The Naked and the Deadly (2023) by Lawrence Block

Lawrence Block is a true literary legend, followed by millions of readers and the recipient of the title Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America. He has published over 100 books in a career that spans over half a century. His area of expertise is crime and he is best known for his long-running series of books focused on recovered alcoholic private investigator Matthew Scuddard. The Naked and the Deadly, a new compilation courtesy of Bob Deis and Wyatt Doyle and their Men’s Adventure Library, collects Block’s earliest work from his days as a young contributor to the sensationalistic men’s adventure magazine (MAM) market of the late 50s, 60s, and early 70s.

The famous author Lawrence Block is not exactly the same Lawrence Block that is found in this robust and informative volume. Or as the back-cover blurb notes: “Not that Lawrence Block. Not yet...” In the highly entertaining forward, written by Block himself, we are told how a college-bound young man was sidetracked into the world of MAM in which style, salaciousness, and speed of delivery trumped such things as facts and journalistic integrity.

We are chronologically treated to various stories that Block wrote starting in his early 20s as a college student trying to juggle a burgeoning writing career and a more serious-minded college education. Most of these early stories were written under the pen name of Sheldon Lord. And they make for an entertaining, sometimes hilariously outdated, but consistently intriguing glimpse into a style of writing that surgically pinpoints a very specific male blue-collar reader demographic. Later in his MAM  career, Block saw expanded novelettes featuring private eye Ed London finally written under his own name.

But these early news article-style stories—presented to readers at the time under the guise of being hard-hitting exposes—are a riotous glimpse into a less sophisticated and gullible time. These include supposedly true shock pieces on murderous Nazis (They Called Him King of Pain, All Man - May 1961), the discovery that many prostitutes are really man-hating lesbians only after men’s money (She Doesn’t Want You, Real Men - June 1958), an expose on the inner workings the violent ward of an insane asylum as related by one of the employees (Killers All Around Me, All Men - September 1961) and the shocking fact that apparently many stewardesses are in fact sex-crazed nymphomaniacs indulging their wiles in city after city as they fly the very friendly skies (Erotic Life of the “Fly Me” Stewardesses, Male - April 1974).

The compilation starts with The Greatest Ship Disaster in American History (Real Men, April 1958), which chronicles a real-life tragedy that resulted in over 1,000 lives being lost. It’s presented in a condemning voice of righteous indignation as deaths of women and children are presented in horrific detail with all blame blatantly pointed at the mustache-twirling ship’s captain and the equally liable corporate shipping company who cared only for the bottom line and not their patron’s safety. While this story is credited to Sheldon Lord, it was not in fact written by Block. He explains in his introduction that he wanted to include it in this compilation precisely because of how well it illustrated the fast and loose manner in which the MAMs slapped together their content.

However, the content actually written by Block is top-drawer stuff fully worthy of this rediscovery, whether in his pseudo-exposes or in his crime fiction. I would say that the 3 novelettes featuring gumshoe Ed London are a real highlight and worth the cost of purchase all by themselves. These stories are hard-boiled, but with a light tongue-in-cheek first-person narrative tone that really offsets some intense action and graphic violence. And thankfully the mysteries are intriguing in these tales.

Then there are the 2 Evan Michael Tanner novelettes. I was unfamiliar with this series by Block and these stories quickly escalated to the top of my list of best of the best in this collection due to my lifelong passion for all things cold war-era espionage-related. Tanner is a Korean war veteran who, thanks to a piece of shrapnel permanently lodged in the sleep center of his brain, is incapable of sleep; he’s awake 24 hours out of every single day. The two adventures included here are both outstanding examples of the 60s spy thriller while simultaneously sending up many of those tropes, and Tanner is one fun protagonist as he wittily relays everything in his first-person narrative.

Finally, no review of The Naked and the Deadly would be complete without referencing its liberal use of full color and black and white illustrations direct from the pages of the MAMs where these stories first appeared. They really do a great job of transporting the reader into the past when times were very different and all the more wildly entertaining for it.

The Naked and the Deadly is available in various formats, including e-book, a paperback edition, an expanded hardback edition, and even a limited signed edition. Regardless of the chosen format, if you’re a fan of Lawrence Block’s work, you need this book in your collection. This one receives my absolutely highest possible recommendation!

Review by Steve Carroll