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The Peeper
At night he walked the streets—driven by a debased hunger—searching out prey to feed his twisted appetites.
But daylight found him Larry Cole, who had no difficulty getting what normal men want from normal women. There was Janet Lambert, for example. The redhead needed love—and Larry was more than ready to supply it. And lush-bodied Nan Edwards, the bountiful brunette, willingly satisfied what she thought were Larry’s desires.
Still, when darkness fell, Larry ached for other excitement. His lust erupted as he stood by lighted windows, watching lovely women do the private little thing that engage them when they believe they are alone. And then came a time when his insatiable perversity drove him to another, even more terrible, craving....
This work, published in the United States before 1964, fell into the public domain because the copyright was not renewed during the 28th year after publication under the law in effect at that time. ount
But daylight found him Larry Cole, who had no difficulty getting what normal men want from normal women. There was Janet Lambert, for example. The redhead needed love—and Larry was more than ready to supply it. And lush-bodied Nan Edwards, the bountiful brunette, willingly satisfied what she thought were Larry’s desires.
Still, when darkness fell, Larry ached for other excitement. His lust erupted as he stood by lighted windows, watching lovely women do the private little thing that engage them when they believe they are alone. And then came a time when his insatiable perversity drove him to another, even more terrible, craving....
This work, published in the United States before 1964, fell into the public domain because the copyright was not renewed during the 28th year after publication under the law in effect at that time. ount
186 pages, Mass Market Paperback
Published January 1, 1959
About the author
Orrie Hitt
207 books34 followersOrrie Edwin Hitt was born in Colchester and died from cancer in a VA hospital in Montrose, NY. He married Charlotte Tucker in Pt Jervis, NY (a small town upstate where he became a lifelong resident), on Valentine’s Day, '43. Orrie & Charlotte had 4 kids—Joyce, Margaret, David & Nancy. He was under 5’5″, taking a 27' inseam, which his wife altered because no one sold pants so short.
Hitt wrote maybe 150 books. He wasn’t sure. “I’m no adding machine”, he answered on the back cover of his book Naked Flesh, when asked how many he’d written. “All I do is write. I usually start at 7 in the morning, take 20 minutes for lunch & continue until about 4 in the afternoon.” Hitt wrote a novel every 2 weeks in his prime, typing over 85 wpm. “His fastest & best works were produced when he was allowed to type whatever he wanted,” said his children. “His slowest works were produced when publishers insisted on a certain kind of novel, extra spicy etc.”
Most of Hitt’s books were PBOs. He also wrote some hardcovers. Pseudonyms include Kay Addams, Joe Black, Roger Normandie, Charles Verne & Nicky Weaver. Publishers include Avon, Beacon (later Softcover Library), Chariot, Domino (Lancer), Ember Library, Gaslight, Key Publishing, Kozy, MacFadden, Midwood, Novel, P.E.C, Red Lantern, Sabre, Uni-books, Valentine Books, Vantage Press, Vest-Pocket & Wisdom House.
He wrote in the adults only genre. Many of such writers were hacks, using thin plots as an excuse to throw tits & ass between covers for a quick buck. Others used the genre as a stepping stone to legitimate writing, later dismissing this part of their career. There were few like Hitt, whose writing left an original, idiosyncratic & lasting mark even beyond the horizons of '50s-mid 60s adult publishing. What made him unique was his belief he was writing realistically about the needs & desires, the brutality (both verbal & physical), the hypocritical lives inside the suburban tracts houses & the limited economic opportunities for women that lay beneath the glossy, Super Cinecolor, Father Knows Best surface of American life. He studied what he wrote about. Wanting to write about a nudist camp, he went to one tho “he wouldn't disrobe”.
His research allowed him to write convincingly. S. Stryker, in her Queer Pulp: Perverted Passions from the Golden Age of the Paperback, says, “Only one actual lesbian, Kay Addams, writing as Orrie Hitt, is known to have churned out semipornographic sleaze novels for a predominantly male audience.” She thought “Orrie Hitt” a pseudonym, & “Kay Addams” a real lesbian author! Orrie’d like that one.
It wasn’t just about sex. It was also about guts. “The characters,” Hitt’s protagonist–a movie producer complimenting a screenwriter on her work–says in the novel Man-Hungry Female, “were very real, red blooded people who tore at the guts of life. That’s what I’m after. Guts.” If anyone knew about guts, it was him.
Life started out tough for Hitt. His father committed suicide when he was 11. “Dad seldom spoke of his father, who'd committed suicide, because it was a very unpleasant chapter in his life,” said his children.
After Father’s death, Orrie & his mother moved to Forestburgh, NY, where they worked for a hunting-fishing club. He started doing chores for wealthy members for $.10 hourly. Management offered him a better job later, at .25 hourly. Eventually, he became club caretaker & supervisor. “Dad talked a lot about working as a child to help his mother make ends meet,” his children recalled. “He wanted his children to have a better life while growing up.”
