THE GORDONS – Operation Terror. Doubleday Crime Club, hardcover, 1961. Bantam #W2324, paperback, 1962, as Experiment in Terror.

   The successful husband-and-wife team of Mildred and Gordon Gordon produced suspense fiction for almost forty years. Their books arc definitely formulaic, but they have the capacity to engage the reader’s full attention. An important clement in this formula is that of time running out: Something terrible is about to happen, and the hero must overcome seemingly insurmountable odds in order to save the situation.

   Of course the hero always succeeds, the situation is always saved, and the reader goes away thoroughly satisfied. All in all, reading such satisfying stories is not a bad way to spend one’s time — especially on a cold winter’s night when one would like a little manufactured terror.

   In the opening scene of this novel, Kelly Sherwood is accosted in her garage by a hoodlum intent on using her as an accomplice in robbing the bank where she works. Because she is young and has no next of kin but her sister, she is a likely victim. This man threatens death to her and her sister if she does not comply with his wishes, and he hurts her just enough to show that he means it. She is angry and frightened, but not too frightened to call the FBI.

   Next we meet Ripley of the FBI, and probably learn more than we’ll ever need (or hope) to know about him. And we also meet Toby Sherwood, the younger sister. She is a teenager, unpredictable and fresh, and full of life and fun and a sense of fairness. She also has an undying love for and loyalty to her older sister, who has raised her since their parents died some years ago. In the ensuing action, Kelly remains the bulwark of strength that past circumstances have forced her to be, Toby grows up, and Ripley — being Ripley — perseveres.

   This book is suspenseful, and has a rather well-thought-out plot and good (although in some cases overdone) character development. It is fast-paced, and even the villain has redeeming qualities.

   Operation Terror is a cut above other works by this collaborative team — finely crafted, with a realistic and contemporary setting. It was filmed in 1962 as Experiment in Terror, with a San Francisco setting and an ending that takes place during a Giants-Dodgers baseball game at Candlestick Park. Lee Remick and Glenn Ford had the starring roles, and Stefanie Powers portrayed the sister, but Ross Martin as an asthmatic villain steals the show.

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   Reprinted with permission from 1001 Midnights, edited by Bill Pronzini & Marcia Muller and published by The Battered Silicon Dispatch Box, 2007.   Copyright © 1986, 2007 by the Pronzini-Muller Family Trust.

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