Rabe, Peter 1921-1990 (J.T. MacCargo, Marco Malaponte, Peter Rabinowitsch)

PERSONAL:

Born in Germany, 1921; died of lung cancer, May 20, 1990, in Atascadero, CA; immigrated to the United States, 1938; married (three times); divorced (three times); companion of Chris Nielsen; children: including a son. Education: Attended Ohio State University; Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, Ph.D.

CAREER:

Writer and educator. California Polytechnic State University, psychology teacher.

WRITINGS:

NOVELS

From Here to Maternity; Written Illustrated and Experienced by Peter Rabe, Vanguard Press (New York, NY), 1955.

Stop This Man!, Fawcett (Greenwich, CT), 1955.

Benny Muscles In, Gold Medal (Greenwich, CT), 1955.

A Shroud for Jesso, Gold Medal (Greenwich, CT), 1955.

Dig My Grave Deep, Gold Medal (Greenwich, CT), 1956, reissued, Creative Art Books (Berkeley, CA), 1988.

A House in Naples (also see below), Gold Medal (Greenwich, CT), 1956.

Agreement to Kill (also see below), Fawcett Gold Medal (Greenwich, CT), 1957.

It's My Funeral, Gold Medal (Greenwich, CT), 1957.

Journey into Terror (also see below), Fawcett Gold Medal (Greenwich, CT), 1957.

The Out Is Death, Gold Medal (Greenwich, CT), 1958.

(With Robert Kelston) The Cut of the Whip (with Kill One, Kill Two), Ace Double (New York, NY), 1958.

Blood on the Desert (also see below), Fawcett (Greenwich, CT), 1958.

Mission for Vengeance, Fawcett (Greenwich, CT), 1958.

Bring Me Another Corpse, Fawcett (Greenwich, CT), 1959.

Time Enough to Die, Fawcett (Greenwich, CT), 1959.

Anatomy of a Killer, Abelard-Schuman (New York, NY), 1960.

My Lovely Executioner: An Original Gold Medal Novel (also see below), Fawcett (Greenwich, CT), 1960, reprinted, Five Star (Unity, ME), 1999.

Murder Me for Nickels (also see below), Fawcett (Greenwich, CT), 1960.

The Box (also see below), Fawcett (Greenwich, CT), 1962.

His Neighbor's Wife, Beacon (Boston, MA), 1962.

(As Marco Malaponte) Her High-School Lover, Beacon Books/Signal Books, 1963.

Girl in a Big Brass Bed, Fawcett Gold Medal (Greenwich, CT), 1965.

The Spy Who Was 3 Feet Tall, Fawcett (Greenwich, CT), 1966.

Tobruk, Bantam (New York, NY), 1967.

Code Name Gadget, Gold Medal (Greenwich, CT), 1967.

War of the Dons, Fawcett (Greenwich, CT), 1968.

Black Mafia, Fawcett (Greenwich, CT), 1974.

Kill the Boss Goodbye, Creative Art Books (Berkeley, CA), 1988.

The Box [and] Journey into Terror, Stark House (Eureka, CA), 2004.

Blood on the Desert [and] A House in Naples, Stark House (Eureka, CA), 2005.

Murder Me for Nickles [and] Benny Muscles In, Stark House (Eureka, CA), 2005.

My Lovely Executioner [and] Agreement to Kill, Stark House (Eureka, CA), 2005.

Also author of New Man in the House, written as Marco Malaponte, 1963; books have been published in foreign languages, including French.

"MANNIX" SERIES; AS J.T. MACCARGO

The Faces of Murder: Mannix #1, Belmont Tower Books (New York, NY), 1975.

A Fine Day for Dying: Mannix #2, Belmont Tower Books (New York, NY), 1975.

A Walk on the Blind Side: Mannix #3, Belmont Tower Books (New York, NY), 1975.

Round Trip to Nowhere: Mannix #4, Belmont Tower Books (New York, NY), 1975.

SIDELIGHTS:

Born Peter Rabinowitsch, the late Peter Rabe left his home country of Germany in 1938 to escape Nazi persecution. He went on to become a noted noir crime writer with books such as Blood on the Desert and A House in Naples, which, along with several of Rabe's other books, have been reprinted in books featuring two of the author's novels in one volume. Rabe, in an interview with Mystery File Web site contributor George Tuttle, commented on his decision to write noir paperback crime novels: "There came a point in my writing when I decided I wanted to write for a particular market, the paperback market. I was living in Maine at the time and was doing a lot of winter reading of paperbacks. I felt that some were more boring than need be, and having the time and inclination, I started to write for publication in this market."

In a review of Blood on the Desert and A House in Naples, Keir Graff noted in Booklist that the author's "best books were marked by craftsmanship and creativity." Graff went on to call Blood on the Desert a "taut, finely observed" tale. In another review in Booklist, this time of the dual reissue Murder Me for Nickels/Benny Muscles In, Graff commented: "Where Murder features hilariously deadpan humor and film-worthy banter, Benny delivers tooth-grinding tension in a classic noir milieu." In his review of The Box and Journey into Terror, Graff wrote: "Both stories feature strong psychological underpinnings and protagonists trying to outrun themselves." Graff also reviewed My Lovely Executioner and Agreement to Kill, and commented that "these reprints prove the publisher knows how to mine for gold."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, March 15, 2004, Keir Graff, review of The Box and Journey into Terror, p. 1273; February 1, 2005, Keir Graff, review of Murder Me for Nickels and Benny Muscles In, p. 946; December 1, 2005, Keir Graff, review of Blood on the Desert and A House in Naples, p. 29; January 1, 2007, Keir Graff, review of My Lovely Executioner and Agreement to Kill, p. 65.

Library Journal, February 15, 2007, Michael Rogers, review of My Lovely Executioner and Agreement to Kill, p. 159.

ONLINE

Mystery File,http://www.mysteryfile.com/ (August 27, 2007), George Tuttle, "A Too Brief Conversation with Peter Rabe."