EARL DRAKE

Earl Drake is a thief working for an unnamed U.S. agency.

His real name isn't Earl Drake. It is just one of several aliases he has used over the fifteen years spent in a life of crime. During the first book, his name was Chet Arnold. He uses the name Earl Drake throughout the majority of the adventures chronicled in the books since that was the best one under which he was not wanted for any crime.

Drake's life of violence started at the young age of 12 when an altercation with another kid over Drake's cat escalated into a vendetta. Drake showed no amount of beating by his father would stop his sense of justice. Years late, at 18, he had another spell of trouble when two cops, seeking to get a confession for stealing hubcaps, for which he was innocent, resulted in his being severely beaten. Rather than press charges, he opted to take vengeance into his own hand and soon both police officers were 'paid back'.

His life of crime started, according to him, when he watched a friend, a poor black man named Oily Barnes, arrested and convicted of a crime on trumped up evidence. At that point, when he was 19, he decided that playing fair was not the way to go. From then on he earned his living through armed robbery. This life of larceny would continue for the next 15 years.

Then he met Hazel Andrews, the luscious, 6' tall redhead lover who helped change Drake from a confirmed criminal to an erstwhile agent of the government. She would help in several missions and provide the incentive to join in several more.

The exact agency for which Drake worked is not known. He worked actually for a government agent named Karl Erikson who probably was assigned to the Treasury Department. Erikson is often transferred on a temporary basis to other agencies.

You are flat-out not likely to find a spy series that had such a bizarre start. Certainly, there have been other spies who got their start in crime: Spider Scott and Evan Tanner to name two. But each of these was a crook who, upon being caught, was forced into helping the authorities. With Earl Drake, the twist is significant.

The first two books in the series are harsh, brutal crime novels in the noir style. Drake, then known as Arnold, was a bank robber who is angered by the fact that it would seem someone has the audacity of stealing from him what he had just stolen from others. There is a lot of criminal activity, fighting and mayhem, and not a trace of international intrigue.

The first book, the grittier of the two, was published by as a PBO by Fawcett in 1962, around the same time that Donald E. Westlake, under the penname of Richard Stark, was putting out the first of the Parker novels. The Drake/Arnold character was harsh, tough, non-nonsense, and full of anger. He is also heading swiftly towards a violent end, which indeed happens.

Seven years later, apparently at the urging of the publisher to create a series, Marlowe brought his violent character back. It was less angry but still action-packed. It also did well enough to prompt continuing.

But a few changes were made to the character. The idea of working for the government was introduced. The desire to stay on the right side of the law came into play. And Hazel becomes the focal point of Drake's life. These changes moved the series from a crime novel to the spy category with a domestic twist. The change was a successful one for the books continued to sell well for several years.

You'll like Drake. He starts out as hard as nails and ends that way. But he does change, mellowing with the time he has spent with Hazel. You still wouldn't want to mess with Drake but the calmer one at the end of the series might not have messed with you first. Either way, however, you lose.