At the Stroke of Midnight

by John K. Butler

In the 1930s and '40s, he wrote about the otherworldly landscape of Southern California with a tough elegance themes bordered on poetry, driving his tarnished but noble knight through a neon-lit neverland. After a few years, a call from Hollywood sprung him from the pulpwood pages of the detective-fiction magazines and onto a movie lot, where he began crafting features that would light up the screens during Tinsletown's golden age. It wasn't Raymond Chandler. It was Chandler's compadre from the pages of Black Mask and Dime Detective magazines, John K. Butler, whose star shone as brightly as Chandler's in the pages of the pulps. Chandler went on to movies and best-selling novels; Butler stayed in the picture business, his work never reaching book form. Until now.

240 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1998

Reviews

[Little Timmy]

Great pulp reprint. Good selection of "Hard Boiled Detective" stories from the pulp era. Recommended

[Michael P.]

John K. Butler's Steve Midnight stories have a wonderful reputation amongst BLACK MASK fans and those who would like to be BLACK MASK fans. I am sorry to report that the reputation is not deserved. While it is true that Butler has the writing style down pat, so is everything else in these stories: pat, I mean. You soon realize that the first person Knight meets in a story is not who he or she seems. Steve will usually be accused of a crime and have to prove his innocence. Often a character turns out to be someone else entirely. These are just three of Butler's several bad plotting habits. Add that too often ridiculous coincidences forward or resolve the plot and the sheer absurdity of the same hack getting into so much trouble in story after story that Butler finally made comments about it, and you have one very unsatisfying short story collection.

Reading your first Steve Midnight story is an exhilarating thrill. Wise people will stop there.