The Killer/Devil on Two Sticks

by Wade Miller, Bob Wade (Illustrator)

THE KILLERJake Farrow has spent his life hunting big game—he's one of the best. Still, he is a bit surprised when his old friend Walter Stennis has him brought over from Africa for a special hunt. Stennis wants him to track down and kill the armed robber responsible for the death of his son. Farrow reluctantly agrees, but is soon thrown into a mission more deadly than he bargained for when he meets the bank robber's Southern wife, Marget, intent on protecting her man. Then there’s Sam Augustine, who's working on a manhunt of his own. And Terese, the alluring key to the killer’s hideout. Farrow will need all of his skills, because it soon becomes obvious that in this deadly game, there is small distinction between the hunter--and the hunted. DEVIL ON TWO STICKSSteve Beck works for Pat Garland, the crime boss of San Diego. Garland suspects a traitor in the organization, and sets Beck to ferret him out. Beck has five suspects—Sid Dominic, Eddie Cortes, Hervey Isham, Paul Moon and J. J. Everett. Each one holds a position of power, but only one is working for the Attorney General's office. Beck suspects Everett, Garland's lawyer. But Beck is also falling in love with Everett's 20-year-old daughter, Marcy, while at the same time trying to fend off the advances of Garland's wife, Lena. Torn between his allegiance and his heart, Beck finds he isn't as tough as he thinks he is—because whoever the informer turns out to be, it's still his job to kill him. And the weakest link in the organization is turning out to be Beck.

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1949

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

[Tom Simon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a review of the Stark House re-issue of THE KILLER by Wade Miller (1951). Wade Miller was a pen-name for the collaboration between Bob Wade and Bill Miller.

The plot involves a big game hunter in Africa waylaid by a license infraction who accepts a big-money hunting gig: Find and kill an armed robber responsible for the death of a client’s son in the U.S. Domestic stalking and bloody violence ensues.

The writing is crisp and literate, the characters are vivid and real, and the tension is palpable. I want to explore more of Wade Miller.

Thanks to Stark House for rescuing this novel from obscurity.

[Randy Rhody · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two novels in one, by two talented writers in one: Bob Wade and Bill Miller.
Back-in-the-day fast-paced pulp fiction involving lots of liquor, guns, babes, and double-crosses. I was interested to note occasional bursts of actual literary expression in both stories.

The Killer is an African safari guide on a manhunt in America. While hunting said bad guy, he of course also gets the girl.

The odd title of Two Sticks is clarified on page 274 as the diabolo. This story is a bit less straightforward than "Killer." Too many characters, too many locations, a lot of unbelievable dialog, and, for a noir protagonist, a very unusual outcome.

Chapter titles in both stories are formulaic, e.g., "Thursday, May 19, 7:30 p.m."

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an omnibus volume of two novels by "Wade Miller," a pseudonym used by two collaborating authors, Bob Wade and Bill Miller. I have previously reviewed each novel separately; this review will basically be a compilation of those two reviews.

The Killer

The Killer is a 1951 novel written by "Wade Miller," a pseudonym used by two collaborating authors, Bob Wade and Bill Miller. I read this in a two-novel compilation with another "Wade Miller" novel, Devil on Two Sticks, rather than in a stand-alone book.

The Killer is an interestingly ambiguous title. There is more than one person in the book who would qualify as "the killer." The book might also have been called Manhunt. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines "manhunt" as "an organized and usually intensive hunt for a person and especially for one charged with a crime." That kind of manhunt takes place in this book in the efforts of the authorities to capture a bank robber and murderer, Clel Bocock. At the same time, however, Bocock is the subject of another manhunt; Jake Farrow, a well-known and respected hunter in Africa, is recruited to hunt down and murder Bocock.*

During the course of a bank robbery, Bocock had shot and killed the son of the president of the bank. The president hires Farrow. Farrow has qualms about becoming a hired killer but he puts them aside (rather too easily, in my opinion).

There are already some excellent plot summaries in other reviews, so I will end mine here.

This is a fine thriller but it has serious flaws. A very small point, but the character of Osher the lawyer is too intriguing to disappear so early in the book. The main female character, Marget, falls in love much too quickly. The coincidence by which Farrow locates Clel is hard to accept, as are Farrow's first two meetings with Marget. Also, as I mentioned, I think Farrow's quick acquiescence to committing murder makes it hard to respect or care for Farrow.

But the book moves quickly, some of the characters are quite entertaining (especially Farrow and Teresa), and the action moves from place to place with no confusion. I don't think this is a great story, but it is certainly a good one.

* My apology to the earlier reviewer named Chris. I didn't read your "manhunt" comment until after I had written this. I am leaving it in my review, because I think it's an interesting observation (which you made years before I did.)



Devil on Two Sticks aka Killer's Choice

Killer's Choice is a 1949 novel written by "Wade Miller," a pseudonym used by two collaborating authors, Bob Wade and Bill Miller. I read this in a two-novel compilation with another "Wade Miller" novel, The Killer, rather than in a stand-alone book.

This is the story of Steven Beck, a gangland fixer, an intelligent, well-mannered killer. Beck is the right hand man to Pat Garland, mob boss of a large chunk of California. Garland and Beck find out that someone high in the organization is working for the Attorney General. Beck narrows the possibilities down to five names; Garland makes it six names, one of which is Steve Beck.

Through most of the book, the mobsters scheme against each other, some times doing more than just scheming. There is a fair amount of violence, accelerating as the story goes on.

Beck has some other issues to work on as well. He falls in love with the young daughter of one of the people who are under suspicion. However, he is already involved in an affair with another beautiful woman. That other woman is Leda, the wife of Patrick Garland, Beck's boss.

Killer's Choice originally appeared under the title Devil on Two Sticks. I think it is easy to read the book and not understand the Devil title. This is only discussed briefly in the book, as follows:

In the patio, Everett and the Tarrants were watching Garland politely as he tried to master a toy from the sandpile.

"What do you call this affair, Steve? I've been trying to think of the name for it."

"It's called a diabolo where I come from." Beck put down the roast and took the two slender rods from the big man's hands. "I used to have one of these when I was a kid. Mine was homemade, though. See, the object is to get the spool spinning between these two sticks. The faster the spool - that's the diabolo - goes, the easier it is to balance it. Then you can make it do tricks." He demonstrated, tossing the plastic double-cone high in the air and catching it again on the string.

Behind him, Leda clapped softly. Garland said immediately, "Here, let me try that again. Of course, I never was much good with my hands."

After Garland's wry failure, the toy went around the circle with no success. Everett said, "You're undefeated champion, Steve. To what do you attribute your success?"

"Clean living."

Leda said, "Perhaps because he's so good at walking a tightrope himself."

And Beck does walk a tightrope throughout the book.

I think this is a fine, well-written mystery novel. In the introduction to the Stark House book that combines this with another mystery novel by the same two men who wrote Devil, David Lawrence Wilson says that Devil on Two Sticks "would not be uncomfortable on a list of the fifty greatest American crime novels." I think that is a reasonable statement.

Most of the main characters are well delineated. The mob's lawyer, J. J. Everett, tends to blather on rather more than I think most gangsters would tolerate. His daughter Marcy, with whom Beck falls in love, seems to me quite unconvincing. But Beck, Garland, the other gangsters, and the police officers appear more realistic. My favorite character is Gusta, the elderly, cranky female accountant who guards the mob's account books.

Another favorite of mine is this joke:

Beck covered with, "So you see, Ulaine. According to this drunken existentialist, you just can't take it with you."

"It would melt," said Tarrant.


[There is evidently more to the "devil on two sticks" phrase. This is another designation for the demon Asmodeus. From Wikipedia:

Asmodeus was widely depicted as having a handsome visage, good manners and an engaging nature; however, he was portrayed as walking with a limp and one leg was either clawed or that of a rooster. He walks aided by two walking sticks in Lesage's work, and this gave rise to the English title The Devil on Two Sticks (also later translated The Limping Devil and The Lame Devil).

Asmodeus was also regarded as the demon of Lust.]


The Killer / Devil on Two Sticks

This book was published as a "Stark House Noir Classic." Stark House Press is a publisher that has reprinted a lot of books in the fields of fantasy, supernatural fiction, mystery and suspense. They are one of the main sources of material that would otherwise be both difficult to locate and frequently extremely expensive.

There is an introduction by Bob Wade, half of the "Wade Miller" team. There is also a good introductory essay titled "Bob Wade and Bill Miller: The Deadly Collaboration" by David Laurence Wilson.

I must note that there is a credit at the beginning of the book that says "Proofreading by David Wilson." Since many books seem like they might say "Proofreading by a high school student who comes in twice a week," it is good to see Stark House taking proofreading seriously.

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wade Miller (the writing combo of Bob Wade and Bill Miller) may have succeeded better than they ever expected in writing "The Killer," a book that is kind of a cross between Hemingway and Gil Brewer. It is an excellent, brilliantly written, well-paced fifties novel. I highly recommend this for anyone who likes to read and, in particular, for those who have an appetite for crime novels.
Jacob Farrow is a big game hunter in Kenya, perhaps the greatest and most determined of all big game hunters. He is offered an impossible sum to track down and kill the most elusive and most dangerous quarry of all.

In a chase that takes him around the world, Farrow must track down the most feared bank robber in America. Through the swamps of the backwoods swamp, to the highest towers of the greatest cities, to the Great Plains, to the deserts, Farrow goes. Along the way, Farrow tangles with sexy swamp sirens whose every movement makes him sweat. He fights with big city toughs and finds himself on the wrong side of the law.

The book does an excellent job of capturing Farrow's moral quandaries as well as his laser-beam like focus on his job.

Not a word is misplaced in this book. It is expertly written.

The book opens with a rifle on the plains of Africa. It continues with a girl with thick blonde hair, "the tawny yellow color of a young lioness," but no dress on. The mere sight of her made him feel like an animal. He feels all of time slipping by him. But there is another femme fatale in this book, "sleek and sinuous as a python."

The book is filled with powerful emotions of revenge, of lust, of betrayal. It moves forward at breakneck speed. It's really good.

The second novel in this two-pack volume is by the same set of authors, but you wouldn't necessarily guess that as it is an entirely different type of book. This is a story about bookies and mobsters in San Diego with the organization facing investigation from the Department of Justice and concerns about an undercover operative in the organization and how to root him out. It is another well-written story, but nothing like "The Killer."

[Mxyzptlk · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read "The Killer" second, and I actually preferred this to "Devil on Two Sticks." I certainly will seek out more from "Wade Miller."