Target for their Dark Desire

Al Wheeler #32

by Carter Brown

"She had blonde hair and black sheets and everything. All that a good call girl should have..."

Paperback

First published January 1, 1966

About the author

Carter Brown was the pseudonym of Alan Geoffrey Yates (1923-1985), who was born in London and educated in Essex.

He married Denise Mackellar and worked as a sound engineer for Gaumont-British films before moving to Australia and taking up work in public relations.

In 1953 he became a full-time writer and produced nearly 200 novels between then and his retirement in 1981.

He also wrote as Tex Conrad and Caroline Farr.

His series heroes were Larry Baker, Danny Boyd, Paul Donavan, Rick Holman, Andy Kane, Randy Roberts, Mavis Siedlitz and Al Wheeler.

Reviews

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

A strong opening stanza introduced all the key elements of a dime store pulp; an attractive victim, a dame in distress, a hero cop, and a list of shady suspects conveniently written in the victim's diary. The mystery; a soupy mix of everything pulp. Unfortunately this book was marred by a juvenile police chief whose characterization was unbelievable and his dialogue cringe worthy. Also the later stages of the mystery introduced one too many elements; had Carter Brown kept it simple and focused on the call girl death mystery, TARGET FOR THEIR DARK DESIRE would've been much better. Complaints aside, this is a decent Al Wheeler book and a must read for Carter Brown fans.