Brewer, Gil 1922–1983

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BREWER, Gil 1922–1983

(Eric Fitzgerald, Bailey Morgan)

PERSONAL: Born 1922; died January 9, 1983.

CAREER: Author. Also worked as a warehouseman, gas station attendant, cannery worker, and book seller. Military service: U.S. Army; served during World War II.

WRITINGS:

"AL MUNDY" SERIES; CRIME NOVELS

13 French Street, Fawcett (New York, NY), 1951.

Satan Is a Woman, Fawcett (New York, NY), 1951.

So Rich, So Dead, Fawcett (New York, NY), 1951.

Flight to Darkness, Fawcett (New York, NY), 1952.

Hell's Our Destination, Fawcett (New York, NY), 1953.

A Killer Is Loose, Fawcett (New York, NY), 1954.

Some Must Die, Fawcett (New York, NY), 1954.

The Squeeze, Ace (New York, NY), 1955.

77 Rue Paradis, Fawcett (New York, NY), 1955.

And the Girl Screamed, Fawcett (New York, NY), 1956.

The Angry Dream, Bouregy (New York, NY), 1957, published as The Girl from Hateville, Zenith (Rockville Centre, NY), 1958.

The Brat, Fawcett (New York, NY), 1957.

Little Tramp, Fawcett (New York, NY), 1957.

The Bitch, Avon (New York, NY), 1958.

The Red Scarf, Bouregy (New York, NY), 1958.

The Vengeful Virgin, Fawcett (New York, NY), 1958.

Wild, Fawcett (New York, NY), 1958.

Sugar, Avon (New York, NY), 1959.

Wild to Possess, Monarch (Derby, CT), 1959.

Angel, Avon (New York, NY), 1960.

The Three-Way Split, Fawcett (New York, NY), 1960.

Backwoods Teaser, Fawcett (New York, NY), 1960.

Nude on Thin Ice, Avon (New York, NY), 1960.

Appointment in Hell, Monarch (Derby, CT), 1961.

A Taste of Sin, Berkley (New York, NY), 1961.

Memory of Passion, Lancer (New York, NY), 1963.

Play It Hard, Monarch (Derby, CT), 1964.

The Hungry One, Fawcett (New York, NY), 1966.

Sin for Me, Banner (New York, NY), 1967.

The Tease, Banner (New York, NY), 1967.

The Devil in Davos (novelization of television screenplay), Ace (New York, NY), 1969.

Mediterranean Caper (novelization of television screenplay), Ace (New York, NY), 1969.

Appointment in Cairo (novelization of television screenplay), Ace (New York, NY), 1970.

OTHER

Contributor of numerous short stories, sometimes under pseudonyms Eric Fitzgerald or Bailey Morgan, to Zeppelin Stories, Thrilling Detective, Detective Tales, Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine, and Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine.

ADAPTATIONS: Hell's Our Destination was adapted as the film Lure of the Swamp, 1957.

SIDELIGHTS: With the publication of his first novel, 13 French Street, Gil Brewer began a successful career as one of the leading writers of paperback originals. Most of his more than thirty crime novels are built around a similar and classical theme: an ordinary man who becomes involved with, and is often corrupted and destroyed by, an evil or designing woman or other outside force.

Brewer's books, which easily fall into the category of noir fiction, are filled with inscrutable characters whose downfalls are instigated by their own flaws. For example, The Red Scarf is a tale in which the author "skillfully conveys the despair of a man with a lifelong dream after he succumbs to the temptation provided by a mob fortune," according to a Publishers Weekly reviewer.

Most of Brewer's books—like those by softcover contemporaries John D. MacDonald, Harry Whittington, and Day Keene—are set in the cities, small towns, and back-country areas of Florida. Brewer's style was simple and direct, with sharp dialogue and considerable passion and intensity. At times, according to some critics, he adopted an almost Hemingwayesque prose, as in his 1960s novel The Three-Way Split. In addition to his novels, Brewer also frequently contributed stories to the popular detective pulps of the 1950s, and also wrote for subsequent magazines.