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Judas Journey
FRAMED!
Marcia Carr was dead. Rack Ramsey had loved her--but not enough to be framed for her murder!
What part had Marcia played in Bowen's filthy narcotics racket? Why was Sara Colvin so frightened of the suave Blake Bowen? How did Marcia's ten million dollars figure in the strange partnership of gambler Phil Stark and widower Jeff Carr? Puzzling pieces in a fantastic pattern for murder...
But over all was Rack's terrifying realization that had he not gone to Mexico in search of a mahogany jungle, Marcia might still be alive!
Marcia Carr was dead. Rack Ramsey had loved her--but not enough to be framed for her murder!
What part had Marcia played in Bowen's filthy narcotics racket? Why was Sara Colvin so frightened of the suave Blake Bowen? How did Marcia's ten million dollars figure in the strange partnership of gambler Phil Stark and widower Jeff Carr? Puzzling pieces in a fantastic pattern for murder...
But over all was Rack's terrifying realization that had he not gone to Mexico in search of a mahogany jungle, Marcia might still be alive!
158 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 1957
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 14, 2026
The set up for this 1956 paperback is that Rackwell Ramsey, an oil rig worker, who has traveled around doing different jobs with a buddy, Pete Davis, is ready to enter into a three-way partnership with his buddy, and a geologist, Nevil Simpson, to harvest mahogany wood from the Mexican jungles. They are meeting in a small Texas gulf coast town in preparation for their expedition. However, the expedition is just a side note to the real meat and potatoes of this novel, which revolves around two women Ramsey meets there.
The first, Sara Colvin, is a shy nightclub dancer who Ramsey has it bad for, asking her out after her act until his persistence pays off. You get the idea he’s nuts over her until he goes to the lawyer’s office to draw up the partnership agreement and meets Marcia Stockton, heiress to an oil baron’s ten million dollar fortune: “Ramsey didn’t move. He had an odd sensation that if he looked away the girl would be gone. She was smiling a little now, her full lips barely curved, and there was a reckless light in her eyes. He wondered briefly if she had begun her afternoon drinking early, and decided that she had not. She was the cocktail-swimming pool-country club type, but for all he knew she could have been a tennis champion in training. She had that look, too.”
Marcia has a complicated life. The lawyer, Jeff Carr, handled the family affairs and her father wanted her to marry him. She Is all but signed for except that she takes one look at Ramsey’s oil rigger muscles and disappears for three days with him, begging him not to go off to Mexico and leave him alone. If he goes, she threatens, she will marry Carr.
When the Mexican expedition goes south, Ramsey returns to the small town, but is quickly framed for murder and subsequently blackmailed into obtaining $100,000 dollars that Sara (remember her) is holding for a mobster. From there forward, Ramsey is a man on the run with a price on his head and all too willing to betray Sara (thus the Judas appellation) if he can clear his name.
“Judas Journey” is not as smoothly plotted as Martin’s Jim Bennett novels.
The first, Sara Colvin, is a shy nightclub dancer who Ramsey has it bad for, asking her out after her act until his persistence pays off. You get the idea he’s nuts over her until he goes to the lawyer’s office to draw up the partnership agreement and meets Marcia Stockton, heiress to an oil baron’s ten million dollar fortune: “Ramsey didn’t move. He had an odd sensation that if he looked away the girl would be gone. She was smiling a little now, her full lips barely curved, and there was a reckless light in her eyes. He wondered briefly if she had begun her afternoon drinking early, and decided that she had not. She was the cocktail-swimming pool-country club type, but for all he knew she could have been a tennis champion in training. She had that look, too.”
Marcia has a complicated life. The lawyer, Jeff Carr, handled the family affairs and her father wanted her to marry him. She Is all but signed for except that she takes one look at Ramsey’s oil rigger muscles and disappears for three days with him, begging him not to go off to Mexico and leave him alone. If he goes, she threatens, she will marry Carr.
When the Mexican expedition goes south, Ramsey returns to the small town, but is quickly framed for murder and subsequently blackmailed into obtaining $100,000 dollars that Sara (remember her) is holding for a mobster. From there forward, Ramsey is a man on the run with a price on his head and all too willing to betray Sara (thus the Judas appellation) if he can clear his name.
“Judas Journey” is not as smoothly plotted as Martin’s Jim Bennett novels.
September 5, 2025
"He thought of her lying still and cold in a flower-banked casket in the flossiest funeral parlor in town, with her lovely face expertly puttied, painted and powdered to hide the ugly hole where the bullet had entered."
Based on the profile picture of the man who reviewed JUDAS JOURNEY first, and his concise but convincing review, I was pretty sure I wouldn't be disappointed. He's wearing a top hat after all.
The cover blurb on my copy of JUDAS JOURNEY says "EXITING, FAST MOVING. Well, it was neither exiting or fast moving until around page 88. The first eleven chapters were practically a misdirect considering the events that eventually unfold. Even so, Lee Roberts had my full attention from the outset.
The book opens on the gulf coast of Texas. The build up of the romance between oil rig worker Rackwell Ramsey and exotic dancer Sarah Colvin didn't contain much in the way of criminal intrigue, and in fact the first half of the book was more like a straight novel, but Robert's writing was so good that I didn't even consider putting it down.
Ramsey ditches Sarah shortly after they've met for an escapade into Mexico with two other men in order to scout a mahogany forest. The trip ends in tragedy and Ramsey returns completely broke. Soon, he's given a buisness proposition by someone, but the proposition ends up just being a frame-up when Ramsey doesn't acquiesce. And its a nasty one too. This is where it begins to shape up as a solid crime novel.
Ramsey's prospects do not look good but his character is such that you know he's going to fight tooth and nail, despite giving in to cynicism and almost completely giving himself over to the bad side a few times.
Lee Roberts chooses a few characters to develop and let's the rest just move the story along. And when it picks up steam, it keeps moving. There's at least two good twists and even an ending you might call happy, without it being nauseating.
I was hoping to find a copy of IF THE SHOE FITS by Lee Roberts that doesnt cost a small fortune. If I do, I will definitely be reading it ASAP.
Based on the profile picture of the man who reviewed JUDAS JOURNEY first, and his concise but convincing review, I was pretty sure I wouldn't be disappointed. He's wearing a top hat after all.
The cover blurb on my copy of JUDAS JOURNEY says "EXITING, FAST MOVING. Well, it was neither exiting or fast moving until around page 88. The first eleven chapters were practically a misdirect considering the events that eventually unfold. Even so, Lee Roberts had my full attention from the outset.
The book opens on the gulf coast of Texas. The build up of the romance between oil rig worker Rackwell Ramsey and exotic dancer Sarah Colvin didn't contain much in the way of criminal intrigue, and in fact the first half of the book was more like a straight novel, but Robert's writing was so good that I didn't even consider putting it down.
Ramsey ditches Sarah shortly after they've met for an escapade into Mexico with two other men in order to scout a mahogany forest. The trip ends in tragedy and Ramsey returns completely broke. Soon, he's given a buisness proposition by someone, but the proposition ends up just being a frame-up when Ramsey doesn't acquiesce. And its a nasty one too. This is where it begins to shape up as a solid crime novel.
Ramsey's prospects do not look good but his character is such that you know he's going to fight tooth and nail, despite giving in to cynicism and almost completely giving himself over to the bad side a few times.
Lee Roberts chooses a few characters to develop and let's the rest just move the story along. And when it picks up steam, it keeps moving. There's at least two good twists and even an ending you might call happy, without it being nauseating.
I was hoping to find a copy of IF THE SHOE FITS by Lee Roberts that doesnt cost a small fortune. If I do, I will definitely be reading it ASAP.
July 24, 2020
Excellent mystery/noir novel from the 50's. Plenty of twists, murder and a big frame up. Tightly written with interesting characters. Highly recommended.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews