Slade's Marauder was published by Bantam in 1981 and it featured one of Larkin's finest nautical paintings on its cover. Barrington's Women came out two years later and it featured one of Bob's now practically patented fiery explosions. The author of these thrillers is actually Tony Williamson (1932- 1991), writing under the pseudonym Steven Cade. Willamson was a prolific British television writer who also published novels under his own name, but is mostly remembered for being the primary script writer on the 1960's television series The Avengers during its classic Emma Peel years.
Barrington's Women: "Tough lieutenant Colonel Charles Barrington has an impossible job: Protect fifty tons of Norwegian gold bullion from the ruthless Nazi commando unit the "Sky Wolves." Barrington has six days to conceive, organize, and implement a counterattack. What he comes up with is nothing short of genius. Barrington recruits thirty-one women from the village of Borgas. He relentlessly trains them how to kill with knife and noose, how to wield firearms at close range, and how to deceive the Nazis with feminine wiles, then slip a dagger into their hearts. They are honed to a fin-tempered steel, primed to test their murderous skills....eager to kill, ready to die."
"Dan Beals, the ruggedly virile pilot of The Southern Belle, loved two women...and to sensually complicate his life, they both loved him. One was Sina, the petulant, lean-limbed river girl he had grown up with. The other, from a far different social class was Nadine, provocative, sensual, and rich. Her aristocratic beauty and influence offered Dan a glittering world few 'river-rats' ever entered. When The Southern Belle put to sea, headed for Brazil both Sina and Nadine were aboard. The inevitable jealousy, and conflict of passions sparked, and flamed, and burst into one soul tormenting explosion."
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Arizona (Volume 21, Bantam, March, 1988): "Arizona! To a sun-scorched frontier the Winchester rifle promised redemption from a hell of outlaw tyranny. In the hands of brave cavalry officers such as Cindy Holt's new husband, Reed Kerr, this superior weapon could be the true peacemaker of the West. But treachery has no honor, and an ambush could cut down youth and hope, not just in Yuma, but abroad, where West Pointer Capt. Henry Blake undertook a dangerous secret mission... and in Kentucky where famous scout Toby Holt---son of legendary Wagonmaster Whip Holt---took aim at a scoundrel's heart. These men are forced to face their most dangerous enemies and with their hearts, minds, and bullets, protect and defend family, country, and decency in the epic Arizona!"
Oklahoma (Volume 23, Bantam, May 1989): "Oklahoma! This harsh, open country beckons like a treacherous woman, offering happiness to farmers and ranchers, then breaking their hearts. Tick fever is killing the cattle; the unscrupulous land dealers are stealing families' dreams. Now hate and anger are building like a thunderhead ready to burst into a storm of gunplay and death. The threat is range war. The solution is Toby Holt---son of the legendary Wagonmaster Whip Holt---whose draw is quicker and whose aim is surer than that of any man alive. But while Toby rides the dusty trail toward Oklahoma, young Captain Henry Blake rides hell-bent toward a shootout in the Dakotas, not knowing that an enemy plans to destroy the beautiful woman he left behind... as the showdown season nears in magnificent Oklahoma!"
Gordon Davis is a pseudonym of Len Levinson, one of twenty-two that he used while penning more than 80 novels, most of which fall under the domain of men's adventure series, i.e., The Rat Bastards, The Pecos Kid, The Searcher and The Apache Wars Saga. The Sergeant series has been reviewed quite favorably by others so I don't need to chime in here after reading just one title, but I will say this: I'm two shy of completing my set and when I do I'm going to read all nine books back to back.
Austin K. Ferguson, Jr. (1941- 2010), or Beau, as he was often called, wrote about aviation with an insiders knowledge. He started working for United Airlines in 1966 as a commercial flight engineer on the DC-6, then the Boeing 727, and then in 1969 he became a co-pilot on the Boeing 727. He also wrote the screenplay for Mayday at 40,000 Feet!, a 1976 television movie based on his own 1974 novel Jet Stream. It featured, among others, David Janssen, Don Meredith and Christopher George. Ferguson was based at Kennedy Airport in New York for 20 years before finally retiring to spend time with his wife Linda, a former flight stewardess, and pursue his hobby as a master model builder of intricate clipper ships.
William C. Mathews doesn't seem to have written anything after this novel, an action-oriented special-agent themed thriller which Avon published in 1983, but in all likelihood the name Mathews is merely a one-off pseudonym from an established grinder.
Meaning no disrespect to Owen Wister and Golden Spur Award winning author Matt Braun, but these montages by Larkin (cigarettes aside) are just too outstanding to be relegated to a smutty, formulaic, men's adult western series. Thankfully though, the Ash Tallman novels, written under the guise of Tom Lord, are are a tad better than mere formula, they're actually entertaining romps, and written in a way that the pages practically flip themselves. Braun, the author of more than fifty other western novels, eventually came to terms with this racy series and allowed his real name to be applied to the reprints.
Crossfire (No. 2, Avon, April, 1984): "Wells Fargo was having trouble getting gold across the Arizona Territory and Pinkerton's man Ash Tallman was out to stop the trouble, with a little hot lead. The gang was headed by a bad girl named Pearl, whose men stayed alive only if they kept a smile on Pearl's lips. Ash could handle Pearl, and he'd keep her boys in line with his fist or his gun. But he needed to find out who else was in on the deal, and that was a job for Ash's partner Vivian Valentine. Viv knew how to get the goods, and if that required a little play in the hay with a boozed up outlaw, she was willing, and very able. In fact, Vivian could always be counted on when Ash needed her... and Ash was never slow to show his gratitude."
Bloodtide (Book 2, Avon, February, 1985): "The woman with the despair in her eyes wanted Skipper Gould to find her husband. He had taken his lobster boat out to sea one chill Maine morning and disappeared. No boat. No body. No trace. Skipper Gould was editor of a small-town newspaper, now. But the woman came to him because of what Skipper had been: a covert U.S. agent in Southeast Asia... a highly skilled fighter in the deadliest combat unit America had ever trained. Skipper's instincts warned him that his search for the missing fisherman was sweeping him toward a giant maelstrom of evil and violence... an international conspiracy swirling around a nuclear power plant on a quiet Maine cove, a massive antinuke protest march, and a beautiful organizer whose luscious body could stop traffic... whose secrets could stop Skipper---dead."
Bloodmoon (Book 3, Avon, October, 1985): "Skipper Gould had been trained in America's most deadly combat units fighting in the green hell of 'Nam. Now he's back home and living the quiet life in a backwater town. But a phone call from an old friend sends him running to a Buddhist spiritual center in the Berkshires... where a woman's savage murder threatens to ignite a powder keg of violence. The Buddhist center reawakens Skipper's troubled memories of the East. But he's in no mood for meditation when he learns that the Dalai Lama himself is coming in a few days to bless the center--leaving him little time to track down a killer on the loose. Then a tip from a government agent leads him to the heart of a massive drug-smuggling ring in the area--and to a phony religious cult led by a bloodthirsty ex-mercenary. Too much dangerous knowledge soon has Skipper on a one-way road to an early Nirvana. His only hope of staying alive: a luscious blonde with a taste for sex... and death."
There is virtually no information about Robert Kalish online other than the fact that he graduated from University City High School in University City, Missouri, in 1958, and then became a career journalist, which would make him about 78 years old today. But if these novels are any proof, he was also one helluva fiction writer.
On the cover of Jonathan Rubin's only published novel, The Barking Deer (Avon, November, 1982), we have an action scene perfectly laid out within the outline of an American soldier, and another stunning masterpiece by Larkin.
I was unable to find much information about Jonathan Rubin other than the fact that he was born in New York in 1940, and served in Vietnam as a Special Forces sergeant from 1962 to 1964, working apparently among the Montagnards, but that also implies that this novel is based on first hand knowledge.
West From Singapore (Bantam, April, 1987): "He's a two-fisted American adventurer and veteran of a hundred waterfront brawls. He's "Ponga Jim" Mayo, and he minds his own business and leaves international intrigues to others. But, as master of his own tramp freighter, trouble seeks him out as he navigates the treacherous East Indian seas from Borneo to Singapore. Never one to back away from danger, Jim straps on his Colt automatic and takes the helm of the Semiramis, ready to battle pirates and spies, dope peddlers and gunrunners and whoever else dares to challenge his command... and God help the man who crosses Jim Mayo."
"HANGMAN AND HIS CUTTHROAT CREW GO AFTER A MOB PORN CZAR IN THE PLEASURE PITS OF VEGAS!"
"Vinny Petrocelli's movie heroines rarely lived happily ever after... they usually died with the cameras rolling. When Killsquad hits the Sin City strip to extinguish this white-slaver's operation, they have more than just the mob on their hands. In fact, mixing business with pleasure could get the cutthroats caught with their pants down! But with Hangman at the helm, the Vegas viper is soon cornered at his Mexican studio--where Killsquad is waiting to produce his final flick."
Ronin (Book 3, Bantam, January, 1992): "... this thrilling new novel set in the Tokyo underworld deals with the popular subject of the Yakuza, the Japanese Mafia. When Harry Tanaka discovers the sickening truth about Laney, a girl he once cared for, Harry's actions ignite the whole city into a bloody gangland war."
Noel B. Gerson wrote the series, The Holts: An American Dynasty, under the pseudonym Dana Fuller Ross, continuing the saga of the family he created succinctly for that purpose in his bestselling Wagons West series. Larkin provided the cover art for all ten books in the series, with the first five getting detailed stepback illustrations like the three here.
Oregon Legacy (Volume One, Bantam, November, 1989): "When covered wagons rolled along the Oregon Trail, crossed the Rockies, and brought the first settlers to the magnificent American West, one man became a legend in his own timne. He was Wagonmaster Whip Holt, and his blood ran hot with the kind of courage needed to tame a wild land. His indomitable spirit has been inherited, along with his vision of a proud American West, by his descendants in a family so extraordinary, so destined for greatness, that the whole world will know their names: THE HOLTS... 1887. The full fury of a western winter rages across the land. Blizzards take their toll of ranches in the Dakota Badlands, leaving thousands of families ruined. The American West is a land that breaks the weak without mercy; only the strong survive. The Holts are survivors. But the winter of 1887 will test them... and begin the events that will change their lives forever. As Toby Holt fights to save his new ranch, his his headstrong son Tim gets "silver fever" and runs off to a dangerous world of desperate miners, greed, and temptation. The Holt women--the half-Cherokee Janessa and Toby's elegant wife Alexandra--must also battle for their destinies. Their happiness is threatened by prejudice and betrayal, and only the steely will of the Holts stands between tragedy and the tomorrow of their dreams."
Oklahoma Pride (Volume Two, Bantam, May, 1990): "Young and old hitched their wagons to the dream of free land when the United States announced that Oklahoma's Indian Territory would be opened for settlement. "Sooners" rushed in, boomtowns went up overnight, and on the wide prairie hopes blossomed into fortunes or died with the crack of gunfire. And here one special family would now begin its fight to forge this lawless, rugged frontier into greatness: THE HOLTS... 1889. Horses champ at the bit, buckboards creak as they roll into position, and all along Oklahoma's border 50,000 men and women wait to begin the biggest land grab in history. Among them are courageous young newspaper editor Tim Holt and his fifteen-year-old cousin Peter Blake. Together they will race to stake their claim in a brawling boomtown where men break every law to acquire easy money and power... and where, before the ink is dry on Tim's first edition, a dangerous enemy vows to see him dead. At the same time, Senator Toby Holt, son of the legendary Wagonmaster Whip Holt, finds his life and honor put to the test by a beautiful ex-mistress and a madman bent on vengeance... as the Holt family sweeps us into unforgettable days of destiny and excitement."
Carolina Courage (Volume Three, Bantam, January, 1991): "A pioneering spirit marked the hardy mountaineers of North Carolina, but an ugly violence ravaged this land of laurels and hills. A dread disease was killing rich and poor alike, and cruel blame fell on the proud Cherokee, the last great Indian tribe of America's East. Now, in this crossfire of hatred and fear, only one brave family would dare to stand up for justice: THE HOLTS... 1891. The train rumbled south from New York's bustling boulevards to the twisted, secretive dirt roads of Qualla Boundary, the sprawling Cherokee reservation. Here yellow fever had become a scourge of death. And here Dr. Janess Holt Lawrence was coming to help a desperate people. But awaiting Janessa was both the shocking truth about her lost Indian past and a terrifying plot against her life. Even Senator Toby Holt's power might not reach her in time... as far away in Hawaii, the Blakes and Brentwoods found a serpent in paradise. Unscrupulous sugar growers had turned to treachery and murder to wrest the island from its gentle people, and young Mike Holt, the daring of Wagonmaster Whip Holt coursing through his veins, would plunge headlong into a dangerous adventure to follow the dictates of his heart."
Larkin's cover art for the Gairden Legacy series is a terrific blend of historical, adventure and romantic fiction, just like the novels themselves. Coleen L. Johnston's trilogy tells the story of Thomas Gairden, a coverlet weaver and soldier in Colonial America who becomes the founder of one of America's first textile industries. Ms. Johnston knows quite a bit about coverlets too, she weaves herself and is a frequent seller of her own wares at both fairs and galleries.
Book 2, The Guardians (St. Martin's, February, 1994): "In her father Thomas' weaving shop in Charles Town, South Carolina, Lily Gairden's friendship with his handsome partner, Paul Durant, blossoms into a tender romance. But their love is thwarted when Thomas refuses to grant Paul his daughter's hand in marriage. Beautiful Lily, discovering the shocking secret of her birth, must wage a war within herself as fierce as the Revolution raging around her. Before she can find peace, she'll ride with both Loyalists and Rebels, driven onward by the thunder of battle and an ache in her heart. Together, their lives will be changed forever by the love and loyalty, terror and treachery of a free-spirited people poised on the brink of glorious nationhood."
It might not be fair to state that the Frontier Trilogy paintings are Larkin's finest achievements in paperback cover art because he obviously has so many great covers to choose from, but if I were told I could buy only three of his original cover paintings I'm pretty sure I would choose these three over everything else he's done. Of course, it didn't hurt my decision any to know that I've been a fan of frontier fiction and non-fiction since childhood, and that I've also hiked and fished in the very same places that are so nicely depicted on all three covers.
The Frontier Trilogy is the second of three spin-off's from the bestselling Wagons West series, but it was actually written by veteran genre author James Reasoner using Gerson's Dana Fuller Ross pseudonym. Reasoner is also a veteran blogger and I strongly recommend his always interesting Rough Edges (jamesreasoner.blogspot.com).
Expedition (Book 2, Bantam, February, 1993): "THE FIRST HOLTS. In the heart of this majestic land, Clay Holt and his Sioux wife, Shining Moon, lead a perilous expedition up the Yellowstone River. While Clay and his band confront fierce storms and the plots of adversaries, brother Jeff Holt heads back East on a treacherous quest; impetuous young cousin Ned takes to the high seas; and in the East, Melissa Merrivale Holt struggles against the unscrupulous businessman who means to have her. With bravery and fighting spirit, the intrepid Holts battle on... to shape the destiny of a nation and to build an American Dynasty."
Outpost (Book 3, Bantam, July, 1993): "THE FIRST HOLTS. To the brothers Clay and Jefferson Holt, the western territory is a land of breathtaking beauty and unlimited possibility--but also a place of lawlessness and sudden, brutal violence. Sworn to bring a longtime enemy to justice, Clay heads north to Canada and a dangerous showdown, while in far-off North Carolina, Jeff is stalked by a ruthless killer determined to destroy his family. As war cries fill the air, the Holts must fight once more for their home, their nation, and the magnificent dynasty that will live forever in the pages of history."
IF YOU don't already own Bob Larkin's art book, The Savage Art of Bob Larkin, Volume One (SQP Inc., 2009), I encourage you to buy one. They're still available from secondary markets like amazon, abebooks and ebay for a mere $10-30 dollars (the book retailed new at only $19.95). And while it's only a scant 64 pages long and in softcover format (not befitting an artist of Larkin's stature), it does benefit from its high quality paper and being dramatically oversized (9 x 12 inches), plus it has 38 of its 106 painted images (not counting the covers) reproduced as full-page imagery, which is mighty impressive.
Here's a breakdown of the various genres represented in the book:
Sword & Sorcery / Horror: 30 images.The book's introduction is by artist, Joe Jusko, and the afterword is by artist, Alex Ross.
Comic Superheroes: 18 images.
Science-fiction: 17 images.
Doc Savage: 14 images.
Historical / Western: 14 images.
Action / War: 11 images.
Humor: 2 images.
Here's what Joltin' Joe had to say about Bob:
Joe, I couldn't have said it better myself!"... Bob Larkin is one of the best painters I've ever seen. His body of work is prodigious, the quality of which is seldom surpassed. He paints every character as you know they should look! Bob's SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN covers are the best ever done for that book, and his DOC SAVAGE covers were the perfect follow up to James Bama. If there was ever a more intimidating assignment than following Bama, I can't think of it, yet Bob hit it out of the park. His series of covers are now every bit as revered as the Bama's. And rightly so. Much of what I know today I learned from Bob Larkin. He would never believe that, as humble as he is (the Greats always are) but it's a fact. Bob became my gold standard. I think I chose well. "I want to be Bob Larkin." I said it 30 years ago. I still say it today."
Doc Savage: Peril in the North. Art by Bob Larkin. |
[Originally posted in 2016. © November, 2018, Jeffersen]