STEVE CARROLL WRITES

False Dawn  (1978)   by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro I first read False Dawn as a 16-year old thanks to my Science Fiction Book Club edition. Its grim nihilistic depiction of a post-apocalyptic America disturbed me greatly at the time; I was excited to revisit it as an adult to determine the cause. The answer came rushing back to me in the very first chapter as I was reintroduced to a brutal world of intense violence, rape, murder, mutants, and giant predatory water spiders. And all described in as muscular a style as possible.  Later in her career Yarbro would become synonymous with the ongoing Count Saint-Germain vampire series that drifts toward gothic romance. But that is far from what we have here as we follow our main characters, crossbow-wielding mutant Thea and former pirate-leader Evan, on a perilous journey through what’s left of America after wars, pollution, famine...

A Trap for Sam Dodge   (1961) by Harry Whittington Harry Whittington, sometimes referred to as “King of the   Pulps,” was an incredibly prolific writer, publishing over 200 novels,  mostly in the  crime ,  suspense ,   hardboiled , and  noir fiction  genres. Even   though  A Trap for Sam Dodge  is a   western, it still clearly adheres to the format of a classic  whodunit  mystery with an   everyman wrongfully   accused of a murder who must work alone to clear his name.  In this case, the   everyman is Sam Dodge who has returned to the town of   Bent River to attend the   funeral of its fast-gun sheriff, Miles Ringo, who was gunned down late at night   in the streets. Sam had a contentious relationship with   Ringo, having been his   prior deputy before a falling out over a woman sends Sam on to a hardscrabble   life as a rancher barely making ends meet. Upon his  ...

Close Combat  (1969)   by Jack Ehrlich I recently discovered and developed a deep appreciation for author Jack Ehrlich through his remarkable western,  The Laramie River Crossing . Ehrlich writes hard-edged, gritty books with painfully realistic characters navigating tricky plots while fighting their own base desires for violence and moral decay.  Such is the case with  Close Combat, a Vietnam-set tale that starts off deceptively resembling a straight-up “men on a mission” war adventure. Our main character, J.J. Hogan, is hand-picked to lead a force into the jungles of Cambodia to destroy The Monster, a top-secret radar installation that is decimating US air power in the region. The task is likely a suicide mission, but critical to the US war machine. The catch is that every aspect of the mission has to remain deniable for the US government, whether successful or not.  This geo...

The First Blood  (1971)   by Lou Cameron Prolific author Lou Cameron wrote books in almost every niche of the men’s adventure spectrum. His lean, uncluttered style, coupled with casual profanity and violence is easily recognizable. Cameron served in Europe in the Army’s 2nd Armored Division during World War II and that experience infuses some sense of reality to  The First Blood , which is set during the African campaign of that war.  The “men on a mission” plot features a ragtag group of soldiers under the command of a suicidal lieutenant who are sent to take control of an ancient desert fortress currently under the control of French legionnaire forces in Algiers. They have 24 hours to accomplish this goal ahead of a Panzer tank column that must be delayed or stopped if at all possible.  The entire setup occurs within the first few pages and the mission is immediately underway. Things go...

Green River Rising (1994)   by Tim Willocks What if the warden of a huge Texas penitentiary were to go insane and not only incite a riot, but keep its existence hidden from governing authorities in an attempt to allow it to escalate and run its course in order to cleanse itself?  And what if an unjustly convicted man, who is set to be released the next day after the riot begins, suddenly finds himself trapped inside?  And what if that innocent man’s love interest is in the prison’s infirmary and no one knows she’s there as the worst criminal elements in that prison population do everything possible to break into that infirmary to kill its dying patients and have their way with her?  Green River Rising  is a genuine epic in every sense of the word. Despite a single setting and a palpable sense of claustrophobia, the intertwining stories of the inmates and how they each factor int...

Runner  (1975) by Milar  Larsen (Lance Jensen) Lance Jensen (aka Milar Larsen) was a decorated World War II paratrooper (11th Airborne) who had four published books—two under the pen name of Milar Larsen and two more under his real name. His experience as a paratrooper in Europe comes through in every detail of  Runner . This book does an amazing job of placing the reader in the frozen forests of France and Belgium during Nazi occupation.  Our main character is 18-year old Jefferson Wainwright, a green recruit just arrived in the European battle theater prior to the Battle of the Bulge. It is through his eyes that we experience what separates this book and makes it unique: Sergeant Jay Runner, a full blood Dakota Sioux who doesn’t suffer fools, even when they are in command.  Runner is larger than life, bigoted, and seems to have stepped right out of the 19th century. He st...

Blood  Justice  (1964) by Gordon Shirreffs Gordon D. Shirreffs was a prolific writer, publishing 5 novels and 2 children’s books in 1964 alone.  Blood Justice  represents a more adult, less pulpy approach from other Shirreffs books I’ve read.  Jim Murdock was almost lynched in the town of Ute Crossing for a crime he didn’t commit and is returning to the town for the first time in years. As fate would have it, he arrives just as another lynching is underway and is forced to be a witness to the hanging of the 3 accused to ensure his silence. Everyone, including the town sheriff, is convinced of the trio’s guilt. There has even been a failed attempt to achieve a change of venue for the pending court trial to avoid just this very outcome due to the toxic atmosphere within the town toward the accused men.  The bulk of the book consists of Murdock on a self-imposed journey throughout the Southw...