Hell Can Wait

by Harry Whittington, Robert McGinnis (Illustrator)

Genres: Noir, Novels, Fiction, Mystery

144 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1960

About the author

He also wrote under the names Ashley Carter, Harriet Kathryn Myers, and Blaine Stevens, Curt Colman, John Dexter, Tabor Evans, Whit Harrison, Kel Holland, Suzanne Stephens, Clay Stuart, Hondo Wells, Harry White, Hallam Whitney, Henri Whittier, J.X. Williams.

Harry Whittington (February 4, 1915–June 11, 1989) was an American mystery novelist and one of the original founders of the paperback novel. Born in Ocala, Florida, he worked in government jobs before becoming a writer.

His reputation as a prolific writer of pulp fiction novels is supported by his writing of 85 novels in a span of twelve years (as many as seven in a single month) mostly in the crime, suspense, and noir fiction genres. In total, he published over 200 novels. Seven of his writings were produced for the screen, including the television series Lawman. His reputation for being known as 'The King of the Pulps' is shared with author H. Bedford-Jones. Only a handful of Whittington's novels are in print today.
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Reviews

[Steven · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just love these old Gold Medal paperback originals and would much rather read three of these lean and mean 150 page gems than one bloated 500 page Reacher, but I digress . . . Hell Can Wait, which I was lucky enough to recently score a first-edition at a used book store, is a churning beaut. Greg Morris is back in Koons Mill full of hate and seeking out Saul Koons, the man who hit him head-on with his Rolls Royce, killing Morris' wife, and then bullied and bought off all the witnesses so that Morris ended up being blamed for the fatal accident. Yes, Morris has a hate-on for Koons. Before Morris confronts Koons, he has a run-in with Koons' young and insolent (yes, she will be the femme-fatale) wife Angie, who testified against him at the trial and now, on the novel's third page, asks him, as a way of warning: "You like emasculation?" and follows up with "self-inflicted, of course" and "You like to suffer? Is that it? What's the word? Are you a masochist?"

Following his initial confrontation with Koons - who also warns him away - Morris does not back down, even after he is beaten by a bunch of Koons' mill hands and left for dead on top of a rail car stacked with logs on a train heading out of town. What follows is a series of intense and escalating scenes where Morris is "encouraged" to leave town before he gets killed. Morris refuses to leave town. He takes the offensive. Rightly identifying that Angie is Koons' Achilles heel, Morris moves in on her, and again he doesn't back down when Koons finds out what is going on. Morris goads the enraged bull. And then he goes ahead and beds Angie anyway. Yes, it is that kind of book! And the scenes continue escalating until Whittington delivers a surprise, yet beautifully foreshadowed, ending.

This is Whittington, and Gold Medal paperback originals, at their best.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first, Harry Whittington's Hell Can Wait reminded me of The Girl from Hateville, my most recent foray into Gil Brewer. Both novels involve a man on a mission in a small town where he is not welcome. In Brewer, the man wanted to find out the truth about the death of his father, the town banker who robbed the townsfolk blind. In Whittington, the man, Greg Morris, wants revenge on the drunk driver who killed his wife. Unfortunately for Morris, the drunk driver is the richest and most powerful man in the town (which is why he was able to beat the rap in the first place). The most important difference between the two novels is that while the Brewer was executed terribly, the Whittington is very good.

[Jason Bovberg · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun old-school pulp read. Not sure it totally hangs together in the end, but a fun ride.