Read Online Book of Secrets by Chris Roberson - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Chris Roberson
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picked it up, and glanced through it. Walter Reece's name jumped out at me from one of the pages, so I dropped a few bills on the counter, smiled at the pretty young clerk, and went back outside.
A short while later I was at the bar, a dive down on Chartres Street, becoming acquainted with my first beer of the day. There was no one in the place I knew, which was fine with me. I didn't feel up to any reunions. The bar was small, dimly lit, little more than a wooden door and a hand-painted sign from the outside, which meant that most tourists passed right on by on their way to the flashier spots. Again, that was just fine with me. I had no interest in contributing to the local color for a pair of young newlyweds from Des Moines.
I focused my attention on the book I'd bought, and with little trouble found the section on Reece.
"Les Maxwell, one of the most unlucky figures in the history of the pulps, first made his mark with tales for T op Notch and Popular for Street & Smith. Maxwell was prolific, writing in a solid if perhaps florid style, and from his years as a reporter in San Francisco for the local Hearst organ knew the importance of a deadline. On the strength of this and his past work, he was asked to produce a new series for the house. The writer went home, and came back the next day with the first installment of what he expected to be a long and profitable series. The series was to feature a dark avenger of the night, who would characteristically emerge from the mists to right wrongs and squelch evil, only to vanish again. The character's name and basic motif were cribbed from a western series which first debuted over twenty years before, La Mano Negra. Appearing in Athena Press' Tr ue West ern Tales , the adventures of La Mano Negra, or "The Black Hand", were written by J. C. Reece, and ran intermittently for some three years from 1918 to 1921, at which point the magazine ceased publication. Maxwell simply updated the character for a modern setting, gave him twin automatics in the place of Colt Peacemakers, and generated a slightly aboveaverage potboiler. The house name used for the series, Walter Reece, can charitably be seen as a nod to the true originator, and uncharitably as a sneer. Sales for the first issue of The Black Hand Mysteries were healthy, and Maxwell was ordered to begin work on the follow up.
However, before the second issue went to press, S&S was presented a cease and desist order. It appeared that the fictional guise Maxwell had devised for the Black Hand's true identity, Richmond Taylor, was the name of a real life business man in San Francisco who was well connected enough to put the fear of God into the house. Whether Maxwell had known of Taylor and used his name intentionally, or whether it was simply an unlikely coincidence is unclear. In any event, Maxwell was sent back to work to revise his second installment to remove any reference to Taylor or his likeness. Then the other shoe fell. An unnamed firm had purchased the publishing rights for all of Athena Press' characters, including La Mano Negra. Street & Smith were threatened with a copyright infringement suit for the resemblance of the Black Hand to the earlier character, and quickly decided the series just wasn't a good bet. Maxwell was put to work on the aviation pulps, and The Black Hand was canceled, before the second issue had even reached the stands."
I skimmed through the rest of the book, but didn't find anything else of interest. I closed the book on the page I'd been reading, marking the place with a coaster, and ordered another round, half disappointed my grandfather hadn't been Zorro after all.
It was early evening when I made it back to Tan's place. He was leaning back in his wheelchair, smoking one of those rancid Mexican cigarettes of his and smiling like he'd just won the lottery.
"Well, old man," I asked, dropping in the chair across the table from him, "what'd you find?"
"Oh, I found your boy,
A short while later I was at the bar, a dive down on Chartres Street, becoming acquainted with my first beer of the day. There was no one in the place I knew, which was fine with me. I didn't feel up to any reunions. The bar was small, dimly lit, little more than a wooden door and a hand-painted sign from the outside, which meant that most tourists passed right on by on their way to the flashier spots. Again, that was just fine with me. I had no interest in contributing to the local color for a pair of young newlyweds from Des Moines.
I focused my attention on the book I'd bought, and with little trouble found the section on Reece.
"Les Maxwell, one of the most unlucky figures in the history of the pulps, first made his mark with tales for T op Notch and Popular for Street & Smith. Maxwell was prolific, writing in a solid if perhaps florid style, and from his years as a reporter in San Francisco for the local Hearst organ knew the importance of a deadline. On the strength of this and his past work, he was asked to produce a new series for the house. The writer went home, and came back the next day with the first installment of what he expected to be a long and profitable series. The series was to feature a dark avenger of the night, who would characteristically emerge from the mists to right wrongs and squelch evil, only to vanish again. The character's name and basic motif were cribbed from a western series which first debuted over twenty years before, La Mano Negra. Appearing in Athena Press' Tr ue West ern Tales , the adventures of La Mano Negra, or "The Black Hand", were written by J. C. Reece, and ran intermittently for some three years from 1918 to 1921, at which point the magazine ceased publication. Maxwell simply updated the character for a modern setting, gave him twin automatics in the place of Colt Peacemakers, and generated a slightly aboveaverage potboiler. The house name used for the series, Walter Reece, can charitably be seen as a nod to the true originator, and uncharitably as a sneer. Sales for the first issue of The Black Hand Mysteries were healthy, and Maxwell was ordered to begin work on the follow up.
However, before the second issue went to press, S&S was presented a cease and desist order. It appeared that the fictional guise Maxwell had devised for the Black Hand's true identity, Richmond Taylor, was the name of a real life business man in San Francisco who was well connected enough to put the fear of God into the house. Whether Maxwell had known of Taylor and used his name intentionally, or whether it was simply an unlikely coincidence is unclear. In any event, Maxwell was sent back to work to revise his second installment to remove any reference to Taylor or his likeness. Then the other shoe fell. An unnamed firm had purchased the publishing rights for all of Athena Press' characters, including La Mano Negra. Street & Smith were threatened with a copyright infringement suit for the resemblance of the Black Hand to the earlier character, and quickly decided the series just wasn't a good bet. Maxwell was put to work on the aviation pulps, and The Black Hand was canceled, before the second issue had even reached the stands."
I skimmed through the rest of the book, but didn't find anything else of interest. I closed the book on the page I'd been reading, marking the place with a coaster, and ordered another round, half disappointed my grandfather hadn't been Zorro after all.
It was early evening when I made it back to Tan's place. He was leaning back in his wheelchair, smoking one of those rancid Mexican cigarettes of his and smiling like he'd just won the lottery.
"Well, old man," I asked, dropping in the chair across the table from him, "what'd you find?"
"Oh, I found your boy,
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