Welcome to the super-sized version of BBB&B. What looks like three books are really some old two-in-one editions, all written by great authors, including the return of a pulp hero and two from the tag team that is Ellery Queen. But to start it all off is one from that ’60s-looking garage rocker.

TOUGH TENDER by Max Allan Collins – There is only one Hard Case Crime book that’s sat on my shelf for a long time because its girth scares me – which is pretty funny since this 1991 book is about the same length. Also it’s a continuation of those characters. Yes, if you’ve read TWO FOR THE MONEY, here’s the follow-up.

Picking up after the events of those two books, these two novels go hand-in-hand together: HARD CASH (1982) and SCRATCH FEVER (1982). The former starts out with Collins’ version of the Parker archetype: Nolan, a now-retired robber. Well, that is until someone pops up from his past with a blackmail scheme.

Spoiler warning: The bank president from the previous book wants to hire Nolan and his partner Jon to rob his bank again. It seems the president has embezzled funds and figures he can cover it up with Nolan’s robbery help. But the president has ulterior motives, since he plans on running off with his 20-years-younger mistress Julie.

For fans of the Parker novels, you know this book is for you right away. It’s a great read throughout, with Collins throwing in some unexpected surprises which to go into would ruin TWO FOR THE MONEY for those who have not read it.

Onto its companion piece SCRATCH FEVER, which picks up a few months later, with Jon and Nolan living separate lives. It opens with Jon and his band playing their final club show when he notices someone in the crowd who he thought was dead. But the problem is the person in question recognizes Jon as well and sets a plan into action to get rid of him and Nolan together.

To say more would give away major plot points, so excuse me for glancing over the details. But there is one thing you should know: Never cross Nolan. Collins writes this book so well, you’re going to be mad when it all finishes up, since you want to see what else these characters can get into. Even though I know some of the outcome of TWO FOR THE MONEY, it won’t stop me from reading it now. He’s that good of a writer.

To compare Nolan to Richard Stark’s Parker is not a diss of Collins’ writing; it’s just that these characters very much fit the same profile. Whatever you do, try and find this version of the book, and not just the novels on their own. They flow very well together, and the second one ties up all of the first one’s loose ends.

THE DRAGON’S TEETH / CALAMITY TOWN by Ellery Queen – Back in the early ’80s, Signet was all about more-bang-for-your-buck reading when it started to package various Ellery Queen novels together as “A Signet Double Mystery by Ellery Queen.”

Up first in this 1980 compilation is THE DRAGON’S TEETH from 1939. It’s not your typical puzzle mystery that you’d expect from early Queen. Plus, it adds in a romantic side to the proceedings. It deals with one of Ellery’s pals Beau Rummell – yes, they make the obvious joke about what name his closely resembles – wanting to start up a detective agency with Ellery’s name on the door.

They are visited by an eccentric millionaire named Cadmus Cole, who makes Howard Hughes seem like the life of the party, since he lives most of his life on a yacht, only coming ashore when necessary. Cadmus wants to hire Ellery, but won’t tell him what the job is and that Ellery will know when to start investigating. Sure, that’s puzzling, but it’s explained fairly quickly once the old man passes away.

The case is to find the two living heirs to his will – two women who have had nothing to do with Cadmus his entire life. It seems Cadmus was a total ass to his family and those around him, to the point that in his will, there is a condition that the only way the two women can inherit the money is to never get married and live in the same home for a year. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Since Ellery comes down with appendicitis, it’s up to Beau to track down one of the women first, posing as Queen himself. He finds Kerrie Shawn out in California and she is happy about the money, but also wants nothing to deal with anything Cadmus has ever done. Then the other woman, Margo Cole, who came back to the states from France, wants nothing but her share and anything else she can grab.

The book plays out more thriller-like at this point, with multiple attempts made on Kerrie’s life, with Beau in Ellery mode for most of the story. This won’t come as a shock to anyone, but at the halfway mark, there’s a surprise you won’t expect and from there on out, it goes into full-Queen mystery mode, with a giant red herring throwing you off the whole time. The romance angle is a nice touch to this atypical Queen mystery.

As the second half of this Queen double feature is CALAMITY TOWN, a 1942 effort that’s the first of the books involving Wrightsville – a picture-perfect small town never fully defined as to where it’s located. Ellery has come there to write another book, figuring the new setting will give him some fresh ideas.

He rents a home under the assumed name of Ellery Smith, with his new neighbors being of the more influential set. But as nice as the Wrights come off, every family has issues, of course. The Wrights’ daughters have a laundry list of problems, with eldest Lola a divorcée who is considered a town scandal and lives in the seedier area, wanting nothing from the family. Then there is Nora, who was left at the altar years ago and has never been the same. Finally, there is Pat, who comes across as a Katherine Hepburn type: extremely strong-willed and a beauty to match.

Things move along swimmingly for the family, when out of the blue, Nora’s old fiancé Jim comes back, begging forgiveness. After a whirlwind marriage and honeymoon, the happy couple settles back into Wrightsville … until the discovery of three letters hidden in one of Jim’s books, all addressed to his sister and all dated for the future of how Nora was becoming sicker and sicker, only to be dead on New Year’s.

What’s Ellery to do? Especially when Jim’s sister shows up and ends up dying of a poisoning. With the town abuzz and the family all throwing its support behind Jim, how will Ellery hide his true identity and figure out this crime?

This book is more about the scene and characters. Never before are we given such a rich backdrop and people to study. It’s truly a classic that should be read by all mystery readers. Sure, it becomes apparent that the clues are a little easy to figure out, but with the way this book is written, you won’t mind a bit. This is truly pitch-perfect storytelling.

TARZAN: THE CLASSICS – TARZAN AND THE GOLDEN LION / TARZAN AND THE ANT MEN by Edgar Rice Burroughs – Closing out this overflowing column is the return of Tarzan. The great thing about this 1995 collection is that it marks the creative high point of the long-running series. After ANT MEN book, it took a shift, losing main characters and Tarzan becoming more of a traveler with characters just popping in to help out.

First up is TARZAN AND THE GOLDEN LION, which deals with a perfect double for Tarzan coming to Africa with a group of fellow treasure hunters whose use the resemblance to their advantage and to Tarzan’s trouble. Yes, the series is still un-PC, but it was written in 1922, so deal with it.

It starts off easily enough with Tarzan and family rescuing a lion cub who just lost its mother. Tarzan raises the cub himself. This is told in, like, a chapter. All of a sudden, the lion is full-grown with a long name – Jad-bal-ja – that will confuse most readers, since 70 percent of the characters’ names are that confusing. This is not a knock of Burroughs’ style, but you’ll feel like you need a scorecard to keep track of who is who.

The great thing about this novel is that it ties in with TARZAN AND THE JEWELS OF OPAR, since the group of treasure hunters led by Esteban Miranda the Tarzan look-alike goes through the jungle with people and super ape-like creatures thinking it’s really the Lord of the Jungle. On the hunt for jewels, these guys kill anything in their path, which upsets many and with Tarzan bearing the blame for their actions.

That leads to Tarzan being drugged and taken to Opar, where there is a bit of unfinished business with the high priestess there. All the while, Tarzan’s lion pal is on the hunt for his master. Tarzan comes across a new area of the mysterious land, running into an even more ferocious type of gorillas who are war-like and deadly.

This is just pure escapism, at which Burroughs is a master. There is nothing like being sucked into this world, so packed with action and pulp heroics, you can see why these books are always in print.

I think 1924’s TARZAN AND THE ANT MEN easily could have been called JOHN CARTER AND THE ANT MEN, since it delves more into the science-fiction element than other books in the series – not heavy sci-fi, but enough of an element to be obvious.

It starts with Tarzan flying a plane by himself. (Yeah, Tarzan the pilot – I’ll buy it and block out all reason.) The plane crashes in a land Tarzan has never been, where he runs into an Amazonian-type race where female giants treat men lower than dirt. Like I said, science fiction, but the tables will change.

Tarzan is captured and the men of this land have never seen anyone like him – meaning someone who can fight back and is powerful enough to take the women on. So after Tarzan rallies the men to revolt, he then comes across the title characters of this book. They are called ant men for their height: all of 18 inches. These ant men live in the land of Minuni, where all the cities are in a constant battle against others.

Once there, Tarzan makes friends with one of the kings, only to be shrunk down to their size by one of the scientists. Then Tarzan is captured again and made to work as a slave, with an over-the-top escape to follow, of course. This is what makes reading so much fun, since you totally are just indebted with bizarre races and preposterous plots, you’ll grab the next Tarzan book off your shelf to see what else Burroughs has in that head of his.

Next time: How to be a crook in three easy lessons. –Bruce Grossman

Buy it at Amazon.

OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS:
• THE CHESSMEN OF MARS by Edgar Rice Burroughs
• THE GODS OF MARS by Edgar Rice Burroughs
• A PRINCESS OF MARS by Edgar Rice Burroughs
• TARZAN AND THE JEWELS OF OPAR by Edgar Rice Burroughs
• THUVIA, MAID OF MARS by Edgar Rice Burroughs
• THE WARLORD OF MARS by Edgar Rice Burroughs

OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF MAX ALLAN COLLINS:
• BLACK HATS by Patrick Culhane
• DICK TRACY by Max Allan Collins
• A KILLING IN COMICS by Max Allan Collins
• THE LAST QUARRY by Max Allan Collins
• MY LOLITA COMPLEX AND OTHER TALES OF SEX AND VIOLENCE by Max Allan Collins and Matthew V. Clemens
• QUARRY’S LIST by Max Allan Collins
• ROAD TO PARADISE by Max Allan Collins
• THE WAR OF THE WORLDS MURDER by Max Allan Collins

OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF ELLERY QUEEN:
• COP OUT by Ellery Queen
• THE COPPER FRAME by Ellery Queen
• THE FOUR OF HEARTS by Ellery Queen
• A ROOM TO DIE IN by Ellery Queen
• THE SPANISH CAPE MYSTERY by Ellery Queen