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Make My Coffin Strong: A William R. Cox Hardboiled Mystery
A whisper into the mouthpiece - a name, a place - and maybe that night a black truck would careen up under the El aimed at Steve Galloway. Or it could be a knife, or a gun.
Galloway knew all this. But Sam, who had raised him, was dead, dead at the hands of these civilized killers, these quiet, dark men who dealt in corruption and decay.
So Galloway fought them anyway - with all the wildness of the black Irish in him - and he almost had them when the house fell in on him...for he found himself in love with his enemy's girl.
Now somewhere, he knew, in Greater New York and in a matter of hours, a phone would be lifted and over the wires would hum - the message of death....
Galloway knew all this. But Sam, who had raised him, was dead, dead at the hands of these civilized killers, these quiet, dark men who dealt in corruption and decay.
So Galloway fought them anyway - with all the wildness of the black Irish in him - and he almost had them when the house fell in on him...for he found himself in love with his enemy's girl.
Now somewhere, he knew, in Greater New York and in a matter of hours, a phone would be lifted and over the wires would hum - the message of death....
241 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 1, 1954
2 people are currently reading
13 people want to read
About the author
William R. Cox
92 books6 followersSee also: William Robert Cox
William Robert Cox (1901-1988) was a writer for more than sixty years, and published more than seventy-five novels and perhaps one thousand short stories, as well as more than 150 TV shows and several movies on film. He was well into his career, flooding the market with sports, crime, and adventure stories, when he turned to the western novel. He served twice as president of the Western Writers of America, and was writing his fifth Cemetery Jones novel, Cemetery Jones and the Tombstone War, when he passed away. He wrote under at least six pen names, including Willard d’Arcy, Mike Frederic, John Parkhill, Joel Reeve, Roger G. Spellman and Jonas Ward.
William Robert Cox (1901-1988) was a writer for more than sixty years, and published more than seventy-five novels and perhaps one thousand short stories, as well as more than 150 TV shows and several movies on film. He was well into his career, flooding the market with sports, crime, and adventure stories, when he turned to the western novel. He served twice as president of the Western Writers of America, and was writing his fifth Cemetery Jones novel, Cemetery Jones and the Tombstone War, when he passed away. He wrote under at least six pen names, including Willard d’Arcy, Mike Frederic, John Parkhill, Joel Reeve, Roger G. Spellman and Jonas Ward.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 21, 2025
Primarily known as a writer of westerns, William Robert Cox, published more than 75 novels and perhaps 1,000 short stories. He also wrote for more than 150 television shows and movies. His most famous pen name was Jonas Ward (the Buchanan western series), but also wrote as Willard d’Arcy, Mike Frederic, John Parkhill, and Joel Reeve. He published eight hardboiled thrillers, including Hell to Pay, Make My Coffin Strong, The Tycoon and the Tigress, Murder in Vegas, Death Comes Early, Death on Location, Way to go, Doll Baby, and Hot Times. Make My Coffin Strong was first published by Gold Medal in 1954.
Make My Coffin Strong is dark, foreboding, and nasty. It is the story of one man against the syndicate. That man is Steve Galloway and he has now returned to New York since the news of Sam Goulding’s death. Sam, an old horse player, had been like a father to him and had shown him the ropes. Galloway has been abroad for years, having made his fortune in oil in Arabia after the war. He wants to know what happened to Sam and feels guilty he did not return earlier. If he had returned earlier, Sam might be alive now. What can one man do though? Galloway is Mr. Lucky, though and luck seldom fails him in financial transactions or in card games. The setting is New York and the sky we are told is “never as blue or as sunny on the side streets.” It was one of those syndicate deals, “They move in, pick a sucker, make the kill, move out.”
Galloway isn’t just some street brawler. He figures to establish himself and make a name for himself in town so he can get the goods on whoever took Sam out. He gets a high-priced apartment, dapper new threads, and starts playing poker with the big boys. He is going to be a player and the boys are going to have to reckon with him. He quickly establishes himself as a guy who can’t lose whether it is a card game or a boxing match and pals up with the right guy: Jack Barr, a boxer and gambler and good dresser, who acts like Galloway is his best friend from way back just because they have the same kind of attitude about life. The boxing scenes and the poker scenes are well-written and absorbing.
Galloway has two romantic attractions here. First, Virginia Butler, who was working as the lawyer’s secretary, is described as “a blonde girl with the general outlines of an inverted cello. She was a girl of medium height but everything else about her was almost embarrassingly extravagant. She wore a loose sweater, but it wasn’t loose enough. She wore a skirt tucked into a nineteen-inch waistline, but it seemed scanty from there on down.” Galloway is told to lay off her because she has “an effect on men. And she — she don’t exactly hate the idea.” The other is Fay Fowler, the classy store owner with cheekbones like Eve Arden, who is too charming to be real.
This is a dark foreboding novel, but Galloway has a different feel than the antihero types we get in most stories about the lone guy taking on the mob. Galloway is wealthy. He is physically imposing and can outbox just about anyone and he has that lucky gambling streak. He is like every leading man in the movies rolled into one.
This is an impressive mobster novel and makes the reader wonder how many great ones Cox put out that are just not well-known these days.
Make My Coffin Strong is dark, foreboding, and nasty. It is the story of one man against the syndicate. That man is Steve Galloway and he has now returned to New York since the news of Sam Goulding’s death. Sam, an old horse player, had been like a father to him and had shown him the ropes. Galloway has been abroad for years, having made his fortune in oil in Arabia after the war. He wants to know what happened to Sam and feels guilty he did not return earlier. If he had returned earlier, Sam might be alive now. What can one man do though? Galloway is Mr. Lucky, though and luck seldom fails him in financial transactions or in card games. The setting is New York and the sky we are told is “never as blue or as sunny on the side streets.” It was one of those syndicate deals, “They move in, pick a sucker, make the kill, move out.”
Galloway isn’t just some street brawler. He figures to establish himself and make a name for himself in town so he can get the goods on whoever took Sam out. He gets a high-priced apartment, dapper new threads, and starts playing poker with the big boys. He is going to be a player and the boys are going to have to reckon with him. He quickly establishes himself as a guy who can’t lose whether it is a card game or a boxing match and pals up with the right guy: Jack Barr, a boxer and gambler and good dresser, who acts like Galloway is his best friend from way back just because they have the same kind of attitude about life. The boxing scenes and the poker scenes are well-written and absorbing.
Galloway has two romantic attractions here. First, Virginia Butler, who was working as the lawyer’s secretary, is described as “a blonde girl with the general outlines of an inverted cello. She was a girl of medium height but everything else about her was almost embarrassingly extravagant. She wore a loose sweater, but it wasn’t loose enough. She wore a skirt tucked into a nineteen-inch waistline, but it seemed scanty from there on down.” Galloway is told to lay off her because she has “an effect on men. And she — she don’t exactly hate the idea.” The other is Fay Fowler, the classy store owner with cheekbones like Eve Arden, who is too charming to be real.
This is a dark foreboding novel, but Galloway has a different feel than the antihero types we get in most stories about the lone guy taking on the mob. Galloway is wealthy. He is physically imposing and can outbox just about anyone and he has that lucky gambling streak. He is like every leading man in the movies rolled into one.
This is an impressive mobster novel and makes the reader wonder how many great ones Cox put out that are just not well-known these days.
November 11, 2023
Great fun!
May 16, 2024
From 1954
I liked this at first, it has good observations, good details. Too many details. It is very long, and spent much time describing boxing matches and poker games.
I liked this at first, it has good observations, good details. Too many details. It is very long, and spent much time describing boxing matches and poker games.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews