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Waterfront
A young cop descends into New York City’s underworld to chase down a killer in this 1951 hard-boiled detective novel, by the author of Counterfeit Corpse.
Rookie detective Johnny Malone is on his way to pick up his engagement ring in midtown Manhattan when a man is shot dead on the sidewalk. He tries to handle the situation by the book, but one mistake quickly lets a killer run free and threatens Malone’s career.
As a ruse, the police commissioner announces the detective’s suspension. But Malone’s now the only man on the force who can identify the city’s biggest criminal. Blackie Clegg runs the crime syndicate currently controlling New York’s harbors. Now, he’s also wanted for murder. Malone’s mission is to bring him in—in cuffs or a body bag. Of course, there’s a good chance Clegg remembers Malone’s face, too, and Clegg doesn’t like to leave witnesses . . .
The inspiration for the film noir classic, The Mob, starring Broderick Crawford and Ernest Borgnine.</
Rookie detective Johnny Malone is on his way to pick up his engagement ring in midtown Manhattan when a man is shot dead on the sidewalk. He tries to handle the situation by the book, but one mistake quickly lets a killer run free and threatens Malone’s career.
As a ruse, the police commissioner announces the detective’s suspension. But Malone’s now the only man on the force who can identify the city’s biggest criminal. Blackie Clegg runs the crime syndicate currently controlling New York’s harbors. Now, he’s also wanted for murder. Malone’s mission is to bring him in—in cuffs or a body bag. Of course, there’s a good chance Clegg remembers Malone’s face, too, and Clegg doesn’t like to leave witnesses . . .
The inspiration for the film noir classic, The Mob, starring Broderick Crawford and Ernest Borgnine.</
183 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1951
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August 8, 2025
Charles Weiser Frey put out five crime novels in the 1950’s writing under the odd pen name of Ferguson Findley: (1) My Old Man’s Badge (aka Killer Cop) (1950); (2) Waterfront (aka Hire This Killer and Remember that Face (UK version)) (1951); (3) Man in the Middle (1952); (4) Counterfeit Corpse (1956); and (5) Murder Makes Me Mad (1956). Some sources credit Frey with six novels, but it appears that they are double-counting alternate titles for some of his works.
Waterfront is generally acknowledged as Frey’s most complete work and was adapted into the movie, The Mob, in 1951, which takes place for the most part in New Orleans, which actually makes more sense for the lead character’s undercover work as he would have been too well known in New York City. It actually continues Frey’s work with Detective Malone which he began a year earlier in 1950 with My Old Man’s Badge, recently republished by Stark House Press, although the two stories are standalone novels.
Waterfront is a tough-nosed young police detective takes on the mob undercover story. It opens with a huge band as NYPD Detective Johnny Malone, who is off duty minding his own business, hears a gun go off not more than twenty feet away and then three more bullets. He sees a man grab at his chest, crumple over, and fall to the ground. Then, Malone sees who was doing the shooting, “a big ox, with shoulders as wide as a barn, a big mop of black hair, no hat, and a police .38 in his right hand, still smoking. When Malone orders the ox up against the car, the man identifies himself as Lieutenant Henderson, 21st Squad, and shows his detective’s shield. Henderson explains that Tony Rogers drew on him first and he had to take him out and that Rogers had shot up a cop yesterday afternoon. Henderson says to wait with the body while he called it in and went into a building.
Meanwhile, Malone is with the corpse, “stone-cold dead on the sidewalk, mama, and if he had shot a cop it was certainly the last one he would ever shoot.” But, the story changes quickly as other police arrive, Henderson has disappeared, and no one on the NYPD has ever heard of a Lieutenant Henderson. Malone knows he blew it though anyone else would have done the same. The fake Henderson just killed a grand jury witness and had killed a detective, pilfering his gun and badge, the night before. Malone is publicly rebuked in the newspapers and receives a sixty-day suspension publicly. However, he is given a real assignment as there is a new waterfront boss in town, Blackie Clegg, and no one knows what he looks like. Malone is to go undercover in secret and bring him in in bracelets or a sack. Also it is a good chance to get killed. But it is the only move Malone has left to save his career.
So the rest of the story (after the first two chapters which set up the book) is Johnny Malone masquerading as Tim Flynn from Seattle on the waterfront, looking for work, and hoping to make contact with the waterfront mob who runs everything with an iron fist. He quickly makes contact and is so suspicious that they set him up with a perfect murder rap with his own gun. Malone is pretty much on his own with no one but a phone number he can trust, learning that anyone he meets on the waterfront can be anyone from another undercover man to a pigeon for the mob. And if the evidence points to Malone committing murder, there is little the undercover squad can do for him. Frey writes well and gives the reader a good sense of how walking the high wire Malone’s situation is, particularly when he finds out what what Blackie wants from him and who Blackie wants him to take off the board.
Waterfront, told entirely from Malone’s point of view, is a terrific crime thriller, with the tension ratcheting up every second right up until the conclusion.
Waterfront is generally acknowledged as Frey’s most complete work and was adapted into the movie, The Mob, in 1951, which takes place for the most part in New Orleans, which actually makes more sense for the lead character’s undercover work as he would have been too well known in New York City. It actually continues Frey’s work with Detective Malone which he began a year earlier in 1950 with My Old Man’s Badge, recently republished by Stark House Press, although the two stories are standalone novels.
Waterfront is a tough-nosed young police detective takes on the mob undercover story. It opens with a huge band as NYPD Detective Johnny Malone, who is off duty minding his own business, hears a gun go off not more than twenty feet away and then three more bullets. He sees a man grab at his chest, crumple over, and fall to the ground. Then, Malone sees who was doing the shooting, “a big ox, with shoulders as wide as a barn, a big mop of black hair, no hat, and a police .38 in his right hand, still smoking. When Malone orders the ox up against the car, the man identifies himself as Lieutenant Henderson, 21st Squad, and shows his detective’s shield. Henderson explains that Tony Rogers drew on him first and he had to take him out and that Rogers had shot up a cop yesterday afternoon. Henderson says to wait with the body while he called it in and went into a building.
Meanwhile, Malone is with the corpse, “stone-cold dead on the sidewalk, mama, and if he had shot a cop it was certainly the last one he would ever shoot.” But, the story changes quickly as other police arrive, Henderson has disappeared, and no one on the NYPD has ever heard of a Lieutenant Henderson. Malone knows he blew it though anyone else would have done the same. The fake Henderson just killed a grand jury witness and had killed a detective, pilfering his gun and badge, the night before. Malone is publicly rebuked in the newspapers and receives a sixty-day suspension publicly. However, he is given a real assignment as there is a new waterfront boss in town, Blackie Clegg, and no one knows what he looks like. Malone is to go undercover in secret and bring him in in bracelets or a sack. Also it is a good chance to get killed. But it is the only move Malone has left to save his career.
So the rest of the story (after the first two chapters which set up the book) is Johnny Malone masquerading as Tim Flynn from Seattle on the waterfront, looking for work, and hoping to make contact with the waterfront mob who runs everything with an iron fist. He quickly makes contact and is so suspicious that they set him up with a perfect murder rap with his own gun. Malone is pretty much on his own with no one but a phone number he can trust, learning that anyone he meets on the waterfront can be anyone from another undercover man to a pigeon for the mob. And if the evidence points to Malone committing murder, there is little the undercover squad can do for him. Frey writes well and gives the reader a good sense of how walking the high wire Malone’s situation is, particularly when he finds out what what Blackie wants from him and who Blackie wants him to take off the board.
Waterfront, told entirely from Malone’s point of view, is a terrific crime thriller, with the tension ratcheting up every second right up until the conclusion.
December 12, 2011
This is another one of those hardcore, hardboiled, no nonsense slugfests from the nifty 1950's. It's got spunk, and grit as well as a lot of other guff nobody talks about anymore. The author can turn a phrase that will bruise your eyes, but you'll still come crawling back, begging for more after all is said and done. The characters aren't all that fleshed out, but that's probably because they're fighting for their lives tooth and nail for most of the book. There are some cute little surprises here. It's a well crafted tale from a crafty craftsman. I'm definitely up for reading Ferguson Findley's (pen name of Charles Weiser Frey)other 5 novels.
This book was made into a film in 1951 entitled The Mob.
This book was made into a film in 1951 entitled The Mob.
November 9, 2020
Як на мене, дуже цікавий нуар-детектив. Головний герой знаходиться під прикриттям, та намагається знайти головного мафіозі Нью-Йорка.
Під час читання, ловив себе на думці, що атмосфера дуже сильно нагадує компютерну гру "Мафія".
Під час читання, ловив себе на думці, що атмосфера дуже сильно нагадує компютерну гру "Мафія".
June 11, 2023
🖊 My review: Great story.
Ferguson Findley (1910–1963) was the pen name of Charles Weiser Frey, an American novelist from Pennsylvania. He wrote several minor crime novels in the 1950s, the most successful of which, Waterfront, was adapted into the film "The Mob" in 1951 with Broderick Crawford.
🤔 My rating 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
🎥 Media form: 1951 movie version.
✿●▬●✿●✿●▬●✿
Ferguson Findley (1910–1963) was the pen name of Charles Weiser Frey, an American novelist from Pennsylvania. He wrote several minor crime novels in the 1950s, the most successful of which, Waterfront, was adapted into the film "The Mob" in 1951 with Broderick Crawford.
🤔 My rating 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
🎥 Media form: 1951 movie version.
✿●▬●✿●✿●▬●✿
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