What do you think?
Rate this book
Danny Boyd
The Passionate Pagan
Laka Tong looked like a love goddess from a pagan sex cult - jet-haired, silk-skinned, with a man-trap body and murder in her sapphire eyes!
The exotic Eurasian had come all the way from Hawaii to bargain with New York private eye Danny Boyd. Her offer was cash on the line for somebody's corpse.
Danny Boyd was a tough pro, and a very smart operator. He should have known what he was asking for when he said no to the deal, but yes to the dame!
Cover art by Robert McGinnis.
The exotic Eurasian had come all the way from Hawaii to bargain with New York private eye Danny Boyd. Her offer was cash on the line for somebody's corpse.
Danny Boyd was a tough pro, and a very smart operator. He should have known what he was asking for when he said no to the deal, but yes to the dame!
Cover art by Robert McGinnis.
124 pages, Unknown Binding
First published January 1, 1963
About the author
Carter Brown
613 books52 followersCarter Brown was the pseudonym of Alan Geoffrey Yates (1923-1985), who was born in London and educated in Essex.
He married Denise Mackellar and worked as a sound engineer for Gaumont-British films before moving to Australia and taking up work in public relations.
In 1953 he became a full-time writer and produced nearly 200 novels between then and his retirement in 1981.
He also wrote as Tex Conrad and Caroline Farr.
His series heroes were Larry Baker, Danny Boyd, Paul Donavan, Rick Holman, Andy Kane, Randy Roberts, Mavis Siedlitz and Al Wheeler.
He married Denise Mackellar and worked as a sound engineer for Gaumont-British films before moving to Australia and taking up work in public relations.
In 1953 he became a full-time writer and produced nearly 200 novels between then and his retirement in 1981.
He also wrote as Tex Conrad and Caroline Farr.
His series heroes were Larry Baker, Danny Boyd, Paul Donavan, Rick Holman, Andy Kane, Randy Roberts, Mavis Siedlitz and Al Wheeler.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
November 2, 2024
Carter Brown had a number of long running series and often his lead characters were quite similar. Rick Holman was the fix-it private eye in Hollywood. Al Wheeler was the homicide lieutenant in fictional Pine City. Danny Boyd, the lead character here, was a New York private eye with a small office and one secretary.
Boyd’s potential client in this story is a Chinese-Hawaiian woman: “She looked intelligent; also exciting, erotic, and exotic. Tong was her surname and that made her Chinese; Laka was her first name and that made her Chinese-Hawaiian and even more exotic. Just looking at her made my blood ferment and took the chill out of the air-conditioning system quicker than a short circuit.” But what Laka Tong wanted Boyd to do went even beyond what this ethically-lapsed private eye was willing to do – kill Jonathan Cook, a former business partner of Laka’s father who had embarrassed him so badly that he ended his life. Laka blames Cook and wants him taken off the board permanently.
Boyd turns down the job, explaining that a murder like that would set Boyd himself up for the electric chair. What follows after that is a bit of slapstick comedy as Boyd shortly thereafter fields a call from another detective who apparently has taken the job and warns Boyd to stay away as Noyd lost the contract. Boyd figures he could make some honest money though warning Cook and acting like a bodyguard. At Cook’s hotel, Boyd is ushered in after explaining who he was, but then there is a knock on the door and another man introduces himself as Boyd and says he’s come to protect Cook from an assassin. So now we’ve got two possible Boyds and maybe Cook, maybe not, and how to tell who is who is quite difficult even with a scorecard. When the smoke clears, there’s a corpse in the bathtub and Boyd on the run, trying to manufacture an alibi.
This is one of those private eye stories where little ever makes sense with all the warring factions not even when it’s all revealed in the end, but Carter keeps the reader engaged until the end.
Boyd’s potential client in this story is a Chinese-Hawaiian woman: “She looked intelligent; also exciting, erotic, and exotic. Tong was her surname and that made her Chinese; Laka was her first name and that made her Chinese-Hawaiian and even more exotic. Just looking at her made my blood ferment and took the chill out of the air-conditioning system quicker than a short circuit.” But what Laka Tong wanted Boyd to do went even beyond what this ethically-lapsed private eye was willing to do – kill Jonathan Cook, a former business partner of Laka’s father who had embarrassed him so badly that he ended his life. Laka blames Cook and wants him taken off the board permanently.
Boyd turns down the job, explaining that a murder like that would set Boyd himself up for the electric chair. What follows after that is a bit of slapstick comedy as Boyd shortly thereafter fields a call from another detective who apparently has taken the job and warns Boyd to stay away as Noyd lost the contract. Boyd figures he could make some honest money though warning Cook and acting like a bodyguard. At Cook’s hotel, Boyd is ushered in after explaining who he was, but then there is a knock on the door and another man introduces himself as Boyd and says he’s come to protect Cook from an assassin. So now we’ve got two possible Boyds and maybe Cook, maybe not, and how to tell who is who is quite difficult even with a scorecard. When the smoke clears, there’s a corpse in the bathtub and Boyd on the run, trying to manufacture an alibi.
This is one of those private eye stories where little ever makes sense with all the warring factions not even when it’s all revealed in the end, but Carter keeps the reader engaged until the end.
Read
July 1, 2016Bought while drunk in Putney, purely for a cover even more salacious than the one Goodreads has and a blurb to match. "Laka Tong looked like a love goddess from a pagan sex cult - jet-haired, silk-sheathed, with a man-trap body...and murder in her sapphire eyes!' And the book inside almost lived up to them. I couldn't tell you how this compares to other hard-boiled PI pulps, but as a semi-random sampling from the field, this had all the laconically narrated sex, violence and double-crosses I expected. Though also some more philosophical passages - which I can't now find to quote, as if they've got coy about letting down the tough guy image, and hidden.
April 9, 2026
“But everyone creates their own nightmare, Mr. Boyd!”
***
“There wouldn’t be much point in working hard on a case if you didn’t have a—”
A look of alarm suddenly flashed across her face. “Danny, are you all right? For a moment there I thought you were about to faint!”
“I was,” I groaned. “I got a sudden, horrible pain right in the middle of my personal philosophy. I think I’m losing my mind! I’m sick! I’ll just go home for a couple of weeks.”
“I wonder what caused it.” Judith’s voice was still worried. “I could tell it hit you real hard, out of nowhere!”
“You’re so right.” I gritted my teeth painfully. “It hit the exact same moment you reminded me of one important aspect of the whole case I’d overlooked up until now.”
“What was that?” she asked eagerly.
“I don’t have a client" I wailed despearingly.
***
Ahahaha :))
***
“There wouldn’t be much point in working hard on a case if you didn’t have a—”
A look of alarm suddenly flashed across her face. “Danny, are you all right? For a moment there I thought you were about to faint!”
“I was,” I groaned. “I got a sudden, horrible pain right in the middle of my personal philosophy. I think I’m losing my mind! I’m sick! I’ll just go home for a couple of weeks.”
“I wonder what caused it.” Judith’s voice was still worried. “I could tell it hit you real hard, out of nowhere!”
“You’re so right.” I gritted my teeth painfully. “It hit the exact same moment you reminded me of one important aspect of the whole case I’d overlooked up until now.”
“What was that?” she asked eagerly.
“I don’t have a client" I wailed despearingly.
***
Ahahaha :))
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 21, 2017
When Danny Boyd turns down a gun for hire job, he sees opportunity in being said targets body guard; shield the intended vic rather than puncture him with bullets. Should be an easy score, after all, he knows where the contract is coming from and the timeline for the execution. What Boyd didn't bank on was arriving at the targets hotel only to find him laying in a pool of blood and a couple of bruisers all too ready to share their penchant for violence.
The Passionate Pagan once again pits the PI with the 'profile' against a dame with a body to kill for - along with a motive to murder. Only this time, it's a rare occasion of Boyd taking on a case without a client - yet throwing his every inch of skill coupled with dumb luck to catch the killer - and it's not who you think.
One of the things I like about the Carter brown pulp mysteries is their tendency to stray from the formulaic. Sure each book is loaded with cheap and cheesy pulp prose and questionable plotting but they are each different and it's that variety which keeps me coming back for more.
In The Passionate Pagan, Boyd is not only hired for a hit (which he obviously declines) but is involved in a kidnapping of sorts (along with Laka Tong, the dame who wanted him to murder an associate), outright murder, and is responsible for taking down a drug smuggling ring. A lot happens yet the pieces to the puzzle don't quite fit as nicely as I would've hoped. There's a fair amount of convenience and easy-outs in the book which, with a little tweaking here and there could've been resolved, unfortunately it's those elements which really hamper the reading experience.
2/5 stars.
The Passionate Pagan once again pits the PI with the 'profile' against a dame with a body to kill for - along with a motive to murder. Only this time, it's a rare occasion of Boyd taking on a case without a client - yet throwing his every inch of skill coupled with dumb luck to catch the killer - and it's not who you think.
One of the things I like about the Carter brown pulp mysteries is their tendency to stray from the formulaic. Sure each book is loaded with cheap and cheesy pulp prose and questionable plotting but they are each different and it's that variety which keeps me coming back for more.
In The Passionate Pagan, Boyd is not only hired for a hit (which he obviously declines) but is involved in a kidnapping of sorts (along with Laka Tong, the dame who wanted him to murder an associate), outright murder, and is responsible for taking down a drug smuggling ring. A lot happens yet the pieces to the puzzle don't quite fit as nicely as I would've hoped. There's a fair amount of convenience and easy-outs in the book which, with a little tweaking here and there could've been resolved, unfortunately it's those elements which really hamper the reading experience.
2/5 stars.
December 4, 2016
Thoroughly in the hard-boiled detective genre, though it fails to transcend it the way Chandler and Ross Macdonald can. Still, it's a light, fast-paced entertainment with some clever lines along the way and a convincing plot.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews