“[Gil Brewer] was living the life of one of his characters–drowning in debt, in alcohol, in his own paranoia, burning bridges as fast as he built them. He was constantly chased by demons of his own making.” (p. 8)

Stark House has reprinted over 20 of Gil Brewer’s works and this new omnibus edition brings Play It Hard (1960) and The Vengeful Virgin (1958) to a new audience. In his excellent introduction, “Noir Anoesis,” Brandon Barrows sums up Gil Brewer’s tortured existence and his struggles with his writing career. Brewer wanted to be a “literary” writer but after a series of rejections, he turned to the paperback original market with successful sales to Gold Medal and Monarch Press.

Brewer came up with plots that instantly gripped his readers. Take Play It Hard for example: Steve Nolan, a boozer, prone to violence, and recently married, wakes up next to a strange woman who claims she is his wife. No one believes Nolan–they believe the fake wife!

Then Brewer conjures up an 18-year-old vengeful virgin, Shirley, who is tired of taking care of her demanding, wealthy invalid stepfather. Shirley hires Jack Ruxton, an owner of a TV sales and repair business, to install new TVs to entertain her stepfather. Shirley throws herself at Ruxton…and he eventually goes along with her plan to get rid of her stepfather. While Ruxton is tempted by women and tempted by money, he doesn’t realize the danger he is in as events reduce the original plan to a desperate situation that completely unravels.

In Play It Hard and The Vengeful Virgin Gil Brewer shows that no other noir author does desperation and dread better than he does! GRADE: B (for both novels)