Nick Carter Vol. 1: Marked for Death & The Impossible Theft

Nick Carter Sanctum Reprints #1

by Nick Carter (House Name), J. Randolph Cox (Contributor), Thomas C. McClary

The legendary Master Detective who predates Sherlock Holmes is reborn into the hard-boiled 1930s in the debut novel, Marked for Death, from Doc Savage's companion magazine!
What is the bizarre connection between an East Indian idol and the disappearance of a quarter-million dollars? Nick Carter struggles to solve The Impossible Theft!
PLUS: the first Nick Carter radio thriller by Shadow's Walter B. Gibson, a classic golden age Nick Carter comic story and historical essays!

Genres: Pulp, Mystery, Anthologies

143 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Nick 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.

Reviews

[Skjam! · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nick Carter, master detective, is a character with a long history, in three distinct phases. He started in 1886 in stories most associated with the dime novels, was reinvented in 1933 for the pulps, and then again in 1964 as “Nick Carter Killmaster” for a long running series of action paperbacks. It’s the 1930s incarnation that this volume focuses on.

The house name for the writers of Nick Carter stories was Nick Carter; the first story in this volume, “Marked for Death” is by Richard Wormser. It’s Nick’s pulp magazine debut, and establishes Nick as a master of disguise and detection who isn’t afraid to use the three revolvers he carries. While more violence-prone than his Nineteenth Century incarnation, Nick is still more cerebral than hard-boiled.

Nick is called to Boston from his usual New York haunts by a friend whose father has been murdered and is now being hounded for money he supposedly owned. Problem is that last time he was in town, Nick Carter showed up the Boston police, and they are not going to be cooperative. Warning: Nick does not like Pomeranians, and casually kills one to test a theory.

“The Impossible Theft,” by Thomas C. McClary, is from 1934. It involves the theft of a quarter-million dollars from a bank in a manner which seems, frankly, impossible (and is never satisfactorily explained.) As a seeming side note, a cheap replica idol used to decorate the bank also vanishes. Nick Carter quickly connects this with the visit of a certain Maharajah to New York and infiltrates his Westchester mansion as a magician.

This story is much more fanciful than the first, and invokes the work of Charles Fort, as well as heavy doses of Orientalism and “the mysteries of the East.” People from South Asia are likely to find the depiction of the Maharajah and his court laughable, insulting or both, despite Nick’s new-found respect for some of their number.

The script for the first episode of “The Return of Nick Carter” radio series is also included. ”The Strange Dr. Devolo” was written by Walter B. Gibson (scribe of the Shadow) and Edward Gruskin. The seemingly immortal mad scientist is using a weird crystal to hypnotize wealthy people into believing they’re famous people from the past. Nick has to track him down using secretary Patsy as a decoy and expose the strange doctor’s trickery.

The volume is rounded out by Nick Carter’s comic book incarnation from 1947, in “The Lucky Stiff” by Bruce Elliott and Bob Powell. Nick and Patsy go to the horse races, but the fix is in–in more ways than one! Despite the murder, this is a lighthearted tale that ends on a laugh.

There’s also several text pieces that introduce the various aspects of Nick Carter’s career.

Overall: While not up to the quality of the greats, these are some rip-roaring pulp tales. If you’re willing to put up with the period racism, you should be able to enjoy them as examples of one of American lowbrow literature’s enduring characters.

[John Grace · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent, standard Street & Smith pulp. I think the 60s super spy Killmaster phase of Carter was the best.

[Charlie Eckhaus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Marked for Death: This is a surprise, told in a terse straightforward style which sometimes keeps you on your toess (unless I'm zoning out :-) Quick reading so far.
Not finding him terribly likeable.
Terrific slam-bang ending.
The Impossible Theft: New writer takes over the house name, thus more of a whodunit tone. While the style is atmospheric, progress becomes glacial and this becomes tedious to read. Not sure if the eponymous theft was satisfactorily explained.
Radio script, comic book story are welcome extras, engaging enough, along with the typical-for-Sanctum historical notes..

[Glen · Rating 3 out of 5]

First double book in Sanctum's reprint series of the master sleuth.

I found the historical background articles very interesting, especially the article about how devoted early fans of property, back when it was a dime novel series were to the character, and how they were outraged by some of the changes made by the pulp.

The first story I really liked, about jewel thieves and cops.

The second, about infiltrating the lair of an Indian Maharajah, I found rather slow.

[Jeff J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two novels in the Nick Carter pulp series. "Marked for Death" was the first novel published when the character was revived for a series of pulps in 1933. It does a great job of introducing the character to new readers. "The Impossible Theft" was published later in the series after his supporting cast was introduced. Good story despite having occult elements that are unusual for this pulp series.