  he Black
Hearts Murder (1970)
 Where is Harlan James? He was the indicted, bail-jumping leader of Banbury's militant Black Hearts -- who had gone underground...but whose rage, still heard on tape, was edging the city towards interracial terror. Harlan James called for violence -- for black protests, demonstrations, drastic political action against the city's white leaders. But did he also call for -- or commit -- murder? It was a top-priority job for Mike McCall, a new breed of crime-fighter, whose cases plunge him into the crises of modern America.... A prominent white official is shot to death and Mike must find the Killer -- or face open racial warfare! |
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| Above: Lancer went bankrupt but then one of the founders brought out editions under the ‘Magnum Books’ (and Lodestone) moniker without paying anyone. The Lodestone titles were apparently never sold in bookstores, but was a special line for discount stores in the States. * | |
| Ghost-written by Richard Deming
which, according to Nevins, earned a B or C+ for his swan song as EQ. In The Black Hearts Murder, the governor dispatches McCall to an industrial city where a black militant organization, a racist police department and an upcoming mayoral election with opposing black and white candidates have polarized tensions almost to the point of race war. Deming fills pages with the Troubleshooter's sexual conquests and several debates on race relations (with the blacks and white liberals scoring most of the points) until the obligatory murder. Although the mystery plot is rather simple and the climax awkwardly staged, this is a briskly readable adventure and a healthy primer on the causes of the then current black rage.(Nevins) |
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