The Killer / Devil on Two Sticks (Stark House Noir Classics)

THE KILLER Jake Farrow has spent his life hunting big game he's one of the best. Still, he is a bit surprised when his old friend Walter Stennis has him brought over from Africa for a special hunt. Stennis wants him to track down and kill the armed robber responsible for the death of his son. Farrow reluctantly agrees, but is soon thrown into a mission more deadly than he bargained for when he meets the bank robber's Southern wife, Marget, intent on protecting her man. Then there s Sam Augustine, who's working on a manhunt of his own. And Terese, the alluring key to the killer s hideout. Farrow will need all of his skills, because it soon becomes obvious that in this deadly game, there is small distinction between the hunter--and the hunted. DEVIL ON TWO STICKS Steve Beck works for Pat Garland, the crime boss of San Diego. Garland suspects a traitor in the organization, and sets Beck to ferret him out. Beck has five suspects Sid Dominic, Eddie Cortes, Hervey Isham, Paul Moon and J. J. Everett. Each one holds a position of power, but only one is working for the Attorney General's office. Beck suspects Everett, Garland's lawyer. But Beck is also falling in love with Everett's 20-year-old daughter, Marcy, while at the same time trying to fend off the advances of Garland's wife, Lena. Torn between his allegiance and his heart, Beck finds he isn't as tough as he thinks he is because whoever the informer turns out to be, it's still his job to kill him. And the weakest link in the organization is turning out to be Beck.

Wade Miller is actually two childhood friends, Bob Wade (1920-present) and Bill Miller (1920-1961), who produced 33 books together until Miller's premature death from a sudden heart attack. Wade and Miller attended San Diego State and edited the campus newspaper together. After a stint in the Air Force, they joined forces again, eventually producing the book that Orson Welles adapted as the classic noir film, Touch of Evil. They also created one of the best post-war detectives, Max Thursday, whose complexities and flaws elevated him from the usual PI clichés. After Miller's death, Wade continued to write, winning the Private Eye Writers of America's 1988 Lifetime Achievement Award, as well as writing a monthly column called "Spadework" for the San Diego Union Tribune. Bob Wade lives in San Diego.