April 13, 2025 • 33 mins
This new episode hits the operating room for a deep dive into the life and career of successful surgeon, officer, and author Frank G. Slaughter. He wrote over 60 novels, sold 23 million copes, and was published in 23 languages. Eric connects to the author in a personal way and shares his experiences. Additionally, Eric reviews a 1991 vintage paperback titled Winterkill and discusses his most recent vintage fiction finds.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:20):
Welcome, ladies, gentlemen and children of all ages. My name
is Eric and I'm bringing you another Paperback Warrior podcast episode.
This is number one hundred and eighteen, and I've got
a bit of a personal connection to this episode due
to the feature. Before we get into all of that,
just know that this podcast is an extension of the
Paperbackwarrior dot com blog, where you'll find hundreds and hundreds
(00:41):
of written vintage fiction reviews and articles, including access to
the prior one hundred and seventeen episodes and countless videos.
You can follow on Facebook, threads, Instagram, and x and
listen to this show and watch videos on archive dot
org by searching for Paperback Warrior. You can donate to
the show by clicking on the desktop version of Paperbackwarrior
dit and looking on the right side near the top.
(01:02):
Cheers to superfans like Derek Wallace. Derek, You're awesome, Ida Umphers,
you continue to be amazing. Bob Dice, I love the
support man. James Sieger always consistently a super fan and
I love it. Kr Training You've been a blessing and
I appreciate it. Peter Robol always supporting, always there every month,
and I appreciate you and David Kowowski, longtime supporter donator Fan.
(01:25):
I can't thank you enough. Thanks to all of you
for being longtime donators and supporters for this show. I
can directly link their donations to the costs for my
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each month, and my dropbox storage bill for housing all
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cost each year. My recent advertising for a PulpFest was
(01:48):
donation money. The cost of turning Paperback Warrior into an
LLC and paying the government their fees was in part
donations and the affiliate money I received from you guys
and gals buying books through am, Amazon or abe. As
grocery costs continue to increase, so does the cost of
running a brand like Paperback Warrior. Won't you consider donating today?
(02:08):
If you can't donate, no big deal. Just know I
appreciate your continued support and reading reviews, listening to the shows,
watching the videos, and subscribing. All of you are truly
a blessing to me. Now, I'm going to take just
a second more to advertise a couple things are important
to my life. The first thing is a charity organization
I've been helping out with on Saturday mornings. Now, I
know this is a global prodcast, so you can't necessarily
(02:31):
join me in Jacksonville, Florida for volunteering, but if you
get a moment, please check out sponsored by Grace dot
org and consider donating there. It's a great cause helping
kids in the projects and your money goes a long
ways and supporting them with snacks, sporting equipment, books, mentoring,
and so forth. Again sponsored by Grace dot org. The
(02:52):
second thing, really fast, is something I mentioned on my
last episode. My full time job away from Paperback Warrior
is running my own business writing of care insurance plans
for my customers. If you, or anyone you know needs
help navigating Medicare, please consider calling me. My office number
is eight six six two one one seven four four
three extension thirty six forty one. Again eight six six
(03:17):
two one one seven four four three Extension thirty six
forty one. You can also reach out to any of
the Paperback Warrior contact methods as well. Last, but not least,
remember your local Big Brother and Big Sister organizations. You
can sign up to be a Big brother a big sister,
or just donate or help out physically with their events
around town. My little brother, I started mentoring him in
(03:39):
twenty sixteen, and next month he's graduating high school and
he's off to college. It's been a fun and rewarding
nine years for me and my family, and I wouldn't
trade it for anything, all right, So enough with pedaling
my wares like a street merchant. Let's get down to
today's content. On this episode, I'm going to dig into
the life and literary career of author Frank G. Slaughter.
(04:01):
He was an American novelist that authored nearly seventy books
in a variety of formats, including medical thrillers, crime noir, action, adventure, romance,
and even biblical history. He was published by all the
major publishers, and I have a sort of a weird
connection to him. It isn't anything major, but it's a
small connection and I'm excited to discuss it. As part
(04:23):
of today's feature, I'm also reviewing a nineteen ninety one
mystery suspense paperback titled Winter Kill by Catherine Johnson. But
first I wanted to tell you about some new releases
and also a couple of books I picked up recently.
I'll start with the books I acquired. The first one.
Let me grab it here. This first one is titled
(04:44):
Licensed to Kill. This is a Pyramid paperback from nineteen
seventy two. The back of the book states that the hero,
Kelly Carvel, is secretly flown to South America on a
perilous mission to find and rescue two kidnapped diplomats from
a it's a distant gang of cutthroat revolutionaries. Now the
name Norman Daniels and this character name of Kelly Carvell,
(05:07):
it didn't immediately click with me. I mostly got the
book because, let's face it, there's arms and hands on
the cover holding a revolver and that just looked cool.
Upon further inspection, though, I finally had my memory jogged.
Kelly Carvel. So, Kelly Carvel stars in a trio of
paperbacks written by Daniels in the nineteen seventies. The first
of the series was called The Rape of a Town
(05:29):
from nineteen seventy now. I reviewed that book on the
blog and maybe even talked about it here on the show.
It's about Kelly, a former Los Angeles police captain who
goes to work for a clandestine vigilanti force consisting of
police chiefs, attorneys, US senators, and other high ranking officials.
In that book, Kelly goes to a small town and
(05:51):
deals with a group of criminals robbing a bank during
a fireworks show on America's Independence Day. The book that
followed was titled One Angry Man from nineteen seventy one,
so this book, Licensed to Kill is the third and
final in that series. The other book I got that
I wanted to bring up is titled The Last Gasp.
This is written by Trevor Hoyle and published in nineteen
(06:14):
eighty three as a hardcover by Crown Publishers. The cover
has this skull in what looks to be like maybe
a desert or it's a really dry area, and the
skulls got this gas mask on. The synopsis indicates that
it's about a British marine biologist named Gavin Chase. He
learns that the microscopic oxygen producing plants of the world's
(06:36):
oceans are dying and the level of atmospheric pollutants has
finally exceeded the planet's ecology to recycle them. That seems
like a mouthful, but the biggest threat comes from the
superpower countries that are planning to wage this new type
of environmental war. There's assassins from the government involved, this
crazy military mastermind, and apparently a conspiracy to seed the
(06:58):
earth with poison and then populate it with a race
of mutants. It totally looks bonkers. Seems like there's a
lot of plots here. It's kind of why I'm interested
in it. I guess, just see how bonkers it really is.
It looks like a lot of fun. All right. On
to new releases, starting with a new book coming out
on April fifteenth, titled Senseless. It's being published by Titan
(07:22):
Books and is authored by one of my favorites, Ronald Malfi.
We've talked about him on the show here, and I
think Tom even reviewed one of his books on the
show called Mister Cables. Here's the synopsis of the book.
What do you see? When the mutilated body of a
young woman is discovered in the desert on the outskirts
of Los Angeles. The detective assigned to the case can't
(07:43):
deny the similarities between this murder and one that occurred
a year prior. Media outlets are quick to surmise this
is the work of a budding serial killer, but detective
Bill Rinnie is struggling with an altogether different scenario, a
secret that keeps him tethered to the husband of the
first victim. What do you hear? Maureene Park, newly engaged
to Hollywood producer Gregg Dawson, finds her engagement party crashed
(08:07):
by the arrival of Landon, Gregg's son, A darkly unsettling
young man. Land And invades Maureen's new existence, and the
longer he stays, the more convinced she becomes that he
may have something to do with the recent murder in
the High Desert? What do you Feel? Toby kampin The
self proclaimed Human Fly, begins an obsession over a woman
who is unlike anyone he's ever met. A woman with
(08:30):
rattlesnaked teeth and a penchant for biting. A woman who
has trapped him in her spell. A woman who may
or may not be completely human. In Ronald Malfie's brand
new thriller, these three story lines converged to create a
tapestry of deceit, distrust, and unapologetic horror, a brand new
novel of dark suspense said in the City of Angels
as only Horace Faulkner can tell it again. That's Senseless
(08:53):
by Ronald Malfy, coming out on April fifteenth. Another book
arriving in April is The Buffalo hu Hunter Hunter Odd
odd title The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones.
This is also on Titan and releases on April twenty ninth.
The synopsis reads, Etsy Buchanne, I'm going to probably butcher
(09:14):
that name. Etsy Bucann is an academic who needs to
get published. So when a journal written in nineteen twelve
by author Bucann, a Lutheran pastor, and her grandfather, is
discovered within a wall during renovations, she sees her chance
she can uncover the loss seekers of her family and
get tenure. As she researches, she comes to learn of
her grandfather and a Blackfeet called good Stab. What a name,
(09:37):
Good Stab, who came to author to share the story
of his extraordinary life. The journals details a slow massacre,
a chain of events charting the history of Montana State
as it formed, a psychle of violence that leads all
the way back to two hundred and seventeen Blackfeet murdered
in the snow, A blood soaked and unflinching saga, the
violence of colonial America, a revenge story like no other,
(09:59):
and the reinvention of vampire lore from the Master of
Horror Again. That's The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Steven Graham Jones.
Friend and paperback warrior fan and reader Lee Goldberg announced
the sixth eve Ronan book. It's titled Fallen Star, and
it's going to arrive on October fourteenth. I've read a
couple of those eve Ronan books and review them here
(10:20):
on the blog. Very very good crime fiction. I really
enjoy all the characters. But before that is another Goldberg
book arriving this month on April twenty second. It's called
Hidden in Smoke, the third book in a series featuring
Arson investigators Walter Sharp and Andrew Walker. What's cool about
this book is that eve Ronan and her partner Duncan
(10:40):
show up in the book to assist Sharp and Walker.
So very neat combination of Goldberg's characters. All right, So
before I get on to today's feature, I also wanted
to announce a couple of things going on. The first
is that I am going to be interviewing, well, I'm
going to be talking with a guy named Greg Shepherd.
Some of you may know Greg Shevert because he owns
(11:02):
stark House Press and also the imprint of Black Gat Books.
To my knowledge, and I haven't really delved into this
too deep, but to my knowledge, I don't think Greg's
ever been on camera to do an interview with anyone.
So I was really shocked when I pitched my idea
to have him on camera to do an interview and
to talk about his experience in the book industry, his
(11:23):
time with Zebra Books back in the day, selling Zebra
books as I guess a store to store territory sells
rep and how he got into Starkhouse Press, what books
kind of influenced him to even start Starkhouse Press, where
he gets his ideas for books that he wants to reprint,
new books that he does put out. So I'm really
(11:45):
really excited to talk with him. But I pitched my
idea to him and he's like, you know what, I'm retired,
I'm a little shy, but you know what, I'm going
to give this a try. The only reason I had
kind of pitched this idea was because Greg announced that
he had gotten a new computer, a new phone, a
new scanner, so it looks like he was ready to
step into the twenty first century. So knowing Greg, he's
(12:07):
always been a little bit shy on technology, but I'm
really excited to have him into the twenty first century.
Greg's an awesome guy. I really really like talking with him,
just about books in general. He sometimes emails me ideas
about books, our ideas that he's got about putting out
books I should say, and also books that I may
(12:27):
like as a reader, just from what he hears me talk
about on the show or read on the blog. He's
always been a supporter of a paperback warrior, and I'm
really excited to talk to him. I've never actually spoken
to him before, so I'm really excited. But look for that.
Hopefully in the first week of May. It should be
launched as a conversation as part of this podcast, and
(12:48):
then it'll also show up as a video on YouTube.
All right, so today's feature, let's get down to business.
I'm going to import the music, I'm going to grab
my fact sheet, and let's roll. All right. So today's
feature is about the life and career of one of
(13:09):
the best selling authors of the twentieth century that you
maybe haven't even heard of. His name is Frank G. Slaughter.
Slaughter published sixty five books between nineteen forty one and
nineteen eighty seven. He sold seventy five million copies in
twenty three languages. His literary work was adapted into films
starring the likes of Rock Hudson, Anthony Quinn, Gene Hackman,
(13:30):
and Carol O'Connor. So let's learn more about this successful author.
Frank was born in nineteen oh eight in Washington, d C.
When Frank was five, his family moved to Piedmont, North Carolina,
where he grew up in a log walled pre Revolutionary
War farmhouse and found enjoyment reading old magazines. He read
magazines like Argacy in Saint Nicholas, and he was a
(13:52):
really intelligent guy. He entered college at the age of fourteen.
He graduated from Trinity College, a place now called Duke Universe,
at age seventeen. He then furthered his education at Johns
Hopkins University in Baltimore and became a doctor at the
age of twenty two. Now he moved to Roanoke, Virginia
to intern at Jefferson Hospital. Now some of you may
(14:13):
know that I was born and raised in Roanoke. Jefferson
Hospital was in the downtown area near the railroad, a
place where I worked for many, many years. This hospital
that Frank worked in would eventually be torn down and
replaced with Community Hospital, a place I spent a lot
of time at when I was a kid. I spent
so much in my childhood at the hospital due to
severe asthma. I even had my own toy box there,
(14:36):
and everyone was just like my uncle or aunt. I
knew everyone. So it was neat that Frank interned in
Roanoke and what would eventually become a hospital I frequented.
Ironically enough, the only other hospital I've had to stay
in was a place called Saint Vincent's Riverside Hospital in Jacksonville, Florida. Well,
guess what. Frank left Ronoke in nineteen thirty four and
headed to Jacksonville, Florida to become a surgeon at Riverside Hospital,
(15:01):
the medical facility that would later transform into Saint Vincent's
Riverside Hospital. So the only two hospitals that I have
personal experience with are the only two hospitals that Frank
Slaughter worked at. I'm just saying that's kind of neat.
I have one more slight connection to Frank that I'll
bring to your attention at the end of this feature.
But getting along here. Frank became a fellow of the
(15:22):
American College of Surgeons in nineteen thirty eight, and at
Jacksonville Times Union newspaper interview from nineteen seventy eight, Frank
said that he came home from work one night early
in his medical career. This would have been around nineteen
thirty five, he talked to his wife Jane about the
possibility of purchasing a sixty dollars typewriter at the rate
of five dollars a month now. Jane said they couldn't
(15:44):
afford it at the time, so the two decided to
move to a different apartment with lower rent so we
could afford to get the typewriter. He began writing hundreds
of short stories over a five year period before finally
selling one to the Chicago Daily News for twelve dollars.
While writing shorts, he also made efforts to write a
semi autobiographical novel called that Nun Should Die about a
(16:05):
Young Doctor. Not that Nun in Un because that sounds
really morbid, but that Nunny should Die about a young doctor.
It was eventually purchased by Double Day in nineteen forty two.
That same year, he also saw his book Spencer Braid, MD,
published by Cosmopolitan in April nineteen forty two. These two
books begin a theme that runs throughout Frank's bibliography, that
(16:28):
of romantic or intense medical thrillers. Like so many authors
we talk about here at Paperback Warrior, World War II
plays a part in this feature. Frank joined the war
as an army surgeon. He was commissioned as a major
in the Medical Corps in nineteen forty two, and he
came out of that war as a lieutenant colonel. During
his time in the war, he also wrote Battle Surgeon,
(16:49):
published by Houghton Mifflin Company in nineteen forty four. His
wartime experiences combined with his professional expertise as a surgeon
and his desire to write novels eight for a really
unique mix. A lot of his medical novels take place
during war or in medical tents on the battlefield. Also
in nineteen forty four, Slaughter writes a period piece titled
(17:11):
Divine Mistress, which was published by Double Day. It's a
historical romance novel set in fifteen sixty two that also
incorporates medical nuances like pulmonary circulation and operating techniques. At
this point, Frank has been in the medical field for
approximately fifteen years. So after the war's over, Frank comes home,
(17:31):
settles in as a full time novelist, and he really
really gets going. In nineteen forty five, his medical thriller
A Touch of Glory is published in hardcover by Double Day.
