch pulp novels. Run Brother Run could use a snazzier pulpier title, but that's really the
only complaint with it. It is a terrific fifties-era pulp story that is easy to read and hard to put down. The pacing is terrific and the action relentless. Dewey gives us a tale about a prison break, a group of ex-
cons holed up together with no one trusting each other and for good
reason, nightclubs, strippers, knife-wielding hoods, and a fortune in
jewels. It's much much more than your average prison break story and
it's filled with terrific characters that really come alive visually. Reminded me a little of westlake's Parker novels. Nothing -absolutely nothing not to like here.

Kiss Me Hard is another terrific pulp novel that pairs a hard-drinking piano player with a missing girl as they make their way across the country with the law and other menacing figures on their heels. They
hop freight trains and sleep in hayfields and rundown hotels on the wrong side of town just like out of Kerouac's On the Road. This story is worth reading as you follow these tragic figures trying to escape their pasts and trying to get by day to day.

The third Dewey novel A Season of Violence is more of a Perry Mason
type court case novel, but I thought it meandered a bit too much and
lacked the raw passion that the other two Dewey novels had.

Finally, the Burt Arthur novel is a classic western.
… (mehr)