Slay Ride for a Lady

by Harry Whittington

Harry Nelson got Dan Henderson out of the pen for his own very special reasons. The price of Henderson’s freedom was simple—he merely had to track down and find Nelson’s voluptuous wife, Connice...

Henderson finally found her in far-off Hawaii—but just as dead as they come...

Then he discovered that he was the fall guy for her murder and that he had to return to Tampa and kill..

But it was lovely Connice who had the last laugh, as always...

126 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1950

About the author

He also wrote under the names Ashley Carter, Harriet Kathryn Myers, and Blaine Stevens, Curt Colman, John Dexter, Tabor Evans, Whit Harrison, Kel Holland, Suzanne Stephens, Clay Stuart, Hondo Wells, Harry White, Hallam Whitney, Henri Whittier, J.X. Williams.

Harry Whittington (February 4, 1915–June 11, 1989) was an American mystery novelist and one of the original founders of the paperback novel. Born in Ocala, Florida, he worked in government jobs before becoming a writer.

His reputation as a prolific writer of pulp fiction novels is supported by his writing of 85 novels in a span of twelve years (as many as seven in a single month) mostly in the crime, suspense, and noir fiction genres. In total, he published over 200 novels. Seven of his writings were produced for the screen, including the television series Lawman. His reputation for being known as 'The King of the Pulps' is shared with author H. Bedford-Jones. Only a handful of Whittington's novels are in print today.
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Reviews

[Carla Remy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very satisfying pulp crime book. However, having read it, I still have no idea what the attention grabbing title refers to. I even looked up "slay ride" in my slang dictionary, thinking it must be a 1950s term I didn't know. It is not listed.

[Steven · Rating 2 out of 5]

Started off good when Whittington saddled his noir protagonist with caring for a baby after the mother was murdered. What follows is plenty of beatings, gunplay, knife attacks, and jumping from speeding vehicles. The battle rages from Honolulu, to a cruise ship in the pacific, to San Francisco, and back to Tampa, where the final Glass Key-esque battle between rival mobsters takes place. Unfortunately Whittington lost his way in the middle of this one with an excruciatingly long back story section that repeated a lot of what he'd already dribbled out early on. Add in the improbably silly attempt at "romance" with a schoolteacher, followed by a bunch of plot explanation via expository dialog, and the result is not one of Whittington's best.

[Kurt Reichenbaugh · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fall guy is set up for the murder of a Tampa mobster's wife in Hawaii. He then hops a cruise ship to San Francisco, dodging goons on the Pacific. He meets-cute with a schoolteacher, tells her he's no good for her, changes a baby's diapers, has a couple fistfights, plots revenge, lays a couple sloppy ones on the schoolteacher's kisser and makes with the existential angst before showdown with mobster in Tampa.

Whittington is a reliable yarn-spinner and this one does the job.

[Francis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Harry Whittington was one of those Gold Metal paperback guys. In fact he was known by many as "The King of the paperbacks." He wrote a lot of books in a lot of different genre's but mainly crime. And for a guy who churned out a lot of paperback novels it was said the quality of his work was rarely affected by the quantity of his work.

'Slay Ride for a lady', was his first crime novel and was orginally published in 1950. While a lot of the characters are stereotypical for the time like the tough guy male lead, good with the fists and bent on vengeance. Femme fatale dames who were always suspiciously on the cusp of betrayal. Tough cops and ugly thugs with extra large knuckles, cauliflower ears and scar tissue down a cheek. And needless to say, bare knuckles, knives and guns popping out of every page. It's still kind of fun.

This one starts fast and maintains its pace. So, if you can quiet your inner critic and put yourself in that place and time, then you'll be able to enjoy the fast and bumpy ride.

Pun intended.

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was one of two I Whittington novels I read one after the other about Tampa-based hood, coincidentally after having just visited Tampa. A typical fast-paced thriller from Whittington. Nine out of every ten novels of his are really good. Those are good odds. If you like hardboiled crime you have to read him.

[Jim Davis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Whittington was often called "King of the Pulps" for his prodigious output during the early days of the paperback novel. This is the first novel I've read by him and in this case I think it was a case of sacrificing quality for quanity