The blurb is a young surgeon's fight against medical racketeering.
In nineteen forty six, Slaughter writes the first of two
novels starring Julian Chisholm, an army field surgeon serving the
(17:52):
Confederacy during America's Civil War. He wrote a sequel to
this novel in nineteen fifty titled The Stubborn Heart. In
nineteen forty eight, Slaughter's novel Daybreak was published. It's about
a doctor attempting to find treatment for schizophrenia while fighting
the medical community from forcing the patient to have a
frontal lobotomy. This was a cruel brain operation that wreaked
(18:12):
havoc on humanity in the early to mid twentieth century.
Now when I think of Frank Slaughter, I'll read his books.
I always check to see what genre it is. You see,
Frank had three distinct genres he mostly focused on. There's
some overlap, but his books are going to either be
medical thrillers, some modern and some set in a backdrop
of military fiction across various wars throughout history, or if
(18:33):
there'll be biblical history novels, which we'll talk about in
a moment, or his books will be action adventure escapism.
Said in the early days of Florida and Georgia history.
Now living in Florida now, I'm drawn to the area's
rich history, in the various wars and battles that raged
here involving the French, British, and Spanish forces, as well
as the Seminole Wars due to slaughter. Living here in
(18:55):
Florida for so long, his books draw on that rich history,
which brings us to his first Florida themed novel, The
Golden Isle, which was published in nineteen forty seven. It
features a doctor Stone forced by slave traders to act
as a doctor in West Africa and then later in
Spanish Florida. The book takes place in and around the
year eighteen sixteen. There's a love affair or a slave revolt,
(19:19):
and the book sort of checks off all the boxes
of a great escapism adventure novel. Frank's book Sangaree was
published in nineteen forty eight and it's about a doctor
working in and around Savannah, Georgia, right after the Revolutionary War.
The book was adapted to film in nineteen fifty three,
and the screenplay was written by David Duncan, who would
later go on to adapt and write the classic Paramount
(19:40):
movie The Time Machine, based off of HG. Well's book Now.
As I mentioned earlier, Frank also wrote in a genre
called biblical history. These are fictional works based on real
life stories and accounts from the Bible. Frank takes the
scripture and he reimagines it in a way that tells
a complete narrative. Being a biblical scholar myself, I find
(20:01):
that Frank's books are captivating, accurate, and they never lose
God's actual spiritual lessons. Frank's very careful about that. He
was scholarly and his expertise in drawing out geographical regions, timelines, landmarks,
and the many rulers and characters that appear throughout Middle
Eastern history. But if you're looking for just a great
adventure novel, and these books should appeal to you regardless
of your beliefs. His first biblical history book is The
(20:25):
Road to Bithynia, published in nineteen fifty one. My guess
is that Frank's inspiration both as a surgeon and a
Christian was the story of Luke, a doctor that joined
Apostle Paul. After the death and resurrection of Jesus. Luke
traveled the Middle East, providing his experiences and also sharing
the Word of God. This book is the story of
Luke and a captivating narrative that blends Biblical scripture into
(20:47):
a fictional book. Now, I'm not going to go through
every single Frank Slaughter book here. I mostly want you
to know the basics and that Frank wrote biblical history,
historical romance, and medical thrillers. Those were sandboxes, and I'll
break down each sandbox and just highlight some of the
books in those subgenres to give you a clear idea
of what titles you may want to look for and
(21:08):
read for as modern medical thrillers. Here's a few titles
to search for. The nineteen fifty two novel That None
Should Die is just a straight up medical thriller with
hospital politics. That book also deals with the concept that
Congress was examining at the time, that doctors and surgeons
should all be under federal control. The book Convention, MD,
(21:29):
published in nineteen seventy two, is also about hospital politics.
There's the nineteen fifty five novel The Healer, about a
surgeon dealing with the death of his patient on the
operating table. The nineteen sixty one novel Epidemic is about
a doctor dealing with a fictional plague in New York
City in nineteen sixty five. That book makes you want
to think what Slaughter would have felt in twenty twenty
(21:50):
with the pandemic that hit all of us and especially
decimated New York City. Nineteen sixty two's East Side General
is a book about a big city hospital in New
York and all the characters and their stories and how
they work and live together. Tomorrow's Miracle is about a
surgeon who decides to become a global missionary. Nineteen sixty
three's A Savage Place is about a young doctor returning
(22:12):
to his hometown to practice medicine. Nineteen sixty four's Devil's
Harvest is about researchers working on a cure. There's also
a Chinese communist thrown into the narrative. Nineteen sixty six's
Doctors Wives is about the private world at home while
male doctors and surgeons are working. This was made into
a movie in nineteen seventy one, starring Richard Krenna and
(22:32):
Gene Hackman. Nineteen sixty nine's Surgeon's Choice is about a
surgeon who comes up with a new transplant operation. This
book here nineteen seventies Plague Ship is one that I
really want to kind of check out. It's about a
doctor dealing with a five thousand year old germ that
creates a plague on a passenger ship. Nineteen seventy one's
(22:53):
Code Five is about a former Vietnam war surgeon. In
nineteen seventy four's Woman in White, also titled Lifeblood, is
about a busy, vast metropolitan hospital. This one was adapted
into a film in nineteen seventy nine starring Susan Flannery.
His last few books were all straight up medical thrillers,
like Doctors Daughters, Doctors at Risk, No Greater Lover, and Transplant.
(23:15):
For medical thrillers that involve military or nautical history, there's
the nineteen fifty three novel Air Surgeon, set in an
army training camp. There was also Surgeon USA, which also
came out as War Surgeon, about an army doctor serving
during World War Two. There was the nineteen fifty five
novel dairyen Venture, which really is more of an adventure
novel than a military history thing. There's the nineteen fifty
(23:38):
seven book Sword in Scalpel, set during the Korean War.
A nineteen sixty book titled Flight from Natchez. It's set
right after the Revolutionary War in the Mississippi Valley. His
nineteen sixty novel Puritans in Paradise concerns a young doctor
in sixteen forty seven dealing with a religious zelot on
a trip to the New World. Now, if you want
to check out the Southeast history kind of books, Florida, Georgia.
(24:02):
The nineteen fifty three novel Fort Everglades is set in
the backdrop of the Seminole Wars. Another nineteen fifty three
novel titled Storm Haven, is about a Civil War doctor
fighting and loving in and around that area. The nineteen
fifty six novel The Warrior, which was also called The
Flaming Forest, is about a white man who's a sworn
blood brother to the Seminoles, and he's dealing with a
plantation that is caught up in the Seminole wars. My
(24:25):
favorite that I've read so far is called Appalachi Gold
from nineteen fifty four. It's about a young Spanish man
joining a Spanish expedition into western Florida and his association
with the Native Americans there. It's a great, great adventure novel.
I reviewed it on the blog. You can check it
out there. Frank's biblical history novels. The nineteen fifty three
book The Galileans focuses on Mary Magdalene. There's the nineteen
(24:48):
fifty six novel The Scarlet Cord, which is all about
rehab and the Battle of Jericho. Nineteen sixty seven's God's Warriors,
one of my personal favorites. It's about Apostle Paul. There
was the nineteen fifty nine book The Crown and the Cross,
which is ultimately the story of Jesus. The nineteen fifty
nine novel The Thorn of Arimathea about Joseph of Arimathea.
