The Executioner #17: Jersey Guns, by Don Pendleton
January, 1974 Pinnacle Books
Don Pendleton returns to The Executioner with a volume that is clearly a sequel to #15: Panic In Philly. It’s as if the previous volume never happened; it’s only mentioned occasionally in the first few pages, and we know from Pendleton’s interview with William H. Young in A Study of Action-Adventure Fiction that the references to Sicilian Slaughter in Jersey Guns were actually written by series editor Andy Ettinger. Pendleton himself never read that “Jim Peterson” installment (actually William Crawford), and thus, per the interview, Ettinger is the one who tied the events of the sixteenth volume into the opening of this seventeeth volume. But really you could take all those references out and not even notice they were missing; Pendleton certainly wrote Jersey Guns shortly after Panic In Philly (not to be confused with David Bowie’s “Panic In Detroit”), but the behind-the-scenes legal wrangling delayed publication.
Young’s book gives a lot of info on this legal wrangling, so I suggest seeking it out for the full story. (Just get the book via Interlibrary Loan, like I did; it’s really overpriced.) But basically Pendleton and Pinnacle went to court over the rights of the series, and Pendleton won, but part of the settlement was that he allowed Sicilian Slaughter to be published, because Pinnacle had already printed up the book and they would’ve been hit too hard financially to just cancel it. Pinnacle clearly wanted to curry favor with Pendleton at this point, though, as the back cover – for the first time ever in the series, don’tcha know – features a glowing write-up on our author:
In many ways Jersey Guns is a prefigure of Michael Newton’s later Prairie Fire, with an injured Mack “The Executioner” Bolan stuck on a farm with some innocent people as the bad guys set in. Newton exploited the concept more than Pendleton does, but my assumption is Newton might’ve been inspired by this very volume. Bolan gets on the farm after shaking a Mafia tail, a brutal sequence in which he tricks them into running into his abandoned car on a darkened road. After which he passes out, weakened from his wounds – wounds which he actually got in the climax of Panic In Philly, but which Ettinger edits to be the wounds Bolan got at the climax of Sicilian Slaughter. Bolan wakes up on a farm a few miles from where he crashed up the Mafia cars.
He isn’t among strangers, though: the farm is owned by a guy named Bruno, who briefly encountered Bolan back in ‘Nam. Bolan was there as a soldier, and Bruno was there as a medic. Bruno came back from ‘Nam with his head truly messed up, and now runs this farm away from the world. With him is his sister, a brunette beauty named Sara who is one of the prettiest women Bolan has ever seen, apparently, even though initially he’s under the impression she’s under age. But she is in her early 20s and she too has suffered from ‘Nam, as her husband was killed over there. And as noted her brother Bruno has come back a shadow of what he once was; a battered mental wreck. Pendleton develops a sort of family dynamic here, with these three damaged characters finding redemption in one another.
It’s a powerful theme for sure, but maybe the seventeeth installment of a mob-busting action series isn’t the best place for it. This is something that needs an entire novel’s worth of development, but Pendleton sort of harries through it in the opening quarter. It’s more emotionally meaty than the standard genre offering, that’s for sure, but at least we aren’t beaten over the head with a bunch of maudlin sap. This was still a masculine era, after all, without the cheap showy sentimentality you would encounter in a similar storyline today. And plus Bolan gets laid. Pendleton was very stingy with sex in The Executioner; he stated in his interview with William H. Young that Bolan wouldn’t have “time” for it, given his focus on mob-busting. So it’s notable that Bolan does get busy with Sara, even though he’s injured, mostly unarmed, and sure to be the prey of mobsters who are no doubt congregating on the farm.
As with the sex scenes in previous installments, it’s not sleazy or very explicit at all…and, as with those previous sexual scenes, the most notable element is the weird, metaphysical dialog that ensues between Bolan and Sara. First of all, Bolan gives her a post-sex pep talk about how women are the “mothers of the cosmos” or whatnot, and it’s all straight out of the mind who also gave us The Godmakers. Bolan sure as hell doesn’t come off like too many of his men’s adventure brethren, that’s for sure, giving voice to a truly singular philosophy that sounds more like that of an acid-dropping college student than it does a mob-busting vigilante. And it does get to be a little much, like for example later in the novel when Sara is hiding somewhere and Bolan picks her up, calling out, “Let’s go, little mother! Time to build a universe!” What makes it even crazier is that you know Pendleton’s tongue is nowhere in the vicinity of his cheek.
But, Bolan and Sara’s conjugation happens mostly off-page, and is treated more on an emotional spectrum than a sleazy one, in that finding one another they help heal one another. Regardless, it leads to one of the cooler bits in the series yet. Bolan wakes up from the shenaigans to hear Sara yelling for help. He looks out the window and two mobster thug-types are in the act of pushing her into a car. Bolan quickly grabs his Automag and blows ‘em both away – their brains and whatnot exploding mere inches from Sara’s screaming face. From here Bolan’s in war mode, and accordingly Sara has sewn a new blacksuit for him, complete with hidden pockets to carry his ammo and equipment. (Again with his tongue nowhere near his cheek, Pendleton refers to Bolan as a “black-clad doomsday guy.”) Also unlike Prairie Fire, Bolan quickly re-arms himself, having sent Bruno into the city to pick up a veritable arsenal from a dealer Bolan’s done business with before – another ‘Nam vet who has returned to the world a broken man, in what is a theme that runs throughout Jersey Guns.
More indication that Pendleton did not write the previous volume comes in the few scenes where Bolan makes his inevitable calls to Leo Turin, his inside man with the mob. Whereas Turin resented Bolan in the Crawford-penned installment, here he has the Pendleton-typical hero worship of “the black-clad doomsday guy.” But then Pendleton’s hero-worshipping is really brought to the fore in Jersey Guns, more so than in any previous volume. As we’ll recall, most every installment of The Executioner follows the same template, with Bolan doing stuff and then ensuing paragraphs where one-off characters recap what we readers just saw Bolan do. Then of course there will be periodic chapters in which Bolan reaffirms his resolve to destroy the mob. This time Pendleton dispenses with the “one-off characters recapping the plot” stuff, but doubles way down on the “mission resolve” stuff.
In this regard I agree with Marty McKee, who in his review of Jersey Guns noted that “Pendleton often goes off-subject with ramblings about war and humanity.” I see that Stephen Mertz posted a comment to Mary’s review, stating that “those ‘ramblings’ are what the books are about.” Stephen is certainly correct, but I feel that Marty is, too, as in this particular volume the sermonizing is pretty egregious. Damn egregious at that, for it commits the ultimate pulp sin of interfering with the action. It also serves to balloon what is a simple, almost outline-esque installment, to the point that there’s less action here than typical. In the final third especially the narrative often stops so that Pendleton can once again examine what makes Bolan tick. This has been done before, but never so frequently, or to such extent. To the point that I actually missed those arbitrary plot recaps from one-off characters. As an example, this is the sort of thing that constantly bogs down the forward momentum in Jersey Guns:
What makes it frustrating is that otherwise Pendleton has here a lean and mean thriller that shows his Mafia villains at their most depraved. Bolan discovers that the Taliferi brothers, those recurring villains from previous volumes, have gathered together a host of guns and are descending on Jersey to finally get the Executioner. And they’ve brought along a couple “Turkey Doctors,” ie those mob sadists who perform sadistic torture to get their prey to talk. This time, seventeen volumes in(!), we finally get a thorough description of who the turkey doctors are and what they do. Because, of course, one of Bolan’s new friends is captured and put through the turkey-doctoring treatment, leading to a sequence more gruesome and horror-esque than in any previous volume. But at the same time Pendleton undermines the tension he creates, for the mob here is evil enough to hire such sadists…but still dumb enough that Bolan can, once again, bluff his way onto a Mafia “hardsite” and literally escort his captured friend.
After this, though, Bolan goes on the warpath, breaking out his new weaponry to hit the Taliferi hardsite, and hit it hard. But the helluva it is, Pendleton has spent so much time with the frequent hero-sermonizing that the climax of Jersey Guns isn’t nearly as spectacular as it was shaping up to be. And once again Bolan so outmatches his opponents – even though they greatly outnumber him – that there’s no tension to any of it. The main issue though is that it’s a relatively smallscale sequence, with Bolan hitting the area with explosives and then “mopping up” a few injured thugs. Even the confrontation with the Taliferi brother himself is anticlimactic, though at least believable in that Bolan, a soldier, wouldn’t dwell on revenge. That said, by novel’s end he declares he has a score to settle with the turkey doctor who so maimed Bolan’s new friend, so hopefully this subplot will eventually pan out.
All of which is to say that Jersey Guns is on the level with the previous Pendleton volumes. The action is a bit too muddied up with the positive reinforcement detours, but again Pendleton’s outlook is so unusual – particularly when compared to other novels in the genre – that it sort of makes you chuckle. Despite what Pendleton claimed in William Young’s book (or actually maybe it was in the interview Pendleton did with Marvel comics for Marvel Preview Presents: The Punisher, in 1975), Mack Bolan is a superhero, and his easy vanquishing of his foes only undermines what could be a more thrilling tale. The “what a man” stuff only makes his superheroism more grating.
But then, I still agree with Zwolf that “Pendleton’s still a Cadillac in the parking lot of action-series writers,” and this sort of thing is part of Pendleton’s template. I just personally felt it got in the way this time. But, it’s the series schtick, same as Bolan’s easy infiltration of various mob hardsites…he makes the whole “Executioner” business look ridiculously easy. On that same note, Jersey Guns ends with Bolan easily taking control of a Mafia airplane and having the pilot head south; we’ll learn his destination next volume, it appears, as he uses the flight time to take a well-deserved nap(!).
8 comments:
(Zwolf again)
Great review! Y'know, years ago I had a friend who created a one-man black metal band called "Black-Robed Infidel." So, now I wanna write an action series called "Black-Clad Doomsday Guy." It has potential!
Regarding Pendleton's tendencies to ramble off on philosophical tangents, I think it comes from his ambition to innovate something, and he was clumsy about doing it. Bolan's clearly rooted in pulp fiction traditions, all the way back to The Shadow always fighting the mob (he was basically a spookier and less violent Bolan) and The Spider and all those other dudes, whose stories focused totally on action never really tried to impart any message other than basic good vs. evil. But I think Pendleton was trying to bring the blood'n'thunder of the old days into "respectable fiction" (just because they were in paperbacks instead of pulp mags, for a while people thought he was doing a whole new thing... so he had an opportunity to actually try to do that). So, I think he was trying to make a play at "mainstream fiction" respectability by adding (awkwardly) some "deeper meaning," so these types of books wouldn't be so easy for the critics to dismiss as... well, glorious trash. :) O' course it doesn't really work because they *are* pulp and attempts to elevate them stick out like a sore thumb. Nobody was picking up an Executioner book looking for the great truths of mankind's plight or whatever -- we're mostly just looking for brain-spraying (albeit well-done brain-spraying!). But I *think* that's what Pendleton was aiming for by putting those musings in... a sort of bridging between The Spider and... I dunno, Kurt Vonnegut or something. And that can be fun or interesting, when he doesn't let it get in the way of the action. Unfortunately, once in a while it does, and it sounds like that's what happened on this one.
Also, I think Bolan was *very real* to Pendleton, so he wanted to explore his personality. I wouldn't be surprised if there wasn't some just-for-Pendleton manuscript in a trunk somewhere where Bolan's not killing anybody, just sitting around talking to someone, or writing a diary. Pendleton wanted to get deep into that character. It's not a bad thing to do, for a writer, but it's hard to do on the fly when there's mob goons to doomsday. :)
An interesting review, Joe. Personally, I tend to like Pendleton's philosophical passages. I think they are one of the things that make his Executioner novels better than most men's action/adventure novels of that same era. By the way, I'm starting to pick the men's adventure magazine stories for the next issue of the MEN'S ADVENTURE QUARTERLY to add to the ones you recommended. I'll get them to you in the near future, so you can ponder what you want to say in the intro for that issue. Cheers!
Great review. Two pieces of backstory to provide context. Jersey Guns was written during the protracted legal fight with Pinnacle that you refer to. During that dust-up Don’s agent was in negotiation with NAL to pick up the series. The novel was written for Signet which accounts for the shifts in focus the review refers to. The suits were settled & Don stayed with Pinnacle. It’s also important to realize that in addition to being a pulp fiction writer pre-Mack Bolan, Don was a metaphysician who edited journals and wrote in that field with his books like A Search for Meaning from the Surface of a Small Planet, The Metaphysics of the Novel and Dancing With Angels. This interest underpins much of Don’s non-Mack fiction, most notably in the Ashton Ford series.
The problem with the series is that the show-stopping ramblings become more often than not the rule instead the exception at the time. It became different. Zwolf has a point that Pendleton wanted to give his hero more depth, but his has aged badly. Prompted by Newton's death I re-read some of the old novels and often began to skip ahead. Too much rambling, not enough action or - what was worse - quota action.
Rosenberger's ramblings were nonsense, but you know it is nonsense because it is so dumb. With Pendleton you have the impression that the evelation of the Black-Clad Doomsday Guy to a kind of sainthood was really important to the writer. Which makes this different as it becomes an important part of the character. Bolan becomes as much about killing bad guys as inventing ever more catchphrases and taking everything so serious. But the flow of the writing began to suffer.
Don's writing may have "aged badly" per se, but at the time, reading these as a young teenager, his philosophical and metaphysical pondering is what set his work so far above the other offerings from Pinnacle (with one exception- The Destroyer), let alone the multitude of other publisher's series still available at the time. At the time of #17 Jersey Guns most of the other series in the "Mafia-buster" sub-genre were dying out while Don and The Executioner were hitting their peak.
Thanks for the comments, everyone!
Zwolf, your comment made me laugh out loud. There IS band-name potential with "black-clad doomsday guy," I never even thought of that! Also loved "Black-Robed Infidel." Totally agree with your assessment on why Pendleton included all those introspective detours in the series. Plus it totally makes sense for the era...as you say, Vonnegut was a bestseller at the time. Loved the idea of the unpublished manuscript in a trunk, of Bolan just talking to someone...reminded me of a story Justin Marriott once related to me, that whoever wrote the unpublished first installment of Deathlands (I want to say it was a British author named Chris Louder or something, but am too lazy to look it up now) turned in a manuscript where the protagonist mostly sat in an armored tank and ranted and raved to himself about stuff.
Bob -- When I read your note I had a delayed "two plus two" moment and realized that those "philosophical passages" are exactly what Jon Messmann went for in his Revenger and Handyman books. So I think you and Zwolf are onto something, that those authors were trying to elevate their books somehow, perhaps to tap into what readers were drawn to at the time. Also, can't wait to see the stories you put together for MAQ 5!
Stephen -- Thanks so much for the background context on Jersey Guns, and great to hear from you. That really brings it all together, as NAL/Signet published Messmann's "action meets introspection" series The Revenger. Really makes sense then that Pendleton was catering to what could be a new publisher. It's interesting to speculate what might've happened if Pendleton had indeed gone with Signet, as Signet dropped most of their men's adventure series by 1975. Would The Executioner have also ended at the time, or would Pendleton have gone back to Pinnacle? And also I wonder if Pinnacle, pretty much alone among all imprints, continued publishing men's adventure through the '70s mostly due to the success of The Executioner? But then The Destroyer also was a good seller...I'm just assuming that the success of those titles is what made Pinnacle focus on men's adventure whereas other publishers dropped the genre by the later '70s.
Andy -- Great to hear from you as well. I can kind of take the "sainthood" aspect in limited doses, but as you say it's clearly important to Pendleton himself. He must've been very frustrated by some of the Gold Eagle publications as a result...and it's certainly a good thing he never read Sicilian Slaughter! I have a random question for you...as I recall, you are in Germany, and I recently watched the 1973 German film "World On A Wire" ("Welt am Draht"). I was blown away by this 3 and a half hour film...it was like a super artsy take on The Matrix, only a helluva lot cooler and a few decades earlier. Plus with the expected random European weirdness and nudity. I'm curious if this movie has any fame in Germany. I read that it was shown once on West German TV in 1973, then disappeared for decades, until it was restored and released on Blu Ray several years ago.
cityghost96 -- Thanks for the comment! But I have to admit I've never been able to appreciate The Destroyer. I'll keep trying, though!
Ah, the 'Deathlands' story... yes, it's true. Chris Lowder aka Jack Adrian. As I heard it, Gold Eagle really built up the launch of the series and there was a lot of pressure on Lowder at a time when he was having health issues - as a result, the plot was lost and the first draft of the forst 'Deathlands' novel was almost entirely a conversation held in a tank crossing the plains. Not what they expected. The result was the the editor involved - Mark Howell - flew to the UK and hooked up with Laurence James, who he knew from NEL days, and LJ rewrote and finished the book in a couple of weeks. It was credited to Jack Adrian, but LJ took up the reins from #2 and became James Axler as it could be shelved in stores next to the Adrian title as they were both initialled JA. Lowder went on to write and edit for decades after (still is, I believe, though he's well over 70 now), once he recovered.
Joe - keep trying on The Destroyer. It's the satire, craziness,and atypical characters that set it apart from other series. At first I didn't really flip for it either, but I tried it again when I was a little older and after reading a few interviews with Warren Murphy, I finally "got it", so to speak. It's been a top favorite of mine ever since.
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