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Killmaster #54
The Red Rebellion
A masterful new twist to espionage terror... Nick Carter is a super-intelligence agent par excellence.
160 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1970
39 people want to read
About the author
Nick Carter
1,058 books45 followersNick Carter is a house pseudonym used by Award, Ace, and later Jove, publishing for the series Nick Carter who later graduated to a special agent for the Killmaster novels, a series of 261+ spy adventures published from 1964 until late 1990s.
A great number of writers have written under the pen-name over the years, beginning in September 1886 when Nick Carter first appeared in the 'New York Weekly' in a 13-week serial, entitled 'The Old Detective's Pupil; or, The Mysterious Crime of Madison Square'.
The Nick Carter character was originally conceived by Ormond G. Smith, the son of one of the founders of Street & Smith, and realized by John R. Coryell.
A great number of writers have written under the pen-name over the years, beginning in September 1886 when Nick Carter first appeared in the 'New York Weekly' in a 13-week serial, entitled 'The Old Detective's Pupil; or, The Mysterious Crime of Madison Square'.
The Nick Carter character was originally conceived by Ormond G. Smith, the son of one of the founders of Street & Smith, and realized by John R. Coryell.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 31, 2011
Nick Carter, Killmaster, is kind of an ass.
On the plus side, he realizes that he's kind of an ass. And the anti-American forces that he struggles against in this book, communists infiltrating the 1960s student movement in order to cripple our educational infrastructure, manage to be even bigger asses.
The generic intrigue story and predictable "I'll tell you my plan then leave you to die" ending were run of the mill. The main villain insisted on an elaborate death trap to keep up the cover of his group's evil lair, then he immediately ordered that the freak accident be staged in said lair - as if that wouldn't make Nick's agency the tiniest bit suspicious.
There are a few moments of introspection and indignation that made Nick more interesting than I'd expected. But then he'd go and ruin it by judging a female student for having an attitude towards relationships similar to the one he'd already displayed, or by wondering if anyone ever got to "use" a different woman's body. It's not like I expect egalitarian principles from my retro espionage Secret Santa gifts, but this one was gross even by my fairly low expectations.
It's also really, really difficult to take action scenes seriously when the hero keeps referring to his weapons by name. Something about giggling at a life-or-death struggle just destroys any potential tension it may have had.
On the plus side, he realizes that he's kind of an ass. And the anti-American forces that he struggles against in this book, communists infiltrating the 1960s student movement in order to cripple our educational infrastructure, manage to be even bigger asses.
The generic intrigue story and predictable "I'll tell you my plan then leave you to die" ending were run of the mill. The main villain insisted on an elaborate death trap to keep up the cover of his group's evil lair, then he immediately ordered that the freak accident be staged in said lair - as if that wouldn't make Nick's agency the tiniest bit suspicious.
There are a few moments of introspection and indignation that made Nick more interesting than I'd expected. But then he'd go and ruin it by judging a female student for having an attitude towards relationships similar to the one he'd already displayed, or by wondering if anyone ever got to "use" a different woman's body. It's not like I expect egalitarian principles from my retro espionage Secret Santa gifts, but this one was gross even by my fairly low expectations.
It's also really, really difficult to take action scenes seriously when the hero keeps referring to his weapons by name. Something about giggling at a life-or-death struggle just destroys any potential tension it may have had.
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January 7, 2025As a pulpy, James Bond pastiche, "The Red Rebellion" is godawful: sexist, crude, formulaic, anti-intellectual, and fully embracing a racist "yellow peril" plot featuring a Maoist copycat of Fu Manchu as the puppet-master villain. I have a scholarly interest in the conservative pop-lit response(s) to crises of American society in the 1960s (Dean Koontz's "Shattered" (if not his whole oeuvre) being a key text in this micro-literary tendency), so the portions I found most pertinent included the the strawmanning of, and diatribing against, the youth student movement of the era, mostly by super-agent "Killmaster" Nick Carter himself. Strong emphasis on "common sense" against the youthful idealism of students, who are so stupid (i.e., easily manipulated by subtle, subversive global forces) that they can cause mass destruction without much convincing-- one wonders how they got accepted to such prominent institutions of higher learning when they fall for claptrap politicking by this novel's antagonists.
February 26, 2016
A nice rewrite of an old Pulp character. Recast more in the James Bond spy mode. Good quick men's adventure read. If you are looking for some fast paced action and adventure then this is a recommended read.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews