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So Young, So Wicked
SO YOUNG, SO WICKEDSteve Garrity is a hit man for the syndicate, and he’s just been given a new job. The death has to look like an accident—no guns, no knives. The victim lives in a small town, so he has to figure out how to make his appearance there look natural, or he will be the first person the cops arrest. And he has to make the hit in just a handful of days. But the really crazy part of the assignment is that the target is a fifteen-year-old girl named Leda. Garrity knows he’s been given an impossible job, but there’s nothing he can do about it. If he doesn’t kill Leda within the week, the syndicate will kill him... and slowly. But Leda is no ordinary victim.
Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1957
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69 people want to read
About the author
Jonathan Craig
91 books8 followersJonathan Craig was a pseudonym for Frank E. Smith, an American writer who lived in Florida. His series character for most of his novels was PI Pete Selby. He also wrote many short stories.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
October 28, 2021
So Young, So Wicked is a deliciously nasty hardboiled novel from 1957. Steve Garrity plays piano in New York City clubs by night and also works as a hitman for the mob. It wasn't a career choice that he made deliberately, but one night in a jealous rage, he beat a man to death and was then recruited by mobsters who made him an offer he couldn't refuse: he could continue to kill people for them, or they would kill him.
To his surprise, Garrity discovers that he really doesn't mind killing other people and he's actually pretty good at it. Then one day, the mob gives him a very difficult assignment: he is to kill a fifteen-year-old girl in a small town upstate. He has to make it look like an accident, and he has to do it in a hurry.
Even a hitman as hardened as Garrity is likely to balk at the notion of killing an innocent child and his handlers won't explain why the girl has to die. But they insist that Garrity get on the job immediately, or he will be the one to die very unpleasantly.
Garrity makes his way up to the small town and begins to ingratiate himself into the community while he scopes out the intended target and tries to devise a scheme for killing her as ordered. It's going to be a difficult and complicated task and it doesn't help matters much when Garrity discovers that the girl--Leda Louise Noland--is a very sexy young number of the sort that populated pulp novels in the 1950s. Leda is fifteen going on thirty-five and is more than a little wise to the ways of the world.
Caught between the mob on the one hand and Leda on the other, Garrity is in real trouble and it's a measure of the author's skill that he can actually make the reader sympathize, at least in part, with a stone-cold killer like Steve Garrity. The book takes a lot of twists and turns, some of which the reader will see coming, but all in all, it's a great read for fans of the hardboiled genre.
To his surprise, Garrity discovers that he really doesn't mind killing other people and he's actually pretty good at it. Then one day, the mob gives him a very difficult assignment: he is to kill a fifteen-year-old girl in a small town upstate. He has to make it look like an accident, and he has to do it in a hurry.
Even a hitman as hardened as Garrity is likely to balk at the notion of killing an innocent child and his handlers won't explain why the girl has to die. But they insist that Garrity get on the job immediately, or he will be the one to die very unpleasantly.
Garrity makes his way up to the small town and begins to ingratiate himself into the community while he scopes out the intended target and tries to devise a scheme for killing her as ordered. It's going to be a difficult and complicated task and it doesn't help matters much when Garrity discovers that the girl--Leda Louise Noland--is a very sexy young number of the sort that populated pulp novels in the 1950s. Leda is fifteen going on thirty-five and is more than a little wise to the ways of the world.
Caught between the mob on the one hand and Leda on the other, Garrity is in real trouble and it's a measure of the author's skill that he can actually make the reader sympathize, at least in part, with a stone-cold killer like Steve Garrity. The book takes a lot of twists and turns, some of which the reader will see coming, but all in all, it's a great read for fans of the hardboiled genre.
January 14, 2024
The story has an interesting setup, but a dull protagonist, a plodding narrative with too many implausabilities and mechanical dialogue made it a bit of a slog.
January 17, 2024
So Young, So Wicked (1957) is a hit-man novel, but it is one where Craig deftly maneuvers the reader into identifying with and trusting and believing the mob hit-man who has killed numerous targets for his mob bosses and agrees to murder a fifteen-year-old drum majorette for reasons that are unknown and make it look like an accident. Garrity tells the story from his perspective and throughout much of the novel you think about him as this poor chap forced to kill a defenseless fifteen-year-old -Leda- for no good reason. And, despite some initial qualms, he goes about his business professionally, setting up an identity in the town, dating the girl’s aunt, and plotting to drown the poor girl when she is swimming with her boyfriend in the local creek, plotting to run her off the road, and thinking about all manner of nasty ends to put her to. Indeed, even though he is never clued-in to the why of murdering the teenage girl, Garrity never thinks once about running off with her to save her of warning her or of fleeing to South America. What is so brilliant about this novel is that Craig sort of tricks the reader from beginning to end into thinking Garrity is one of the good guys even though, if you look at who he is and what he does, it turns out Garrity is one of the bad guys. He just seems more convincing in arguing his innocent motives than most would.
In fact, the interesting thing we are told right at the start is that the whole reason that the mob wants Garrity involved is that he looks like a “real handsome, clean-cut young guy that looks like he ought to be a salesman or something. You’re the only one could get away with it.” Garrity tells us that he is by trade a pianist and came up one night to find his young wife and Johnny Callan doing the dirty deed. When the men did battle, she turned out to be wicked, standing over them “all pink and white and soft in her nakedness, with a look on her face that he had never seen on a woman’s face before.” And, she kicked Garrity over and over in the temple and the groin when he fell, laughing, and dressing as he lay there unable to get up. See how cleverly Craig has us feeling for Garrity and seeing him as the victim who was wronged.
Garrity spotted Callan eight months later and “slowly and methodically, with no regard for his hands (pianist hands), to beat him to death.” That’s his first murder and we as the reader still feel for Garrity and see him as the good guy who was wronged. In any event, that killing led to him being arrested and the mob making him a deal that would let him go free. But, of course, once bought, you stay bought, and that was not the last murder the mob would have him do. Garrity becomes a professional killer and, when he is given the assignment, of knocking a fifteen-year-old off, he thinks about the odds of getting away with it, not whether it is wrong or not -although, of course, he tells us that he has no choice. The mob will take him out if he does not perform.
The tricky part of the assignment is that Garrensville is small-town U.S.A. and Leda is the town sweetheart and, even at her age, turns every man’s head when she walks down the street. And Garrity does not know how he will get away with it, but he sets up making time with the girl’s aunt, who is only 26, and a knockout herself. Ultimately, Garrity is a creep who seems to be romancing both of them, inviting them both out to rendevous with him in the woods by the creek. But again, the writing masterfully fools us, making us think that Garrity is a good guy, forced to do bad things, even as he lays in wait, thinking about drowning the teenage girl.
Of course, the title is So Young. So Wicked, and there is more to Leda than meets the eye. Garrity may in fact have met his match. But, again, even when he is caught red-handed, the story is told so skillfully from his point of view that you still as a reader identify with him and think of him as not such a bad guy, just a dude caught in a bad situation.
In fact, the interesting thing we are told right at the start is that the whole reason that the mob wants Garrity involved is that he looks like a “real handsome, clean-cut young guy that looks like he ought to be a salesman or something. You’re the only one could get away with it.” Garrity tells us that he is by trade a pianist and came up one night to find his young wife and Johnny Callan doing the dirty deed. When the men did battle, she turned out to be wicked, standing over them “all pink and white and soft in her nakedness, with a look on her face that he had never seen on a woman’s face before.” And, she kicked Garrity over and over in the temple and the groin when he fell, laughing, and dressing as he lay there unable to get up. See how cleverly Craig has us feeling for Garrity and seeing him as the victim who was wronged.
Garrity spotted Callan eight months later and “slowly and methodically, with no regard for his hands (pianist hands), to beat him to death.” That’s his first murder and we as the reader still feel for Garrity and see him as the good guy who was wronged. In any event, that killing led to him being arrested and the mob making him a deal that would let him go free. But, of course, once bought, you stay bought, and that was not the last murder the mob would have him do. Garrity becomes a professional killer and, when he is given the assignment, of knocking a fifteen-year-old off, he thinks about the odds of getting away with it, not whether it is wrong or not -although, of course, he tells us that he has no choice. The mob will take him out if he does not perform.
The tricky part of the assignment is that Garrensville is small-town U.S.A. and Leda is the town sweetheart and, even at her age, turns every man’s head when she walks down the street. And Garrity does not know how he will get away with it, but he sets up making time with the girl’s aunt, who is only 26, and a knockout herself. Ultimately, Garrity is a creep who seems to be romancing both of them, inviting them both out to rendevous with him in the woods by the creek. But again, the writing masterfully fools us, making us think that Garrity is a good guy, forced to do bad things, even as he lays in wait, thinking about drowning the teenage girl.
