With The Killing Run (1975) and Philadelphia Blowup (1975) Stark House completes the reprinting of the Barry N. Malzberg (aka, “Mike Barry”) Lone Wolf series–a magnificent publishing achievement!

The Killing Run, the 13th book in the series, is the penultimate story in the deadly odyssey of ex-New York narcotics cop Burt Wulff, Barry N. Malzberg’s agent of vengeance on the drug trade. Like a black mist of Death, Wulff sweeps through the thugs, murderers, and psychopaths who defend the vast drug network with merciless mayhem.

In 1972, Malzberg’s Beyond Apollo, winner of the inaugural John W. Campbell Award for best science fiction novel, displayed many of the stylistic and innovative narrative techniques on display in The Killing Run. GRADE: B+

Philadelphia Blowup, the 14th and final novel in the Lone Wolf series, wraps up Malzberg’s saga of one man’s breakdown into psychosis after a murderous rampage. The Lone Wolf series stands as a cautionary contrast to Don Pendelton’s The Executioner and the men’s action genre.

The success of Don Pendleton’s Executioner series in the early 1970s spawned a number of imitators: the Destroyer, Killinger, the Penetrator, the Butcher, and Coxeman. Like Mack Bolan, the Executioner, these other lethal killing machines are one-man armies obsessed with violence as their preferred method of conflict resolution.

From the first book in The Lone Wolf series, Night Raider (1973), where Malzberg unleashes a tidal wave of ferocity extending over 14 volumes leading to a terrifying storm surge of sudden death. The city by city battles end in a catastrophic climax of Burt Wulff’s murderous crusade, the vengeance and retribution for the death of Wulff’s girlfriend–Marie Calvante–from an overdose in a Manhattan brownstone, all of which produces a staggering body-count.

The Lone Wolf saga stands high above the dozens of Executioner clones, now mostly forgotten. Like a modern day Ahab, Burt Wulff takes his killing quest to a deadly showdown with drug lords and a drug culture that still menace America. Don’t miss this epic tale of obsession and fury! GRADE: A

THE LONE WOLF SERIES:
   1. Night Raider (1973) (as by Mike Barry)
   2. Bay Prowler (1973) (as by Mike Barry)
   3. Boston Avenger (1973) (as by Mike Barry)
   4. Desert Stalker (1973) (as by Mike Barry)
   5. Havana Hit (1974) (as by Mike Barry)
   6. Chicago Slaughter (1974) (as by Mike Barry)
   7. Peruvian Nightmare (1974) (as by Mike Barry)
   8. Los Angeles Holocaust (1975) (as by Mike Barry)
   9. Miami Marauder (1974) (as by Mike Barry)
   10. Harlem Showdown (1975) (as by Mike Barry)
   11. Detroit Massacre (1975) (as by Mike Barry)
   12. Phoenix Inferno (1975) (as by Mike Barry)
   13. The Killing Run (1975) (as by Mike Barry)
   14. Philadelphia Blow-Up (1975) (as by Mike Barry