The Tease & Sin for Me

by Gil Brewer, David Rachels (Introduction)

THE TEASEWes McCord and his wife are fighting again, and this time it looks like she’s going to leave him for good. She doesn’t trust him; thinks he drinks too much. Alone that evening, Wes receives an unexpected guest, a terrified young girl named Bonnie—on the run and crying rape. Worse, she had witnessed the death of the "old man," and was being chased by his friends. Wes agrees to hide her. But young Bonnie is more than she seems, and Wes soon finds himself involved with a nosy cop, some very desperate characters and a bundle of stolen money. If only he weren't so broke, he wouldn't be tempted. But, of course, there’s Bonnie... SIN FOR MEJesse Sunderland misses his ex-wife Germaine like hell. But she’s got a new husband, Paul Knowles, a smooth operator who’s living in the house Jesse built. Now Jesse just sells real estate, and drinks a lot. So when a young lady calls him up to show her some houses, he is surprised to find that she doesn’t want a house at all. She wants Jesse to steal the money her former partner—now known as Paul Knowles—stole from her, which she knows must be hidden somewhere in Jesse’s old house. Jesse agrees, and it might have worked… if Germaine hadn’t found the money first and set him up to be the fall guy in a sudden case of murder.

264 pages, Paperback

Published July 6, 2020

About the author

Florida writer Gil Brewer was the author of dozens of wonderfully sleazy sex/crime adventure novels of the 1950's and 60's, including Backwoods Teaser and Nude on Thin Ice; some of them starring private eye Lee Baron (Wild) or the brothers Sam and Tate Morgan (The Bitch) . Gil Brewer, who had not previously published any novels, began to write for Gold Medal Paperbacks in 1950-51. Brewer wrote some 30 novels between 1951 and the late 60s – very often involving an ordinary man who becomes involved with, and is often corrupted and destroyed by, an evil or designing woman. His style is simple and direct, with sharp dialogue, often achieving considerable intensity.

Brewer was one of the many writers who ghost wrote under the Ellery Queen byline as well. Brewer also was known as Eric Fitzgerald, Bailey Morgan, and Elaine Evans.

http://www.gilbrewer.com/

Reviews

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

Long acknowledged as one of the pulp paperback greats, Brewer's two 1967 noir novels are collected here as a two-pack. Both novels follow through with themes that have long permeated Brewer's work- the ordinary innocent guy on the run, the red-hot temptress that bedevils him, and the suitcase full of money that everyone and their uncle is after. However, neither novel quite achieves the steamy obsessive pulpy lust and greed of Brewer's earlier work.

"The Tease" begins with a suburban couple on Florida's gulf coast fighting. After she leaves for her sister's, things get interesting with a naked bombshell running off the beach and asking for help. And, boy, is she in trouble, with a killing on her hands and a crew of hoodlums on her tail. You see there's a suitcase full of money and she's willing to share it if they can get away with it. It's an easy read, but our dear hero wavers between all out succumbing to the bombshell's machinations and going back to his humdrum life and angry wife. He runs between red hot moments and lukewarm and is never fully committed one way or another.

"Sin For Me" coincidentally features another real estate salesman, but he's nursing a bitter divorce from a femme fatale extraordinaire. Sunderland' ex-wife's new husband's ex comes to Sunderland with a scheme to get bank robbery money secreted in Sunderland's old house where his ex wife lives with the new husband. It's another story of an ordinary Joe with the law after him and a suitcase of money he can't seem to reach.

Both are exciting action packed reads, although not quite extraordinary.

[Scott · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although these were Brewer's last two published works, it's perhaps unfortunate that they were bundled together like this, as they both feature more or less the same plot and characters. An alcoholic, down on his luck man who's had a rift with his wife falls for a young, beautiful grifter's plot to recover a large sum of money from a bank robbery, which he desperately needs. The details vary a bit, but not enough to not feel repetitive. I've now read five of his novels, two of which I don't remember offhand, but the other was... kind of the same in a lot of ways, too. I guess when you have a formula that sells you stick to it. I suppose these are the male counterpart to (ugh) "roman-tasy" for women. Still, I'd rather read this than Fake Dating My Grumpy Billionaire Orc Boss While Dating His Best Friend. (Not a real title... but then, maybe it is.)

[Louis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although a bit formulaic (and badly in need of better editing), this reprint of a pair of crime noir paperback originals from 1967 works as a fine diversion. All the elements that made Brewer an excellent thriller writer are here - a dupe, the femme fatale who takes him in and a lot of money offered as bait (usually in a suitcase). A disagreeable cop who enjoys his freedom to rough up and/or kill people appears just to make sure there are sufficient threats to the hero. Rest assured, though: the worse things look the more satisfying the climax. These stories' differences do not really matter in the end. Brewer pulls everything together to make fun action-adventure tales. Nothing original from a storytelling viewpoint but excellent page-turners nonetheless.