Death Is My Shadow

Death Is My Shadow by Edward S. Aarons:  Pete Byrum is home after being called up for Naval maneuvers for six months. His partner in The Pelican, a club and casino they own in Oswanda, Louisiana, has been arrested for murder, and the syndicate’s man, Alden Thayer, is now running the casino. Pete wants the club back, but the syndicate now controls the town, the sheriff, and his lawyer, and the deck is stacked against him. Pete Helps his partner escape jail when he discovers the man he’s suspected of murdering is really alive. Now Pete is wanted for the man’s murder, while his partner runs away with Thayer’s wife and the syndicate’s money. This was really a good story, and had all the backstory for what would eventually be Aarons’ later Assignment spy series, featuring Sam Durell.

The Skin Swindle

Ninja Master #7: “The Skin Swindle” by Wade Barker (Unknown). Brett Hartley reads a newspaper article about pornography in Los Angeles, and the mysterious Porn King that runs the network of smut films and kiddie porn, and decides he wants to put a stop to it. He brings his pal, Jeff Archer with him from San Francisco, and he sets up a meeting with the reporter, Samantha Loring to get inside information, pretending to be a reporter from Japan. The story is long and boring, the first 75 pages is nothing but the set up, describing child pornography, and is so badly written I wonder how it was ever considered for publication. 7 to 10-year-old kids talk like children one minute and adults the next. But, then, pornography does sale, and that’s basically all this was. We do see some martial arts later on, but it was laughable, and I’m still wondering why Jeff Archer was included. He never did anything right. Maybe he was just there to show how good Brett Hartley is? This isn’t worth reading, so save your money. It should have been titled The Book Swindle.

Night of The Assassin

Secret Mission #16: “Night of The Assassin” by Don Smith. Phil Sherman, now an agent of the CIA, is sent to Albania to check on rumors that the Chinese have nuclear warheads on rockets based there. The information seems planted, and no one truly believes in the nuclear situation. But the report had hidden meanings, and in the end it isn’t nuclear warheads that are the problems, it’s an assassination that could throw the world into a nuclear war. This was another good story. The author knows world history, and the Cold War set up that he writes about. A fun story.