Rape

by Marcus Van Heller

Adult reading/erotica. A gripping narrative and a thorough dissection of an act of sexual violence and its disastrous effects. The attractive young girl on the side of the road was beckoning him to pick her up. He had no way of knowing that by stopping for her, he would suddenly find himself thrust into a whirlpool of terror. (From book back cover).

Genres: Fiction

208 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1955

About the author

John "Steve" Stevenson (July 10 1930 - Nov 27 2017) was a British writer who, under the pen name Marcus van Heller, wrote erotic fiction for the Traveller's Companion series of Olympia Press publisher (1955–1961). Later he also wrote under the pen name Stephen John

In 1954, at the age of 23, John Stevenson arrived for a sojourn in Paris, where he socialised with the expatriate community behind the modernist literary magazine Merlin. He soon became the business manager for Merlin. As the magazine was not well known to the public, the job consisted mostly of selling copies on the street.

The main editor of Merlin, Alexander Trocchi, used to write erotic fiction for Olympia Press publisher to supplement his After returning to Britain, John Stevenson became a civil servant, working as press officer for the Central Office of Information. On Trocchi's suggest and due to his meagre income, he start to write erotic novels for Olympia Press.

The first erotic novel written by John Stevenson, Rape (1955), surprised Maurice Girodias (the founder of Olympia Press), who described it as "almost too brutal". The book was published under the pseudonym Marcus van Heller, a pen name which Stevenson continued to use for the subsequent novels, making it one of the most famous brand names published at Olympia Press. The success of the first novel was followed by other books, written in the years 1955–1961, making Stevenson the most prolific writer for the "Traveller's Companion" series of this publisher.

The second novel, The Loins of Amon (1955), was set in Ancient Egypt, marking the beginning of a specialisation in erotica with grand historical settings. The elaboration of the story was based on his schooling in ancient history, supplemented by research at the British Council Library from Paris. Continuing in the same vein, Roman Orgy (1956) presented an intimate account of the private life of the rebel leader Spartacus, and The House of Borgia, parts 1 and 2 (1957, 1958), a fictional biography of the 15th century Italian noble family with an emphasis on their considerable depravity.

The novels The Wantons (1957), Terror (1958) and Nightmare (1960) have a contemporary setting of social discontent, while Cruel Lips (1956), Kidnap (1961) and Adam and Eve (1961) are thrillers.

In a few years, Marcus van Heller became the most prolific and mysterious pen name from the "Traveller's Companion" series. "In the netherworld of erotica, the name Marcus van Heller approaches the stature of legend" (portrayal by John de St. Jorre in his book about the history of Olympia Press).

At one point, John Stevenson and Alexander Trocchi found out that Maurice Girodias reprinted their works under another imprint, Ophelia Press, to avoid giving them more money. This fact and also a negative remark from Girodias regarding the effort he put into writing his most recent novel determined Stevenson to end the collaboration with Olympia Press and return to Britain in 1961. Afterwards, Girodias used the fact that the real identity behind the pen name Marcus van Haller was largely unknown, commissioning other writers to publish new novels under this pen name.

He ghostwrote a biography of Michael X (aka Michael Abdul Malik), From Michael de Freitas to Michael X, published in 1968. In 1969, under the pen name Stephen John, he began publishing new novels at Berkley Books. I Like It That Way (1969) started a series of seven erotic novels, published in the years 1969–1976 and based on a fictional art dealer named Albert Divine.

Reviews

[Lenny Nero · Rating 5 out of 5]

Back in the early 1950's, Parisian publisher Maurice Girodias founded the Olympia Press to publish smut as way of making a quick buck. He recruited several soon to be famous authors to write for him, including Henry Miller and Samuel Beckett. One of the most popular Olympia imprints was the Traveller's Companion Series. Some of the more famous books that that was published in this series were, "Lolita", "Naked Lunch", and "Story of O". There were a lot more that became infamous and highly regarded by smut collectors for the next 4 or 5 decades. "Rape" is one of those.

Rape is the story of Harvey Crawford of London, and how he becomes a forger, rapist, and murderer. One day he picks up a teen girl hitchhiking, and in a fit of drunken lust, rapes her. On the run from the cops he flees to Paris, there he is employed by a shady guy who he forges art for. He also shacks up with a young, naive, starving artist type, Monique, who takes a genuine liking to Harvey. Harvey, unfortunately, can't seem to keep it in his pants, even to save his own skin. He gets his employer's girl, a statuesque blonde named Olsa, drunk and takes advantage of her. Of course the boss doesn't take lightly to that and sends 3 goons to beat the hell outta Harvey and rape Monique, which they do. As soon as Harvey recovers from his injuries, he's on his way to his boss's place with revenge on his mind. He beats up the boss, ties him and Olsa up and then rapes Olsa in front of him. He then beats on the boss some more and then takes off for Cannes to lay low for awhile. There he takes up with a married American woman, Gene, who's vacationing with her golf-obsessed hubby. She takes him to a mansion in the countryside where many people congregate to drink, drug and orgy. Harvey takes the time to slip a length to one of the Asian dancers before he's off on the run again as his shady boss's men are hot on his trail. Heading back to Paris, he learns that the father of the girl he raped back at the beginning of this tale, is now in Paris, with his daughter and they're on the hunt for him. Harvey gets the drop on them, kidnaps the daughter at gunpoint, and takes off for the countryside with the cops chasing right behind. He holes up in a barn, the cops gas the place, and he kills the girl in the process of his capture. It ends with Harvey sitting in his cell.

This one was #2 in the Traveller's Companion Series and from what little details I can glean from the net, was first published in 1955. Van Heller was really John Stevenson, an English writer, and he wrote around 12 books under the name Van Heller and the Olympia Press also put out quite a few under that name as well that weren't written by him.

This is real smut, aimed at male readers, sold in the back of stores, that was printed with blank covers with just the title and author on the cover. It's also an interesting artifact of the 50's, the attitudes and machismo of the post-war male are on display pretty much every page of the book. Highly recommended for it's over the top plot and as a relic of a bygone era. It's a must read for smut historians. This edition published in 2004 by Olympiapress.com. #55 in the New Traveller's Companion Series. 146 pages.

[Dawn Wells]

Smut rag. No rating

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

Poorly-written, unsexy, extremely unerotic porn related in first-person by Harvey Crawford, who hates women. The author is obsessed with "my penis" and the word "slim". Every woman with whom he has an encounter (or rapes) has "slim" hips, arms, butt, thighs, calves, waist, fingers, hands, feet, etc. The one who had slim lips left him with nowhere else to go, so he started all over, repeating himself ad nauseam.