Monday, June 01, 2015

Another Winner from Stark House Press


Coming in August.  This is great stuff.  There's an excellent introduction by Gary Lovisi, and some of you may have read Ed Gorman's rave reviews of The Evil Days on his blog or elsewhere.  These two books are fine examples of a masterly writer's work.  

STARK HOUSE PRESS: Bruno Fischer was born in Berlin, Germany, on June 29, 1908. He emigrated with his family to the U.S. in 1913, and was educated at the Rand School of Social Sciences (established by the American Socialist Party). Fischer became a sports reporter for the Long Island Daily Press in 1929, and followed this with stints at the Labor Voice and the Socialist Call, even running as a Socialist candidate for the New York state senate. He then turned to fiction, selling his first story, a horror tale, in 1936, followed by many more pulp stories and mystery novels, including the Ben Helm series. His last novel, The Evil Days, written after a lengthy writer's block, is considered by many to be his best. He passed away during a Mexican vacation on March 16, 1992.

4 comments:

Ed Gorman said...

The Evil Days is one of the finest mysteries I've ever read. Fischer's early days as the editor of a socialist newspaper editor provide the subtext in this dark almost forlorn novel of a suburban couple who feel they are lost in drab and thankless lives. Theodore Sturgeon used to talk about writers who "wrote above their talent" and that is certainly the case here. Fischer's
last novel was his masterpiece. I've probably read this five or six times over the years. With pure envy.

Deb said...

I haven't read this one--but after Ed's rave review, it's going to the top of my tbr list. I love these Stark House reissues!

George Kelley said...

I've read both of these fine novels decades ago. But I continue to buy the great STARK HOUSE editions. I don't reread much but I'm tempted to reread these two.

Richard said...

Gotta get this one! Fischer, Lovisi and love that Maguire cover! Apparently he painted it originally for Signet Books but it wasn't used--until now.