Paul Cain Books In Order

Novels

  1. Fast One (1932)
  2. Death Song (1988)

Collections

  1. Seven Slayers (1946)

Novels Book Covers

Collections Book Covers

Paul Cain Books Overview

Fast One

First published by Doubleday in 1932 in the depth of the Great Depression, an era whose seamy side it depicts, and only recently rediscovered, Fast One by Paul Cain one of the mystery men of American literature explodes into real life with the story of one of the toughest characters ever to emerge in American fiction. Paul Cain is the pseudonym of Peter Ruric, a man who emerged from nowhere in the 1930s, wrote Fast One and several short stories and movie scripts, and then disappeared. Nothing more has been heard of him. Gerry Kells, the antihero of his shocking, brutal novel, is equally mysterious. A loner with a reputation but without a visible past, Kells simply appears, re arranges the lives of the Los Angeles underworld, and then is heard no more. Only the strong prosper in the world of the depression. Seemingly amoral, Kells does prosper. He strikes to survive, kills without conscience, with out time for conscience. But he never becomes a mere killing machine. His integrity, his humanity, abides in a code demanding that he pay for all services: those rendered for him, those rendered against him. Fast paced and very readable, the novel limns a true character who should take his place in our national literature, if only for his representation of the individual will to survive in one of the toughest times in American life.

Death Song

Deluxe illustrated 50th Anniversary edition. Signed by Ray Bradbury and world famous artist illustrator Ralph Steadman. This is one of 301 copies bound in cloth with dustjacket in slipcase and 21 FULL COLOR illustrations created exclusively for this edition ONLY! The total edition is limited to 451 numbered plus 52 lettered copies. 301 copies are bound in red cloth for $300. 00; 150 copies are bound in quarter leather with hand made paper featuring book ash to create the design for $600. 00.

Seven Slayers

Little is known about the life of writer George Carrol Sims, who used the pseudonyms Paul Cain for his pulp career, and Peter Ruric for his tasks as a screenwriter. Sims was that rarest of creatures a successful novelist and Hollywood scribe. He also dated the actress Gertrude Michael, and the character of Granquist in Fast One was based on her. This collection, holding some of Cain’s finest work ever to appear in Black Mask, was first published in 1950. It opens, fittingly, with Black, an account of a mysterious stranger who winds up playing both sides following his macabre discovery in a nameless time. Also in the book is Parlor Trick, about beautiful Bella’s fast talking following the discovery of a corpse in her kitchen.

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