Sleazy Digest Books !

Friday 11 September 2020

Harlequin Book meet Digest Art!

Harlequin paperbacks published in Canada are quite a collectable series of books.

Top quality artwork, writers from Westerns to Sleaze.

But for a short while they were reprinting Phantom USA/AUS & USA Original digest books.

Here are a few twins that I've spotted.

Thursday 3 September 2020

Star Books!

Star Books were published by Star Guidance and in all except two titles were known as a Cowboy/Wild western digest books.

Numbers 2 (Bachelor Bait) by Peggy Gaddis & 4 (seen below) are the only sleaze titles in the book run.

No 4 - Hell Cat! - Martin Gregor - 1950.

Hell Cat # 4

Back cover

Friday 15 May 2020

Paladin Press UK

Paladin suspense mystery books were UK reprints of USA paperbacks & Digest books. They were sold under the banner 'Yankee Books American Thrillers' and were dated circa 1953/54.

Only four authors are published in this series from the known 13 editions - Day Keene, Albert L. Quandt, Whit Harrison & Charles Boswell.

I only own three titles but have added images to the list that was included in the pages of Mrs. Homicide & Wake Up To Murder!

1 - Mrs. Homicide - Day Keene (Gunnard Hjerststedt).

Art by Norman Saunders

2 - Wake Up To Murder (1952) - Day Keene (Gunnard Hjerststedt)

Back cover

3 - Savage Love - Whit Harrison (Harry Whittington)

Art by Rudolph Belarski

4 - Married To Murder - Whit Harrison (Harry Whittington)

5 - Hunt The Killer - Day Keene (Gunnard Hjerststedt)
6 - Farewell To Passion - Day Keene (Gunnard Hjerststedt)
7 - Naked Fury - Day Keene (Gunnard Hjerststedt)

8 - Zip-Gun Angels - Albert L. Quandt

Art by Herb Tauss

Back cover

9 - Strange Witness - Day Keene (Gunnard Hjerststedt)
10 - Baby Sitter - Albert L. Quandt
11 - Violent Night - Whit Harrison (Harry Whittington)
12 - Slayride For A Lady - Whit Harrison (Harry Whittington)

13 - They All Died Young - Charles Boswell.

Wednesday 22 April 2020

National Books !

National Books were published in Toledo, Ohio in 1950. I only have two copies and have seen another (but must be more) and they seem to reprint artwork from Stork Novels and Knickerbocker.
The cover art is very crude and all copies seem to have this polka dot background and the two that I own are produced on inferior paper.

Unfortunately there are no numbers to be found on any book and only a 1950 date in the 'Soul Of Passion' copy.

I have also added the covers they reprinted from the USA originals.

If any one has any more info on this book company then please let me know.

1 - Soul Of Passion - Richard Himmel

Soul Of Passion

Back cover

2 - Professional Glamour Girl - Gail Jordan (Peggy Gaddis)

Professional Glamour Girl

Back cover

3 - Torrid Love - Ralph Carter (William Arthur Neubauer)

Torrid Love (image found on the web)

Monday 11 November 2019

Diversey Romance/Popular Novels !

Diversey Romance / Popular Novels!

Diversey Romance Novels.

Reform School Girl # 1 - Felice Swados - 1948.

Reform School Girl # 1

Reform School Girl (back)

Extremely rare book that finally made it into my collection after many years of searching for it at the right price!
The cover and story behind this book make it of interest to Pulp/Digest/ Sleaze collectors. The fact that the Father of the Canadian skater Marty Collins (seen on photo cover) took Diversey Publishing Corporation to court for using the image and for deformation of character and won! causing the publisher to excise the first page of text from this and all further volumes (the first page is missing from my book) but there are other copies that have the first page intact (these are very, very rare)

Diversey Popular Novels!

Broadway Virgin # 1 - Lois Bull - 1949

Broadway Virgin # 1

Broadway Virgin (Back)

Another Diversey novel under the 'Popular' banner. Again with photo model on cover but this time no court case against the publishing company. Quite a rare book on it's own and still pretty racy for 1949!

Naked On Roller Skates - # 2 - Maxwell Bodenheim - 1949

Naked On Roller Skates # 2

# 2 Back cover

Bodenheim and Ruth Fagin (his third wife) were murdered February 6, 1954, at a flophouse at 97 Third Avenue in Manhattan, by a 25-year-old dishwasher, Harold "Charlie" Weinberg. They had befriended him on the streets of the Village and he offered to let them spend the night in his room a few blocks from the Bowery. Weinberg and Ruth had sex near the cot where the 62-year-old drunken Bodenheim appeared to be sleeping. Bodenheim arose, challenged Weinberg, and they began fighting. Weinberg shot Bodenheim twice in the chest. He beat Ruth and stabbed her four times in the back. Weinberg confessed to the double homicide, but said in his defence, "I ought to get a medal. I killed two Communists. Weinberg was judged insane (sociopathic) and sent to a mental institution.

Diversey Prize Novels!

Love For Sale # 5 - John Wilstach - 1949

Love For Sale # 5

Love For Sale (Back cover)

Tuesday 16 July 2019

X Bockerna - Sweden

X Bockerna

Published in Sweden from 1951 right through to the mid 1960's. A prolific edition numbers wise and finished just short of number 200.

I have found that a few USA/AUS Digest covers have been adapted and used and in most cases done very well and you'll find some great artwork and all the usual writers, Ricky Drayton, Day Keene, Harry Whittington, Al Bocca, Danny Spade, Johnny Grecco, Nat Karta, Spike Gordon, Bart Banarto, Michael Storme, Hans Lugar, Edward Ronns, Dail Ambler etc etc!