Carroll John Daly

A chance meeting in the night brings together New York City’s roughest private eye Three Gun Terry and runt-of-a-millionaire John Rogo. Over a cup of coffee, Rogo relays a tale to Terry that is all too familiar, despite its setting. Twenty five years ago, Rogo, his brother, and their friends were in South Africa hunting when they discovered fields of diamonds. They all looked to become the next Morgan and Rockefeller. Then, they stuck him: killed his brother and left him for dead, leaving him the deed to an empty mine as a last, cruel joke. But, fate is twisted. Rogo’s mine churns out money by the boatload. The only problem? His newfound wealth attracts the attention of his former comrades, and now they’re pushing him for their share. Rogo needs Terry to find these men, and dispose of them, before he ends up face-down in a city street, a knife in his back. Terry doesn’t hesitate, and is only too eager to take on the challenge, and the cash. But with three men on his tail, and his name less than private, Three Gun Terry will have to shoot his way out before the end, if he wants to survive.

Terry Mack #2: Action! Action!

Dashiell Hammett

Brian Stanley

Boris Dralyuk

Michael Bracken

Isaac Babel

William Burton McCormick

Frederick C. Davis

Jane Jakeman

Frederick Nebel

Brian Townsley

Hannah Honeybun

Katrina Younes

Frank Megna

Jonathan Sheppard

Jim Doherty

D.L. Champion

T.T. Flynn

Arthur Rodman Bowker

Norman Saunders

Black Mask, the greatest American detective magazine of all time, is back with another issue. This time around, it includes nine new stories in the Black Mask vein by Brian Townsley, Jane Jakeman, Brian Stanley, Hannah Honeybun, William Burton McCormick, Frank Megna, Jonathan Sheppard, Michael Bracken, Jim Doherty, as well as a new article on Raymond Chandler’s The Little Sister by Katrina Younes. In addition, Boris Dralyuk has kindly supplied his translation of Isaac Babel’s “Lyubka the Cossack” and arranged for its reprinting here. And, as with previous issues, Black Mask collects some of the best hard-boiled detective fiction from the Popular Publications vaults, as written by some of the genre’s best: Dashiell Hammett, D.L. Champion, Carroll John Daly, Frederick Nebel, T.T. Flynn, and Frederick C. Davis.

Black Mask 2019 Yearbook

Who is the criminal known only as “The Beast?” Too baffling for the police to solve, it becomes a manhunt in which detective Race Williams must track down “the most feared, the cunningest and cruelest creature that stalks the city streets at night.” But it will soon become Race's most dangerous case as he tries to stay alive. One of the longest and best of the dozens of Race Williams adventures. Story #17 in the Race Williams series. Carroll John Daly (1889–1958) was the creator of the first hard-boiled private eye story, predating Dashiell Hammett's first Continental Op story by several months. Daly's classic character, Race Williams, was one of the most popular fiction characters of the pulps, and the direct inspiration for Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer.

Race Williams #17 (Black Mask)

The Snarl of the Beast

Carroll John Daly

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