(25:10):
Nineteen sixties, The Land and the Promise is a really
cool book. It spends about three to four pages on
every major event from the Bible and sort of connects
it as one long narrative that reads like a work
of fiction. It's really really cool. The nineteen sixty one
novel The Curse of Jezebel is of course, about Israel's
demise under her reign. Another one of my favorites is
David Willier and King from nineteen sixty two. I reviewed
(25:32):
that on the blog It's excellent. Nineteen sixty three is
Upon This Rock is the story of Simon Peter. But
by the mid nineteen fifties Frank has gone on such
a writing tear that publishers urge him to create a
pseudonym to keep from flooding the market under the name C. B.
Terry see like Cat v Like Victor Terry with a Y.
Frank writes and has published five books, including Buccaneer Surgeon,
(25:55):
Buccaneer Doctor, as well as The Deadly Lady of Madagascar
and The Golden Ones. There was also adventure fiction novels
that don't involve medical stuff or biblical history at all.
He wrote The Golden Ones in nineteen fifty seven, about
a man traveling with Sir Walter Riley to the New World.
The nineteen fifty seven book The Map Maker is a
nautical adventure tale about Prince Henry the Navigator. His nineteen
(26:19):
fifty nine novel Loraina is about a plantation during the
Civil War. Nineteen sixty five's Constantine is a book about Constantine.
The Great nineteen seventies Countdown is about American astronauts and
all the rigors training in preparation for space. Nineteen seventy
nine's Passionate Rebel is about a female spy working behind
enemy lines during the Civil War. Now, Frank Slaughter passed
(26:41):
away at the age of ninety three in Jacksonville, Florida.
My last personal connection to Frank Slaughter is that he
was returned to Roanoke, Virginia as his final resting place
to be with his wife. There. He's buried about ten
miles from my childhood home, and his grave is there
with some of my best friends from high school. In fact,
his grave there is surrounded by some of my relatives
(27:04):
and other friends. It's a fairly large cemetery located just
past the airport there. If things go according to plan,
I hope to visit his grave, maybe before this episode airs,
if I have time. If so, I'm going to post
a photo on the social media threads, and my wife
and I we took some time last maybe it was
two weeks ago to try to track down where he
(27:25):
lived in Jacksonville. So if I was able to get
that photo, I'll post it as well. But I think
I found his house and I got a photo of
me standing in front of his in front of his house,
I'm pretty sure that's his house, So if I can
locate that, I'll go and post that as well. A
quote from Frank G. Slaughter I found online kind of
(27:46):
interesting says quote the curiosity of the public about things
medical is probably greater than on any other single subject,
except perhaps sex unquote. My references include Fantastic Fiction mag
Index at Galactic Central, the National Library of Medicine, the
Jacksonville Times Union, and archive dot org. I hope you
(28:08):
enjoyed that feature. I see Frank Slaughter's books all over
the place, even his vintage paperback editions I still see
all over the used bookstore. So be sure if you've
got some Frank Slaughter vintage books post them on the
social media channels. I'll post links to this podcast episode there.
So if you've got some Frank Slaughter books, show me
what you got. Now. Before I jump into this episode's review,
(28:30):
I want to remind you that later this week, on
April seventeenth, this is my video review for The Butcher
number twenty six, The Terror Truckers. This is a novel
by James Dockery that was published by Pinnacle in nineteen
seventy seven. If you love nineteen seventies vintage men's action
adventure paperbacks, you can't miss this review. This is an
hour discussion on The Butcher, his origin story, publication, history Dockery,
(28:53):
and even Michael Aavaloni. But joining me for that review
is Nick from the book Graveyard and Brian from Bad
Taste Books. I recorded it a couple days before recording
this episode, and man, it was just so much fun.
I hope to get those guys back on again to
read and review another book together. But again. Look for
that video, complete with all three of us on camera,
on the YouTube channel this week on April seventeenth. Then
(29:15):
it's also going to stream as an audio only edition
of this very podcast, so you can find the audio
anywhere the streams podcast probably where you're listening to this
episode at right now, Drive and listen to us or
sit in front of your phone or TV and watch us.
Just be there. Dang it all right, So I've asked
all of you for money. I've asked you for community contributions.
I've asked you for business. I presented a feature and
(29:36):
plugged my next video. So how about the last order
of business, which is today's review. This one comes by
way of Avon Flair, an imprint of Avon that catered
to young adults in the nineteen nineties. Now, don't groan
just yet. I know you're like young adult, not more
of this juvenile fiction stuff like last episode. But you
(29:56):
might be surprised. The name of the book is winter Kill.
It was published in ninety one, authored by Katherine Johnson Now.
She wrote mysteries under the pseudonyms Nicole Davidson, Katherine Jensen,
kay M Kembele, and Mary Hart Perry. She got around
in the nineteen nineties and was prolific up until around
twenty fifteen. Now again, these Avon Flair books were sold
(30:18):
at retail stores, but also catered to school libraries and
book fairs in the schools. I bought point horror paperbacks
back in the day at school fairs and was always
loving the opportunity to go and buy books of the
book fair. Winterkill is young adult, but after reading it,
I can honestly say that this is no different than
any mystery from the early to mid twentieth century. The
book would also please even horror readers, which is probably
(30:42):
what it's based kind of pacing its cover on is
catering to the horror community. So if you enjoy the
childhood perspectives and books by the likes of John Saul,
Dan Simmons, Guess Stephen King, then that element is really
the same in Winterkill. The book is about Aaron, a
high school student that's forced to move with her parents
(31:03):
to a small town in Vermont. Now this little town,
it's got a ski resort and it's got like a
hotbed for tourism and things like that. So Karen's in
this little town. She befriends a fellow student named Matt
and the two begin dating. Karen befriends Matt's friends Kurt
and Brandon, and has this little rivalry going with a
(31:23):
local girl named Jerry. But one night at a party,
Matt tells Karen, who has to leave for just a
little bit, but he's gonna return. Well, Karen gets worried,
and she follows Matt out into the parking lot across
the street, and then she sees him get hit in
a in a hit and run, he gets ran over
by a car. She can't quite make out the car though,
because it's snowing and there's fog, And later she discovers
(31:46):
that her own car was used in the hit and run.
But who wants to kill Matt and why use her
car to do it. Karen then sets out to solve
the mystery by eliminating her fellow students. Eventually, the whole
thing ties into a freak skiing accident decades before. I'm
not going to spoil it here the finale of the book,
It takes place on the ski slope, says Karen tries
(32:06):
to out fox the killer. The book was really honest.
It was a lot of fun, and it contained an
absorbing mystery. I really didn't I didn't really know who
the killer was. I had some suspicions, but it wasn't
until towards the end that I kind of figured it out.
In terms of young adult novels, this one's got some profanity.
It talks about sex, and of course at least one murder,
(32:27):
so again, in comparison to early twentieth century mystery fiction,
there isn't anything too far out of bounds and from
just a straight up traditional mystery novel, this one works
just like that. There's a hint, and I'll say, just
a tiny, tiny hint of the supernatural, but it's it's subjective.
Karen's necklace was handed down to her from her grandmother.
This necklace has opals that change color depending on how
(32:49):
much danger Karen's in. Now, it could just be the
lighting or some type of scientific explanation of the weather
affecting the stones. There's no real clear answer on this,
so it's up to the reader to determine if there
was something supernatural involved. Personally, I don't think so. Winter
Kill was a lot of fun, and I have a
few other books by the same author that I'm willing
to read now. I was kind of turned off by
(33:11):
the whole young adult idea, but I don't know. I mean,
now these seem appealing to me. If they're as good
as this, then you know, I'll be very pleased. And
speaking pleased, I'm pleased with this episode. The Frank Slaughter
feature took some time to research and write out. Spend
a lot of time on this one, and I think
it came out pretty good. I'll be back in another
two weeks for another episode. I'm thinking about hitting the
(33:32):
dusty trails again with maybe another Western author. The last
one I did was back in February on Bill Gullick.
Some anxious to get back in the saddle. We'll see
how that works out, but I hope you'll join me
there in the meantime. Thanks for listening and enjoy whatever
it is you're doing. Take care, and I'll see you
next time.
Welcome, ladies, gentlemen and children of all ages. My name
is Eric and I'm bringing you another Paperback Warrior podcast episode.
This is number one hundred and eighteen, and I've got
a bit of a personal connection to this episode due
to the feature. Before we get into all of that,
just know that this podcast is an extension of the
Paperbackwarrior dot com blog, where you'll find hundreds and hundreds
(00:41):
of written vintage fiction reviews and articles, including access to
the prior one hundred and seventeen episodes and countless videos.
You can follow on Facebook, threads, Instagram, and x and
listen to this show and watch videos on archive dot
org by searching for Paperback Warrior. You can donate to
the show by clicking on the desktop version of Paperbackwarrior
dit and looking on the right side near the top.
(01:02):
Cheers to superfans like Derek Wallace. Derek, You're awesome, Ida Umphers,
you continue to be amazing. Bob Dice, I love the
support man. James Sieger always consistently a super fan and
I love it. Kr Training You've been a blessing and
I appreciate it. Peter Robol always supporting, always there every month,
and I appreciate you and David Kowowski, longtime supporter donator Fan.
(01:25):
I can't thank you enough. Thanks to all of you
for being longtime donators and supporters for this show. I
can directly link their donations to the costs for my
video editing subscription through Adobe, my hosting payment through spreaker
each month, and my dropbox storage bill for housing all
these images, reviews, audio files, and videos, plus the domain
cost each year. My recent advertising for a PulpFest was
(01:48):
donation money. The cost of turning Paperback Warrior into an
LLC and paying the government their fees was in part
donations and the affiliate money I received from you guys
and gals buying books through am, Amazon or abe. As
grocery costs continue to increase, so does the cost of
running a brand like Paperback Warrior. Won't you consider donating today?
(02:08):
If you can't donate, no big deal. Just know I
appreciate your continued support and reading reviews, listening to the shows,
watching the videos, and subscribing. All of you are truly
a blessing to me. Now, I'm going to take just
a second more to advertise a couple things are important
to my life. The first thing is a charity organization
I've been helping out with on Saturday mornings. Now, I
know this is a global prodcast, so you can't necessarily
(02:31):
join me in Jacksonville, Florida for volunteering, but if you
get a moment, please check out sponsored by Grace dot
org and consider donating there. It's a great cause helping
kids in the projects and your money goes a long
ways and supporting them with snacks, sporting equipment, books, mentoring,
and so forth. Again sponsored by Grace dot org. The
(02:52):
second thing, really fast, is something I mentioned on my
last episode. My full time job away from Paperback Warrior
is running my own business writing of care insurance plans
for my customers. If you, or anyone you know needs
help navigating Medicare, please consider calling me. My office number
is eight six six two one one seven four four
three extension thirty six forty one. Again eight six six
(03:17):
two one one seven four four three Extension thirty six
forty one. You can also reach out to any of
the Paperback Warrior contact methods as well. Last, but not least,
remember your local Big Brother and Big Sister organizations. You
can sign up to be a Big brother a big sister,
or just donate or help out physically with their events
around town. My little brother, I started mentoring him in
(03:39):
twenty sixteen, and next month he's graduating high school and
he's off to college. It's been a fun and rewarding
nine years for me and my family, and I wouldn't
trade it for anything, all right, So enough with pedaling
my wares like a street merchant. Let's get down to
today's content. On this episode, I'm going to dig into
the life and literary career of author Frank G. Slaughter.
(04:01):
He was an American novelist that authored nearly seventy books
in a variety of formats, including medical thrillers, crime noir, action, adventure, romance,
and even biblical history. He was published by all the
major publishers, and I have a sort of a weird
connection to him. It isn't anything major, but it's a
small connection and I'm excited to discuss it. As part
(04:23):
of today's feature, I'm also reviewing a nineteen ninety one
mystery suspense paperback titled Winter Kill by Catherine Johnson. But
first I wanted to tell you about some new releases
and also a couple of books I picked up recently.
I'll start with the books I acquired. The first one.
Let me grab it here. This first one is titled
(04:44):
Licensed to Kill. This is a Pyramid paperback from nineteen
seventy two. The back of the book states that the hero,
Kelly Carvel, is secretly flown to South America on a
perilous mission to find and rescue two kidnapped diplomats from
a it's a distant gang of cutthroat revolutionaries. Now the
name Norman Daniels and this character name of Kelly Carvell,
(05:07):
it didn't immediately click with me. I mostly got the
book because, let's face it, there's arms and hands on
the cover holding a revolver and that just looked cool.
Upon further inspection, though, I finally had my memory jogged.
Kelly Carvel. So, Kelly Carvel stars in a trio of
paperbacks written by Daniels in the nineteen seventies. The first
of the series was called The Rape of a Town
(05:29):
from nineteen seventy now. I reviewed that book on the
blog and maybe even talked about it here on the show.
It's about Kelly, a former Los Angeles police captain who
goes to work for a clandestine vigilanti force consisting of
police chiefs, attorneys, US senators, and other high ranking officials.
In that book, Kelly goes to a small town and
(05:51):
deals with a group of criminals robbing a bank during
a fireworks show on America's Independence Day. The book that
followed was titled One Angry Man from nineteen seventy one,
so this book, Licensed to Kill is the third and
final in that series. The other book I got that
I wanted to bring up is titled The Last Gasp.
This is written by Trevor Hoyle and published in nineteen
(06:14):
eighty three as a hardcover by Crown Publishers. The cover
has this skull in what looks to be like maybe
a desert or it's a really dry area, and the
skulls got this gas mask on. The synopsis indicates that
it's about a British marine biologist named Gavin Chase. He
learns that the microscopic oxygen producing plants of the world's
(06:36):
oceans are dying and the level of atmospheric pollutants has
finally exceeded the planet's ecology to recycle them. That seems
like a mouthful, but the biggest threat comes from the
superpower countries that are planning to wage this new type
of environmental war. There's assassins from the government involved, this
crazy military mastermind, and apparently a conspiracy to seed the
(06:58):
earth with poison and then populate it with a race
of mutants. It totally looks bonkers. Seems like there's a
lot of plots here. It's kind of why I'm interested
in it. I guess, just see how bonkers it really is.
It looks like a lot of fun. All right. On
to new releases, starting with a new book coming out
on April fifteenth, titled Senseless. It's being published by Titan
(07:22):
Books and is authored by one of my favorites, Ronald Malfi.
We've talked about him on the show here, and I
think Tom even reviewed one of his books on the
show called Mister Cables. Here's the synopsis of the book.
What do you see? When the mutilated body of a
young woman is discovered in the desert on the outskirts
of Los Angeles. The detective assigned to the case can't
(07:43):
deny the similarities between this murder and one that occurred
a year prior. Media outlets are quick to surmise this
is the work of a budding serial killer, but detective
Bill Rinnie is struggling with an altogether different scenario, a
secret that keeps him tethered to the husband of the
first victim. What do you hear? Maureene Park, newly engaged
to Hollywood producer Gregg Dawson, finds her engagement party crashed
(08:07):
by the arrival of Landon, Gregg's son, A darkly unsettling
young man. Land And invades Maureen's new existence, and the
longer he stays, the more convinced she becomes that he
may have something to do with the recent murder in
the High Desert? What do you Feel? Toby kampin The
self proclaimed Human Fly, begins an obsession over a woman
who is unlike anyone he's ever met. A woman with
(08:30):
rattlesnaked teeth and a penchant for biting. A woman who
has trapped him in her spell. A woman who may
or may not be completely human. In Ronald Malfie's brand
new thriller, these three story lines converged to create a
tapestry of deceit, distrust, and unapologetic horror, a brand new
novel of dark suspense said in the City of Angels
as only Horace Faulkner can tell it again. That's Senseless
(08:53):
by Ronald Malfy, coming out on April fifteenth. Another book
arriving in April is The Buffalo hu Hunter Hunter Odd
odd title The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones.
This is also on Titan and releases on April twenty ninth.
The synopsis reads, Etsy Buchanne, I'm going to probably butcher
(09:14):
that name. Etsy Bucann is an academic who needs to
get published. So when a journal written in nineteen twelve
by author Bucann, a Lutheran pastor, and her grandfather, is
discovered within a wall during renovations, she sees her chance
she can uncover the loss seekers of her family and
get tenure. As she researches, she comes to learn of
her grandfather and a Blackfeet called good Stab. What a name,
(09:37):
Good Stab, who came to author to share the story
of his extraordinary life. The journals details a slow massacre,
a chain of events charting the history of Montana State
as it formed, a psychle of violence that leads all
the way back to two hundred and seventeen Blackfeet murdered
in the snow, A blood soaked and unflinching saga, the
violence of colonial America, a revenge story like no other,
(09:59):
and the reinvention of vampire lore from the Master of
Horror Again. That's The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Steven Graham Jones.
Friend and paperback warrior fan and reader Lee Goldberg announced
the sixth eve Ronan book. It's titled Fallen Star, and
it's going to arrive on October fourteenth. I've read a
couple of those eve Ronan books and review them here
(10:20):
on the blog. Very very good crime fiction. I really
enjoy all the characters. But before that is another Goldberg
book arriving this month on April twenty second. It's called
Hidden in Smoke, the third book in a series featuring
Arson investigators Walter Sharp and Andrew Walker. What's cool about
this book is that eve Ronan and her partner Duncan
(10:40):
show up in the book to assist Sharp and Walker.
So very neat combination of Goldberg's characters. All right, So
before I get on to today's feature, I also wanted
to announce a couple of things going on. The first
is that I am going to be interviewing, well, I'm
going to be talking with a guy named Greg Shepherd.
Some of you may know Greg Shevert because he owns
(11:02):
stark House Press and also the imprint of Black Gat Books.
To my knowledge, and I haven't really delved into this
too deep, but to my knowledge, I don't think Greg's
ever been on camera to do an interview with anyone.
So I was really shocked when I pitched my idea
to have him on camera to do an interview and
to talk about his experience in the book industry, his
(11:23):
time with Zebra Books back in the day, selling Zebra
books as I guess a store to store territory sells
rep and how he got into Starkhouse Press, what books
kind of influenced him to even start Starkhouse Press, where
he gets his ideas for books that he wants to reprint,
new books that he does put out. So I'm really
(11:45):
really excited to talk with him. But I pitched my
idea to him and he's like, you know what, I'm retired,
I'm a little shy, but you know what, I'm going
to give this a try. The only reason I had
kind of pitched this idea was because Greg announced that
he had gotten a new computer, a new phone, a
new scanner, so it looks like he was ready to
step into the twenty first century. So knowing Greg, he's
(12:07):
always been a little bit shy on technology, but I'm
really excited to have him into the twenty first century.
Greg's an awesome guy. I really really like talking with him,
just about books in general. He sometimes emails me ideas
about books, our ideas that he's got about putting out
books I should say, and also books that I may
(12:27):
like as a reader, just from what he hears me talk
about on the show or read on the blog. He's
always been a supporter of a paperback warrior, and I'm
really excited to talk to him. I've never actually spoken
to him before, so I'm really excited. But look for that.
Hopefully in the first week of May. It should be
launched as a conversation as part of this podcast, and
(12:48):
then it'll also show up as a video on YouTube.
All right, so today's feature, let's get down to business.
I'm going to import the music, I'm going to grab
my fact sheet, and let's roll. All right. So today's
feature is about the life and career of one of
(13:09):
the best selling authors of the twentieth century that you
maybe haven't even heard of. His name is Frank G. Slaughter.
Slaughter published sixty five books between nineteen forty one and
nineteen eighty seven. He sold seventy five million copies in
twenty three languages. His literary work was adapted into films
starring the likes of Rock Hudson, Anthony Quinn, Gene Hackman,
(13:30):
and Carol O'Connor. So let's learn more about this successful author.
Frank was born in nineteen oh eight in Washington, d C.
When Frank was five, his family moved to Piedmont, North Carolina,
where he grew up in a log walled pre Revolutionary
War farmhouse and found enjoyment reading old magazines. He read
magazines like Argacy in Saint Nicholas, and he was a
(13:52):
really intelligent guy. He entered college at the age of fourteen.
He graduated from Trinity College, a place now called Duke Universe,
at age seventeen. He then furthered his education at Johns
Hopkins University in Baltimore and became a doctor at the
age of twenty two. Now he moved to Roanoke, Virginia
to intern at Jefferson Hospital. Now some of you may
(14:13):
know that I was born and raised in Roanoke. Jefferson
Hospital was in the downtown area near the railroad, a
place where I worked for many, many years. This hospital
that Frank worked in would eventually be torn down and
replaced with Community Hospital, a place I spent a lot
of time at when I was a kid. I spent
so much in my childhood at the hospital due to
severe asthma. I even had my own toy box there,
(14:36):
and everyone was just like my uncle or aunt. I
knew everyone. So it was neat that Frank interned in
Roanoke and what would eventually become a hospital I frequented.
Ironically enough, the only other hospital I've had to stay
in was a place called Saint Vincent's Riverside Hospital in Jacksonville, Florida. Well,
guess what. Frank left Ronoke in nineteen thirty four and
headed to Jacksonville, Florida to become a surgeon at Riverside Hospital,
(15:01):
the medical facility that would later transform into Saint Vincent's
Riverside Hospital. So the only two hospitals that I have
personal experience with are the only two hospitals that Frank
Slaughter worked at. I'm just saying that's kind of neat.
I have one more slight connection to Frank that I'll
bring to your attention at the end of this feature.
But getting along here. Frank became a fellow of the
(15:22):
American College of Surgeons in nineteen thirty eight, and at
Jacksonville Times Union newspaper interview from nineteen seventy eight, Frank
said that he came home from work one night early
in his medical career. This would have been around nineteen
thirty five, he talked to his wife Jane about the
possibility of purchasing a sixty dollars typewriter at the rate
of five dollars a month now. Jane said they couldn't
(15:44):
afford it at the time, so the two decided to
move to a different apartment with lower rent so we
could afford to get the typewriter. He began writing hundreds
of short stories over a five year period before finally
selling one to the Chicago Daily News for twelve dollars.
While writing shorts, he also made efforts to write a
semi autobiographical novel called that Nun Should Die about a
(16:05):
Young Doctor. Not that Nun in Un because that sounds
really morbid, but that Nunny should Die about a young doctor.
It was eventually purchased by Double Day in nineteen forty two.
That same year, he also saw his book Spencer Braid, MD,
published by Cosmopolitan in April nineteen forty two. These two
books begin a theme that runs throughout Frank's bibliography, that
(16:28):
of romantic or intense medical thrillers. Like so many authors
we talk about here at Paperback Warrior, World War II
plays a part in this feature. Frank joined the war
as an army surgeon. He was commissioned as a major
in the Medical Corps in nineteen forty two, and he
came out of that war as a lieutenant colonel. During
his time in the war, he also wrote Battle Surgeon,
(16:49):
published by Houghton Mifflin Company in nineteen forty four. His
wartime experiences combined with his professional expertise as a surgeon
and his desire to write novels eight for a really
unique mix. A lot of his medical novels take place
during war or in medical tents on the battlefield. Also
in nineteen forty four, Slaughter writes a period piece titled
(17:11):
Divine Mistress, which was published by Double Day. It's a
historical romance novel set in fifteen sixty two that also
incorporates medical nuances like pulmonary circulation and operating techniques. At
this point, Frank has been in the medical field for
approximately fifteen years. So after the war's over, Frank comes home,
(17:31):
settles in as a full time novelist, and he really
really gets going. In nineteen forty five, his medical thriller
A Touch of Glory is published in hardcover by Double Day.
The blurb is a young surgeon's fight against medical racketeering.
In nineteen forty six, Slaughter writes the first of two
novels starring Julian Chisholm, an army field surgeon serving the
(17:52):
Confederacy during America's Civil War. He wrote a sequel to
this novel in nineteen fifty titled The Stubborn Heart. In
nineteen forty eight, Slaughter's novel Daybreak was published. It's about
a doctor attempting to find treatment for schizophrenia while fighting
the medical community from forcing the patient to have a
frontal lobotomy. This was a cruel brain operation that wreaked
(18:12):
havoc on humanity in the early to mid twentieth century.
Now when I think of Frank Slaughter, I'll read his books.
I always check to see what genre it is. You see,
Frank had three distinct genres he mostly focused on. There's
some overlap, but his books are going to either be
medical thrillers, some modern and some set in a backdrop
of military fiction across various wars throughout history, or if
(18:33):
there'll be biblical history novels, which we'll talk about in
a moment, or his books will be action adventure escapism.
Said in the early days of Florida and Georgia history.
Now living in Florida now, I'm drawn to the area's
rich history, in the various wars and battles that raged
here involving the French, British, and Spanish forces, as well
as the Seminole Wars due to slaughter. Living here in
(18:55):
Florida for so long, his books draw on that rich history,
which brings us to his first Florida themed novel, The
Golden Isle, which was published in nineteen forty seven. It
features a doctor Stone forced by slave traders to act
as a doctor in West Africa and then later in
Spanish Florida. The book takes place in and around the
year eighteen sixteen. There's a love affair or a slave revolt,
(19:19):
and the book sort of checks off all the boxes
of a great escapism adventure novel. Frank's book Sangaree was
published in nineteen forty eight and it's about a doctor
working in and around Savannah, Georgia, right after the Revolutionary War.
The book was adapted to film in nineteen fifty three,
and the screenplay was written by David Duncan, who would
later go on to adapt and write the classic Paramount
(19:40):
movie The Time Machine, based off of HG. Well's book Now.
As I mentioned earlier, Frank also wrote in a genre
called biblical history. These are fictional works based on real
life stories and accounts from the Bible. Frank takes the
scripture and he reimagines it in a way that tells
a complete narrative. Being a biblical scholar myself, I find
(20:01):
that Frank's books are captivating, accurate, and they never lose
God's actual spiritual lessons. Frank's very careful about that. He
was scholarly and his expertise in drawing out geographical regions, timelines, landmarks,
and the many rulers and characters that appear throughout Middle
Eastern history. But if you're looking for just a great
adventure novel, and these books should appeal to you regardless
of your beliefs. His first biblical history book is The
(20:25):
Road to Bithynia, published in nineteen fifty one. My guess
is that Frank's inspiration both as a surgeon and a
Christian was the story of Luke, a doctor that joined
Apostle Paul. After the death and resurrection of Jesus. Luke
traveled the Middle East, providing his experiences and also sharing
the Word of God. This book is the story of
Luke and a captivating narrative that blends Biblical scripture into
(20:47):
a fictional book. Now, I'm not going to go through
every single Frank Slaughter book here. I mostly want you
to know the basics and that Frank wrote biblical history,
historical romance, and medical thrillers. Those were sandboxes, and I'll
break down each sandbox and just highlight some of the
books in those subgenres to give you a clear idea
of what titles you may want to look for and
(21:08):
read for as modern medical thrillers. Here's a few titles
to search for. The nineteen fifty two novel That None
Should Die is just a straight up medical thriller with
hospital politics. That book also deals with the concept that
Congress was examining at the time, that doctors and surgeons
should all be under federal control. The book Convention, MD,
(21:29):
published in nineteen seventy two, is also about hospital politics.
There's the nineteen fifty five novel The Healer, about a
surgeon dealing with the death of his patient on the
operating table. The nineteen sixty one novel Epidemic is about
a doctor dealing with a fictional plague in New York
City in nineteen sixty five. That book makes you want
to think what Slaughter would have felt in twenty twenty
(21:50):
with the pandemic that hit all of us and especially
decimated New York City. Nineteen sixty two's East Side General
is a book about a big city hospital in New
York and all the characters and their stories and how
they work and live together. Tomorrow's Miracle is about a
surgeon who decides to become a global missionary. Nineteen sixty
three's A Savage Place is about a young doctor returning
(22:12):
to his hometown to practice medicine. Nineteen sixty four's Devil's
Harvest is about researchers working on a cure. There's also
a Chinese communist thrown into the narrative. Nineteen sixty six's
Doctors Wives is about the private world at home while
male doctors and surgeons are working. This was made into
a movie in nineteen seventy one, starring Richard Krenna and
(22:32):
Gene Hackman. Nineteen sixty nine's Surgeon's Choice is about a
surgeon who comes up with a new transplant operation. This
book here nineteen seventies Plague Ship is one that I
really want to kind of check out. It's about a
doctor dealing with a five thousand year old germ that
creates a plague on a passenger ship. Nineteen seventy one's
(22:53):
Code Five is about a former Vietnam war surgeon. In
nineteen seventy four's Woman in White, also titled Lifeblood, is
about a busy, vast metropolitan hospital. This one was adapted
into a film in nineteen seventy nine starring Susan Flannery.
His last few books were all straight up medical thrillers,
like Doctors Daughters, Doctors at Risk, No Greater Lover, and Transplant.
(23:15):
For medical thrillers that involve military or nautical history, there's
the nineteen fifty three novel Air Surgeon, set in an
army training camp. There was also Surgeon USA, which also
came out as War Surgeon, about an army doctor serving
during World War Two. There was the nineteen fifty five
novel dairyen Venture, which really is more of an adventure
novel than a military history thing. There's the nineteen fifty
(23:38):
seven book Sword in Scalpel, set during the Korean War.
A nineteen sixty book titled Flight from Natchez. It's set
right after the Revolutionary War in the Mississippi Valley. His
nineteen sixty novel Puritans in Paradise concerns a young doctor
in sixteen forty seven dealing with a religious zelot on
a trip to the New World. Now, if you want
to check out the Southeast history kind of books, Florida, Georgia.
(24:02):
The nineteen fifty three novel Fort Everglades is set in
the backdrop of the Seminole Wars. Another nineteen fifty three
novel titled Storm Haven, is about a Civil War doctor
fighting and loving in and around that area. The nineteen
fifty six novel The Warrior, which was also called The
Flaming Forest, is about a white man who's a sworn
blood brother to the Seminoles, and he's dealing with a
plantation that is caught up in the Seminole wars. My
(24:25):
favorite that I've read so far is called Appalachi Gold
from nineteen fifty four. It's about a young Spanish man
joining a Spanish expedition into western Florida and his association
with the Native Americans there. It's a great, great adventure novel.
I reviewed it on the blog. You can check it
out there. Frank's biblical history novels. The nineteen fifty three
book The Galileans focuses on Mary Magdalene. There's the nineteen
(24:48):
fifty six novel The Scarlet Cord, which is all about
rehab and the Battle of Jericho. Nineteen sixty seven's God's Warriors,
one of my personal favorites. It's about Apostle Paul. There
was the nineteen fifty nine book The Crown and the Cross,
which is ultimately the story of Jesus. The nineteen fifty
nine novel The Thorn of Arimathea about Joseph of Arimathea.
(25:10):
Nineteen sixties, The Land and the Promise is a really
cool book. It spends about three to four pages on
every major event from the Bible and sort of connects
it as one long narrative that reads like a work
of fiction. It's really really cool. The nineteen sixty one
novel The Curse of Jezebel is of course, about Israel's
demise under her reign. Another one of my favorites is
David Willier and King from nineteen sixty two. I reviewed
(25:32):
that on the blog It's excellent. Nineteen sixty three is
Upon This Rock is the story of Simon Peter. But
by the mid nineteen fifties Frank has gone on such
a writing tear that publishers urge him to create a
pseudonym to keep from flooding the market under the name C. B.
Terry see like Cat v Like Victor Terry with a Y.
Frank writes and has published five books, including Buccaneer Surgeon,
(25:55):
Buccaneer Doctor, as well as The Deadly Lady of Madagascar
and The Golden Ones. There was also adventure fiction novels
that don't involve medical stuff or biblical history at all.
He wrote The Golden Ones in nineteen fifty seven, about
a man traveling with Sir Walter Riley to the New World.
The nineteen fifty seven book The Map Maker is a
nautical adventure tale about Prince Henry the Navigator. His nineteen
(26:19):
fifty nine novel Loraina is about a plantation during the
Civil War. Nineteen sixty five's Constantine is a book about Constantine.
The Great nineteen seventies Countdown is about American astronauts and
all the rigors training in preparation for space. Nineteen seventy
nine's Passionate Rebel is about a female spy working behind
enemy lines during the Civil War. Now, Frank Slaughter passed
(26:41):
away at the age of ninety three in Jacksonville, Florida.
My last personal connection to Frank Slaughter is that he
was returned to Roanoke, Virginia as his final resting place
to be with his wife. There. He's buried about ten
miles from my childhood home, and his grave is there
with some of my best friends from high school. In fact,
his grave there is surrounded by some of my relatives
(27:04):
and other friends. It's a fairly large cemetery located just
past the airport there. If things go according to plan,
I hope to visit his grave, maybe before this episode airs,
if I have time. If so, I'm going to post
a photo on the social media threads, and my wife
and I we took some time last maybe it was
two weeks ago to try to track down where he
(27:25):
lived in Jacksonville. So if I was able to get
that photo, I'll post it as well. But I think
I found his house and I got a photo of
me standing in front of his in front of his house,
I'm pretty sure that's his house, So if I can
locate that, I'll go and post that as well. A
quote from Frank G. Slaughter I found online kind of
(27:46):
interesting says quote the curiosity of the public about things
medical is probably greater than on any other single subject,
except perhaps sex unquote. My references include Fantastic Fiction mag
Index at Galactic Central, the National Library of Medicine, the
Jacksonville Times Union, and archive dot org. I hope you
(28:08):
enjoyed that feature. I see Frank Slaughter's books all over
the place, even his vintage paperback editions I still see
all over the used bookstore. So be sure if you've
got some Frank Slaughter vintage books post them on the
social media channels. I'll post links to this podcast episode there.
So if you've got some Frank Slaughter books, show me
what you got. Now. Before I jump into this episode's review,
(28:30):
I want to remind you that later this week, on
April seventeenth, this is my video review for The Butcher
number twenty six, The Terror Truckers. This is a novel
by James Dockery that was published by Pinnacle in nineteen
seventy seven. If you love nineteen seventies vintage men's action
adventure paperbacks, you can't miss this review. This is an
hour discussion on The Butcher, his origin story, publication, history Dockery,
(28:53):
and even Michael Aavaloni. But joining me for that review
is Nick from the book Graveyard and Brian from Bad
Taste Books. I recorded it a couple days before recording
this episode, and man, it was just so much fun.
I hope to get those guys back on again to
read and review another book together. But again. Look for
that video, complete with all three of us on camera,
on the YouTube channel this week on April seventeenth. Then
(29:15):
it's also going to stream as an audio only edition
of this very podcast, so you can find the audio
anywhere the streams podcast probably where you're listening to this
episode at right now, Drive and listen to us or
sit in front of your phone or TV and watch us.
Just be there. Dang it all right, So I've asked
all of you for money. I've asked you for community contributions.
I've asked you for business. I presented a feature and
(29:36):
plugged my next video. So how about the last order
of business, which is today's review. This one comes by
way of Avon Flair, an imprint of Avon that catered
to young adults in the nineteen nineties. Now, don't groan
just yet. I know you're like young adult, not more
of this juvenile fiction stuff like last episode. But you
(29:56):
might be surprised. The name of the book is winter Kill.
It was published in ninety one, authored by Katherine Johnson Now.
She wrote mysteries under the pseudonyms Nicole Davidson, Katherine Jensen,
kay M Kembele, and Mary Hart Perry. She got around
in the nineteen nineties and was prolific up until around
twenty fifteen. Now again, these Avon Flair books were sold
(30:18):
at retail stores, but also catered to school libraries and
book fairs in the schools. I bought point horror paperbacks
back in the day at school fairs and was always
loving the opportunity to go and buy books of the
book fair. Winterkill is young adult, but after reading it,
I can honestly say that this is no different than
any mystery from the early to mid twentieth century. The
book would also please even horror readers, which is probably
(30:42):
what it's based kind of pacing its cover on is
catering to the horror community. So if you enjoy the
childhood perspectives and books by the likes of John Saul,
Dan Simmons, Guess Stephen King, then that element is really
the same in Winterkill. The book is about Aaron, a
high school student that's forced to move with her parents
(31:03):
to a small town in Vermont. Now this little town,
it's got a ski resort and it's got like a
hotbed for tourism and things like that. So Karen's in
this little town. She befriends a fellow student named Matt
and the two begin dating. Karen befriends Matt's friends Kurt
and Brandon, and has this little rivalry going with a
(31:23):
local girl named Jerry. But one night at a party,
Matt tells Karen, who has to leave for just a
little bit, but he's gonna return. Well, Karen gets worried,
and she follows Matt out into the parking lot across
the street, and then she sees him get hit in
a in a hit and run, he gets ran over
by a car. She can't quite make out the car though,
because it's snowing and there's fog, And later she discovers
(31:46):
that her own car was used in the hit and run.
But who wants to kill Matt and why use her
car to do it. Karen then sets out to solve
the mystery by eliminating her fellow students. Eventually, the whole
thing ties into a freak skiing accident decades before. I'm
not going to spoil it here the finale of the book,
It takes place on the ski slope, says Karen tries
(32:06):
to out fox the killer. The book was really honest.
It was a lot of fun, and it contained an
absorbing mystery. I really didn't I didn't really know who
the killer was. I had some suspicions, but it wasn't
until towards the end that I kind of figured it out.
In terms of young adult novels, this one's got some profanity.
It talks about sex, and of course at least one murder,
(32:27):
so again, in comparison to early twentieth century mystery fiction,
there isn't anything too far out of bounds and from
just a straight up traditional mystery novel, this one works
just like that. There's a hint, and I'll say, just
a tiny, tiny hint of the supernatural, but it's it's subjective.
Karen's necklace was handed down to her from her grandmother.
This necklace has opals that change color depending on how
(32:49):
much danger Karen's in. Now, it could just be the
lighting or some type of scientific explanation of the weather
affecting the stones. There's no real clear answer on this,
so it's up to the reader to determine if there
was something supernatural involved. Personally, I don't think so. Winter
Kill was a lot of fun, and I have a
few other books by the same author that I'm willing
to read now. I was kind of turned off by
(33:11):
the whole young adult idea, but I don't know. I mean,
now these seem appealing to me. If they're as good
as this, then you know, I'll be very pleased. And
speaking pleased, I'm pleased with this episode. The Frank Slaughter
feature took some time to research and write out. Spend
a lot of time on this one, and I think
it came out pretty good. I'll be back in another
two weeks for another episode. I'm thinking about hitting the
(33:32):
dusty trails again with maybe another Western author. The last
one I did was back in February on Bill Gullick.
Some anxious to get back in the saddle. We'll see
how that works out, but I hope you'll join me
there in the meantime. Thanks for listening and enjoy whatever
it is you're doing. Take care, and I'll see you
next time.
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