Someone* once called Frederick Nebel "the backbone of Black Mask," and he wasn't kidding. Next to Dashiell Hammett, Nebel was the magazine's most important contributor during the Joe Shaw years, and the ten-year saga of police Captain Steve MacBride and reporter Kennedy of the Free Press was Nebel's masterwork. And now, at long, long last, Altus Press is rolling out the whole shebang - 36 hardboiled novelettes that will soon fill four volumes.
This first volume, which is NOW AVAILABLE, kicks things off in grand style, with five connected stories (that could easily have been published as a novel) and four more adventures that propel Richmond City into the next stage of the series. I was honored to write the book's Introduction, and while doing so read all 36 stories in order. Damn, what a great experience! I got so enthused t it took me ten thousand words to do the project justice. Those ten thousand words appear in the book - and also on the Black Mask Magazine.com website.
I suggest you order the book right now, and read the Introduction RIGHT HERE while you're waiting for it to arrive. But whatever you do, don't stop with Volume 1. This is a series that grows and evolves, just as Nebel was growing and evolving as a writer, and you'll want to be there for the whole journey.
