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Friday, August 5, 2011

DIRTY HARRY #12: THE DEALER OF DEATH



Back in the early 80's, Warner Books decided that they were going to publish some original "Dirty Harry" novels. So, as part of their newly created line of men's action books (see tag below), these all-new Harry Callahan storylines found a publishing home.



There were several other series in the "Men of Action Books" line, but I only followed 2 or 3 of them.



The "Dirty Harry" books were exciting to find and I later learned that Clint Eastwood/Malpaso Productions owned the character and may have been getting a cut of the sales. They also held all motion picture rights. None of the stories were used for the later films, that I recall, and after this, the 12th book, the series folded. Too bad, really, because everyone liked Dirty Harry.



There were two writers on this series working under the name "Dane Hartman" (same initials as "Dirty Harry", eh?). One of the writers was, if memory serves, Leslie Horvath. Horvath wrote every even numbered book and it was obvious (to me, anyway) that he cared little for the series and was only doing it for the paycheck. Let's hope that Horvath's subsequent books are better written and provide a modicum of lucre for him. Perhaps what he's doing these days is not "beneath" him.



Anyway, this book is only worth having if you are a collector. If not, don't bother, but DO look for books 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11. The other writer, Ric Meyers, cared about and understood the character of Harry Callahan; this comes through in his writing.