March 16, 2025 • 25 mins
It's another brand new episode of the Paperback Warrior Podcast! On this episode Eric recaps the recent gifs he received from fans and readers and looks at all of the happenings on the podcast and YouTube channel this month. In addition, a feature is presented on Pat Frank, a mid-20th century writer that is considered one of the first post-apocalyptic fiction authors to emerge after WW2. Also, a feature is presented on Armed Services Editions paperbacks and the history behind this patriotic and monumental printing mission in the 1940s. Listen on any streaming platform or directly on YouTube HERE.
Be sure to visit Paperback Warrior's blog HERE to find over 1,500 written reviews and articles on vintage fiction, magazines, and comics. You can also access the prior 115 episodes of the podcast there and view hundreds and hundreds of videos about rare books and the author's that wrote them.
Be sure to follow us on Facebook and X
Be sure to visit Paperback Warrior's blog HERE to find over 1,500 written reviews and articles on vintage fiction, magazines, and comics. You can also access the prior 115 episodes of the podcast there and view hundreds and hundreds of videos about rare books and the author's that wrote them.
Be sure to follow us on Facebook and X
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Hello everyone.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
My name is Eric and I'm your host for this
week's podcast, episode number one hundred and sixteen. The show
is a flagship of the Paperback Warrior dot com blog
and YouTube channel, where you can find over fifteen hundred
written reviews on vintage fiction and authors, and access to
prior one hundred and fifteen episodes of this very show.
Follow us on social media for daily posts on all
(00:42):
things fiction, including new releases, pulps, paperback covers, and comics.
Today's episode looks at author Harry Hart Frank Junior, which
some of you may know under his pseudonym of Pat Frank.
He's considered one of the modern pioneers of post apocalyptic
doomsday fiction. He lived an extraordinary life and I'm excited
to talk about him today. In adition, I'm also doing
(01:04):
another miniature feature on book publishers. This time around, it's
on those special Armed Services edition books that were published
in the nineteen forties. It's a neat history and I
think you'll enjoy it. Today, I'm also reviewing a contemporary
action horror novel titled Worm on a Hook. It was
originally published in twenty twenty, and I was just recently
gifted the book from a Paperback Warrior fan, so I'm
(01:27):
anxious to review that.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
One for you as well.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
But first, let me tell you about some other new
books that I've acquired by various means of late, at
least they're new to me. The first is a book
titled Devil House. This is a twenty twenty two hardcover
written by John Darnell that was first brought to my
attention by a Paperback Warrior reader and fan named Brian Brassfield.
He was kind enough to reach out to me on
(01:51):
Facebook Messenger and mention this book to me. He said
he'd like to send it to me to say thanks
for doing the podcast and the blog. Hey listen, I'm
always up for free books, so I gladly he accepted it.
The book concerns a true crime writer who takes a
job moving into a house that was the home of
two murders linked to the nineteen eighties Satanic panic. He
gets into a pretty deep mystery finds links to his
(02:12):
own writing. The book looks awesome and I'm excited to
read and review it. I also received digital copies of
books from an author named Ian Russell. He's a fan
of the blog and podcast, and he sent me an
email to explain he writes a lot of the same
type of fiction we cover right here on paperback Warrior.
He has a long running series titled The Revengeist, and
he sent me the first book in that series. He
(02:35):
also sent me a team based combat book titled Go Team,
which is the series' first installment. He also sent me
two horror novels. One is Rock and Roll Nightmare and
the others Under Blood Lake, so I'm looking forward to
reading those. I've really gotten into this nostalgic retro style
modern books that authors like Brian Barry do so well,
so I'm kind of curious to read these as well.
(02:56):
I've received a physical copy of a book called How
to Write Pulp Fiction by James Scott Bell. This was
gifted to me by author Jarrett Keene. This is from
Compenium Press, published in twenty seventeen. The blurble on the
back is type hard type Fast make Dough.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
This book digs into.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
The successful secrets of how pulp writers developed pulp prose,
the fiction formula, the best selling pulp genres, marketing pulp fiction,
and harnessing the power of a series character. This is
really interesting, and I'm gonna use it as a reference
book when reviewing pulp literature and vintage fiction just in general.
Starkhouse Press sent me a couple books by mail. The
(03:40):
first is a twofer by author Robert Martin. The books
in this particular volume are Tears for the Bride, which
was originally published in nineteen fifty four, and The Widow
and the Web from nineteen fifty five. Both of these
books star Martin's detective character, Jim Bennett, and this book
is going to be available next month. The other book
(04:02):
that Starkhouse Press mailed me was another two for this
one by Elizabeth Fenwick. The two books are Goodbye Aunt Elva,
originally published in nineteen sixty nine, and The Last of
Lessandra from nineteen seventy two. This book will also be
out next month. I've always enjoyed Finnwick's suspenseful mystery writing,
so I'm happy to receive this book and the two
(04:23):
detective novels by Robert Martin, and onto my next bit
of business. Here, I wanted to remind you of what's
happening this month so far.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
Now.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
On March third, the podcast episode number one hundred and
fifteen hit and that was a feature on Louis Tremble.
On March six, my ranking of last month's reads went
up on both the podcast channel and YouTube. The last week,
March tenth, I posted my shopping trip video on YouTube.
This was my quick in and out visits to a
couple of bookstores in Nashville, Tennessee. Next week, on March
(04:53):
twenty fourth, I've got my new video reviewing the Butcher
Number twenty six Terror Truckers. I'll post that as an
audio only segment for the podcast channel and then also
a screen by screen chair on YouTube. I'm going to
be doing this with Bad Taste Books, and I believe
also the book Graveyard is going to join in as well.
They all cover the same type of books in fiction
(05:14):
the Paperback Warrior covers, so it should be a lot
of fun. Then I'll be back here again for another
podcast episode on March thirty.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
First.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
March is one of those weird months where I end
up doing three podcast episodes, so that's really cool. A
lot of work for me, but you know that's okay.
Speaking of a lot of work, you can donate to
the show on the mobile app. Just scroll to the bottom,
hit desktop version, then look on the right side. Hear
at the top for the donation link. Also, if you
click on any reviews on the blog, near the bottom
(05:43):
of those reviews are links to my Amazon affiliate page.
If you bookmark that and order anything from Amazon using
that page, then I'll get a few cents. So buy
some catfood in that'll make Amazon pitch me a dime
onto something else. I just learned the other day. I
thought I would share it with you here. Talking to
an Iron Age writer named Thomas Hyland. He's friends with
(06:04):
a film producer named Dallas Sonier. Signer's production company is
called Bonfire Legend, and they're producing an adaptation of a
Harry Whittington novel. Imagine that. The book is called Desert Steakout,
and it was a Western that Whittington wrote and had
published in nineteen sixty one by Falseod Gold Medal. It
was reprinted in May of nineteen eighty nine by Avon.
(06:25):
I read and reviewed that book back on the blog
in twenty eighteen. It was such a great Western paperback.
I'm excited to see how the movie turns out. The
movie's going to be titled Frontier Crucible and it'll star
Thomas Jane and William H.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
Macy.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
On Deadline dot Com, it was reported that the movie
is supposed to be like a cross between Bone Tomahawk,
which I really like, and Reservoir Dogs, which I also like.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
So that sounds really promising.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
Another book I reviewed on the blog is coming to
the Big Screen. I read and reviewed Stephen Kings The
Institute back in twenty twenty one, and I read recently
that it's going to be adapted into a television show.
I was thinking it was a movie, but yeah, television
show that's gonna stream on the MGM Plus network this year.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
I enjoyed that book, but you.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
Know, I can't say that King's books are making me
anxious to see any film adaptations.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
I mean, really, enough's enough at this point.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
Right. I'll say that I enjoyed the recent adaptation of
Salem's Lot, but man, only half the movie was released
the rest of us cut out by Max, so who
knows when the full version of that movie is ever going.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
To see the light of day.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
It just seems like everything he writes is just being
optioned to movies and they just put out everything. It's
kind of ridiculous, all right, So anyway, enough of that stuff,
that's all the new stuff that I know about books
that are coming out next month and so forth. So
how about we jump into the first feature today. I'm
gonna hit that tune that you know so well.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
Let's go kids.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
As I mentioned in my opener, I'm presenting you a
feature on Harry Hart Frank Junior. He was better known
by his pseudonym Pat Frank, the name he used to
write his most famous work, in early post apocalyptic novel
titled A Last Babylon. He was considered the first to
the early writers that wrote post apocalyptic novels after the
Hiroshima atomic bombing in World War Two, and his life
(08:17):
and career I found very interesting. The other reason I
was drawn to this author is he died right here
in Jacksonville, Florida, and his grave is located just up
the road from me. But before we get to all that,
let's go to the beginning. Frank was born in Chicago
in nineteen oh seven. His father died from the flu
when Frank was really young while attending a private prep
(08:37):
school in New Jersey. Frank and his mother were uprooted
and had to move to northeastern Florida. Frank attended the
University of Florida and then took a job as a
journalist for the Jacksonville Journal. Because the Atlantic Beach area
of Jacksonville had very little going on in the nineteen twenties,
Frank actually made up an entire wealthy family. He then
would write articles about this fictitious family and all their
(08:59):
very day to day activities. In the late nineteen twenties,
Frank moved to New York and he worked for the
New York World and the New York Evening Journal, and
then later he worked for the Washington Herald. I believe
sometime in the nineteen thirties he became married. When World
War II began breaking out in nineteen thirty nine, Frank
took roles as a correspondent with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency,
(09:20):
the Overseas News Agency, and the Office of War Information.
He worked in places like Australia, Turkey, Hungary, and Germany.
It was during this time that Frank first saw his
writing published. Beginning in June nineteen thirty nine, Frank was
published in magazines like Adventure, Colliers, This Week, Woman's Home, Companion, Argacy,
(09:40):
and the American Magazine. After World War II, Frank was
able to hit the big time with his successful debut
as a novelist. His book Mister Adam, published in nineteen
forty six, sold more than two million copies and was
published in over a dozen countries. The book concerns an
accidental nuclear explosion that destroys most of Mississippi. Only one
(10:01):
man on earth has survived the sterilization created by the
bomb's radiation.
Speaker 2 (10:06):
That's mister Adam. It was a comical book that.
Speaker 1 (10:09):
Dealt with the sensitivity everyone was feeling after the use
of atomic bombs on Japan during the war. Frank followed
the book success in nineteen forty eight with a more
serious novel titled An Affair of State. This was a
spy novel set just four months before the Cold War
really began. The protagonist as an ex serviceman bureaucrat assigned
to set up a stay behind network in Budapest to
(10:31):
combat Soviet occupied Hungary. The book is considered the first
work of fiction to mention the actual name Cia. Remember
before this, it was simply called the Oss. Three years later,
Frank's nineteen fifty one novel Hold Back the Night is published.
This was a very interesting publication for not only Frank
but also the American government. The book stars a frontline
(10:52):
marine unit fighting in the Korean War.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
Now.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
Because of Frank's experiences during World War II, he injected
a lot of realism into the novel's action sequences. Because
of this, the US government came calling on Frank to
join the Korean War. They had him assist them with
a propaganda documentary and to help set up a Korean
film unit. In nineteen fifty six, Frank's Cold war thriller
Forbidden Area was published. This was a really neat book
(11:19):
because it's inspired by a real event that occurred in Jacksonville,
Florida in nineteen forty two. The event was known as
Operation Pastorius. During World War II, Germany sent eight secret
Nazi agents to live and work in the US. These
agents were trained in explosives in Berlin and were instructed
to attack plants at Niagara Falls, Illinois, Tennessee, New York, Kentucky,
(11:41):
and so forth. The agents were divided into two groups.
Four were launched from submarines using rafts and landed on
Long Island in New York. The other four landed on
Pontavidra Beach in Jacksonville, Florida. Both groups were caught by
US intelligence before anything could happen. But Frank used this
premise for or his book Forbidden Area, but only changed
(12:02):
it to fit a Cold War scenario by having Soviet
sleeper agents in Er America. The book was published in
magazine format as Seven Days to Never. It was also
adapted into a television episode of Rod Serling's Playhouse in
ninety show starring Charlton Heston in nineteen fifty seven. On
a completely different note, that Operation Pastorius event during World
(12:23):
War II was also used as the premise in Frank
Kaine's short story thirty Pieces of Lead. It appeared in
Crack Detective Stories in September nineteen forty five, and I've
got a review of that story on the Paperback Warrior blog.
All right, so let's stop for a moment. Frank has
served in World War Two. He's also served in the
(12:44):
Korean War. He wrote short stories for magazines in the
late nineteen thirties throughout the nineteen forties. He wrote two
novels in the nineteen forties, and so far in our
feature he's had two novels out in the nineteen fifties.
By the nineteen fifties, Frank has also elevated his shorts
stories to appear in more mainstream magazines, magazines like Cosmopolitan,
(13:05):
The Saturday Evening Post, Nations, Business Red Book. His book
Hold Back the Night was also adapted into film in
nineteen fifty six, So he's doing really well at this point.
But in nineteen fifty nine, his most popular novel would
appear alas Babylon was the title. It was originally published
in hardcover by J. B. Lippincott, and then later in
(13:26):
multiple editions, including a nineteen seventy nine Bantam paperback with
a great cover by Robert Hunt. That's the addition that
I see the most. The book takes place in the
fictional town of Fort Repose, Florida, which is thirty five
miles northwest of Orlando. Fort Repose is actually based on
the real city of Mount Dora, a small little community
(13:46):
that my wife and I frequent often. It's a Norman
rockwell looking town with little shops, coffee spots, craft festivals,
and a really nice concert hall. It's a place where
you'll find your grandmother playing bingo on Saturday nights. The
book stars a guy named Ray, and he lives in
Fort Repose and his brother is a colonel in the
US Air Force. The two have got this little code
word that they established just in case something crazy were
(14:09):
to ever happen. Now, remember this is nineteen fifty nine
and Americans were expecting the Soviet's nuclear bomb to obliterate
them from existence. So the idea was that Randy's brother
was sent a telegram that said A Last Babylon in
case of like an all out doomsday scenario. And sure enough,
Randy gets that telegram as the US and Soviets begin
(14:29):
exchanging ballistic missiles. The book is about the tourists trapped
in their hotels in this little town, both brothers dealing
with the post apocalyptic chaos, prisoners escaping jail, and contamination zones.
Sounds like a really cool book. According to Wikipedia, St
Joshi cites in this book the modern weird tale that
(14:50):
A Last Babylon sits favorably with Stephen King's The Stand
in terms of the same basic survival themes. David Brynn
notes that the book was instrumental in shaping his views
on the New Their War and influenced his own book
The Postman. In nineteen eighty two, a copy of A
Last Babylon was provided to John Lennon by journalist Larry
Kine in nineteen sixty five. Lynnon apparently spent all night
(15:12):
reading this book. The book was adapted into a television
episode of Playhouse ninety in nineteen sixty starring Don Murray
and Burt Reynolds. A Last Babylon is featured in David
Pringle's book Science Fiction The one hundred Best Novels Now.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
Because of both his.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
Success with The Last Babylon and Mister Adam, many people
began calling Frank the atomic pot boiler writer. This elevated
his popularity. He began writing speeches for the Democratic National
Committee during the nineteen sixty Kennedy campaign. In nineteen sixty one,
he was a part time consultant to the National Aeronautics
and Space Council. Frank used his experience as in this
(15:50):
role to write another successful book titled How to Survive
the H Bomb and Why Frank Lived a fast life
that was fueled by alcohol. He unfortunately died at the
young age of fifty seven in October nineteen sixty four
from acute pancreatis. He left behind two children, Perry and Patrick.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
Frank.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
Now, as we mentioned earlier, Frank's atomic bomb themed Mister
Adam was published in nineteen forty six. Up until this point,
the only post apocalyptic books were sci fi efforts based
on fictional bombings or global catacities that hadn't occurred before. All.
That changed on August sixth, nineteen forty five, when Hiroshima,
Japan was bombed by Allied forces using an atomic bomb.
(16:32):
Within a year of the atomic bombing, Mister Adam was published,
making it one of the first post Hiroshima post apocalyptic books,
or what some refer to as doomsday books. From there,
other authors got into the subgenre of post apocalyptic books
that had more modern overtones. Those books included Tomorrow, a
nineteen fifty four novel by Philip Wiley, On the Beach,
(16:54):
a nineteen fifty seven novel by Novelle Shut, and the
nineteen fifty eight novel by Peter Jord titled Red Alert.
So as you Can See, a Last Babylon sits in
rare company. As the first wave of the post World
War two doomsday novels now, Pat Frank wrote an autobiography
titled The Long Way Around, which chronicled his life abroad
in the many travels he made working for the US government. Now,
(17:18):
I hope you enjoyed this feature on Harry Hart Frank Junior.
By sources for this feature was Pat Frank's A Last
Babylon fifty years Later by Matt Swigger from the Florida
Times Union, IMDb dot com, archive dot org the article
Pat Frank Dies at fifty seven from the October thirteenth,
nineteen sixty four edition of The Washington Evening Star.
Speaker 2 (17:39):
All right, so.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
Before I serve up my second feature, my little miniature
feature on Armed Forces editions, how about it break this
up and just give you my book review for this episode.
There's no one else in the room but me and
the dogs, So I'm going to guess that you're responding
yes to that question. So here's a little review for
you with a little preface introduction about this book. In
early feb a Paperback Warrior fan and reader sent me
(18:02):
a direct message on Facebook.
Speaker 2 (18:04):
His name is Dan.
Speaker 1 (18:05):
He said he's a big fan of a blog titled
Outlaw Vern's movie reviews now Vern, who's never revealed a
last name, also writes books. Dan read Vern's book Worm
on a Hook and advised me that I really like it,
and he felt like I would enjoy it, and he
wanted to give me a physical copy of.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
It, and I was excited to read it.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
I had looked it up and it seemed interesting, so
I agreed to accept his gift, and thankfully he sent
it to me, and I'm reviewing it for you now.
This is a three hundred and sixty six page trade paperback,
and it's presented in a non linear timeline, so the
events jumping back and forth in time spreads out into
the narrative. As the book begins, these construction workers are
(18:50):
on this rural island off the coast of Washington State,
and they just served this underground tunnel system that's being
used by a legendary hook candied slasher named Stoneback. Now
Stoneback was supposed to be dead and lying in this
tunnel system somewhere, but like a good Friday the Thirteenth movie,
(19:10):
his body's been disturbed and now he's up and added again,
killing off all this pesky human prey. Now Stoneback quickly
slays all the construction workers and he begins walking towards
the island's annual beer festival. There's a handful of twenty
something couples that are on vacation on the island, and
they're there to relax, enjoy music, attend this beer festival.
(19:31):
But there's this mysterious person that's renting the upstairs portion
of the couple's airbnb. She seems like she has some
kind of pass connection to this facility, this house, And
when a guy comes to visit, he tells the couples
that this airbnb site is the original place where Stoneback
killed a bunch of people years ago. So this girl
(19:53):
that's living upstairs on this vacation, her name's Florence. Could
she be the only survivor of Stoneback's killing.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
Spree years ago?
Speaker 1 (20:02):
Worm on a Hook is an obvious homage to the
blood soaked slasher cinema that haunted Kodak fifty two to
forty seven film stock in the nineteen seventies and eighties,
but I actually found the book to be more like
a Marvel mashup of like Black Widow fighting Deadpool. There's
more action than horror, with a book's unique approach to
character development, presented as these various life events for both
(20:26):
the main character and this ultimate final girl named Florence,
and of course the legendary killer himself, Stoneback, the book
delves into Florence's past, what her history is with Stoneback
and the federal government as well. They're personal histories, and
these various collisions made for an entertaining reading experience that
propelled the central narrative at this really really fast pace. Overall,
(20:51):
I really enjoyed Worm on a Hook and you will
too if you like NonStop action. I mean, the book
has lots of machine gun firefights, explosions. It's got like
martial arts fighting, like UFC stuff in cages. I mean,
it's a wild, outrageous mix of styles. Again, the book
is called Worm on a Hook. The author's name is
simply Vern. There's no last name, just Vern Vern. You
(21:13):
can get it on Amazon for fourteen dollars in paperback.
I think there's also an ebook as well. So that's
my take on Worm on a Hook. And Dan, thanks
for sending me this book. I really appreciate. I'm going
to pass it on to a friend of mine. All right,
So how about another smaller feature just to wrap us
up here? Are you ready for another paperback history lesson?
(21:34):
I really like doing these. Let's jump into a series
of paperback publications that came out in the nineteen forties.
Speaker 2 (21:41):
All right, so. In nineteen forty.
Speaker 1 (21:42):
Two, an American nonprofit organization was founded by booksellers, publishers, librarians,
and authors. It was called the Council on Books in Wartime.
It promoted the use of books to influence the thinking
of American citizens regarding World War Two. In nineteen forty three,
the publisher W. W. Norton made a proposal to the Council.
(22:04):
He wrote to them saying, quote, it has long been
felt that a major contribution of the industry could properly
lie along a new and completely different line, that of
making freely available to our armed forces the entertainment, the information,
the morale, and even the inspiration which is in books endote.
(22:25):
Norton's company accepted the proposal to provide the US Armed
Forces books. A team of eight staff members were tasked
with creating this Armed Forces Edition's line of books. Publishers
were asked to submit a list of titles that they
feel would be acceptable. A special committee of six to
ten people use these lists to prepare a list of
book recommendations. The final approval list was made by Lieutenant
(22:48):
Colonel Ray Trautman of the Special Services Division of the
Army and Isabel du Bois libraryan of the United States
Navy Armed Services editions contracted with authors in a simple
array rangement, and these books were to be kept out
of the private sector. The idea wasn't to compete with
regular editions of books. This was a completely separate deal.
The books were to be free to military service members,
(23:11):
both male and female, but a one cent royalty was
paid to the publisher. Later, the royalty part was even
waved altogether or partially waived, as more and more authors
and publishers generously agreed to lower costs to generate more
books for servicemen. The US government's War Production Board allocated
metal for printing plates, and special exemptions were allowed for
(23:32):
the acquisition of paper. The first Armed Services editions appeared
in September of nineteen forty three. It was thirty titles
a month, and that increased to forty titles just one
month later. These books featured two columns of text per
page for economic reasons. The cover dimensions were five and
a half inches by three and seven eighth inches or
(23:54):
six and a half inches by four and a half inches,
depending on the book length. There was very little time
in Restolce hor committed to creating colorful covers for these paperbacks.
A lot of times it was kind of like they
took the covers and made them like really tiny squares
on the covers of these paperbacks, so it wasn't anything fancy.
The books were shipped all over the globe to soldier
stationed on military bases, war zones, military hospitals everywhere. When
(24:19):
the publishing came to an end in nineteen forty seven,
one hundred and twenty six million books have been published
and distributed. Some of the books included were authored by
the likes of John Steinbeck, Edgar Rice, Burroughs, Max Brand,
Philip Wiley, Ernest Hemingway, C. S. Forrester, Rex Stout, H. G. Wells,
(24:39):
Ernest Haycocks, Luke Short, Jack London, Dorothy L. Sayers, and
Craig Rice, just to name a few. My source for
this feature was Kevin Hanter's Paperback Price Guide, third edition.
Speaker 2 (24:53):
And I hope you.
Speaker 1 (24:54):
Enjoyed this episode. As I wrap us up here, remember
to follow a Paperback Warrior on Facebook, x threads, Instagram, YouTube,
and of course at paperbackwarrior dot com. Be sure to
subscribe like repost donate, and generally just talk a good
game about Paperback Warrior. Next week, I'm going to have
that Butcher review up on here and on YouTube, so be.
Speaker 2 (25:15):
Sure to check that out.
Speaker 1 (25:16):
I'm going to return on March thirty first with another
exciting episode. Thanks for watching this on YouTube and also
for listening to this on whatever streaming platform you've chosen,
and remember enjoy whatever it is you're doing.
Hello everyone.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
My name is Eric and I'm your host for this
week's podcast, episode number one hundred and sixteen. The show
is a flagship of the Paperback Warrior dot com blog
and YouTube channel, where you can find over fifteen hundred
written reviews on vintage fiction and authors, and access to
prior one hundred and fifteen episodes of this very show.
Follow us on social media for daily posts on all
(00:42):
things fiction, including new releases, pulps, paperback covers, and comics.
Today's episode looks at author Harry Hart Frank Junior, which
some of you may know under his pseudonym of Pat Frank.
He's considered one of the modern pioneers of post apocalyptic
doomsday fiction. He lived an extraordinary life and I'm excited
to talk about him today. In adition, I'm also doing
(01:04):
another miniature feature on book publishers. This time around, it's
on those special Armed Services edition books that were published
in the nineteen forties. It's a neat history and I
think you'll enjoy it. Today, I'm also reviewing a contemporary
action horror novel titled Worm on a Hook. It was
originally published in twenty twenty, and I was just recently
gifted the book from a Paperback Warrior fan, so I'm
(01:27):
anxious to review that.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
One for you as well.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
But first, let me tell you about some other new
books that I've acquired by various means of late, at
least they're new to me. The first is a book
titled Devil House. This is a twenty twenty two hardcover
written by John Darnell that was first brought to my
attention by a Paperback Warrior reader and fan named Brian Brassfield.
He was kind enough to reach out to me on
(01:51):
Facebook Messenger and mention this book to me. He said
he'd like to send it to me to say thanks
for doing the podcast and the blog. Hey listen, I'm
always up for free books, so I gladly he accepted it.
The book concerns a true crime writer who takes a
job moving into a house that was the home of
two murders linked to the nineteen eighties Satanic panic. He
gets into a pretty deep mystery finds links to his
(02:12):
own writing. The book looks awesome and I'm excited to
read and review it. I also received digital copies of
books from an author named Ian Russell. He's a fan
of the blog and podcast, and he sent me an
email to explain he writes a lot of the same
type of fiction we cover right here on paperback Warrior.
He has a long running series titled The Revengeist, and
he sent me the first book in that series. He
(02:35):
also sent me a team based combat book titled Go Team,
which is the series' first installment. He also sent me
two horror novels. One is Rock and Roll Nightmare and
the others Under Blood Lake, so I'm looking forward to
reading those. I've really gotten into this nostalgic retro style
modern books that authors like Brian Barry do so well,
so I'm kind of curious to read these as well.
(02:56):
I've received a physical copy of a book called How
to Write Pulp Fiction by James Scott Bell. This was
gifted to me by author Jarrett Keene. This is from
Compenium Press, published in twenty seventeen. The blurble on the
back is type hard type Fast make Dough.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
This book digs into.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
The successful secrets of how pulp writers developed pulp prose,
the fiction formula, the best selling pulp genres, marketing pulp fiction,
and harnessing the power of a series character. This is
really interesting, and I'm gonna use it as a reference
book when reviewing pulp literature and vintage fiction just in general.
Starkhouse Press sent me a couple books by mail. The
(03:40):
first is a twofer by author Robert Martin. The books
in this particular volume are Tears for the Bride, which
was originally published in nineteen fifty four, and The Widow
and the Web from nineteen fifty five. Both of these
books star Martin's detective character, Jim Bennett, and this book
is going to be available next month. The other book
(04:02):
that Starkhouse Press mailed me was another two for this
one by Elizabeth Fenwick. The two books are Goodbye Aunt Elva,
originally published in nineteen sixty nine, and The Last of
Lessandra from nineteen seventy two. This book will also be
out next month. I've always enjoyed Finnwick's suspenseful mystery writing,
so I'm happy to receive this book and the two
(04:23):
detective novels by Robert Martin, and onto my next bit
of business. Here, I wanted to remind you of what's
happening this month so far.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
Now.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
On March third, the podcast episode number one hundred and
fifteen hit and that was a feature on Louis Tremble.
On March six, my ranking of last month's reads went
up on both the podcast channel and YouTube. The last week,
March tenth, I posted my shopping trip video on YouTube.
This was my quick in and out visits to a
couple of bookstores in Nashville, Tennessee. Next week, on March
(04:53):
twenty fourth, I've got my new video reviewing the Butcher
Number twenty six Terror Truckers. I'll post that as an
audio only segment for the podcast channel and then also
a screen by screen chair on YouTube. I'm going to
be doing this with Bad Taste Books, and I believe
also the book Graveyard is going to join in as well.
They all cover the same type of books in fiction
(05:14):
the Paperback Warrior covers, so it should be a lot
of fun. Then I'll be back here again for another
podcast episode on March thirty.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
First.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
March is one of those weird months where I end
up doing three podcast episodes, so that's really cool. A
lot of work for me, but you know that's okay.
Speaking of a lot of work, you can donate to
the show on the mobile app. Just scroll to the bottom,
hit desktop version, then look on the right side. Hear
at the top for the donation link. Also, if you
click on any reviews on the blog, near the bottom
(05:43):
of those reviews are links to my Amazon affiliate page.
If you bookmark that and order anything from Amazon using
that page, then I'll get a few cents. So buy
some catfood in that'll make Amazon pitch me a dime
onto something else. I just learned the other day. I
thought I would share it with you here. Talking to
an Iron Age writer named Thomas Hyland. He's friends with
(06:04):
a film producer named Dallas Sonier. Signer's production company is
called Bonfire Legend, and they're producing an adaptation of a
Harry Whittington novel. Imagine that. The book is called Desert Steakout,
and it was a Western that Whittington wrote and had
published in nineteen sixty one by Falseod Gold Medal. It
was reprinted in May of nineteen eighty nine by Avon.
(06:25):
I read and reviewed that book back on the blog
in twenty eighteen. It was such a great Western paperback.
I'm excited to see how the movie turns out. The
movie's going to be titled Frontier Crucible and it'll star
Thomas Jane and William H.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
Macy.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
On Deadline dot Com, it was reported that the movie
is supposed to be like a cross between Bone Tomahawk,
which I really like, and Reservoir Dogs, which I also like.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
So that sounds really promising.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
Another book I reviewed on the blog is coming to
the Big Screen. I read and reviewed Stephen Kings The
Institute back in twenty twenty one, and I read recently
that it's going to be adapted into a television show.
I was thinking it was a movie, but yeah, television
show that's gonna stream on the MGM Plus network this year.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
I enjoyed that book, but you.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
Know, I can't say that King's books are making me
anxious to see any film adaptations.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
I mean, really, enough's enough at this point.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
Right. I'll say that I enjoyed the recent adaptation of
Salem's Lot, but man, only half the movie was released
the rest of us cut out by Max, so who
knows when the full version of that movie is ever going.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
To see the light of day.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
It just seems like everything he writes is just being
optioned to movies and they just put out everything. It's
kind of ridiculous, all right, So anyway, enough of that stuff,
that's all the new stuff that I know about books
that are coming out next month and so forth. So
how about we jump into the first feature today. I'm
gonna hit that tune that you know so well.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
Let's go kids.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
As I mentioned in my opener, I'm presenting you a
feature on Harry Hart Frank Junior. He was better known
by his pseudonym Pat Frank, the name he used to
write his most famous work, in early post apocalyptic novel
titled A Last Babylon. He was considered the first to
the early writers that wrote post apocalyptic novels after the
Hiroshima atomic bombing in World War Two, and his life
(08:17):
and career I found very interesting. The other reason I
was drawn to this author is he died right here
in Jacksonville, Florida, and his grave is located just up
the road from me. But before we get to all that,
let's go to the beginning. Frank was born in Chicago
in nineteen oh seven. His father died from the flu
when Frank was really young while attending a private prep
(08:37):
school in New Jersey. Frank and his mother were uprooted
and had to move to northeastern Florida. Frank attended the
University of Florida and then took a job as a
journalist for the Jacksonville Journal. Because the Atlantic Beach area
of Jacksonville had very little going on in the nineteen twenties,
Frank actually made up an entire wealthy family. He then
would write articles about this fictitious family and all their
(08:59):
very day to day activities. In the late nineteen twenties,
Frank moved to New York and he worked for the
New York World and the New York Evening Journal, and
then later he worked for the Washington Herald. I believe
sometime in the nineteen thirties he became married. When World
War II began breaking out in nineteen thirty nine, Frank
took roles as a correspondent with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency,
(09:20):
the Overseas News Agency, and the Office of War Information.
He worked in places like Australia, Turkey, Hungary, and Germany.
It was during this time that Frank first saw his
writing published. Beginning in June nineteen thirty nine, Frank was
published in magazines like Adventure, Colliers, This Week, Woman's Home, Companion, Argacy,
(09:40):
and the American Magazine. After World War II, Frank was
able to hit the big time with his successful debut
as a novelist. His book Mister Adam, published in nineteen
forty six, sold more than two million copies and was
published in over a dozen countries. The book concerns an
accidental nuclear explosion that destroys most of Mississippi. Only one
(10:01):
man on earth has survived the sterilization created by the
bomb's radiation.
Speaker 2 (10:06):
That's mister Adam. It was a comical book that.
Speaker 1 (10:09):
Dealt with the sensitivity everyone was feeling after the use
of atomic bombs on Japan during the war. Frank followed
the book success in nineteen forty eight with a more
serious novel titled An Affair of State. This was a
spy novel set just four months before the Cold War
really began. The protagonist as an ex serviceman bureaucrat assigned
to set up a stay behind network in Budapest to
(10:31):
combat Soviet occupied Hungary. The book is considered the first
work of fiction to mention the actual name Cia. Remember
before this, it was simply called the Oss. Three years later,
Frank's nineteen fifty one novel Hold Back the Night is published.
This was a very interesting publication for not only Frank
but also the American government. The book stars a frontline
(10:52):
marine unit fighting in the Korean War.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
Now.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
Because of Frank's experiences during World War II, he injected
a lot of realism into the novel's action sequences. Because
of this, the US government came calling on Frank to
join the Korean War. They had him assist them with
a propaganda documentary and to help set up a Korean
film unit. In nineteen fifty six, Frank's Cold war thriller
Forbidden Area was published. This was a really neat book
(11:19):
because it's inspired by a real event that occurred in Jacksonville,
Florida in nineteen forty two. The event was known as
Operation Pastorius. During World War II, Germany sent eight secret
Nazi agents to live and work in the US. These
agents were trained in explosives in Berlin and were instructed
to attack plants at Niagara Falls, Illinois, Tennessee, New York, Kentucky,
(11:41):
and so forth. The agents were divided into two groups.
Four were launched from submarines using rafts and landed on
Long Island in New York. The other four landed on
Pontavidra Beach in Jacksonville, Florida. Both groups were caught by
US intelligence before anything could happen. But Frank used this
premise for or his book Forbidden Area, but only changed
(12:02):
it to fit a Cold War scenario by having Soviet
sleeper agents in Er America. The book was published in
magazine format as Seven Days to Never. It was also
adapted into a television episode of Rod Serling's Playhouse in
ninety show starring Charlton Heston in nineteen fifty seven. On
a completely different note, that Operation Pastorius event during World
(12:23):
War II was also used as the premise in Frank
Kaine's short story thirty Pieces of Lead. It appeared in
Crack Detective Stories in September nineteen forty five, and I've
got a review of that story on the Paperback Warrior blog.
All right, so let's stop for a moment. Frank has
served in World War Two. He's also served in the
(12:44):
Korean War. He wrote short stories for magazines in the
late nineteen thirties throughout the nineteen forties. He wrote two
novels in the nineteen forties, and so far in our
feature he's had two novels out in the nineteen fifties.
By the nineteen fifties, Frank has also elevated his shorts
stories to appear in more mainstream magazines, magazines like Cosmopolitan,
(13:05):
The Saturday Evening Post, Nations, Business Red Book. His book
Hold Back the Night was also adapted into film in
nineteen fifty six, So he's doing really well at this point.
But in nineteen fifty nine, his most popular novel would
appear alas Babylon was the title. It was originally published
in hardcover by J. B. Lippincott, and then later in
(13:26):
multiple editions, including a nineteen seventy nine Bantam paperback with
a great cover by Robert Hunt. That's the addition that
I see the most. The book takes place in the
fictional town of Fort Repose, Florida, which is thirty five
miles northwest of Orlando. Fort Repose is actually based on
the real city of Mount Dora, a small little community
(13:46):
that my wife and I frequent often. It's a Norman
rockwell looking town with little shops, coffee spots, craft festivals,
and a really nice concert hall. It's a place where
you'll find your grandmother playing bingo on Saturday nights. The
book stars a guy named Ray, and he lives in
Fort Repose and his brother is a colonel in the
US Air Force. The two have got this little code
word that they established just in case something crazy were
(14:09):
to ever happen. Now, remember this is nineteen fifty nine
and Americans were expecting the Soviet's nuclear bomb to obliterate
them from existence. So the idea was that Randy's brother
was sent a telegram that said A Last Babylon in
case of like an all out doomsday scenario. And sure enough,
Randy gets that telegram as the US and Soviets begin
(14:29):
exchanging ballistic missiles. The book is about the tourists trapped
in their hotels in this little town, both brothers dealing
with the post apocalyptic chaos, prisoners escaping jail, and contamination zones.
Sounds like a really cool book. According to Wikipedia, St
Joshi cites in this book the modern weird tale that
(14:50):
A Last Babylon sits favorably with Stephen King's The Stand
in terms of the same basic survival themes. David Brynn
notes that the book was instrumental in shaping his views
on the New Their War and influenced his own book
The Postman. In nineteen eighty two, a copy of A
Last Babylon was provided to John Lennon by journalist Larry
Kine in nineteen sixty five. Lynnon apparently spent all night
(15:12):
reading this book. The book was adapted into a television
episode of Playhouse ninety in nineteen sixty starring Don Murray
and Burt Reynolds. A Last Babylon is featured in David
Pringle's book Science Fiction The one hundred Best Novels Now.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
Because of both his.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
Success with The Last Babylon and Mister Adam, many people
began calling Frank the atomic pot boiler writer. This elevated
his popularity. He began writing speeches for the Democratic National
Committee during the nineteen sixty Kennedy campaign. In nineteen sixty one,
he was a part time consultant to the National Aeronautics
and Space Council. Frank used his experience as in this
(15:50):
role to write another successful book titled How to Survive
the H Bomb and Why Frank Lived a fast life
that was fueled by alcohol. He unfortunately died at the
young age of fifty seven in October nineteen sixty four
from acute pancreatis. He left behind two children, Perry and Patrick.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
Frank.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
Now, as we mentioned earlier, Frank's atomic bomb themed Mister
Adam was published in nineteen forty six. Up until this point,
the only post apocalyptic books were sci fi efforts based
on fictional bombings or global catacities that hadn't occurred before. All.
That changed on August sixth, nineteen forty five, when Hiroshima,
Japan was bombed by Allied forces using an atomic bomb.
(16:32):
Within a year of the atomic bombing, Mister Adam was published,
making it one of the first post Hiroshima post apocalyptic books,
or what some refer to as doomsday books. From there,
other authors got into the subgenre of post apocalyptic books
that had more modern overtones. Those books included Tomorrow, a
nineteen fifty four novel by Philip Wiley, On the Beach,
(16:54):
a nineteen fifty seven novel by Novelle Shut, and the
nineteen fifty eight novel by Peter Jord titled Red Alert.
So as you Can See, a Last Babylon sits in
rare company. As the first wave of the post World
War two doomsday novels now, Pat Frank wrote an autobiography
titled The Long Way Around, which chronicled his life abroad
in the many travels he made working for the US government. Now,
(17:18):
I hope you enjoyed this feature on Harry Hart Frank Junior.
By sources for this feature was Pat Frank's A Last
Babylon fifty years Later by Matt Swigger from the Florida
Times Union, IMDb dot com, archive dot org the article
Pat Frank Dies at fifty seven from the October thirteenth,
nineteen sixty four edition of The Washington Evening Star.
Speaker 2 (17:39):
All right, so.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
Before I serve up my second feature, my little miniature
feature on Armed Forces editions, how about it break this
up and just give you my book review for this episode.
There's no one else in the room but me and
the dogs, So I'm going to guess that you're responding
yes to that question. So here's a little review for
you with a little preface introduction about this book. In
early feb a Paperback Warrior fan and reader sent me
(18:02):
a direct message on Facebook.
Speaker 2 (18:04):
His name is Dan.
Speaker 1 (18:05):
He said he's a big fan of a blog titled
Outlaw Vern's movie reviews now Vern, who's never revealed a
last name, also writes books. Dan read Vern's book Worm
on a Hook and advised me that I really like it,
and he felt like I would enjoy it, and he
wanted to give me a physical copy of.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
It, and I was excited to read it.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
I had looked it up and it seemed interesting, so
I agreed to accept his gift, and thankfully he sent
it to me, and I'm reviewing it for you now.
This is a three hundred and sixty six page trade paperback,
and it's presented in a non linear timeline, so the
events jumping back and forth in time spreads out into
the narrative. As the book begins, these construction workers are
(18:50):
on this rural island off the coast of Washington State,
and they just served this underground tunnel system that's being
used by a legendary hook candied slasher named Stoneback. Now
Stoneback was supposed to be dead and lying in this
tunnel system somewhere, but like a good Friday the Thirteenth movie,
(19:10):
his body's been disturbed and now he's up and added again,
killing off all this pesky human prey. Now Stoneback quickly
slays all the construction workers and he begins walking towards
the island's annual beer festival. There's a handful of twenty
something couples that are on vacation on the island, and
they're there to relax, enjoy music, attend this beer festival.
(19:31):
But there's this mysterious person that's renting the upstairs portion
of the couple's airbnb. She seems like she has some
kind of pass connection to this facility, this house, And
when a guy comes to visit, he tells the couples
that this airbnb site is the original place where Stoneback
killed a bunch of people years ago. So this girl
(19:53):
that's living upstairs on this vacation, her name's Florence. Could
she be the only survivor of Stoneback's killing.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
Spree years ago?
Speaker 1 (20:02):
Worm on a Hook is an obvious homage to the
blood soaked slasher cinema that haunted Kodak fifty two to
forty seven film stock in the nineteen seventies and eighties,
but I actually found the book to be more like
a Marvel mashup of like Black Widow fighting Deadpool. There's
more action than horror, with a book's unique approach to
character development, presented as these various life events for both
(20:26):
the main character and this ultimate final girl named Florence,
and of course the legendary killer himself, Stoneback, the book
delves into Florence's past, what her history is with Stoneback
and the federal government as well. They're personal histories, and
these various collisions made for an entertaining reading experience that
propelled the central narrative at this really really fast pace. Overall,
(20:51):
I really enjoyed Worm on a Hook and you will
too if you like NonStop action. I mean, the book
has lots of machine gun firefights, explosions. It's got like
martial arts fighting, like UFC stuff in cages. I mean,
it's a wild, outrageous mix of styles. Again, the book
is called Worm on a Hook. The author's name is
simply Vern. There's no last name, just Vern Vern. You
(21:13):
can get it on Amazon for fourteen dollars in paperback.
I think there's also an ebook as well. So that's
my take on Worm on a Hook. And Dan, thanks
for sending me this book. I really appreciate. I'm going
to pass it on to a friend of mine. All right,
So how about another smaller feature just to wrap us
up here? Are you ready for another paperback history lesson?
(21:34):
I really like doing these. Let's jump into a series
of paperback publications that came out in the nineteen forties.
Speaker 2 (21:41):
All right, so. In nineteen forty.
Speaker 1 (21:42):
Two, an American nonprofit organization was founded by booksellers, publishers, librarians,
and authors. It was called the Council on Books in Wartime.
It promoted the use of books to influence the thinking
of American citizens regarding World War Two. In nineteen forty three,
the publisher W. W. Norton made a proposal to the Council.
(22:04):
He wrote to them saying, quote, it has long been
felt that a major contribution of the industry could properly
lie along a new and completely different line, that of
making freely available to our armed forces the entertainment, the information,
the morale, and even the inspiration which is in books endote.
(22:25):
Norton's company accepted the proposal to provide the US Armed
Forces books. A team of eight staff members were tasked
with creating this Armed Forces Edition's line of books. Publishers
were asked to submit a list of titles that they
feel would be acceptable. A special committee of six to
ten people use these lists to prepare a list of
book recommendations. The final approval list was made by Lieutenant
(22:48):
Colonel Ray Trautman of the Special Services Division of the
Army and Isabel du Bois libraryan of the United States
Navy Armed Services editions contracted with authors in a simple
array rangement, and these books were to be kept out
of the private sector. The idea wasn't to compete with
regular editions of books. This was a completely separate deal.
The books were to be free to military service members,
(23:11):
both male and female, but a one cent royalty was
paid to the publisher. Later, the royalty part was even
waved altogether or partially waived, as more and more authors
and publishers generously agreed to lower costs to generate more
books for servicemen. The US government's War Production Board allocated
metal for printing plates, and special exemptions were allowed for
(23:32):
the acquisition of paper. The first Armed Services editions appeared
in September of nineteen forty three. It was thirty titles
a month, and that increased to forty titles just one
month later. These books featured two columns of text per
page for economic reasons. The cover dimensions were five and
a half inches by three and seven eighth inches or
(23:54):
six and a half inches by four and a half inches,
depending on the book length. There was very little time
in Restolce hor committed to creating colorful covers for these paperbacks.
A lot of times it was kind of like they
took the covers and made them like really tiny squares
on the covers of these paperbacks, so it wasn't anything fancy.
The books were shipped all over the globe to soldier
stationed on military bases, war zones, military hospitals everywhere. When
(24:19):
the publishing came to an end in nineteen forty seven,
one hundred and twenty six million books have been published
and distributed. Some of the books included were authored by
the likes of John Steinbeck, Edgar Rice, Burroughs, Max Brand,
Philip Wiley, Ernest Hemingway, C. S. Forrester, Rex Stout, H. G. Wells,
(24:39):
Ernest Haycocks, Luke Short, Jack London, Dorothy L. Sayers, and
Craig Rice, just to name a few. My source for
this feature was Kevin Hanter's Paperback Price Guide, third edition.
Speaker 2 (24:53):
And I hope you.
Speaker 1 (24:54):
Enjoyed this episode. As I wrap us up here, remember
to follow a Paperback Warrior on Facebook, x threads, Instagram, YouTube,
and of course at paperbackwarrior dot com. Be sure to
subscribe like repost donate, and generally just talk a good
game about Paperback Warrior. Next week, I'm going to have
that Butcher review up on here and on YouTube, so be.
Speaker 2 (25:15):
Sure to check that out.
Speaker 1 (25:16):
I'm going to return on March thirty first with another
exciting episode. Thanks for watching this on YouTube and also
for listening to this on whatever streaming platform you've chosen,
and remember enjoy whatever it is you're doing.
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