Black Hammer: A Boxing Crime Thriller by the late English author Gordon Landsborough (
Wikipedia), a prolific and pioneering multi-genre pulp fiction writer and publisher, is his apparently standalone vintage mystery/crime thriller set in the world of post-WWII boxing, this one starring a fight reporter who is himself an ex-boxer, following a rising young African-American heavyweight champion, who work together to figure out who's the mastermind behind the kidnapping of the reporter's girlfriend who happens to be the daughter of the head of a gambling mob, free for a limited time courtesy of publisher Endeavour Press.
This was originally published in 1951 by Hamilton & Co using the pseudonym Mike M'Cracken. We've normally gotten more-or-less historical westerns from Landsborough in the past, so if you've enjoyed those and wanted to know what his other-genre pulp fiction writing from throughout his prolific career was like, this seems like a nice treat to try.
Currently free @
Amazon (available to Canadians & in the UK and pretty much everywhere else Amazon sells worldwide, since this is being done via their KDP Select exclusive-or-else program)
Description
Sep Jason, one of the best fight reporters around, is heartbroken. Fiona Hartagen, daughter of the head of a gambling mob, has left him. Or so he thinks …
World War II veteran, Philip Squeak, is worried about Jason. Known as his right-hand man, Squeak, the veteran, as he is called, does all he can to track Jason down. Someone has to talk some sense into Jason, and the veteran is the only person who can do that.
Liberty Jones, a rising young black heavyweight dubbed the ‘Black Hammer’, is a sensation rocking the world of boxing. As he was discovered by Jason, Jason had invested his time and interest in the boy. He knew that Liberty was going to be a sensation in the world of boxing for a long time yet.
And that is where Jason was when the veteran found him.
When the veteran delivers news that Fiona was kidnapped, Jason steps up to his old role. A fighter in his old days, Jason knew every trick there was to know. But journalism was where he wanted to be.
But things are more complicated than Jason anticipates. The urgency to find Fiona steps up when he realises that the thugs he captured and had locked up have escaped and are out to get him. They have Fiona and now they are out to get him.
Hoodlums that Jason and the veteran are going to have to fight hard against if they are to win.
Liberty finds himself fighting inside and outside the rung alongside his great friend Sep Jason, top-line fight reporter on the New York Clarion. Together they face the greatest fight of their lives to solve the mystery of who is the mastermind behind the snatch, and why…