Operation Deathmaker

Drake - The Man With Nobody's Face #11

by Dan J. Marlowe

I was driving Hazel’s niece, Melissa, to the airport when it happened. The car right behind me in the parking lot stopped and two men burst out. Crouched low, they came at me in a rush.The next thing I knew I was hit in the face with a stream of acid spray. I fell backward into the car. And that’s the last I knew. Until I came to.The two guys were gone.And so was MelissaOperation Deathmaker... a whiplash story of suspense, kidnapping, and murder, and a man who wouldn’t give up - Drake.

Genres: Hard Boiled

149 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1975

About the author

aka Albert Avellano, Jaime Sandaval, Gar Wilson (house name)

Dan J. Marlowe was a middle-aged businessman who, in the personal turmoil after the death of his wife of many years, decided to abandon his old life. He started writing, and his first novel was published when he was 45.

Marlowe's most famous book and his best-known character arrived from Fawcett Gold Medal Books in 1962 ("The Name of the Game Is Death").

Reviews

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Operation Deathmaker" is the eleventh book in Marlowe's Drake series and it is one excellent, wild, hell raising thriller of a novel. It is about as jam-packed with action as any novel could be from start to finish. It is just a pure adrenaline ride as Drake deals with a pack of kidnappers who will stop at nothing to get what they want and are more vicious than a pack of wild lunatic dogs.

If you are not familiar with the Drake series, you are in for quite a treat. Starting out as a ruthless bank robber, Drake is eventually captured by authorities in a fiery shoot out where most of his face burned away and locked up in a psych ward. He manages to get plastic surgery and, when he escapes, becomes the man without a face and without an identity.

The stories range from pure hardboiled to international adventure to pure thriller. This is a solid pulp thriller that takes place in Los Angeles. No international intrigue and no secret passwords in this one. Just a thriller about dealing with kidnappers Drake-style.

[Joe Nicholl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Operation Deathmaker (Drake, #11) by Dan J. Marlow is a pretty good entertaining crime-fiction read. This is the second Dan Marlow book I've read but the first Drake. I started with Drake #11 because it was highly recommended....as such there are a lot of gaps into just who Drake is so I'll have to go back to book #1 to get filled in. The plot of Operation Deathmaker centers around the kidnapping of a young woman who is related to Drake's girl-friend. Drake takes it on himself to rescue the girl but the trail is very thin...bread-crumbs. So, the book meanders a tad bit while Drake pokes and hides investigating...BUT...at the two/thirds point (Act III) a very unexpected act of violence wallops the reader and from that point on there's lot's of action. So, the end wraps up nicely and is very satisfying. I enjoyed the read...I'll be reading more Dan J. Marlow books in the future...4 outta 5...

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick read, predictable and with a lot of clichés but interesting and engaging.