Deadly Weapon

Max Thursday and Austin Clapp #1

by Wade Miller

A drama of murder, racketeering, drug dealing and romance.

Genres: Fiction, Crime, Pulp, Noir, Mystery

215 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1946

About the author

See also Bob Wade

Wade Miller is a pen name of two authors, Robert Allison “Bob” Wade (1920-present) and H. Bill Miller (1920-61). The two also wrote under several other pseudonyms, including Whit Masterson and Will Daemer.

Received the Shamus Award, "The Eye" (Lifetime achievment award) in 1988.

Reviews

[Steven · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first book by the Wade Miller duo. Reads like a Hammett book and doesn't have the edge of their later books. Ok if you like the classic pre-1950 police procedural/PI books.

[Jack Heath]

Synopsis: PD Walter James is pursuing the killers of his partner in the San Diego area. It's the drug scene of the 1930s.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first book by Robert Wade and William Miller; it's got less of their traditional prose style and reads more like a homage to Hammett and Chandler and the other great detective writers of the '40s. A solid tale, I really liked it though it's not the best in the Wade Miller lineup.

Private detective Walter James, hot on the trail of the drug lords who killed his partner, finds love and murder in Southern California. Not necessarily in that order. When James shows up at a strip joint in San Diego to meet a contact with info on the drug scene, the contact gets murdered. James has a blossoming romance with the dilettante daughter of one of the suspects, exchanges witty banter with the local hardboiled police detective, and trades potshots with dope dealers south of the Mexican border.

Again, a treat for anyone who loves old-school detective stories, and the last chapter is a kick in the head.

(Full review found here.)

[Josh · Rating 3 out of 5]

On face value, Deadly Weapon reads as a typical hardboiled detective novel with a take-charge protagonist who is both a magnet for violence and an attraction for women.

Private detective Walter James is on the hunt for a murderer, seeking revenge for the brutal slaying of his partner. While following a lead he finds himself embroiled in another murder, this time, a ticket-taker at a theater who is knifed without a witness in a packed house. In a confidential sequence of events the two murders become linked with Walter James right in the thick of the action.

The murder mystery at the forefront of the post war era pulp surrounds the ticket-taker and his later discovered involvement in drug trafficking as the investigation steadily ties threads together to form a patch-work of crime far more complex than what was advertised.

The dialogue is a little dated but you know what you're getting into with pulp era detective books so its excusable and should be enjoyed for what it is. There's also the over-the-top love interest Kevin who falls for Walter James in record time, declaring herself his after a day or two of meeting our slim leading man, but the character plays the part of the breathless damsel in distress to perfection, credit to Wade Miller.

The biggest selling point for Deadly Weapon is the twist which smacks the reader in the face and, to me at least, was completely out of left field - I didn't see it coming and the book is far better read for it.

My rating: 3.5/5 stars, another pulp worth picking up.

review first appeared on my blog: http://justaguywholikes2read.blogspot...

[Ron Zack · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wade Miller in "Deadly Weapon" explained another character's phrase, "Just when you think you’ve taken care of everything, something or somebody pops up to block the deal,” as "the unknown factor. In this 5 day long crime story, the unknown factor reels it's ugly head and truly caught this reader off guard. Although something appeared wrong from early on, I was continually deceived in a masterful way.

At least 8 killings over the 5-day span, at least one romance, a lesbian affair, a strip club setting, and beautiful San Diego of the 1950s color this noir novel with a clever brush. The author gives us an hour by hour account of a fast-moving detective story, interaction with po!ice, a drug ring involving killer marijuana, and a series of deaths by a variety of means. What more can a reader ask for?

The young, impressionable, adventure-seeking redhead observes, "I never realized before there were so many ways to die. So many ways to kill people. Why are there so many deadly weapons?” And the truth-telling police lieutenant responds, "I’ve come to figure that man is the only deadly weapon. Take a gun. It’s an absolutely harmless thing — even makes a good honest paperweight — until some man gets his hand around it. You can strip a gun down to its basic parts and it’s lost its power. You can reduce man to his chemical elements but you’ve always got the spirit, or whatever you call it, left. And that spirit will find some damned way to do evil.” This truth is borne out in these pages.

[Patrick Hayes · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fun, quick read set in 1946 seedy San Diego.

Walter James, a detective from Atlanta, is watching a strip show in San Diego because he's supposed to meet a person of interest there. When headliner Shasta Lynn takes the stage there's a scream from the audience. James's contact has been killed from a stab to the back. James makes friends with the young woman who sat next to the victim and things become more than friendly between the two. Together, they look for the killer, who might information about who killer James's partner.

Great dialogue, great action, and a fantastic surprise in the end that stunned me. There was something that James kept repeating about a character that had me guessing a revelation that's become cliche, but in 1946 I'm sure this twist was new.

I absolutely recommend this book.

[Tom Britz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Deadly Weapon was Wade Miller's first novel published in 1946. Wade Miller was a collaborated pseudonym of Robert Wade [1920-2012] and Bill Miller [1920-61]; they also wrote as Whit Masterson, Dale Wilmer, and Will Daemer.
This novel starts and ends at a nightclub in San Diego, Ca. where a murder has been committed. The story follows a private eye from Atlanta who is apparently following someone who murdered his partner. There are many more killings and the private eye is not who he seems to be. That was what knocked this book down to a three star, before the last chapter it was a solid four star.

[Andi Chorley · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great hard-boiled tale of burlesque dancers, murder, a dope ring, and a redhead called Kevin. The first novel by Wade Miller a pen name for a partnership of two American authors, Robert Allison Wade (June 8, 1920 – September 30, 2012) and H. Bill Miller (May 11, 1920 – August 21, 1961). They later wrote as Whit Masterson. Many of their novels were adapted into films but not this one.

A far more detailed review at Tipping My Fedora:

https://bloodymurder.wordpress.com/20...

[John Marr · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid post-war PI thriller that takes more than a nod to Hammet with a partner murder driving the action. Nice San Diego atmosphere and good pacing make up for the abrupt and somewhat nonsensical end.

[Benjamin Chandler · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't even have the energy to write why this didn't work for me. Wade Miller is 0 for 2 right now.

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

Robert Wade and Bill Miller were childhood pals who wrote under a couple of psuedonyms including Wade Miller (a conglomeration of their last names), Whit Masterson, and Will Daemer. They wrote something on the order of thirty novels together, beginning with 1946’s novel, “Deadly Weapon.”

It is a terrific hardboiled detective story, easy to read, and written in a terse, clipped manner without any fancy, extraneous descriptions. It takes place, as did many of the Wade Miller books, in San Diego.
Walter James is an Atlanta detective. He ends up in San Diego after his partner is gunned down. The partner’s wife had been in Miami, but she disappeared without a trace. James’ partner had been investigating something, first in Denver, and then in San Diego, something linked to marijuana.
Acting on a tip, James heads to San Diego, but before he can speak with his connection, that man too is gunned down in the middle of a crowded theater with hundreds of witnesses present, none of whom ever saw the stabber. It's a burlesque striptease theater featuring the headline act of Shasts Lynn. James makes pals with the local police and with a girl who had been present herself in the theater next to the deceased contact, Laura Gilbert. James is no dummy. This is a good, old-fashioned postwar mystery and certainly established the writing duo of Wade Miller as force to be reckoned with.

[manel queiroz]

dnf- p.42

[Ron Smyth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a particularly good book. The plot is concerned with marijuana smuggling but the authors seem to have only a hazy idea of what marijuana is or it's effects. I had originally rated it lower than I did but the ending of the book saved it from being terrible.

[Alessandro Giuliani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Classico hard boiled americano, con il detective tutto d’un pezzo che indaga per scoprire il colpevole e ottenere la sua vendetta ... fino al colpo di scena finale che rende il libro ancora più apprezzabile

[Charlie Kravetz · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good detective story, worth reading if you don't get confused with the references to things long ago.