‘The Devil of Harbor City’

The Devil of Harbor City collects another New Pulp hero from John L. French. I had previously read his Gray Monk and Nightmare characters, and all three are available from Padwolf Pulp.

This volume stars Frank Devlin, who is working to clean up Harbor City. The stories first appeared in the late 1990s, mostly in pulp fanzines by Ginger and the sadly passed Tom Johnson: Classic Pulp Fiction Stories and Double Danger Tales. This was his first novel, told in seven parts. I wasn’t aware that Wild Cat Books had collected it. I somehow missed it.

Frank Devlin, an officer in the city of Harbor City, is “The Devil.” He has been an excellent officer for five years. But after Devlin saves a young girl from being raped, the perpetrator claims that as he’s the nephew of one of the ganglords that pretty much run the city so he’ll be let out. And free to try again. Devlin beats him into a coma. That’s because the city is corrupt. The mayor is in the gangs’ pocket. The DA is honest, but his assistant district attorneys aren’t. The commissioner of police, thankfully, is appointed by the governor, so he has kept the police department relatively honest.

The commissioner, instead of kicking him off the force, makes him an offer: continue to be a beat cop, or become a detective sergeant working for him to help clean up the city, as he’s willing to do what it takes to clean up the city.

Devlin won’t be someone like The Black Bat or The Spider, but more like Satan Hall — willing to kill if forced to, but only in self-defense.

His main targets will be the five crimelords: Alex Tomas, Tony Peterson, Jonas Lombardi, Harry Pratt, and Louis Martinelli. And instead of using a powerful automatic, will only use his .38 service revolver. (And maybe a few other tricks.)

The first story kicks things off. Once Frank has his assignment, he heads down to a dive called Dave’s Place. There he takes out some of Tomas’ gang, including a family member. And gains his nickname of “The Devil.” Soon others are after him, and he takes care of them as well. Finally confronting Tomas himself.

In the next story, Harbor City is hit with several murders of innocent people caused by gangsters. In one case, a man mistaken for Tony Peterson is murdered in a restaurant. Tony decides to disappear. But the Devil is on the case, looking for those ultimately responsible. In the shake-up, the remaining ganglords divvy things up. Lombardi and Pratt take over the territory of two others, while Martinelli is happy where he is in Little Italy.

Next, we have another killing, where a jilted gangster goes looking for his girlfriend, and winds up gunning down her and three others in a restaurant. After he gets off, thanks to a corrupt assistant district attorney, he is gunned down at home by someone who leaves a calling card with a red pitchfork on it. And then several other gangsters are gunned down as well. Has Devlin gone too far? Or does he have a rival (or copycat)? Can he figure out who is doing this and stop him?

Another horrific crime, where over a dozen people are gunned down, again brings in The Devil. Working with fellow Detective Sergeant Benjamin Campbell, they figure out that the main target was a doctor’s secretary. And the only reason others in the building were gunned down was they witnessed who did it. Unfortunately, one victim was the aunt of Martinelli. Will he step in and punish this? Or can Devlin persuade him to allow him to figure out who did it? Along the way, Devlin also meets Martinelli’s daughter.

The man responsible for the hit on the secretary has been exposed and fears for his life, either from Martinelli or Devlin. When he thinks he is being taken to a safe place, it turns out not to be the case. Is Martinelli responsible? Or can Devlin figure out who is really behind it? And a new player enters the field. Michael Shaw, who heads a private agency in New York, is brought in by the commissioner to help root out corruption in the court system and DA’s office. Is this the Nightmare?

Peterson is back in town, and he has brought in some help from New York: Wolf Hopkins. A trap is set in an unfinished hotel where Peterson is apparently holed up in the top penthouse. Can Devlin escape the trap, especially as Wolf has also set up explosives on the bottom floor? When it seems The Devil is dead, a wake is held for him at Dave’s Place, where two of the remaining ganglords are there. And the commissioner, Ben Campbell, and Michael Shaw also appear — along with another unexpected guest.

The Devil is dead, or is he? The only ganglord left is Martinelli. But it seems that Wolf has decided to stay and build up his own gang. And unlike Martinelli, he isn’t bothered by niceties. Can the Devil come back one more time?

In the end, Devlin turns in his gun and badge. He’ll stop being “The Devil.” Instead, he and his new partner will be joining Michael Shaw’s organization outside of Harbor City.

Overall, this is a pretty good novel. It does have a good finale to it, so there isn’t any reason for further stories with the character. I’m not sure if the Michael Shaw here is the same Michael Shaw who is the Nightmare, or as the Nightmare came later, maybe the name was reused or something.  And if its not clear, these stories are set post-WWII, but not too far after.  So late 40s, early 50s.

I’ve enjoyed all of John L. French’s works I’ve read, so if you haven’t read any of his, here is another one to try. Also, check out The Gray Monk and Nightmare as well.