The Nick Carter Dossier: Introduction

I got my first taste of espionage and men’s-adventure fiction series in 1991 when I chanced upon a slim book in an used book-store in the southern part of Calcutta, a city in India where I live and work. The cover showed a tough-looking guy holding a gun and behind the guy towered a giant Buddha head. Further examination showed a temple and two people fighting. The title, The List, appeared below the sans-serif white NICK CARTER. It was, said the cover, A NEW KILLMASTER ESPIONAGE ADVENTURE. I quickly read the back-cover: something about a microfilm, an “international squad of killers”, an abandoned temple and a “high priestess of murder”. With mounting excitement, I flipped the first page.

Upto that point, I had read several Alistair Macleans, a couple Ludlums and an Eric van Lustbader. They had whetted my appetite for spy-fiction. I was well on the road to becoming a junkie for tough heroes travelling to exotic places to fight evil communists and Nazis who had something nasty planned for the Free World. On that evening, as I reached the second page, I saw —

A two-page list of Nick Carter Killmaster books, with names like Ice Trap Terror, The Defector, Macao, and Codename: Werewolf. I had to be careful not to let my saliva fall on the book as I devoured the list.

Something made me turn to the back pages. The last five contained synopses of a number of books. The synopsis of one, titled Death Message: Oil 74-2 read, “An obscure coded message holds the key to a lethal outbreak of sabotage that is destroying America’s vital oil supply lines”. Another, this one of a book titled The Jerusalem File, said, “The world’s ten wealthiest men have been kidnapped. AXE’s rescue plan pits Carter against murderous Arab terrorists.”

In the immortal words of Det. John McClane, NYPD, “Yipee-kay-yeah, motherfucker!”

I started buying, and sometimes renting, as many Nick Carters as I could. From Carter, I swiftly progressed to Mack Bolan, Able Team, and Phoenix Force, then to Edward S. Aarons, and the Death Merchant. At around 40 cents a book, they were affordable.

In time, I also made detours to Desmond Bagley, Colin Forbes and Craig Thomas, returned to Maclean, Ludlum and Lustbader, and then veered off to Clancy and Larry Bond.

Eighteen years later, I am still at it.

I read spy-fiction extensively. Brad Thor, Christopher Reich, Josh Conviser, Barry Eisler occupy prominent space in my bookshelves. But even now, whenever I see a Nick Carter or a Mack Bolan, my eyes light up. And if it’s one that I haven’t read yet — there are plenty of those — I buy them. At around 40 cents a book, they are affordable.

The Nick Carter Dossier is going to be a repository of all my knowledge and opinions I’ve formed over the years on all things Carter. I intend to preserve information about this unique niche of pulp-fiction — its authors, its template, what makes it tick, the geo-political scenario in which it thrived, its looks, its good guys, its bad guys, the works. I invite you, readers, to read, link, and of course, share with me whatever you know about Nick Carter Killmaster.

Randall, the creator and manager of the wonderful Spyguysandgals, and a kindred spirit, has kindly permitted me to use the cover scans and other information available on his site. I will use his site as a primary source.

Stay tuned for Chapter I of the Nick Carter Dossier where I discuss the political environment in which the series appeared, thrived, and ended.