John McPartland (1911–1958)

I rather liked this book. It's pulp fiction, I'll never be able to award it more than 3*s. One reason I wish I could give s and -s is that it would be nice to be able to separate the good pulp fiction from the dreck. This one would garner a *** .

So, this book is about a sergeant in the Army, Robert E. Lee, who works as a reporter for the military paper, The Stars and Stripes. At a dive bar, he meets and instantly falls in love with a beautiful, red-headed news photographer, Satin Shea, who also happens to be engaged to a Major General. They get involved with a ship wreck at the sight of a volcanic eruption in the ocean, a murder investigation, drugs and prostitution, and all the regular good stuff of pulp fiction.

It's not great literature by any means, but is just fine for a spot of escapist literature, something for reading on a plane or train, or for getting away from the mindless hysteria that obsesses the alleged news services of our modern world.… (mehr)

McPartland is near the top of his game in this one. As usual, there is plenty of man against man physical violence, described in painful detail as only McPartland can. The protagonist travels from California to the Ozarks at the request of his business partner, who hints of millions in riches. Pretty soon, things have taken a very drastic turn for the worse. And it gets worse from there. After that, McPartland succeeds in keeping you in suspense the rest of the way. On a couple of occasions, it appears the story may return to normal--but appearances are deceiving. McPartland, who died far too young, was one of the great writers of pulp novels. In his hands, even the cliches (the beautiful woman, the corrupt lawman) take on new life. He deserves some sort or resurrection, perhaps in one of those Stark House omnibus volumes. In the meantime, some of his novels can be found gratis on munseys.com.… (mehr)

This one has the elements of McPartland's better work, including a Tokyo setting, but the plot isn't up to his usual standard. A British girl knows a big American secret, and the book's hero has only two choices: marry her or kill her. It isn't quite clear how marriage would be a solution, since the real problem is getting her to keep her mouth shut, which she seems totally disinclined to do. In fact, she is rather annoying, and shooting her seems like a pretty good idea to me. There's a bad guy lurking around as well, an Irishmen working for Soviet intelligence. Then there's the American general who runs the intelligence operation, who has to make the choice whether or not to kill the girl. (I do like the part about the M26). In the end, the hero, as we know he must, takes matters into his own hands (literally as you will see), but the actions of the other characters don't ring true and the ending is unsatisfying. On the plus side, it does have several instances of McPartland's unmatched scenes of physical violence.… (mehr)

Hard-hitting story by the always interesting McPartland can't quite make up its mind what it wants to be, so we have a combination of a son returning to the family ranch after the father's unexpected suicide and the story of that son's unstoppable infatuation with the 18-year old daughter of his father's Mexican ranch foreman. Her husband is an Anglo - now a soldier in Japan shacking up with a local woman, so the daughter (Rena) has reason to have her revenge on him. There are moments of good psychological insight throughout the book - particularly the analysis of the motivations that led to the father's suicide. But about 40 pages or so from the end, McPartland starts with a gang fight instigated by Anglos with the Mexicans, which turns into a tragedy that spins the story off in a different direction, with an culmination that is unexpected, pretty perverse, but not without interest. The Mexican girl's self-loathing and desire to be beaten by her man is also quite disturbing and, with no counterargument presented, comes across as McPartland's take on the psychology of all Mexican women - but perhaps I'm reading it from a 21st century perspective rather than as a fairly disposable pulp novel of the 1950s.… (mehr)