Fri 14 Dec 2007
Addenda to CRIME FICTION IV: James Pattinson to Linda Pendleton.
Posted by Steve under Authors , Crime Fiction IV[2] Comments
I think we had more snow yesterday afternoon and evening than we did all last winter. It was well over a foot of the white stuff. After cleaning up the last bit of it from the driveway this morning, I returned to Part 9 of the Addenda and worked in the P section. Don Pendleton is obviously the best known author of this particular grouping, but the others seem to have been interesting people too.
PATTINSON, JAMES. 1915- . Prolific British author of approximately 100 mystery thrillers included in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV, plus five published after 2000, including one scheduled for 2008. One of his earlier novels (Hale, 1968) is shown immediately below:

Cordley’s Castle. Robert Hale, UK, hc, 1974. Add setting: Arizona.
PAVILLARD, STANLEY SEPTIMUS. 1913-1997. Add year of death. Born in the Canary Islands; founder and director of the British American Clinics Las Palmas, 1956-89. Captured by the Japanese in Singapore early in World War II; wrote of his experiences in Bamboo Doctor. After developing partial blindness in later life, dictated a novel also related to his captivity, a book included in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV. See below.
Enemy No. 19. Edinburgh, Scotland: The Pentland Press, hc, 1997. Setting: Far East. “One is apt to forget there was also a Holocaust in the Far East as well as Europe.”

PAYNE, EVELYN. 1907-1977? Author of one mystery novel included in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV. See below.
Held Open for Death. Arcadia House, hc, 1958. Add setting: El Paso TX. Leading character: fledgling real estate agent Tillie Latimer. [For a review of this book, see the previous post.]

PEARSON, JOHN. 1930- . Lives in London; author of two novelsl [FOOTNOTE] included in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV, plus one fictional “biography.” See below. This now constitutes the author’s completely revised CFIV entry:
Delete: Dragon’s Play. [Stoddart, Canada, hc, 1987.] The book does not appear to exist.
Add: Gone To Timbuctoo. Collins, UK, hc, 1962. Setting: Africa.
James Bond: The Authorized Biography of 007. Sidgwick & Jackson, UK, hc, 1973. Wm. Morrow, US, hc, 1973. SC: James Bond.

The Kindness of Dr. Avicenna. Macmillan, UK, hc, 1982. Holt Rinehart & Winston, US, hc, 1982. Setting: Rome. [A Prince gets kidnapping insurance through Lloyd’s and soon disappears from his palazzo in Rome.]

PENDLETON, DON(ALD EUGENE). 1927-1995. As the creator of Mack Bolan, or “The Executioner” series, generally perceived as the father of the modern action-adventure novel. The first Bolan book was in 1969; after 1980 other authors took over the writing, but the books still appeared under Pendleton’s name.
Death Squad. Vivid Comics, 1996. Graphic novel, with scripting by Pendleton’s widow, Linda Pendleton, 1942- , q.v. Art by Sandi Florea. [Note: Death Squad is the second “Executioner” novel; the first, War Against the Mafia, appeared earlier in a serialized comic book format: Parts One, Two and Three were adapted and scripted by Don Pendleton & Linda Pendleton, with art by Sandu Florea: Innovation Comics, 1993. Part Four did not appear after the publisher went out of business.]

PENDLETON, LINDA. 1942- . Add as a new author entry. See: Don(ald Eugene) Pendleton, 1927-1995.
[FOOTNOTE] 12-28-07. See Hank Reineke’s comment. This has prompted a complete overhauling of John Pearson’s entry. See this later post for more details.
December 23rd, 2007 at 10:15 pm
John Pearson is alive and well, I’m very happy to say. I interviewed Mr. Pearson in January 2006 for a feature article that studied his noteworthy and welcome contributions to the Ian Fleming/James Bond cycle. The article/interview appears in issue no. 49 of 007 Magazine Online. I queried Mr. Pearson about the “Dragon’s Play” entry in the “Crime Fiction” tome, but Mr. Pearson told me he wrote no such novel, the credit is in error. He has written a score of other books – including a few thrillers – and his 1973 novel “James Bond: The Authorised Biography of 007” has recently been reissued in the UK.
December 23rd, 2007 at 11:34 pm
Dear Hank
Thanks for the update on Mr. Pearson and the correction — most greatly appreciated! I’ll delete the tentative year of death for him — good news, indeed — and straighten out the authorship of Dragon’s Play later, once Al Hubin asks the questions I know he will have.
Best, Steve