Here’s a blurb from the new STARK HOUSE edition of The Girl With No Place to Hide: “The action is swift, the writing is solid, the plotting is a step above the usual…The Girl With No Place to Hide is the strongest of the Jake Burrow books.” –George Kelley, Murder Off the Rack
I wrote an essay on prolific paperback writer, Marvin Albert for Murder Off the Rack: Critical Studies of Ten Paperback Masters (1989) edited by Jon L. Green and Martin Harry Greenberg. Greg Shepard of STARK HOUSE was kind enough to use my summary of Marvin Albert’s Jack Burrow series as a blurb.
Albert wrote the Jack Burrow series for Gold Medal Books under his “Nick Quarry” pseudonym. Jake Burrow–no relation to Deb’s future son-in-law Joe Burrow–is a private investigator in New York City. His cases usually involve beautiful, seductive women. As in most of his novels, Marvin Albert provides a tricky plot to propel the action.
In The Girl With No Place to Hide Jake Burrow finds himself helping a girl who was being strangled in an alley. Burrow fights off her attacker and takes the girl home. The girl, Angela Hart, reluctantly tells Jake she needs help. But, before Burrow can help her, he’s lured out of his apartment and when he returns, the girl is gone.
Burrow discovers Angela Hart is linked with a series of murders. As Burrow investigates, he finds himself drawn down a rabbit-hole of crime and violence. The scene with Burrow getting worked over by a crooked cop borders on horrific.
Jake Burrow takes a lot of punishment, but finally untangles all the red herrings and misinformation to solve the case. If you’re looking for a classic private eye thriller with chills and deadly dames, The Girl With No Place to Hide checks all the boxes! GRADE: A
The Jake Burrow Series (as by “Nick Quarry”):
The Hoods Came Calling, Gold Medal, 1958
Trail of a Tramp. Gold Medal, 1958
The Girl With No Place to Hide. Gold Medal, 1959
No Chance in Hell. Gold Medal, Gold Medal, 1960
Till It Hurts. Gold Medal, 1960
Some Die Hard. Gold Medal, 1961
I have never read a book by Albert that disappointed. I’ll be on the lookout for this one.
Switching gears, I see that you have made Jon Breen turn green. With envy, I presume.
Jerry, about a year before the Pandemic hit, a guy contacted me about his plans to update MURDER OFF THE RACK. He wondered if I would be interested. I said I was…and that’s the last I heard from him.
If it was good enough for Ronald Reagan, Jerry…albeit it was a different Jon Breen as “Green” in 1980…(NASHUA TELEGRAPH-sponsored GOP primary debate; that Breen was a TELEGRAPH editor and the moderator)…
Congratulations on your new career as a blurb-creator, George!
Deb, and congratulations on your future son-in-law Joe Burrow! Jake Burrow is just as tough, though!
Congratulations on the blurb. How long before you catch up with Stephen King? I have to say this sounds like a good read I’ve always had a soft spot for crime shows and movies from this era (cue the “Peter Gunn” theme) but have never delved into the fiction. This might be a fine place to start. Nick Quarry is a hell of a great pen name. “Murder off the Rack” also looks like a very worthwhile book and you are certainly in good company.
Byron, I admire Stephen King’s frequent blurbs to help fellow writers. The Jake Burrow series was contemporaneous with DELL’s Mike Shayne series and Carter Brown’s Al Wheeler series and a couple dozen other paperback private eye novels. It was a great time for the genre! Marvin Albert (aka, “Nick Quarry”) wrote gripping novels that stand up today. The STARK HOUSE edition of THE GIRL WITH NO PLACE TO HIDE includes a bibliography of Marvin Albert’s work. The contributors to MURDER OFF THE RACK were “The Dream Team” of paperback aficionados! I’m proud to be in their company!
I read a couple of other reviews of this recently, one of them in Cullen Gallagher’s PULP SERENADE and had intended to order it. Now I will. Pretty sure I’ve read some of Albert’s other books but don’t remember which ones. Are the other novels in the series currently available, or would they have to be tracked down?
Michael, I’m hoping STARK HOUSE reprints the Jake Burrow series. The Gold Medal versions can be pricey. I’m planning on reviewing Marvin Albert’s STONE ANGEL series later this year.
Boy, that Kelley guy really knows his stuff!
I will be looking forward to your Stone Angel review, as I bought several of the books years ago (on Bill Crider’s recommendation) and they are still on the shelf waiting to be read. Checking the Wikipedia list, I see there were 10 in the series, way more than I’d realized. I think I have the first three or four. I also have his westerns as by Al Conroy about Clayburn on the shelf. Michael, he also wrote the Tony Rome series, about 20 movie novelizations, and a bunch of other stuff.
Jeff, I have some of Marvin Albert’s “Al Conroy” books yet to read, too. I have a few of Albert’s movie novelizations but haven’t read any of them, either. So many books, so little time! Bill Crider was a big Marvin Albert fan, too!
It does seem strange to find one’s name on a book cover thus, doesn’t it? (I hope my quoted blurb has helped clinch a few sales for Greg and Barry Malzberg on the Stark House double-volume edition of THE MAN WHO LOVED THE MIDNIGHT LADY and IN THE STONE HOUSE–two collections that should sell themselves with no help).
I now wonder if Max Allan Collins named his Quarry character in honor of Albert…
Todd, I like your speculation about Max Allan Collins and his Quarry character!
And congratulations further to Greg–the Black Gat packaging is better than the Gold Medal.
Todd, I’m glad you picked up on the superior cover artwork on the STARK HOUSE version of THE GIRL WITH NO PLACE TO HIDE. I hope Greg reprints the rest of the Jake Burrow series.
I’d say the painting as a painting is comparable…but this one seems more relevant (without having read the book) and the rest of the details are at least as eye-catching without basically playing into the notion of Women Who Get What They Deserve.
Todd, Marvin Albert populates most of his books with interesting women characters.
Is this the same Marv Albert who broadcasts sports?
Patti: Nope. When the sportscaster went through his sex scandal in 1997 a lot of people were confusing Marv with Marvin.
This is a page for name-alikes–Albert, Breen…
Patti, nope. Marvin Albert was a prolific writer and Marv Albert is a prolific sports broadcaster.
I ordered a copy sometime after seeing a review, but have already lost it into the shelves and piles.
Rick, obviously your girl found some place to hide!
Congratulations George! Good to hear this and the book seems very compelling. I’ll search for it and Murder Off the Rack.