Killer

by Robert Silverberg

KILLER

Howard Gorman has to have Marie all to himself. She’s everything he wants in a woman, and more. But in order to have Marie, he must first get rid of his wife, Ethyl. So Howard hires a hit man, Lee Floyd, a polished professional, to do the job—and remove Ethyl.

But Marie has plans of her own, and they don’t involve Howard. He’s too fat and old for her. Marie is only in it for the money. So when she finds out about the hit man, she decides to get in touch with Lee herself. After all, if he’s been paid to shoot Howard’s wife, perhaps he can be persuaded to get rid of Howard as well…

Genres: Crime

166 pages, Paperback

Published April 4, 2022

About the author

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Robert Silverberg is a highly celebrated American science fiction author and editor known for his prolific output and literary range. Over a career spanning decades, he has won multiple Hugo and Nebula Awards and was named a Grand Master by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America in 2004. Inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame in 1999, Silverberg is recognized for both his immense productivity and his contributions to the genre's evolution.
Born in Brooklyn, he began writing in his teens and won his first Hugo Award in 1956 as the best new writer. Throughout the 1950s, he produced vast amounts of fiction, often under pseudonyms, and was known for writing up to a million words a year. When the market declined, he diversified into other genres, including historical nonfiction and erotica.
Silverberg’s return to science fiction in the 1960s marked a shift toward deeper psychological and literary themes, contributing significantly to the New Wave movement. Acclaimed works from this period include Downward to the Earth, Dying Inside, Nightwings, and The World Inside. In the 1980s, he launched the Majipoor series with Lord Valentine’s Castle, creating one of the most imaginative planetary settings in science fiction.
Though he announced his retirement from writing in the mid-1970s, Silverberg returned with renewed vigor and continued to publish acclaimed fiction into the 1990s. He received further recognition with the Nebula-winning Sailing to Byzantium and the Hugo-winning Gilgamesh in the Outback.
Silverberg has also played a significant role as an editor and anthologist, shaping science fiction literature through both his own work and his influence on others. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife, author Karen Haber.

Reviews

[Dave]

Originally published as Passion Killer in1965, now republished by Black Gat, Killer crosses genres between crime fiction and the soft core novels Silverberg published under the Don Elliott pseudonym. The crime plot revolves around a businessman having an affair who asks his mistress to find a hitman (Floyd) to off his wife. The book opens with the hard-edged hitman coming to town and getting ready to do his job. Meanwhile, the mistress, Marie, entertains herself by hopping from the businessman’s bed to her friend Dolores’ bed to the hitman’s bed and eventually an airline pilot’s bed and so on. While much of the “action” takes place between the sheets, the plot thickens as Floyd prepares to deliver the death blow. This is one of the better novels in the “sleaze” genre that was popular from about 1955 through 1965 or so.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pulp Soft Core Fun

Silverberg is a sci-fi master but early in his career he wrote , under various names, a slew of soft core porn/ crime novels of which Killer is one. It’s fast ,sexy ( for the fifties and sixties) and pure quick enjoyment. Don’t take it too seriously and enjoy yourself. Thanks again to Stark House Press for reprinting this and other lost classics.

[Richard · Rating 1 out of 5]

Originally published as Passion Killer by Don Elliott for Sundown Reader in 1965, this sleaze paperback seems like an odd choice for the Black Gat imprint. Maybe it’s an experiment to test the waters. Weighing in at 163 pages, I’d guess well over three quarters of this is one boring soft-core sex scene after another. Marie and Dolores’ cups runneth over explicitly above the waist, but anything below is a mere hint and a wink other than their rear ends that are described a lot like their tatas sans nipples.

The plot that moves intermittently forward as interludes between all the sex scenes ain’t bad. It could’ve easily been the basis for a good crime novel about a rich dude who hires a hit man to snuff his wife so he can marry his much younger, voluptuous girlfriend. Obviously, Silverberg can write. Unfortunately, the soft porn dominates too many pages and I couldn’t wait to finish unfulfilled.

Collectors will want this volume to keep their Black Gat runs complete, but I hope if Stark House continues with this genre they’ll spin it off in a line of its own.

[Lee · Rating 2 out of 5]

An Uninspired Puberty Driven Offering

It's frustrating that I can't find any record of when this book was written. Considering the corny, uninspired prose (especially the sex scenes) and 1 dimensional characters, I strongly suspect this was a written by a red-blooded teenage Silverberg who had not yet honed his craft, a far cry from what he would become. Silverberg is easily one of my favourite authors, but there is scant evidence of his brilliance here. The best thing I can say about this story is it's interesting from an academic stand point to measure how he started out compared to his eventual masterpieces such as Nightwings and Downward to the Earth.

[Steve Hampson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although the plot of this noir thriller is standard fare it is well written as you would expect from Silverberg, albeit early Silverberg. Written under the pseudonym of Don Elliot it is also a soft porn/sleaze cross with crime thriller and this can get a little tiresome and gratuitous. A solid thriller but don't expect too much of it.

[Craig Childs · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Temptation was a troublesome thing. Floyd had conducted his business, up to now, just that way--purely as a business. Stopping to dally with the client's girlfriend was against business ethics. Also a risky complication…"

Lee Floyd is a contract killer, a consummate professional, or so he believes. His job is to murder his client's wife, then get out of town. But he falls hard for his client's mistress, who makes him an appealing offer in exchange for his specific talents…

Howard Gorman has been married for thirty years, but a young woman has captured his fancy. If only Ethel could "take a sudden turn for the worse", then he could marry Marie…

Marie is a kept woman. She detests sharing her bed with fat old Howard, but if the wife is out of the picture and if the sugar daddy dies too, she could be in for a payday. If only there was a killer in town who might commit two murders for the price of one…

Robert Silverberg's early 1965 crime novel is finally back in print with his preferred title and his name on the cover. The plot is vaguely reminiscent of The Postman Always Rings Twice. The quality of writing is par for the course for a potboiler from a second-rate publishing house. That is to say, it is nowhere near as good as his science fiction from this period or even his other crime novels like You Can't Stop Me and The Hot Beat.

Part of the problem is this book features too much sex. The scenes are not graphic or offensive, but they become intrusive and monotonous. It interferes with the unfolding drama of the ill-fated love triangle.

Also, Lee is not very intelligent. He does not plan out his jobs like Max Allan Collins' Quarry. Nor is he a comic bumbler like Elmore Leonard's Louis Gara. He just cannot see through the most obvious set ups nor temper his passion with fiduciary prudence.

Originally published as Passion Killer by Don Elliott.