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Killer Take All
They called him Johnny Berlin and he had an instinct for cards, for trouble… for dames. He’d dealt at all the biggest tables in Reno and Vegas. He’d told the head of the gambling syndicate to go to hell–and repeated the message to his hired killers. He’d had women throwing themselves at him at every turn… and he loved it. That was Johnny Berlin. Who would have thought he’d find the dice loaded against him in a peanut-sized town off a back road in northern California? Who would have thought he’d fall for a nice girl? And who would have thought he’d risk his life for her? Nobody–least of all Johnny Berlin himself.
On his way from San Francisco, Johnny gets lost in the fog while driving the costal route to Portland, Oregon. Stopping to get directions from a stranger turns out to be deadly, when that stranger—a dangerous racketeer—turns up dead… and Johnny is pegged as the killer. Now it’ll take all his smarts and toughness to save himself and the woman he loves.
About Vintage Paperback Pulp Fiction
A new revolution was underway at the start of the 1940s in America—a paperback revolution that would change the way publishers would produce and distribute books and the reading public would consume them. In 1939 a new publishing company—Pocket Books—stormed onto the scene with the publication of its first paperbound book. Unlike hardback books, these pulp paperbacks were available in drugstores, newsstands, bus and train stations, and cigar shops. The American public could not get enough of them. The popular pulp genres reflected the tastes of Americans during the 1930s and 1940s—mysteries, thrillers, and "hardboiled detective" stories were all the rage.
In the early 1950s new pulp fiction sub-genres emerged—science fiction, lesbian fiction, juvenile delinquent and sleaze, for instance—that would tantalize readers with gritty, realistic and lurid stories never seen before. Publishers had come to realize that sex sells. In a competitive frenzy for readers, they turned to alluring covers that often featured a sexy woman in some form of undress, along with a suggestive tag line that promised sex and violence within. To this day, the pulp cover art of these vintage paperback books are just as sought after as the books themselves were sixty years ago.
We are excited to make these wonderful pulp fiction stories available in ebook format to new generations of readers, as a new revolution—the ebook revolution—is in full swing. We hope you will enjoy this nostalgic look back at a period in American history when dames were dangerous, tough-guys were deadly and dolls were downright delicious.
On his way from San Francisco, Johnny gets lost in the fog while driving the costal route to Portland, Oregon. Stopping to get directions from a stranger turns out to be deadly, when that stranger—a dangerous racketeer—turns up dead… and Johnny is pegged as the killer. Now it’ll take all his smarts and toughness to save himself and the woman he loves.
About Vintage Paperback Pulp Fiction
A new revolution was underway at the start of the 1940s in America—a paperback revolution that would change the way publishers would produce and distribute books and the reading public would consume them. In 1939 a new publishing company—Pocket Books—stormed onto the scene with the publication of its first paperbound book. Unlike hardback books, these pulp paperbacks were available in drugstores, newsstands, bus and train stations, and cigar shops. The American public could not get enough of them. The popular pulp genres reflected the tastes of Americans during the 1930s and 1940s—mysteries, thrillers, and "hardboiled detective" stories were all the rage.
In the early 1950s new pulp fiction sub-genres emerged—science fiction, lesbian fiction, juvenile delinquent and sleaze, for instance—that would tantalize readers with gritty, realistic and lurid stories never seen before. Publishers had come to realize that sex sells. In a competitive frenzy for readers, they turned to alluring covers that often featured a sexy woman in some form of undress, along with a suggestive tag line that promised sex and violence within. To this day, the pulp cover art of these vintage paperback books are just as sought after as the books themselves were sixty years ago.
We are excited to make these wonderful pulp fiction stories available in ebook format to new generations of readers, as a new revolution—the ebook revolution—is in full swing. We hope you will enjoy this nostalgic look back at a period in American history when dames were dangerous, tough-guys were deadly and dolls were downright delicious.
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First published October 1, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
December 11, 2020
This is an absolutely terrific novel featuring gambling, sexy dames, syndicates, murder, and small-town paranoia. Every single page of this book is filled with pulpy goodness from the descriptions of the fog-shrouded coast to the blonde bombshell whose every feature is mesmerizing.
Johnny Berlin is a craps dealer who thought it'd be better if he put some distance between Las Vegas and himself. Ending up lost at night in a foggy Northern California/Southern Oregon logging town, Johnny suddenly finds himself at the center of a bloody battle between rival
gambling houses and syndicate bosses from the big city. As the bodies pile up and the innocents are slaughtered, Johnny ignores his own advice and gets involved.
But, for me, what really makes this novel great are the pulpy phrases and emotional turmoil. Race is one of those authors who is good you wonder why there isn't more of his work available.
Johnny Berlin is a craps dealer who thought it'd be better if he put some distance between Las Vegas and himself. Ending up lost at night in a foggy Northern California/Southern Oregon logging town, Johnny suddenly finds himself at the center of a bloody battle between rival
gambling houses and syndicate bosses from the big city. As the bodies pile up and the innocents are slaughtered, Johnny ignores his own advice and gets involved.
But, for me, what really makes this novel great are the pulpy phrases and emotional turmoil. Race is one of those authors who is good you wonder why there isn't more of his work available.
August 2, 2021
Johnny Berlin was just passin thru. His cardinal rule was to never butt into anybody’s business for any reason whatever. But the small-town hoods were suspicious of this slicker and pushed Johnny a little too hard. Of course there wouldn't be much of a story if Johnny didn't break his rule.
"Hell of a thing," I said to the ceiling. "Johnny Berlin playing cop. They’d never believe it in Vegas."The book has some snappy hardboiled dialog and an overly complicated criminal conspiracy. The scoundrel-turned-do-gooder storyline irks me. Phillip Race progressed from writing bad checks to bad novels.
March 22, 2021
This feels like many Gold Medal paperbacks:
1. The beginning is intriguing. There is a great sense of place for 30-40 pages or so.
2. The lead is a working class moderate income guy with a rough past.
3. There’s sex. It’s a paragraph, not pages. Hero is fairly undiscriminating.
4. About halfway through, the plot becomes a string of fights, shootouts, and reckless driving.
This book comes with all the goods and bads of these elements. We don’t get whining from the super sensitive superrich that plague a lot of today’s bestseller diet. Instead, there is a lot of misogyny, including some smacking around of women. Our hero does have good reasons for his rough edges, though. Not enough is made of an interesting past.
But, alas, the problem here is the plot runs out of steam. By the end of it, the fights and chases are just plain dull.
In other words — just average.
1. The beginning is intriguing. There is a great sense of place for 30-40 pages or so.
2. The lead is a working class moderate income guy with a rough past.
3. There’s sex. It’s a paragraph, not pages. Hero is fairly undiscriminating.
4. About halfway through, the plot becomes a string of fights, shootouts, and reckless driving.
This book comes with all the goods and bads of these elements. We don’t get whining from the super sensitive superrich that plague a lot of today’s bestseller diet. Instead, there is a lot of misogyny, including some smacking around of women. Our hero does have good reasons for his rough edges, though. Not enough is made of an interesting past.
But, alas, the problem here is the plot runs out of steam. By the end of it, the fights and chases are just plain dull.
In other words — just average.
February 13, 2025
Stereotypical characterizations, forced jargon filled conversations and a large cast of throw-away characters, are featured in this 1950’s novel. It has the requisite racial and gender slurs of the age. No emotional connection for a reader to care about the protagonist. Ugh!
May 15, 2012
Las Vegas gambler Johnny Berlin drives into a small Northern California town with hidden intrigues. The area's casinos are butting heads over whether to join a Gambler's Protection Agency or not, and Berlin's fallen right in the thick of it. Murder, extortion, and more conspire to keep him around and place him in the eye of this hurricane.
There's quite a number of problems with the book. It has way too many characters with dull names, making them hard to keep track of. And the plot moves at a reckless, twisty-turny pace, full of intrigues and double-crosses and whatnot, moreso than the average crime novel. But I think the breakneck pacing and multi-layered intrigues made the book all the more interesting. I wouldn't say it's the best of its kind, but it is a very fun little lost novel.
(Full review found here.)
There's quite a number of problems with the book. It has way too many characters with dull names, making them hard to keep track of. And the plot moves at a reckless, twisty-turny pace, full of intrigues and double-crosses and whatnot, moreso than the average crime novel. But I think the breakneck pacing and multi-layered intrigues made the book all the more interesting. I wouldn't say it's the best of its kind, but it is a very fun little lost novel.
(Full review found here.)
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews