Capsule Reviews by ALLEN J. HUBIN:


   Commentary on books I’ve covered in the New York Times Book Review.   [Reprinted from The Armchair Detective, Vol. 1, No. 4, July 1968.]

    Previously on this blog:
Part 1
— Charlotte Armstrong through Jonathan Burke.
Part 2 — Victor Canning through Manning Coles.
Part 3 — Stephen Coulter through Thomas B. Dewey.
Part 4 — Charles Drummond through William Garner.

RICHARD H. GARVIN & EDMUND G. ADDEO – The FORTEC Conspiracy. Sherbourne, US, hardcover, 1968. Paperback reprint: Signet T3832, 1969. A combination of a science-fictional theme, UFO’s, with the man on a mission suspense story — and it builds toward a shocking and memorable finale.

GARVIN & ADDEO



ROSEMARY GATENBY – Aim to Kill. Morrow, US, hardcover, 1968; Robert Hale, UK, hc, 1969. Paperback reprint: Pyramid X-2094, 1969. Weakened by too leisurely an approach (largely flashback), this second novel describes a small town terrorized by a seemingly random sniper.

Rosemary Gatenby



FRANK GRUBER – The Gold Gap. Dutton, US, hardcover, 1968; Robert Hale, UK, hc, 1968. Paperback reprint: Pyramid N2558, 1971. Commander Sergeant returns a hero from Viet Nam, and accepts a millionaire’s assignment to investigate his fiance — a job which turns out to have international implications. This is a smooth job, though not so deviously plotted as some.

E. RICHARD JOHNSON – Silver Street. Harper & Row, US, hardcover, 1968. British title: The Silver Street Killer. Hale, hc, 1969. Paperback reprints: Dell, 1969; IPL, 1988. This is a powerful first novel by an inmate of the Minnesota State Prison, dealing with the seamier side of a large city slum and harshly carved out in the vernacular of its inhabitants. [Series character: Tony Lonto.]

E. RICHARD JOHNSON