What do you think?
Rate this book
Dark #5
Dark Hero
Admirers of Lemmy Caution and Slim Callaghan will find in 'Dark Hero' something that is different - something that is at once grim, soul-searing, unforgettable. It is a tremendously dramatic story - the saga of one man's fight in a world of fighters.
- GenresPulp
196 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1946
20 people want to read
About the author
Peter Cheyney
131 books30 followersBorn Reginald Evelyn Peter Southouse Cheyney, he trained as a lawyer before getting tired of legal office work and joining the Army. He fought at the second Battle of the Somme in World War I and was wounded but when he returned to England he wrote songs, poems and short stories for various newspapers and magazines and used many pseudonyms.
He also turned his hand to journalism, was a newspaper editor and also owned a detective agency, Cheyney Research Investigations.
His first published novel was This Man Is Dangerous and this began his prolific novel writing career. Thereafter he averaged two mystery novels a year with his best known characters being Slim Callaghan and Lemmy Caution and he became one of the best known and most successful of British crime novelists. His success also brought with it financial rewards and he was recognised as one of the richest authors of the time.
There have been many film versions of his works, which helped spread his popularity, particularly to the United States.
His life-style, one of hard-living, much like his characters, and hard work eventually took their toll and he died at age 55. He was buried at Putney Vale Cemetery.
Michael Harrison published a biography in 1954 entitled Peter Cheyney Prince of Hokum and there have been a number of biographical essays over the years.
Gerry Wolstenholme
December 2010
He also turned his hand to journalism, was a newspaper editor and also owned a detective agency, Cheyney Research Investigations.
His first published novel was This Man Is Dangerous and this began his prolific novel writing career. Thereafter he averaged two mystery novels a year with his best known characters being Slim Callaghan and Lemmy Caution and he became one of the best known and most successful of British crime novelists. His success also brought with it financial rewards and he was recognised as one of the richest authors of the time.
There have been many film versions of his works, which helped spread his popularity, particularly to the United States.
His life-style, one of hard-living, much like his characters, and hard work eventually took their toll and he died at age 55. He was buried at Putney Vale Cemetery.
Michael Harrison published a biography in 1954 entitled Peter Cheyney Prince of Hokum and there have been a number of biographical essays over the years.
Gerry Wolstenholme
December 2010
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
April 1, 2018
British first edition
"Dark Hero" by Peter Cheyney was first published in hardback by Collins in 1946.
The dust jacket design is not credited. Cheyney is best known for his hardboiled crime fiction, especially his Lemmy Caution novels, but he also wrote a number of espionage works.
"Dark Hero" is the fifth in the series of this eight book "Dark" series of spy novels. Beginning in 1942 with the book "Dark Duet" and ended in 1950 with "Dark Bahama", all of which feature master spy Peter Quayle. Although this one is more the story of Rene Berg, one time Chicago gunman turned scourge of the Nazis and later turns secret agent.
Collins also produced a special edition of "Dark Hero" in a limited edition of 250 signed copies.
Dodd, Mead & Company in New York produced the first American edition in 1946 later Avon retitled the book as "The Case of the Dark Hero" in 1947.
"Dark Hero" by Peter Cheyney was first published in hardback by Collins in 1946.
The dust jacket design is not credited. Cheyney is best known for his hardboiled crime fiction, especially his Lemmy Caution novels, but he also wrote a number of espionage works.
"Dark Hero" is the fifth in the series of this eight book "Dark" series of spy novels. Beginning in 1942 with the book "Dark Duet" and ended in 1950 with "Dark Bahama", all of which feature master spy Peter Quayle. Although this one is more the story of Rene Berg, one time Chicago gunman turned scourge of the Nazis and later turns secret agent.
Collins also produced a special edition of "Dark Hero" in a limited edition of 250 signed copies.
Dodd, Mead & Company in New York produced the first American edition in 1946 later Avon retitled the book as "The Case of the Dark Hero" in 1947.
May 27, 2020
I first read this book when I was thirteen years old and it made a big impression on me. I read it again mainly because of nostalgia and I suppose to see if it still meant something. To be honest it's not much of a story. Although part of the author's secret agent series (first published in 1946) this is mainly the story of a man who becomes a gangster in Chicago before getting involved with British Intelligence in World War Two. The story moves about in time and a lot of the story is set in Chicago in the early 1930s. Rene Berg is a tough character but does not really come to life and there are far too many coincidences to be plausible. All in all it was disappointing to read this again over fifty years on but two sentences still struck me. I had forgotten the characters and the plot but two sentences have stayed with me all my life and I had not realised they were from this book. "But most of the time you went on, because it wasn't too good to feel too happy or too sad. If you felt anything very much you were disappointed."
April 10, 2020
This pulp thriller jumps around from 1932 through 1945, and not in chronological order. The story follows a character named Rene Berg from the streets of Chicago as a clueless young man looking for a job, who rose to be the biggest killer of the streets, to a WWII participant, and finally some closure with the cast of characters.
Telling the story out of sequence initially bothered me because I wasn't expecting it. In fact, the book's first chapter is the end of the book; the remainder of the text shows all the events and characters that lead up to this violent ending for one character.
I really enjoyed the dated, expected gangster dialogue and how everyone had an angle to succeed, even if it meant the death of another. I was really surprised by the ending of the book, as I didn't expect Berg to end up as he did.
A lot of action, a lot of criminals, and a lot of fun.
Telling the story out of sequence initially bothered me because I wasn't expecting it. In fact, the book's first chapter is the end of the book; the remainder of the text shows all the events and characters that lead up to this violent ending for one character.
I really enjoyed the dated, expected gangster dialogue and how everyone had an angle to succeed, even if it meant the death of another. I was really surprised by the ending of the book, as I didn't expect Berg to end up as he did.
A lot of action, a lot of criminals, and a lot of fun.
March 28, 2021
very readable. great plot
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews