Quick takes and capsule reviews from the dark suspense master himself, Ed Gorman!

The other night, a blogful of people talked about how it’s cool to read something purely entertaining sometimes. One of my favorites in this category is Loren D. Estleman’s 1989 novel PEEPER, about a sink-hole dirtbag Detroit private eye named Ralph Poteet.

Even after three readings over the years, PEEPER keeps me laughing – many times out loud – all the way through. This isn’t cheap parody. It’s a witty take on many private-eye clichés filled with people you wouldn’t want to meet without wearing a biohazard suit, including a monsignor who dies in a whorehouse.

Poteet is asked to help secret the man’s enormous body to a more discreet location. And he decides while he’s at it … to snap a few pics of the corpse. Never know what kind of money they’ll bring on the open market.

What makes this work is Estleman’s enormous skill. Nobody writes a better classical private-eye story better than Loren, even when he’s having fun with the tropes. He does so with his usual mastery of language, pacing and storytelling.

Trust me. You’ll like this one a lot.

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Terry Southern once said that the lower echelons of publishing provided glimpses of America you just couldn’t get in the mainstream. I take that to mean he believed that you could find some interesting takes if not exactly Higher Truths in, for instance, the downmarket paperback market of the era he wrote in during the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s.

Such magazines as Paperback Parade certainly examine those decades carefully and well. And so do several websites. Thanks to Curt Purcell’s groovy Groovy Age of Horror you can revisit the newstands of your youth in lurid living color. And with savvy commentary to boot.

It was thanks to Groovy that I heard of The Paperback Fanatic. I have the two most recent issues at hand and they should be enough to inspire literary web dreams for collectors and paperback aficionados around the world.

They’re well laid out, packed with cover reproductions and filled with interesting and entertaining articles and interviews of writers and artists alike. Though the slant is British, a good deal of the subject matter deals with American PBs.

Editor Justin Marriott is an incisive interviewer and writer. In the two issues I have, he deals with the mostly forgotten Robert Lory and the famous James Herbert. His piece on Herbert is especially good because of his take on a huge bestseller for whom neither fame nor money is quite enough; he wants respect, too. I like Herbert’s books, so I sympathize with his anger and frustration to some degree. But given the number of struggling wrters in the world, my sympathy is limited.

Justin covers everything from British porn (think MIDWOOD AND BEACON with a Cockney accent), the kung-fu PB phenom and even a collection of war novels (viewers of the Nazi channel in America – better known as The History Channel – would drool over these covers, if not the books themselves).

For mystery readers, there’s a look at what Peter Tremayne was doing back in the ’70s and ’80s, writing originals with titles such as ZOMBIE!, KISS OF THE COBRA, SWAMP! and TROLLNIGHT. I’m assuming this is the same Tremayne who is the author of many notable mystery novels and stories.

If you’re into paperbacks you’d better be into The Paperback Fanatic. No fooling.

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I read Stephen Gallagher for two reasons: First, because he’s one of the most entertaining writers I’ve ever read. And second, because I can’t read a short story of his – let alone a novel – without picking up a few pointers about writing. He’s an elegant stylist, a shrewd psychologist and a powerful storyteller with enormous range and depth.

I finished his latest novel THE KINGDOM OF BONES and I was honestly stunned by what he’d done. The sweep, the majesty, the grit, the grue, the great grief – and the underpinning of gallows humor from time to time. This is not only the finest novel I’ve read this year, but the finest novel I’ve read in the past two or three years.

As most of you know by now, I’m terrible at describing plots. I’ve had three agents over the years assure me that my outlines are the worst they’ve ever read (those insensitive bastards). So I’ll spare you my inept attempt at giving you the details of the story. Whatever your book budget is, make an allowance for this one. You won’t be sorry.

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And the good stuff keeps on coming:

MASQUERADE: TEN CRIME STORIES by Max Brand, edited by William F. Nolan Jr. – Nolan has edited some masterful collections previously and this is one of his best. Brand was one of the most famous of all pulp writers. But he also made extraordinary money in the slicks and in Hollywood. Whatever the format, Brand was up to the task as these stories, culled from both the pulps – including Black Mask and million-selling magazines The American and Colliers. Whether he was writing Westerns, sea adventures, suspense or his famous Dr. Kildare novels, Brand emphasized character as well as action, and it’s the people that keep these stories fresh for readers today. An excellent addition to The Lost Classics Series from Crippen & Landru.

NIGHT OF HORROR AND OTHER STORIES by Joel Townsley Rogers – Rogers is remembered today for one of the strangest and most compelling mystery novels ever written, THE RED RIGHT HAND. But like Brand, he was a writer who worked for the pulps as well as the slicks. These stories – from sources as well-known as The Saturday Evening Post and as forgotten as Mystery Book Magazine – show that Rogers, like Brand, was a first-class yarn-spinner. No matter what the tale, though, there’s always an effective hint of the macabre or ironic in Rogers’ material, whether that be in the straightforward “The Hanging Rope” from New Detective or “Pink Diamond” from Argosy. This is another example of what magazine fiction was really like back in the ’30s and ’40s. And if you’ve got a taste for it, this is a book you’ll want to have. VOLUME TWO is already on the way. –Ed Gorman

Buy it at Amazon.