Tragedy struck Hitt again during those years. His children explain: “Dad’s mom died at her sister’s house on the club property during an ice storm, so Dad walked to the house to get his mother & carried her back to his car"
Hitt wrote maybe 150 books. He wasn’t sure. “I’m no adding machine”, he answered on the back cover of his book Naked Flesh, when asked how many he’d written. “All I do is write. I usually start at 7 in the morning, take 20 minutes for lunch & continue until about 4 in the afternoon.” Hitt wrote a novel every 2 weeks in his prime, typing over 85 wpm. “His fastest & best works were produced when he was allowed to type whatever he wanted,” said his children. “His slowest works were produced when publishers insisted on a certain kind of novel, extra spicy etc.”
Most of Hitt’s books were PBOs. He also wrote some hardcovers. Pseudonyms include Kay Addams, Joe Black, Roger Normandie, Charles Verne & Nicky Weaver. Publishers include Avon, Beacon (later Softcover Library), Chariot, Domino (Lancer), Ember Library, Gaslight, Key Publishing, Kozy, MacFadden, Midwood, Novel, P.E.C, Red Lantern, Sabre, Uni-books, Valentine Books, Vantage Press, Vest-Pocket & Wisdom House.
He wrote in the adults only genre. Many of such writers were hacks, using thin plots as an excuse to throw tits & ass between covers for a quick buck. Others used the genre as a stepping stone to legitimate writing, later dismissing this part of their career. There were few like Hitt, whose writing left an original, idiosyncratic & lasting mark even beyond the horizons of '50s-mid 60s adult publishing. What made him unique was his belief he was writing realistically about the needs & desires, the brutality (both verbal & physical), the hypocritical lives inside the suburban tracts houses & the limited economic opportunities for women that lay beneath the glossy, Super Cinecolor, Father Knows Best surface of American life. He studied what he wrote about. Wanting to write about a nudist camp, he went to one tho “he wouldn't disrobe”.
His research allowed him to write convincingly. S. Stryker, in her Queer Pulp: Perverted Passions from the Golden Age of the Paperback, says, “Only one actual lesbian, Kay Addams, writing as Orrie Hitt, is known to have churned out semipornographic sleaze novels for a predominantly male audience.” She thought “Orrie Hitt” a pseudonym, & “Kay Addams” a real lesbian author! Orrie’d like that one.
It wasn’t just about sex. It was also about guts. “The characters,” Hitt’s protagonist–a movie producer complimenting a screenwriter on her work–says in the novel Man-Hungry Female, “were very real, red blooded people who tore at the guts of life. That’s what I’m after. Guts.” If anyone knew about guts, it was him.
Life started out tough for Hitt. His father committed suicide when he was 11. “Dad seldom spoke of his father, who'd committed suicide, because it was a very unpleasant chapter in his life,” said his children.
After Father’s death, Orrie & his mother moved to Forestburgh, NY, where they worked for a hunting-fishing club. He started doing chores for wealthy members for $.10 hourly. Management offered him a better job later, at .25 hourly. Eventually, he became club caretaker & supervisor. “Dad talked a lot about working as a child to help his mother make ends meet,” his children recalled. “He wanted his children to have a better life while growing up.”
Tragedy struck Hitt again during those years. His children explain: “Dad’s mom died at her sister’s house on the club property during an ice storm, so Dad walked to the house to get his mother & carried her back to his car"
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 24, 2025
Orrie Hitt, The King of Sleaze, seems to know quite a bit about this subject. This is a novel of pretty deep introspection. Larry Cole is a peeping Tom. Several nights a week he hunts for blinds that haven’t been lowered or curtains that haven’t been closed. He knows that there is something wrong with him. He knows that he will eventually get caught. He can’t help himself. He gets more satisfaction from viewing women in their private moments than he does from sexual relations with his loving girlfriend. He has been doing this since his teens and now he is approaching his thirties. And he finds that just viewing his favorite subjects isn’t enough. He wants much, much more. He is a Ted Bundy in the making…
December 30, 2020
The Peeper is a typical Orrie Hitt crime book. You might not think of Orrie Hitt as a crime writer in that, though almost all his books have elements of crime, they are a not crimes of violence. The crimes of Orrie Hitt books are embezzlement, prostitution, petty-theft, etc., but every once in awhile Hitt delves into murder and/or rape, this is one of those novels.
The twist in this one comes at the end of the first chapter, when the identity of The Peeper, who has been stocking the city for weeks, is revealed. For the rest of the book we are party to the internal struggle of The Peeper who is trying to control his compulsion to peep before it spirals out of control into something darker and more dangerous.
The twist in this one comes at the end of the first chapter, when the identity of The Peeper, who has been stocking the city for weeks, is revealed. For the rest of the book we are party to the internal struggle of The Peeper who is trying to control his compulsion to peep before it spirals out of control into something darker and more dangerous.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews