Them That Lives by Their Guns: Race Williams Volume 1

by Carroll John Daly, Matthew Moring, Brooks E. Hefner (Introduction)

Originally appearing in the pages of Black Mask Magazine, author Carroll John Daly pioneered the hard-boiled P.I. story and perfected the genre with his classic character Race Williams. Apart from the novel-length Race Williams stories, these classic hard-boiled thrillers have rarely been reprinted, if ever. Volume 1 contains the first 16 Race Williams stories, all from 1923-26 issues of Black ''Knights of the Open Palm,'' ''$3,000 to the Good,'' ''The Red Peril,'' ''Them That Lives By Their Guns,'' ''Devil Cat,'' ''The Face Behind the Mask,'' ''Conceited, Maybe,'' ''Say It With Lead!,'' ''I'll Tell the World,'' ''Alias Buttercup,'' ''Under Cover,'' ''South Sea Steel,'' ''The False Clara Burkhart,'' ''The Super-Devil,'' ''Half-Breed,'' and ''Blind Alleys.'' Three additional, early, first-person hard-boiled stories by Daly which laid the groundwork for the Race Williams are included as ''Dolly,'' ''Paying an Old Debt,'' and ''The False Burton Combs,'' as well as editorial pieces by Daly himself on his inspirations, writing style, and advice to prospective writers. And it's prefaced by an all-new, scholarly introduction by Professor Brooks Hefner of James Madison University. Them That Lives By Their The Collected Hard-Boiled Stories of Race Williams Volume 1 is the most important release in years on the history of the Hard-Boiled Detective story.

684 pages, Paperback

First published October 27, 2015

About the author

With a single screen writing credit to his name, Carroll John Daly is an unlikely mention as being the originator of the private eye... but he just might be. And he was, by contemporary accounts, a strange guy; born in Yonkers, New York in 1889, he most certainly was neurotic, agoraphobic and had a severe fear of dentists. These considerable obstacles to a conventional career were fortuitously offset by the genetic good fortune of having a sympathetic wealthy uncle who encouraged his writing efforts. Daly began to make a name for himself in the nickel and dime pulps in the early 1920s. He was 33 when he managed to get published in the fledgling Black Mask. His character Terry Mack is significant as the first tough-talking private eye (debuting in May, 1923) ever to appear in the pulp genre. Daly's characterization was pretty crudely drawn and he quickly created another character in the same vein, the twin-toting .45 gumshoe Race Williams. Black Mask hired a visionary editor, Joe "Cap" Shaw in 1926, who almost immediately took an intense dislike to Daly's one-dimensional writing style. Shaw conceded to his popularity for the time being, while methodically building up a stable of far greater writing talent. Criticism aside, Daly's 'The Snarl of the Beast' (1927) has the distinction as being acknowledged as the first private eye novel ever published. As Joe Shaw groomed other writers, contemporary critics began to condemn Daly, accusing him of subverting the morals of society and bemoaning the quality of his writing. The mind-numbing void the Race Williams character filled in Black Mask became less important in the early 1930s as the magazine featured vastly superior stories written by the likes of Raoul Fauconnier Whitfield and John K. Butler. Daly and Shaw argued continually over the quality of Daly's writing, and to a lesser extent money and to the delight of Joe Shaw, Daly walked off the magazine in late 1934. Daly would sporadically reappear in Black Mask after Shaw left the publication in 1936, but would fade into obscurity, ending his writing career ignobly by writing comic book dialog. He died in 1958, unappreciated and virtually forgotten by those working in the genre he largely helped create.

* Complete list of his short stories.

Reviews

[Sirbriang2 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a collection of Race Williams stories (and a few proto-Race characters) that were originally published in Black Mask magazine, in the formative days of noir. Race Williams (and his writer) are often overlooked for their contribution to the genre, but this collection does a good job amending that.

As a character, Race is not as witty or charismatic as Hammett's or Chandler's heroes, but he never claims to be. The character prefers action, and each story is guaranteed a few shootouts. The character is a little thin, admittedly. All he seems to care about is money, and he spends it freely, although it is unclear what he spends it on. He doesn't seem to have any interests, aside from shooting villains dead. If he starred in novels, his schtick would get old quickly; since he only has short stories, though, he just comes across like a hero in a dumb action movie --- and I mean that in a "refreshingly uncomplicated" sort of way.

These stories are best enjoyed sporadically. As I said before, the character is fairly one-note, but the stories are entertaining. It's an interesting look at pulp/noir before any of the big characters shaped the scene.

[Gregory Gillis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like a boxers knock-out punch, Daly's work isn't beautiful, but it is effective. I can see why Erle Stanley Gardner championed his work, it so clearly lays the foundation for the more elegant hard-boiled fiction to come.

[L J Field · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Race Williams novellas written by Carroll John Daly were originally printed in Black Mask Magazine in the mid 1920s. The pacing of these stories is frenetic with lots of gunplay. Race Williams is cocksure and thinks so highly of himself that it borders on the absurd. As far as I’ve reached into these stories, I find them to be quite enjoyable. Each novella is about an hours worth of reading. Good stuff!

[Ronald Weston · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just an okay Race Williams tale. Much too unbelievable. Very rushed in the telling.