Blood on the Desert / A House in Naples (Stark House Noir Classics) - Softcover

Peter Rabe; Introduction By George Tuttle

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1933586001 ISBN 13: 9781933586007

Publisher: Stark House Press, 2005

Synopsis

Two classic noir thrillers originally published in 1958 and 1956 by Gold Medal Books.

About this title

About the Author

Peter Rabe was born in Germany as Peter Rabinowitsch in 1921, immigrating to the U.S. with his brother in 1938 to escape the Nazis. He enrolled at Ohio State University and received his Ph.D. in psychology from Western Reserve in Cleveland. Married, he began his writing career by turning in a humorous story about the birth of his first son. Soon after, he began submitting hardboiled stories to Gold Medal where he found an enthusiastic editor and a ready market. After three divorces, health problems and the death of the paperback original, Rabe eventually quit writing and took up teaching psychology at California Polytechnic State University in the late 60's. He died in 1990 at his home in Atascadero, California.

From the Inside Flap

Blood on the Desert Anthony Wheeler didn't want the job. When Major Pitt called him into the London office, Wheeler was trying to track down his old mentor, Fairchild. It had been Fairchild who had pulled him into the business. Not everyone is cut out to be a spy--Wheeler excelled at it. And Pitt would simply not accept his refusal. Now he is off to Kaden in North Africa, where three Arab chieftains who had been feuding for years are suddenly acting very friendly. Wheeler's mission find out why. The last person he expects to run into is Fairchild. It is good to see his old friend so why did it all feel so wrong? A House in Naples Charley had a sweet set-up in Naples. He and his partner Joe Lenken run a tight blackmarket operation. But tonight there is trouble and Charley is shot and worse, he is recognized. Fleeing the police, he has to get his hands on a passport fast. Luck is with him in the form of a dead American drunk. All Charley has to do is get rid of the body. Weighting the body, he lowers it into the Tiber, his body wracked with pain from the bullet wound. But his luck runs out he is seen! She is standing on the bridge overhead. But instead of crying "murder" she helps him up the bank and takes him away to tend his wounds. But is she Charley's guardian angel or the sweet angel of death?

Reviews

*Starred Review* In a milieu--pulp fiction, earning pennies per word--where most writers padded recycled plots with pages of filler, Rabe wrote like he didn't care if the rent got paid. His best books were marked by craftsmanship and creativity that transcended their dumb titles and crude covers. After reissuing the terrific Murder Me for Nickels/Benny Muscles In (2005), Stark House now presents two thrillers that might be even better. In the taut, finely observed Blood on the Desert, freelance spy Wheeler travels to Tunisia to investigate a meeting between Berber chiefs and to learn what happened to his long-lost mentor, Fairchild. In A House in Naples, black marketer Charley fights his relentless partner, Joe, for control of their operation and for a woman--even as he struggles to find out whether the woman saw him dump a body in the river. Blood features a wonderful contrast between Wheeler's clinical approach to his craft and his emotional journey toward becoming his own man. House is more in the hard-boiled vein but features arresting characterizations--always-smiling, -aspirin-gobbling Charley; faking-dumb, sex-crazed Joe--and a relentless, grinding conflict. Rabe is worth rediscovering. Keir Graff
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Edition details

• Publisher: Stark House Press
• Publication date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1933586001
• ISBN 13: 9781933586007
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 294