Operation Moon Rocket

Killmaster #32

by Nick Carter

Award Books. First printing 1968 stated. Book has water warping, stains and color bleeding on front and back covers. Pages are clean, tanning, some with color bleeding, water wrinkling. Word written inside front cover. Totally readable. No text is obscured. This is a used book.

Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1968

About the author

Nick Carter is a house pseudonym used by Award, Ace, and later Jove, publishing for the series Nick Carter who later graduated to a special agent for the Killmaster novels, a series of 261+ spy adventures published from 1964 until late 1990s.

A great number of writers have written under the pen-name over the years, beginning in September 1886 when Nick Carter first appeared in the 'New York Weekly' in a 13-week serial, entitled 'The Old Detective's Pupil; or, The Mysterious Crime of Madison Square'.

The Nick Carter character was originally conceived by Ormond G. Smith, the son of one of the founders of Street & Smith, and realized by John R. Coryell.

Reviews

[Little Timmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice rewrite of an old Pulp character. Recast more in the James Bond spy mode. Good quick men's adventure read. If you are looking for some fast paced action and adventure then this is a recommended read.

[Jeff Tankersley · Rating 2 out of 5]

It is 1968 and a Chinese sabotage operation has murdered three US Astronauts prepping for a trip to space in a way that looks accidental. With several such accidents plaguing the space program over the past several months, the US turns to its top counter-intelligence operative, Nick Carter, aka N3, aka Killmaster. Carter assumes the identity of an astronaut, gets a crash course in lunar operations, and plays bait while trying to eliminate those responsible for the attacks on the space program.

This is the 32nd installment of the Nick Carter Killmaster series and it was ghost-written by Lew Louderbeck. Nick Carter - the author - is a pseudonym used by several authors writing for the series, with Nick Carter also being the name of the protagonist character, a superhero American James Bond-style agent. These stories have some adult content.

Verdict: Ridiculous action capers can be fun if done right. Unfortunately, while "Operation: Moon Rocket" checks some fun boxes it just isn't that interesting a mystery, and three of the action sequences recall Bond movie scenes, and not good ones. Also, Carter gets captured and knocked out quite a lot for a supermannish spy hero. And the (spoiler removed) connection to the sabotage plot doesn't really track.

Jeff's Rating: 2 / 5 (Okay)
movie rating if made into a movie: R

[Patrick Whitehurst · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nick Carter sure gets knocked out a lot. But still a fun read!