Wed 19 Nov 2008
PHILIP ATLEE’S JOE GALL SERIES, by George Kelley.
Posted by Steve under Authors , Bibliographies, Lists & Checklists , Characters[30] Comments
by George Kelley
Joe Gall is the Cadillac of hardass spies. Sure, Matt Helm can crush a foe’s kidneys with a crowbar, but would Helm allow himself to be turned into a heroin addict as Gall does in The Death Bird Contract (Fawcett, 1966), surely one of the best books James Atlee Phillips (who writes the Joe Gall series as “Philip Atlee”) ever wrote?
I started the Joe Gall series early on with The Green Wound (Fawcett, 1963) and The Paper Pistol Contract (Fawcett, 1966). I was immediately impressed by the quality of the writing:
We find out later that the man was carrying nearly half a kilo of uncut heroin in his butt, sealed in pliofilm and insertion surgically assisted. However, something went wrong: the bundle busted and a pound of pure heroin blasted into the tissues of the man’s body without warning. And the description of the event is graphic, yet at the same time poetic.
The other trademark of the Joe Gall series is detailed references to local food, buildings, streets, and exotic customs. The reason is that James Atlee Phillips visited each of the sites of the novels in the series, many times writing the first draft on location to be sure to capture faithfully the local flavor. (Details of Phillips’ writing habits were related to me by a friend of his, Tom Van Zandt.)
From Van Zandt’s information, Joe Gall is a projection of Phillips’ own fiery personality and style. Early in the series, Phillips has a minor character describe Joe Gall’s role that remains more or less consistant throughout the series:
Joe Gall has class. He works only on a contract basis for large sums of money and spends most of his time in a fabulous mountain retreat in the Ozarks. He’s similar in style and flair to that legendary Western “consultant,” Paladin.
In terms of quality, I like the first four books in the series best. The Skeleton Coast Contract (Fawcett, 1968) features my favorite Joe Gall scene: Joe’s staked out on an anthill, and I assure you the description will make you itchy and wiggly for weeks. I have a certain amount of sentimental fondness for The Canadian Bomber Contract (Fawcett, 1971) because my home town is Niagara Falls, New York and I appreciate the fact that Phillips took the time to write an adventure taking place in my backyard and get it right.
I recommend all the books in the Joe Gall series without reservation, but you have my preferences. The later books seemed to lack vitality and The Last Domino Contract (Fawcett, 1976) has Joe Gall calling it quits. Whether Phillips brings Gall out of retirement remains to be seen; however we have several top quality books to continue to enjoy while they remain in print.
Bibliographic data: The JOE GALL books. [Expanded from Crime Fiction IV, by Allen J. Hubin.]
Pagoda, as by James Atlee Phillips. Macmillan, hardcover, 1951. Bantam 1055, paperback, 1952. [Burma]. Joe Gall is an independent soldier of fortune.
All later books are paperback originals:
The Green Wound. Gold Medal k1321, July 1963 [New Orleans, LA] Joe Gall is now a semi-retired contract agent for the CIA. Reprinted as The Green Wound Contract, Gold Medal, 1967.
The Silken Baroness. Gold Medal k1489, 1964 [Canary Islands] Reprinted as The Silken Baroness Contract, Gold Medal, 1966
The Death Bird Contract. Gold Medal d1632, 1966 [Mexico]
The Paper Pistol Contract. Gold Medal d1634, 1966 [Tahiti]
The Irish Beauty Contract. Gold Medal d1694, 1966 [Bolivia]
The Star Ruby Contract. Gold Medal d1770, 1967 [Burma]
The Rockabye Contract. Gold Medal d1901, 1968 [Caribbean]
The Skeleton Coast Contract. Gold Medal D1977, 1968 [Africa]
The Ill Wind Contract. Gold Medal R2087, 1969 [Indonesia]
The Trembling Earth Contract. Gold Medal, 1969 [U.S. South]
The Fer-de-Lance Contract. Gold Medal, Jan 1971 [Caribbean]
The Canadian Bomber Contract. Gold Medal T2450, August 1971 [Montreal, Canada]
The White Wolverine Contract. Gold Medal T2508, Dec 1971 [Vancouver, Canada]
The Kiwi Contract. Gold Medal T2530, Feb 1972 [New Zealand]
The Judah Lion Contract. Gold Medal T2608, Sept 1972 [Ethiopia]
The Spice Route Contract. Gold Medal T2697, April 1973 [Middle East]
The Shankill Road Contract. Gold Medal T2819, Sept 1973 [Ireland]
The Underground Cities Contract. Gold Medal M2925, Feb 1974 [Turkey]
The Kowloon Contract. Gold Medal M3028, August 1974 [Hong Kong]
The Black Venus Contract. Gold Medal M3187, Feb 1975 [South America]
The Makassar Strait Contract. Gold Medal P3477, March 1976 [Indonesia]
The Last Domino Contract. Gold Medal 1-3587, 1976 [Korea]
Note: In a chart created by R. Jeff Banks accompanying the first appearance of this article, he points out that the background of the unnamed hero of The Deadly Mermaid by James Atlee Phillips (Dell 1st Edn #26, pb, 1954) is very similar to that of Joe Gall’s.
November 19th, 2008 at 7:06 pm
A fine well-written series. (Not like the junk that many in this genre threw out there in the 60s and 70s.) Atlee didn’t care for that PC stuff. He believed what he believed, and was not afraid to say it in his novels. And I enjoyed it all.
A very brave author.
I get my Joe Gall fix regularly.
November 19th, 2008 at 8:47 pm
August
You could spread Atlee’s books out over a length of time, and then start over. There’s enough of them that by the time you’ve reached the end of the cycle, they’d seem fresh again the next time around.
And guess what this article has prompted me to do!
— Steve
November 20th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
Great, now I have to add The Deadly Mermaid to Pagoda in order to really complete my Joe Gall collection. A copy of Pagoda can usually be had by buying the Detective Book Club edition, one of those cheap 3-in-1 series that always advertised with an insert in the middle of paperbacks. They appear to be more plentiful than the actual book itself.
My favorite Gall scene is the knife in the hand moment in Irish Beauty Contract. It hurts just to read that chapter.
November 20th, 2008 at 3:45 pm
Larry
To correct you just a little, Pagoda wasn’t in one of those DBC volumes, but in a 4-in-1 Unicorn edition. Those are harder to find and are starting to get pricey. But for four mysteries not easily found elsewhere, I think maybe $10 to $20 is worth the money. (From what I can tell, that’s about the going rate now.)
The lowest priced Bantam reprint of Pagoda on ABE right now is $8.00 in VG condition, and that’s not too bad.
As for Joe Gall, I’ll bet everyone has their own favorite scenes. There’s probably one in every book in the series!
Best
— Steve
January 1st, 2009 at 3:43 pm
I have just stumbled upon this archived review of the Gall series, and share all views expressed in this reprint and the comments. I own the entire series (my late father’s) and to this day reread the occasional Gall. A few years back I completed the collection by locating a paperback of “Pagoda.”
Two questions in no particular order:
1) What is the “Mermaid” book? Another predecessor? Does anybody know where I could get one?
2) Considering this is one of the greatest, most forgotten out-of-print badass spy series, is there any move afoot among cash-crunched publishers to reissue the series? It remains relevant.
January 1st, 2009 at 4:42 pm
Mark
I’ve not read The Deadly Mermaid, so the note at the end of George’s piece says about all I’d be able to say about it.
As for finding a copy, it shouldn’t be difficult. I see a decent copy on Amazon, and a quick search on http://www.bookfinder.com just turned up over 20 copies, starting at $6.50, including postage.
To answer your second question, I kind of doubt that anyone’s thinking of reprinting the Gall books, but it could happen. But if the Matt Helm books aren’t in print, I see less hope for Joe Gall, as popular as his books still are.
— Steve
January 23rd, 2009 at 6:16 pm
While I agree with many of the good things said about Atlee as a writer and about Gall as a character toward the end Atlee’s lack of fear of saying what he believed led to some outright racist passages that can’t be excused as either characterization or some ruse of Gall’s to inflitrate the enemy. At least one book ends with an unpleasant rant between Gall and his boss talking about protecting civilization from the dark races … I suppose I could have taken this wrong or out of context, and Atlee may have intended the passage as sardonic in the Richard Condon mode, but it didn’t read that way.
That isn’t a condemnation of the series as a whole, nor representative of them, but there is a fine line between being “outspoken” in ones opinions and outright offensive and Atlee seems to sometimes cross that line.
Of course if you are going to read older popular fiction you have to park more modern sensibilites or at least cut the author and characters some slack for being men of their time, but this isn’t an isolated incident in only one Gall book. I will grant, however, that Atlee may have simply intended to stay true to the nature of Gall’s Southern redneck character and not have shared the words he sometimes put in Gall’s mouth. John Buchan has been criticized for having a character in The 39 Steps refer to a Jewish character with “an eye like a rattlesnake” with almost no one noting that Buchan was a close friend of Bernard Baruch, and the character in the book is a paranoid American who proves to be 100% wrong about the nature of the conspiracy he has uncovered. If I’m being overly sensitive and unfair to Atlee I apologise, perhaps he was just too convincing in the same way Buchan was.
Certainly the early Gall books represent a refreshing use of the hardboiled voice in the spy novel, and there is much to appreciate in Atlee’s books, but I have to admit once in a while he would have been better served by a more keen eyed editorial hand.
January 25th, 2009 at 10:47 am
Just tuned back in and am delighted to see people remember this great series. David rightly notes the pitfalls of evaluating past-generation, hard-boiled fiction through the prism of today’s more advanced social sensibilities. His views are well stated and worthy of consideration. Please allow me one “but” — while my memory of this series is now clouded by more than 30 years (I read the books as a teenager taking hand-me-downs from my father) my now-faded recollection is that I admired Atlee’s Gall character for his repudiation of Redneck views and ways despite his (somewhat excentric) residency in the heart of small-town Arkansas. I can recall occasional rants that I interpreted not literally but as… quoting your corresondenct… “sardonic in the Richard Condon way.” This certainly motivates me to dig through the attic, locate one of the old, later Galls and give it a read. I will wager this series would resell in reprint, Cheers, Mark
March 29th, 2009 at 9:23 pm
I’ve always enjoyed Kiwi and Judah Lion. those two are the ones I first read, back in the seventies when they were coming out. I think Judah Lion is the best, both as a Gall novel and as an adventure story in and of itself.
Later, the series got less interesting, although following Gall’s career, politics, and passions were always fascinating.
The first books in the series are also of a very different tone. The stories are more tightly plotted, and there is considerably more violence against women in those books. From those you would think James Atlee Phillips really hated women.
As a writer, Phillips is underrated — and mostly forgotten. But he deserves to be up there with Spillane. He could tell a story well and he always fascinates you.
April 19th, 2009 at 8:15 am
Just checked back in and am disappointed we have not generated more chatter about the late Philip Atlee’s ‘Joe Gall’ series. His treatment of the social issues that we have discussed this winter aside, it was clear that the author lost steam by the end of the series. Rougly speaking, the first 10 or so in the series held together by way of plot, pacing and character better than the other 11. Nonetheless, the colorful travel narrative throughout the series made all entries well worth a read. On subsequent business and pleasure trips in the decades following the series, I found the places, landmarks, streets,and historic bars and restaurants described in the books often to be as described in the fiction. Will check back in this summer in hopes a meaningful discussion will be populating this interesting site. Mark
April 23rd, 2009 at 2:20 pm
I suspect the future of the Joe Gall books, and genre paperbacks in general, will be in a KINDLE 2 format. Or maybe GOOGLE will make them available.
April 23rd, 2009 at 2:56 pm
I suppose you’re right, George, in the long run. I’ve foreseen the day that “eBooks” would take over since I was 12, well over 50 years ago, when I worried about whether I should keep saving the paperbacks I read, or dispose of them, like my grandparents did. (My parents didn’t read paperbacks back then, being busy making sure I grew up properly, which I did, since I ended up saving all of the books I read, most of which I still have.)
— Steve
May 5th, 2009 at 12:21 pm
I have, over the years (too many) read and re-read the Joe Gall series. (among others) I have a habit of once having read a book (s) worth reading again, of consciously making an effort to forget as much of it as is possible. This odd habit allows me to rediscover some of the “newness” of the story when I read it again. As far as the “PC” factor of the character I think we all have friends who have many enjoyable and admirable qualities but also have some short comings. We take to them in spite of their flaws, warts and all; at least I do. Just my opinion.
- Al
June 7th, 2009 at 8:24 pm
Gents– It appears we few who remember the series all have a few years under the belt and still enjoy the experience of reading paper. If e-books can introduce some of today’s younger readers to the pleasures of yesteryear’s tough-guy, perhaps-less-than-politically-correct genre fiction then all the better. Atlee was one of the greats. But there were many. I’m going to prowl this site a bit, in the near future, and see if it is possible to stir some chatter about the late Ross Thomas, another forgotten good one.
July 5th, 2009 at 9:46 pm
Are you guys really paying $8 or $10 for these books? I get them at used book stores for $2. If you look harder and wait longer, you can probably do the same.
July 5th, 2009 at 11:23 pm
Matt
For books in the Joe Gall series, you’re right. You can find those easily on eBay or Amazon, especially if you don’t need them in As New condition.
I think it was PAGODA that was being referred to as being in the $8 range. That one’s a little harder to find.
— Steve
August 25th, 2009 at 4:25 pm
Really strange. I grew up during that era; read Matt Helm (now he was hard boiled), Shell Scout (he was goofy), Chet Drum, Sam Durrell, Mike Hammer (of course…most everyone my age probably started w/Spillane), Parker (Richard Stark, aka Donald Westlake…I think the early Parker books started back in those days) and others. But I don’t think I ever read any Joe Gall books. That seems strange. Worth reading now, or too dated?
January 26th, 2010 at 1:10 pm
I have a few Joe Gall books that I’ve picked up for the cover art, but haven’t tried them yet.
I’ve never been a Matt Helm fan, but like Bob (above), I adored Shell Scott and Chet Drum. And, of course, Travis McGee.
From what I read, Joe Gall sounds like a good fit – will get right on the case!
February 25th, 2010 at 7:55 am
I recently purchased a copy of Pagoda for $20. I read all of the Contract series several years ago. The series, on the whole , was fascinating and enjoyable and several were every bit as good as Matt Helm though never reaching the finer level of writing of Ross Thomas or Richard Condon.
Phillip Atlle appears to be an interesting man and I would like to know more about him. Is there is any biographical information available? I would love to have a signed copy of one of the Joe Gall books if someone has a copy for sale. I like to have signed copies of authors I enjoy and have some signed by Eric Ambler, Richard Condon,Donald Hamilton,Gerald Kersh, and even Mickey Spillane among others. I’ve searched in Ebay and Amazon and Abebooks frequently and have never seen any signed Phillip Atlee or James Atlee Phillips offered so I assume that he rarely signed his books.
February 28th, 2010 at 9:27 pm
Review of THE SILKEN BARONESS CONTRACT here:
http://z7hq.blogspot.com/2010/02/silken-baroness-contract-by-philip.html
August 22nd, 2010 at 9:04 am
Ransford asked if there was any biographical information about Philip Atlee. Here it is, and it is insightful:
http://www.shawnphillips.com/photovideo/photogallery/PHJames.htm
This is from a website managed by Atlee’s son, a folk-rock singer of some repute.
Here also is the author’s obituary from the New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/1991/05/30/obituaries/philip-atlee-77-dies-wrote-detective-novels.html
Philips also wrote the screenplay of a Robert Mitchum movie: Thunder Road. I read that he scripted a movie for John Wayne, too. It’s called Big Jim McClain. Read about the Wayne deal here — it’s very amusing:
http://www.miskatonic.org/rara-avis/archives/200101/0027.html
August 22nd, 2010 at 9:15 am
In addition, there is a possible connection with David Atlee Phillips. I read in one article that David was related to the author. David was a member of the CIA and he was involved with the Bay of Pigs, as well as other CIA operations.
I read his memoirs — The Night Watch. This was very interesting because it provided some insight as to how the CIA was formed, how CIA operatives were recruited, and how they worked. His observations about some historical personalities are also insightful.
Regarding the connection to Philip Atlee: I don’t know if they were related. Both were born in Fort Worth Texas several years apart. The article I read – it may have been part of a book that provided biographical summaries of pulp fiction authors – suggested they were related and that Philip Atlee gained insight into the inner workings of intelligence operations from David.
All good stuff to my way of thinking.
August 22nd, 2010 at 11:11 am
Thanks for all of the links, Steven. Here’s another
http://www.jfkmurdersolved.com/bush.htm
that specifically states that Philip Atlee (James Atlee Phillips) and David Atlee Phillips were brothers. (The article also strongly suggests that the latter was heavily involved with the Kennedy assassination.)
He also wrote a couple of spy novels:
PHILLIPS, DAVID ATLEE (1922-1988)
* The Carlos Contract (n.) Macmillan 1978
* The Terror Brigade (n.) Jove 1989 [Lebanon]
but I’ve never read (nor even seen) either of them.
October 9th, 2010 at 9:02 am
Interesting that Atlee did a hard-boiled secret agent series, as unfortunately many secret agent series come across as campy. I read The Ill Wind Contract and Joe Call uses a swear. This book arrived in 1969. Had thriller writers starting having swears in their dialogue by then?
January 6th, 2011 at 3:08 pm
An earlier reader is too right. I’ve just started The Green Wound from 1963. It’s the original I bought in 1963 and was behind some books in an old bookcase. Just as fresh as when I first read it!
January 19th, 2011 at 1:54 am
Checking Back After a Long Absence.
Once again, I started reading The Paper Pistol Contract [Fawcett Gold Medal, 1966]. In this one, Gall is sent to Tahiti to thwart the French plans to detonate a nuclear bomb in French Polynesia, and to tweak de Gaulle’s big nose for recognizing Peking in the early 1960s, when the People’s Republic of China was called Red China, and when only Taiwan was recognized by the USA as “China.”
A fun thing about Atlee’s books are his vignettes involving his Arkansas background. In Chapter 3 he starts describing an Arkansan sport called “noodling.” It’s pretty hilarious.
“When noodling, you drop into the water from your boat, go as deep as you feel inclined, and with your bare hands, grope into the holes, crevices, and ledges under the dark water. During the day huge yellow flathead catfish lurk in these hidden places … Being careful to avoid the wickedly pointed fins, you must thrust your hand into the mouth of the fish, clutch him from the inside by the gills, and hoist him to the surface. … It is an interesting sport because when the fish realizes you are being thus cavalier with his freedom, he comes alive, and cases are recorded where the noodler got his duke firmly fixed and found that he could neither get it free, nor tug the fish out of the hole. In that case, you drown, and get no score.” [Atlee, The Paper Pistol Contract, Page 29.]
I have more to read. I haven’t read this in more than a decade, and that was the second time. So I have forgotten some of the plot, and that makes this re-reading all the better.
I will check back with my comments.
Hope all of you are having a great start to your new year.
February 10th, 2011 at 5:42 pm
In one of the 1969 published Joe Gall novels, The Ill Wind Contract, Joe Gall uses a hard cuss word in dialogue. A four letter cuss word. Had writers starting commonly inserting that word in novels by 1969?
May 15th, 2011 at 12:41 pm
I FIRST CAME ACROSS “THE JOE GALL SERIES” BACK IN 1965.I WAS IN THE ARMY, AND FOUND IT AT THE BASE PX. I’VE FOUND AND READ EVERY BOOK IN THE SERIES. THE LAST I FOUND
WAS ABOUT 1976 -77. THEY WERE THE BEST NOVELS OF THEIR TYPE, I’VE EVER ENJOYED.
I STILL HAVE EVERY PAPERBACK BOOK IN THE SERIES,TIED UP IN A LEATHER SHOE LACE IN
MY BOOKCASE.WHEN EVER I READ THEM, THEY ARE FOND MEMORIES OF MY YOUTH….
May 15th, 2011 at 8:36 pm
gents– just tuned in after a year and am delighted to see there is now some chatter among us middle-aged boomer types about the gall series. genuinely good stuff.
one of the correspondents asked if there is bio material about james atlee phillips. there is a lengthy interview in a defunct paperback magazine from 1985 that did a long q/a wtih the then-aging but still tough author. an interesting read. i would be willing to scan it (i think) and send it to the appropriate person in this chain for posting. it’s long. please advise. mark
June 17th, 2012 at 12:36 pm
Quick question on Joe Gall; he uses the code name the Nullifier. Did he first use this code name prior to Boysie Oakes, the Liquidator? Agent noun code names for adventurers seemed quite uncommon other than Edgar Wallace’s the Ringer.