FORGIVE ME, KILLER

FORGIVE ME, KILLER (1956) is the first crime novel I've read by Harry Whittington. It won't be the last.

Whittington carved out a solid and respectable career as a writer of paperback originals in the 1950s and '60s. He wrote countless westerns, mysteries, romances, "back woods" yarns and many, many more. In the '60s, he wrote one of the original novels in THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. series published by Ace. Whittington could do it all and he did it all extremely well. 

Case in point, FORGIVE ME, KILLER. Bent vice cop Mike Ballard is on the take and as crooked as they come. He entertains a plea from Earl Walker,  a man on death row for the murder of  a B girl. Walker swears he's innocent but Ballard doesn't give a damn. As far as he's concerned, the case is closed. 

But when Ballard meets Peggy, Walker's demure, subdued wife, he changes his mind. He sees the hunger in her soul, her burning desire for a real relationship with a man who truly loves her. Ballard decides he wants Peggy more than anything and sets out to clear her husband.

But there are powerful operators in the underworld who don't want the case reopened. Ballard butts heads with police officials and a vicious crime boss before things come to an explosive conclusion. Walker is ultimately cleared but where does that leave Ballard and Peggy? In his last, desperate bid for atonement and redemption, Ballard makes a difficult choice.

Whittington packs a solid punch in the novel's lean 123 pages. It's hard to root for Ballard at any time during the course of the novel. He's not a nice guy and although he's trying to do the right thing, his ulterior motives call all of his actions into question. 

Tough, brutal and uncompromising, FORGIVE ME, KILLER is a first rate piece of hard-boiled crime fiction. 

Thumbs up.