The Best of Manhunt 2

by Jeff Vorzimmer, Peter Enfantino (Foreword), Jon L. Breen (Introduction)

“Manhunt holds a unique niche among magazines specializing in crime, mystery, and detective fiction. In fact, it ranks among the three or four most important and influential in its genre. The first issue was dated January 1953, the last April/May 1967, a 14-year run roughly parallel tothat of The Saint, not an especially long life for a digest-sized magazine that claimed to be the world’s most popular in its category . . .“From its first issue, Manhunt declared itself different. For one thing, all the stories wereclaimed to be new and remained that way until near the end. And many of the earlycontributors were familiar names from hardcover publishing, including William Irish(a.k.a. Cornell Woolrich), Kenneth Millar (as himself and as John Ross Macdonald),Eleazar Lipsky, Bruno Fischer, Craig Rice, Harold Q. Masur, Leslie Charteris, WilliamLindsay Gresham, Henry Kane, and David Goodis…“The essence of Manhunt was not the private eye story, though it published plenty ofthem. What set it apart was what is now called noir fiction, a term often thrown aroundvery loosely but in its purest form concerning a flawed but not necessarily unsympatheticprotagonist who will not have a happy outcome.” —from the Introduction by Jon L. Breen

Genres: Crime, Mystery

426 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 16, 2020

About the author

Jeff Vorzimmer is the editor of The Best of Manhunt, The Best of Manhunt 2 and The Manhunt Companion. He spent twenty years at The Austin American-Statesman and is currently a member of the team at Stark House Press. His writing has appeared in Down and Out, The Digest Enthusiast, The Philadelphia Inquirer, 2600 and Cool and Strange Music. He is an avid traveler, having visited over 40 countries and territories on all seven continents.

Reviews

[Steve Payne · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5

The Best of Manhunt 2 is generally a good follow-up to the first collection, which itself was a book I’d probably - in terms of sheer hit rate – put right up there with some of the best short story collections I’ve read. Inevitably there are dwindling returns when fishing from the same pool, but considering I didn’t get on with only eight of the thirty-five stories on offer here, we’re still in very rewarding territory. They’re published in chronological order (the first from 1953, the last from 1964).

Looking back on my little scoring system I’ve marked eighteen of the stories good to very good. The eight I marked very good are:-

‘A Stabbing in the Street’ by Elezazer Lipsky – A stabbing incident involves English seamen, a barman, a Spanish speaking man, and a woman. It’s a dark and gritty police procedural in which the lack of shock effects make it real and memorable. It’s a great start to the book.

‘As I Lie Dead’ by Fletcher Flora – Two cousins, who are in love with each other, murder a family member for money, but… This is another great story from this master of the hardboiled genre. I love the seemingly tranquil build-up before the event – I thought at first it was all meant to be a bit of fun. It’s tight and atmospheric and keeps you guessing as to the outcome until the very end.

‘Shakedown’ by Roy Carroll – A man tires of a woman he works with, especially after she asks him for money for an operation. He gives her a suggestion. Short, real and very enjoyable. We have a naïve young woman, a man who wants no complications in life, and an arrogant boss. So much happens in so few pages.

‘You Can’t Trust A Man’ by Helen Nielsen – A woman is hassled by her newly released from prison ‘ex-husband.’ This is a great battling dialogue piece that has a fine last line.

‘Protection’ by Erle Stanley Gardner – An ex-con, who is going straight running a diner, gets a visit from a newly released con. The scene is nicely set for the inevitability of the newly released con looking to poison the situation. This is simply a well told story.

‘Key Witness’ by Frank Kane – A naive man witnesses a stabbing and goes to court. It may be a touch too long, but it’s nevertheless enjoyable and no doubt mirrors fact. It builds to a good climax in court and memorable last line.

Then just as the collection appears to bare out the much stated belief that the magazine’s quality fell in the 1960s with the inclusion of some rather forgettable stories, it ends with two very fine ones:-

‘Interference’ by Glenn Canary – A man saves a woman from jumping in front of a train and is afraid to leave her for the rest of the night. This is a very atmospheric character noir. You hope for a happy resolution - then BAM! – you’re hit with a surprise ending.

‘Where There’s Smoke’ by Edward D. Hoch – A private-eye is employed by a gallery owner who discovers a foreign art thief is in town; but the art thief tells the PI another story! Good and well plotted atmospheric character piece that flows beautifully.

The ten others that I thought good – ‘So Dark For April’ (Howard Browne); ‘The Choice’ (Richard Deming); ‘Confession’ (John M. Sitan); ‘One More Mile to Go’ (F. J. Smith); ‘Death of a Big Wheel’ (William Campbell Gault); ‘The Kitchen Kill’ (Jonathan Craig); ‘Girl Friend’ (Mark Mallory); ‘Midnight Caller’ (Wade Miller); ‘Wharf Rat’ (Robert Page Jones); and ‘Shatter Proof’ (Jack Ritchie).

With an informative forward and introduction, plus a cover that re-prints (albeit very small) a number of covers from the magazine’s history, we have a fine follow-up to the original. Although not as consistent, there is much here that is equal to Volume 1.

[Benjamin Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Manhunt was acknowledged as the successor to Black Mask, which had stopped publishing the year before in 1951. It was a venue for high-quality crime fiction and by April of 1956 it was being billed as the "World's Best-Selling Crime-Fiction Magazine." This volume of stories is representative of Manhunt's contents and a must-read for fans of this genre. It’s a solid follow-on to the first volume of the “Best of Manhunt” but, interestingly, focuses less on the big household names that most of are familiar with.

Still, authors include some big names like Donald E. Westlake and Erle Stanley Gardner, but I suspect that’s because they were so prolific it would be difficult to collect a set of 35 stories from that era without including them. But to be able to read lesser-known authors (to most readers today) such as De Forbes, James McKimmey, Kenneth Moore, Howard Browne, and Glenn Canary is simply wonderful.

As usual, I wanted to avoid burnout on reading these sorts of stories, so I read a single story between each novel I’ve read over the past couple of months. I find that keeps my reading pallet clean and can fully enjoy each story. But even if you don’t do that, I think the stories show sufficient differences and plots and story-telling styles that it wouldn’t be a problem.

I’m waiting, hopefully, for a 3rd volume of these stories to come out from Stark House Publishers but I’ve not of one on the horizon at this point. I’ll keep my fingers crossed.

[Coy Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible collection of 50s and 60s crime stories from Manhunt. A variety of voices here, but all of them capture the right mood. I loved this book just like I loved volume 1. If you enjoy the Black Lizard collections, I highly recommend this and volume 1.

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

A cynic might suspect that a second collection of best stories from a single source would fall woefully short of the first. In this case, that cynic would be wrong. Culled from its 114-issue run, this second collection of best stories from Manhunt is unequivocally as best as the first volume. The stuff of legends, Manhunt, was the greatest crime fiction magazine of its era, featuring short stories by the best crime writers of the day. Now out of print, both massive volumes are thankfully still available in digital formats. 6 out of 5 stars.

[Tim Deforest · Rating 4 out of 5]

A selection of generally excellent hard-boiled stories published during the 1950s and early 1960s. There's a good mixture of tales told from the point-of-views of cops, private eyes, potential victims and out-right crooks, as well as a mixture of both upbeat and downbeat endings. I especially liked "Protection," by Erle Stanley Gardner and the dark but effective twist in "Interference," by Glenn Canary. All the stories here are short (some only a few pages long), but all are self-contained, satisfying and well-told.

[Girard Bowe · Rating 4 out of 5]

A somewhat uneven collection of stories from the 50s and 60s editions of Manhunt Detective Story Magazine. But the good stories far outweigh the weak, with contributions by Erle Stanley Gardner, Fletcher Flora, Donald Westlake, and Wade Miller, among many others. I found the introductory chapters regarding the history of Manhunt very interesting. For those of us who like pulp crime fiction, this is a treat.

[Alfrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

As with Volume 1, I loved these stories. I believe I’m stuck in the 50’s with the books and stories I enjoy.