Gypsy King

by Charles W. Runyon

He was born to command men and dazzle women.

352 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1979

About the author

US author of thrillers and some sf, who began publishing the latter with "First Man in a Satellite" for Super-Science Fiction in December 1958; sixteen further short sf/fantasy stories followed, chiefly for The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. His first sf novel Pig World (1971) depicts a Near-Future USA governed by a right-wing tyranny challenged by a vicious would-be demagogue. Soulmate (April 1970 F&SF; exp 1974) is a novel of possession (see Horror in SF), the victim being a young prostitute. I, Weapon (1974) features much violence and Sex involving Aliens. Runyon's sf tends to be action-filled, without extensive displacement or speculative content.
Runyon was one of several sf authors who ghosted paperback-original thrillers under the Ellery Queen byline.

Reviews

[Lina Mouloudj · Rating 1 out of 5]

spoilers ahead! though let me just tell you from the start.. do yourself a huge favour and do not read this book, if you have it in your library burn it and forget that ever had it
alright! let's go ahead ad start from the very beginning!
i was on my morning walk when i saw an old man selling old books on the street, then the inner me -who likes to rescue books from the streets and give them a warm home, and a proper shelve- decided to purchase a few, among them was this piece of sh*t.. i read the summary at the back cover, and let me write it for you;
handsome, arrogant, masterful, he built a network of power that spanned the globe, but for most of his life he didn't even know his name, he didn't know he was a gypsy, didn't know he'd been deserted at birth, as the nazis slaughtered his tribe, then a violet-eyed gypsy beauty came into his life.. and so did the truth of his blood.. from steamy Mexico to far-flung Morocco, his multi-million-dollar drug connection raised an empire that united him and his passionate family, made them rich beyond their wildest dreams- and almost destroyed them all..
alright i must mention few notes here, since i was standing outside reading this quickly, i didn't read the word "drug" it was at the corner of the old book.. anyways so when i read this summary, i thought that he must have started from scratch and worked so hard to build that empire, but guess what, he gathered all his money from drugs and stealing.. he was literally like a thief and a gangster... and that violet-eyed gypsy beauty they mentioned, he married her the next day he met her and run away with her, and i don't even want to mention the odd abnormal relationship they had, they're all like robots, or the author don't know to describe feelings, because every single character of this book are like robot... and you know what was the most unbearable part of this entire sh*t! this freaking freak was just sleeping with anyone, and the author made it just so normal, i mean seriously his sister!!!! his mother in low!!! his friend's wife!!!! i was soooo disgusted beyond imagination.... his wife died later and did we see any feelings? no just other women around him expressing how much they want him, it was disgusting, disgusting book, i don't want it in my library!! which is quite rare, i love collecting books and never get ride of any book, even after reading it and even if it was boring, but this one.. No way!! i do not want this book in my precious clean pure library, because this is a disgusting sh*t i don't wish for any one to read