Had I But Groaned

Larry Baker

by Carter Brown

Cover by Robert McGinnis.

Genres: Pulp

Paperback

First published January 1, 1968

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

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

Covens and witches and horror in general were a big thing in the late Sixties and early Seventies. "Had I But Groaned" was one of many books Yates, writing under the Carter Brown name and other names, contributed to the cause. It begins with two television writers on a barhopping bender and ends up with Larry Baker in a haunted house by a haunted lake with a cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs family. They are all a bit off kilter here, but perhaps that's just part of the magic. A lot of the story is inane cocktail party chatter, but Brown knows what he's doing because he keeps it interesting.

[Drew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fun, pulpy read. Not quite as good as “So What Killed The Vampire” but better than the other Carter Browns I’ve read up to this point.