Of course, the title is So Young. So Wicked, and there is more to Leda than meets the eye. Garrity may in fact have met his match. But, again, even when he is caught red-handed, the story is told so skillfully from his point of view that you still as a reader identify with him and think of him as not such a bad guy, just a dude caught in a bad situation.
September 12, 2021
چاپ۴۳ این کتاب را دارم که متاسفانه ناقص بود و قسمت بزرگ انتهایی کتاب از بین رفته بود:(
از همان داستان های به سبک فیلم های هالیوودی..
قسمتی که به انتهای این کتاب وصل شده بود کتابچه ترجمه شعری بود از شعرای اروپایی..گنجینه ای کوچک و جذاب و قدیمی..
از همان داستان های به سبک فیلم های هالیوودی..
قسمتی که به انتهای این کتاب وصل شده بود کتابچه ترجمه شعری بود از شعرای اروپایی..گنجینه ای کوچک و جذاب و قدیمی..
April 13, 2022
I have been busy lately, and I find it difficult to read the way I used to. Gradually, I am leaning towards shorter works--books that get to the point but still have engaging characters. I miss thick books, but I find that I forget what's happened if I stretch a book too long, and I feel upset.
And because of my new attitude, I discovered the book: So Young, So Wicked by Jonathan Craig, a hardboiled noir about a pianist (also a hitman) working for The Syndicate, an alliance of corrupt businessmen protecting their assets from other people. Our pianist and somewhat cheeky hitman, Steve Garrity, is contracted to kill a fifteen-year-old girl named Leda Louise Noland, who lives in Garrensville. Naturally, the Syndicate does not directly contact its assassins, using go-betweens like Vince Licardi. Oh, and Steve needs to make it look like an accident. And he needs to kill her in a few days. Steve hates rushing things, so this already looks like a suicide contract.
Licardi is not open about why the Syndicate wants Leda dead but is revealed later as the stakes become high. The suspense is high in this one.
Steve is a surprisingly well thought out character. He is cold and calculating, as an assassin should be. Yet, there's that exciting appeal. He's attractive and cunning, a good listener, but ruthless. He also has an incredible backstory. I don't want to reveal who Leda is and what character traits she injects. But she is fascinating.
Coincidentally, this is the second noir book I've read (this year), and I must say what an exciting genre it is.
What makes this book stand out?
It is a simple read, and it is gratifying. The ending is quite shocking. This book commands a list of an interesting cast of characters, and I enjoyed them. It is also bleak, and I especially enjoyed it because it reads from Garrity's perspective.
5/5
And because of my new attitude, I discovered the book: So Young, So Wicked by Jonathan Craig, a hardboiled noir about a pianist (also a hitman) working for The Syndicate, an alliance of corrupt businessmen protecting their assets from other people. Our pianist and somewhat cheeky hitman, Steve Garrity, is contracted to kill a fifteen-year-old girl named Leda Louise Noland, who lives in Garrensville. Naturally, the Syndicate does not directly contact its assassins, using go-betweens like Vince Licardi. Oh, and Steve needs to make it look like an accident. And he needs to kill her in a few days. Steve hates rushing things, so this already looks like a suicide contract.
Licardi is not open about why the Syndicate wants Leda dead but is revealed later as the stakes become high. The suspense is high in this one.
Steve is a surprisingly well thought out character. He is cold and calculating, as an assassin should be. Yet, there's that exciting appeal. He's attractive and cunning, a good listener, but ruthless. He also has an incredible backstory. I don't want to reveal who Leda is and what character traits she injects. But she is fascinating.
Coincidentally, this is the second noir book I've read (this year), and I must say what an exciting genre it is.
What makes this book stand out?
It is a simple read, and it is gratifying. The ending is quite shocking. This book commands a list of an interesting cast of characters, and I enjoyed them. It is also bleak, and I especially enjoyed it because it reads from Garrity's perspective.
5/5
January 13, 2014
Wow, started off the year with a bang! This one from 1957 by Jonathan Craig is truly an undiscovered treasure of the Gold Medal era. It has all the necessary elements to make for a hardboiled crime novel. Especially the femme fatale, in this case a 15-year-old girl, and a twist ending.
December 10, 2024
Good, sold early 50’s small town noir — the climax is great, but the anti-climax cost this a star. Worth a read for aficionados (only)
September 16, 2017
This is one of the Munsey's (fre)e-books which has not shown up for $.99 in the Kindle store. My version migrated across three or four Kindles before I finally read it. Having to start over three or four times did not help, but it was a pretty fast-paced book.
Jonathan Craig wrote exceedingly smooth "man-tasy" paperbacks. This one involves a jazz pianist's attempt to kill a fifteen y.o. girl (a girl who is "all woman," of course. It might have been better if Craig had made her eighteen). If he doesn't do it, and make it look accidental, and within a week (or something), then the mob will kill him.
It's basically a lose-lose situation, so the ending should not come as a shock (although it does).
Craig, as in Alley Girl and Red-headed Sinners, is a master at getting the most titillation possible out of basically innocent scenes (skinny-dipping, for example). I was again reminded that very few of the paperback writers wrote as well as he did.
Jonathan Craig wrote exceedingly smooth "man-tasy" paperbacks. This one involves a jazz pianist's attempt to kill a fifteen y.o. girl (a girl who is "all woman," of course. It might have been better if Craig had made her eighteen). If he doesn't do it, and make it look accidental, and within a week (or something), then the mob will kill him.
It's basically a lose-lose situation, so the ending should not come as a shock (although it does).
Craig, as in Alley Girl and Red-headed Sinners, is a master at getting the most titillation possible out of basically innocent scenes (skinny-dipping, for example). I was again reminded that very few of the paperback writers wrote as well as he did.
September 21, 2024
So Young, So Wicked (1957) by Jonatahn Craig is a reread for me...I first read it about a year ago in Oct 2023. I gave it four stars then as I do now. I reread it because after enjoying author Craig's writing I recently picked up a few of his books that I'll read soon. I thought a reread of So Young, So Wicked would be in order....I still liked this book very much but I must say that looking at the book's subject matter from 2024's eyes there are a few things that are awkward...mostly concerning 15 year old Leda in a Lolita kind of way. If you nudge her age up to 18, which could be done without really affecting the story, all would be good. Anyways...it's still a great noir, one where you know the lead character, Steve, won't get out of this in one piece from the first page on...4.0 outta 5.0 -There's a good review of So Young, So Wicked at https://www.thehardword.org/single-po...
March 3, 2015
When reluctant New York syndicate hit man and professional pianist Steve Garrity is forced into an unusual assignment to silence 15 year old tear-away Leda Louise Noland in small town Garrensville little does he know what he’s getting into. Starting a romance with the girl’s aunt Nancy Wilson just to get closer to the target only brings more trouble for Garrity in another delicious slice of hardboiled crime noir from Jonathan Craig the author of Alley Girl. Can Garrity cover all the angles and get away with his murderous assignment or will fate deal him a dead hand? So Young, So Wicked is another refreshing yet guilty pleasure from the golden age of pulp novels which I thoroughly enjoyed.
April 7, 2021
Screams along like a 57 Plymouth with some nice twists and interesting characters, as a piano playing assassin plots a tough hit in a small upstate New York town. Top notch 50s Pulp Crime fiction.
July 10, 2014
Steve Garrity was a piano player. a good one at that.
He was also a hit man for the mob, a job he'd fell into with a little encouragement. He'd killed a man, beating him to death, for sleeping with his wife and the mob had proof. Kill someone for us and it will go away. He'd been doing it a few years now.
His latest assignment seems a rush job. It has to be fast, it has to look like an accident, and the victim to be is a barely fifteen year old girl named Leda Noland. Garrity is not given a reason and it's implied that if he doesn't get it done exactly, he will be next on the hit list. The mob is not very forgiving.
He finds himself in a small town, an aunt of the girl attracted to him, a jealous rich boy that wants the aunt, and a sexy fifteen year old that seems wise beyond her yars.
And of course nothing will go as planned. From 1957, it's one of Craig's best standalones.
He was also a hit man for the mob, a job he'd fell into with a little encouragement. He'd killed a man, beating him to death, for sleeping with his wife and the mob had proof. Kill someone for us and it will go away. He'd been doing it a few years now.
His latest assignment seems a rush job. It has to be fast, it has to look like an accident, and the victim to be is a barely fifteen year old girl named Leda Noland. Garrity is not given a reason and it's implied that if he doesn't get it done exactly, he will be next on the hit list. The mob is not very forgiving.
He finds himself in a small town, an aunt of the girl attracted to him, a jealous rich boy that wants the aunt, and a sexy fifteen year old that seems wise beyond her yars.
And of course nothing will go as planned. From 1957, it's one of Craig's best standalones.
June 25, 2021
Interesting noir novel about a mob hitman tasked with murdering a streetwise teen femme fatale and making it look like an accident. Recommended.
October 30, 2021
Yes, a 5 star noir. This is the kind of book that makes the bad ones worth it. Steve is a piano man who is blackmailed by "the Outfit" to perform hits for them. Not those kind of hits, Karen. I mean snuff jobs. And if Steve decides he doesn't want to work for the Outfit anymore then it's a long dirt nap for Steve. So this time Steve is told he needs to do a hit on a 15 year old girl in a small town in upstate New York. Of course the job is repugnant and Steve would like to refuse. But he's got no choice. He's not told why the girl, Leda is her name, has to be killed. That's part of the deal. He's just told who to kill and is expected to do it without question. He'll be paid nicely for it after. The great thing about this book is the way it plays on your empathy for Steve and Leda and how you keep wondering how it's going to all turn out. I'm not going to tell you any more than that. Next stop Noirsville, and don't expect ice cream for dessert.
January 10, 2020
I think this is a very average read for me, so 2.5 stars, but Goodreads sucks so you have to round up. I wouldn't read it again, so I can't give it a three.
This follows Steve Garrity, who after punching the man who slept with his wife to death is now forced to murder people for who is known to him only as "the syndicate". Where this story takes off is Steve must now kill a beautiful fifteen year old girl.
I think taking this for what is is the best thing- this book isn't trying to be more than just a quick pulpy read. I didn't like the ending, or I probably would've gone for a three star. It fell really flat and I feel made the story less impactful the way it ended.
This follows Steve Garrity, who after punching the man who slept with his wife to death is now forced to murder people for who is known to him only as "the syndicate". Where this story takes off is Steve must now kill a beautiful fifteen year old girl.
I think taking this for what is is the best thing- this book isn't trying to be more than just a quick pulpy read. I didn't like the ending, or I probably would've gone for a three star. It fell really flat and I feel made the story less impactful the way it ended.
April 12, 2021
Loved It!
I loved this book. A classic hard boiled noir from the fifties from the always reliable Jonathan Craig, it fun, fast and outrageous, involving a fifteen year old tramp and a mob hit man. The book could not be written today with a sexy fifteen year old as the girl who is so young and wicked but in the he fifties they could get away with this stuff. Tough well written and with a surprise ending its great fun, if now politically incorrect. Highly recommended. And thanks to Stark House Press for bringing this one back in print!
I loved this book. A classic hard boiled noir from the fifties from the always reliable Jonathan Craig, it fun, fast and outrageous, involving a fifteen year old tramp and a mob hit man. The book could not be written today with a sexy fifteen year old as the girl who is so young and wicked but in the he fifties they could get away with this stuff. Tough well written and with a surprise ending its great fun, if now politically incorrect. Highly recommended. And thanks to Stark House Press for bringing this one back in print!
March 19, 2020
The ending definitely tells you who the title referred to and why it was so, so true.
November 15, 2023
Twisted noir at its prime! Loved it.
December 23, 2025
the filth some people write, i swear
December 31, 2013
I picked up a bunch of pulp novels at Munseys recently and started with this one. I don't know if I lucked out or what, but this is a pretty damn good little book. I was a little disappointed at first because, well, it wasn't tawdry enough. Plus, it was well written! It became more tawdry and remained well written as I read on.
The plot is that a professional killer is sent to rural upstate New York to bump off a 15-year-old girl. Things go way wrong and bad people do bad things. There's a great conceit about the killer also being a pianist. It comes up in the way he thinks, the way he talks, even in the way he fights. It's well used.
Things wrap up nicely and horribly in the end. I was completely satisfied.
(It's important to note that, while bad and tawdry things happen, it's not really explicit about it. This disappointed me, at first. I thought pulps were, well, pulpier.)
The plot is that a professional killer is sent to rural upstate New York to bump off a 15-year-old girl. Things go way wrong and bad people do bad things. There's a great conceit about the killer also being a pianist. It comes up in the way he thinks, the way he talks, even in the way he fights. It's well used.
Things wrap up nicely and horribly in the end. I was completely satisfied.
(It's important to note that, while bad and tawdry things happen, it's not really explicit about it. This disappointed me, at first. I thought pulps were, well, pulpier.)
February 19, 2012
Awesome! Brutal!
February 7, 2017
3.5/5
It was an engrossing read.
It was an engrossing read.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews