[Skeptic49]

Folks,
A gun familiar author Donald Hamilton wrote the very popular paperback series about Matt Helm, the American James Bond as one critic called it.

The paperback series is largely available again from Amazon.

I bought the special edition of Matt Helm: The War Years by Keith Wease which is a collection of side comments from the series, tied together with incidents sometimes adapted from the series, which the author specifies up front.

https://www.amazon.com/MATT-HELM-Ye...52914&sr=1-1&keywords=Matt+Helm+The+War+Years

For me, it was worth the paperback money, for others it's free on Kindle Unlimited.
Geoff
Who is conducting an inventory of his Matt Helm novels to see if there are missing items.

 

[dfariswheel]

In many peoples opinion, Matt Helm was far better a character then James Bond.

Helm was more realistic then the fantasy Bond, and the author actually knew his guns so you don't get the uneducated firearms mistakes of most books.
These are still well worth the read.

 

[IrishCop]

Thanks for that, Geoff! I used to scrounge used book stores for Helm novels but they became harder and harder to find. The last few that came out (may have been ghostwritten...had a different feel to them), the author tried to update the story, having my Helm recruited from college having used force to fend off what he considered a "hazing" he considered unnecessary and potentially lethal. Didn't care for them.

Hamilton did seem to know his guns. Helm was always bitching about the aluminum framed snubby .38 he was forced to carry (5 or 6 round versions-agents choice) when he thought the old Colt Woodsman he used during the war worked just fine. He was an assassin after all. Tended to work up close.:smile:

 

[Skeptic49]

The last books were not in the Donald Hamilton style, but the market demanded longer books than the original taunt style. I suspect the author was having difficulty padding his word count.

Geoff
Who notes the change in American Publishing over the last 30 years.
Pardon me I have to go read the latest Virgil Flowers, by John Sandford, who is a Democrat and a Fudd, but he writes good.

 

[csmkersh]

Two of the worst spy movies I ever saw were the Dean Martin's Matt Helm movies, "the Wrecking Crew" and "Murder's Row." I didn't watch the rest.

 

[IrishCop]

The books are MUCH different Sar'major. Hollywood just licensed the rights and wrote what they wanted...a tongue in cheek spy spoof with pretty ladies and Dean Martin easing his way through the scripts. Like most of the movies Hollywood makes based on books, they share little but the title.

 

[threefeathers]

Two of the worst spy movies I ever saw were the Dean Martin's Matt Helm movies, "the Wrecking Crew" and "Murder's Row." I didn't watch the rest.

I thought Ann Margaret was the star.

 

[IrishCop]

I thought Ann Margaret was the star.

Ahhhhh...Ann Margaret....(sigh). Wanna start a whole mother thread?

 

[SpecialEd]

Ahhhhh...Ann Margaret....(sigh). Wanna start a whole mother thread?

Talk about a Freudian slip...

 

[IrishCop]

Got me dead to rights. I was a bottle baby. :bolt:

 

[SpecialEd]

Got me dead to rights. I was a bottle baby. :bolt:

:thumbsup:

 

[Skeptic49]

Relevant Update: The final book in the series: The Damagers is available on Amazon. Mine will be delivered Thursday 4-27-17.

We will see how it is.

Geoff
Who has low standards..sigh...I grew up on paperback pulps.

 

[threefeathers]

Can't help it, I picture Ann Margaret when I read a Helm book. :evil:

 

[Skeptic49]

I read "The Damagers" it was an excellent finale to the series.
Full of double crossing women and unreliable allies. Matt came better prepared than ever before.
Geoff
Who has a complete set, from 35 cents to over $5....sigh.

 

[IrishCop]

I read "The Damagers" it was an excellent finale to the series.
Full of double crossing women and unreliable allies. Matt came better prepared than ever before.
Geoff
Who has a complete set, from 35 cents to over $5....sigh.

Wish I still did, Geoff. I only have three old, yellowed and very fragile copies of Murders Row, The Silencers and The Shadowers. I think they're all marked .60 cents. I really have to hit a couple of the used book stores we have around here. Two of them are stuffed with old paperbacks. Might be able to grab some at less than scalper prices.