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Killmaster #10
Istanbul
Tandem 1972 paperback, vg++ In stock shipped from our UK warehouse
Paperback
First published October 1, 1965
4 people are currently reading
102 people want to read
About the author
Nick Carter
1,066 books46 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 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 3, 2019
Wow, total trash. Found this free at the Kwik Mart. I knew it was going to be a trashy pulp paperback from the 60s so I read it just for fun. It was so bad. Supposed to be a take off on James Bond but they didn't even credit an author for this book so there it goes. Totally sexist - the women are bimbos who are either dumped or killed after Nick Carter has his way with them. Ugg.
Some catchy sentences from this book:
"A stingy little mouth, a pale and anus-like mouth." Gee, thanks for that.
"She clung to him like a delectable soft fleshed leech." Now THAT'S romantic!"
Well, I've read it and I'm amazed these even sold. What WAS the world like back in 1965?
Some catchy sentences from this book:
"A stingy little mouth, a pale and anus-like mouth." Gee, thanks for that.
"She clung to him like a delectable soft fleshed leech." Now THAT'S romantic!"
Well, I've read it and I'm amazed these even sold. What WAS the world like back in 1965?
February 8, 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.
May 6, 2021
I bought 3 Nick Carter novels at a thrift store for a dime each. I read this one a few days ago, but now I remember almost nothing (there were poppies and ladies and SMERSH maybe?) except that I read it in one day, outside on the porch, over the course of perhaps 18 waking hours. It was mildly amusing and not awful, so 2 stars. (I have definitely read worse.)
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August 25, 2014AXE agent Nick Carter is assigned to assassinate four people connected to the drug trade in Turkey. His adventures bring him from an adult theater to a high rise building to the desolate Syrian border.
The writing style varies wildly, making me wonder if it was punched up by some incompetent editor. The scenes dealing with action and plot are well written, but the transitional scenes have weird, poorly written asides. With lots of exclamation points!
Then there are the sex scenes. The wordage used is weirdly explicit and unerotic, like they aimed for a double entendre and missed. Hitting the red target, plunging into the red cave, etc. There's a lot of pleasure/pain, love/hate, sex/combat dichotomy going on. Presumably they thought James Bond was too much a gentleman so they had to rough it up a bit.
A decent little action novel. The best parts are the combat in the desert when Carter is strapped to a camel and run with a herd of goats over a minefield, and the aftermath every time Carter uses Tiny Tim, his stock of atomic grenades.
It's a really dumb idea to tattoo all of your spies with the agency logo.
More reviews at Trash Menace
The writing style varies wildly, making me wonder if it was punched up by some incompetent editor. The scenes dealing with action and plot are well written, but the transitional scenes have weird, poorly written asides. With lots of exclamation points!
Then there are the sex scenes. The wordage used is weirdly explicit and unerotic, like they aimed for a double entendre and missed. Hitting the red target, plunging into the red cave, etc. There's a lot of pleasure/pain, love/hate, sex/combat dichotomy going on. Presumably they thought James Bond was too much a gentleman so they had to rough it up a bit.
A decent little action novel. The best parts are the combat in the desert when Carter is strapped to a camel and run with a herd of goats over a minefield, and the aftermath every time Carter uses Tiny Tim, his stock of atomic grenades.
It's a really dumb idea to tattoo all of your spies with the agency logo.
More reviews at Trash Menace
January 27, 2020
"Istanbul" is one of some 261 novels published as part of the Killmaster spy adventure series. The authors (and book style) of those novels varied, but all used the "Nick Carter" house pseudonym.
My edition, published in 1965 and reissued in 1970, promised "America's super-spy finds sultry love and sudden violence in the Middle East." Since Nick's assignment was to travel to Turkey and assassinate four prominent drug traders, I'd have to say that he brought the sudden violence (which of course resulted in more), and I think those familiar with the character would agree he usually brings some sexual activity to each published adventure as a matter of course.
With such a basic assignment, you'd think we could get some interesting material out of this one, but actually I found "Istanbul" to be remarkably poorly written. You don't generally see exclamation points in mature writing (most authors prefer the reader self-recognize an exciting moment) - but they were sprinkled all over "Istanbul" like a letter from cheerleader camp.
Research appeared minimal (little Turkish color, no recognition of Sharia law, no understanding of the effects of a nuclear explosion) and the plot was full of unfortunate holes. I believe this was written by Manning Lee Stokes, and it's definitely not up to his standard. If it wasn't such a short read, I wouldn't have finished it.
My edition, published in 1965 and reissued in 1970, promised "America's super-spy finds sultry love and sudden violence in the Middle East." Since Nick's assignment was to travel to Turkey and assassinate four prominent drug traders, I'd have to say that he brought the sudden violence (which of course resulted in more), and I think those familiar with the character would agree he usually brings some sexual activity to each published adventure as a matter of course.
With such a basic assignment, you'd think we could get some interesting material out of this one, but actually I found "Istanbul" to be remarkably poorly written. You don't generally see exclamation points in mature writing (most authors prefer the reader self-recognize an exciting moment) - but they were sprinkled all over "Istanbul" like a letter from cheerleader camp.
Research appeared minimal (little Turkish color, no recognition of Sharia law, no understanding of the effects of a nuclear explosion) and the plot was full of unfortunate holes. I believe this was written by Manning Lee Stokes, and it's definitely not up to his standard. If it wasn't such a short read, I wouldn't have finished it.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews