Mafia: Operation Hit Man (1974) by Don Romano

“God, flying gets me horny, you know that?” 

This one had been sitting on my bookshelf for some time but after a steady diet of Remo Williams and Mack Bolan I decided I needed a little palette cleanser and MAFIA: OPERATION HIT MAN seemed like a good choice.

Dom Caressimo is a decorated Army vet living in a cheap studio apartment, bedding the building manager’s main squeeze and passing out nightly from cheap hootch – only to wake up with a splitting headache before doing it all over again. So, when he’s approached about a job as a “shooter” he jumps at the chance to improve his lifestyle and bank a little cash in the process.

Seems that Anthony Vicarella – a “legitimate businessman” who owns some local soft drink bottling plants – wants to create a murder-for-hire biz with Caressimo as the triggerman. Setting his new hit man up in a modest brownstone and instructing him on how to maintain a nondescript lifestyle while carrying out jobs for The Family, Vicarella, Dom and his crew of former Army pals immediately begin to reap the rewards of this exciting new venture.

But when Dom is hired to knock off a face from his past, well, that’s when things start to go haywire – and MAFIA: OPERATION HIT MAN turns from a straightforward cheapie Mafia Mania cash-in into an action novel with generous bits that feel cribbed from Penthouse Forum fantasy letters. After completing the job in question, Dom starts having trouble getting Little Dom to do his job. So, when Dom seeks therapy for his – ahem, problem – The Family starts to get suspicious, and Dom finds himself in the crosshairs of the killer team he’s assembled.

Surprisingly better than expected MAFIA: OPERATION HIT MAN is a fast-paced 205-page slab of junk pulp filled with plenty of sex, murder, gore, kinky sex, murder, double-crosses, globe-hopping and the kind of casual 1970s dialogue/prose that would make today’s PC Police blanch. In all honesty, I found myself mentally scripting an OPERATION HIT MAN flick in my head and would not be at all disappointed to watch it streaming on some weekend night after a few beers.

Not a men’s action series a la The Destroyer or its brethren, MAFIA: OPERATION HIT MAN is part of a series of one-shot pulp thrillers depicting various slices of Mafia life, be it the porn trade, cocaine trafficking or truck hijacking. All written under the totally believable nom de plume “Don Romano”, the books were “produced” by Lyle Kenyon Engel aka The Impresario of Paperbacks who re-launched dusty spy Nick Carter as Nick Carter – Killmaster and berthed the hugely successful “Kent Family Chronicles” series written by John Jakes. (For some fascinating reading of a different type Google “Lyle Kenyon Engel” and read some of the profiles, articles and obits chronicling his fascinating career. Where’s the documentary on this guy?!)

It took just a few nights to blow through this one and I’m actively seeking out other installments in the series. This one grades a B+ and is definitely worth a pickup if you spot it in the wild. – Dan Taylor<

Dan Taylor is the editor/publisher of Exploitation Retrospect and The Hungover Gourmet. He also hosts the internet radio show Around the Dial.

The Green Hornet (2011) Seth Rogen, Jay Chou, Christoph Waltz, David Harbour

“You said I'm boring. My gun has two barrels. That's not boring.” 

From the Better Than I Thought It Would Be Files comes the Seth Rogen/Michel Gondry adaptation of pulp hero The Green Hornet. Rogen (who co-wrote the script with Evan Goldberg) stars as Britt Reid, a spoiled newspaper heir whose father (Tom Wilkinson) dies of an allergic reaction to a bee sting. While defacing his father’s gravesite, Reid and Kato (Jay Chou) – his father’s mechanic and assistant – break up a mugging and get mistaken as criminals by the cops. Reid convinces Kato that the two should use the newspaper to beef up the criminal profile of “The Green Hornet” while actually fighting crime and bringing Russian mobster Benjamin Chudnofsky (Christoph Waltz) to justice. Along for the ride are a pre-STRANGER THINGS David Harbour, Edward James Olmos and Cameron Diaz as the older but wiser assistant who helps Reid and Kato in their exploits. Like other failed pulp adaptations – Alec Baldwin’s THE SHADOW (1994) and Billy Zane’s THE PHANTOM (1996) – it’s both fun and exhausting, ping-ponging between action, comedy and bromance without ever finding its footing. Chou is great as the resourceful sidekick while Rogen is tolerable if woefully miscast as the hero. Unfortunately, a bloated budget and needless 3-D effects (remember that era?) sabotaged plans for a sequel though talks of an unrelated reboot surface on occasion. Via HBO Max. GRADE: C+. – Dan Taylor

Best of THE DESTROYER Omnibus

When I was a kid I used to love going with my Mom to the Moorestown Mall. Sure, the Cherry Hill Mall was nicer, bigger and had better stores. But I loved the cheaper feel of Moorestown, plus it had a generic, and what I believe was independent, bookstore that had an entire row of men's adventure novels featuring Mack Bolan (aka The Executioner) and The Destroyer, the inspiration for the underrated and fun REMO WILLIAMS: THE ADVENTURE BEGINS starring Fred Ward.

Unfortunately, my mother never let me indulge myself in any of these (probably had something to do with the scantily-clad babes that graced the covers) so I had to settle for the Ian Fleming books passed down from my brother-in-law.

So imagine my surprise when I was scanning the book and magazine shelves at the grocery store the other day and saw that The Destroyer series has been re-launched with Warren Murphy and James Mullaney back at the helm. (From what I've been reading I guess old school fans were not happy with the character's recent stay at another publishing house, but whatever.)

Not only has the series been re-launched, but for novices like myself, there's even a Best of The Destroyer omnibus featuring three tales of Remo and Chiun by Murphy and Richard Sapir. Since I keep telling myself that I'm going to use this summer to make a concerted effort to get back to reading – a pursuit I once enjoyed with passion – I might have to add both old and new takes on this once-forbidden character to me reading list.

Doc Savage Returns

From SCOOP:

Moonstone Books will offer the first new Doc Savage tales in more than thirty-five years this September when they unveil a collection of radio scripts written in the late 1940s by the enduring character's creator, Lester Dent. Many of these radio scripts have never been seen before and for the most part they have been virtually forgotten for more than half a century.

Doc Savage remains one of the most highly regarded pulp characters, with a track record that includes 181 issues of Doc Savage magazine, a wildly successful string of novels, comic books, and a feature film, “the Man in Bronze” has thrilled audiences around the world for more than five decades.

Doc Savage: The Lost Radio Scripts of Lester Dent collects for the first time these radio scripts for the character's legions of fans. The book will be available in a trade paperback version and a special, limited and signed hardcover edition with a full-color dust jacket. The special edition is limited to 300 numbered copies and features a pulp-era Doc Savage cover by Douglas Klauba. It will be signed by both the artist and the interior illustrator, Tom Roberts. It will also include special Doc color plates by Dave Dorman, Joe Prado, and Ruben Procopio. The trade paperback will retail for $18.95, and limited edition will carry at $49.99 cover price.

For those not familiar with this classic character, Doc Savage is perceived by the public at large as a mysterious figure of glistening bronze skin and exotic, gold-flecked eyes. To his unique band of colorful associates, though, he is a man of superhuman strength and protean genius, whose life is dedicated to the destruction of evil-doers.