Henry Farrell 1 hr 9 min read

A blood-splattered pulp shakedown, Fleetwood slugging a fat crook named Mario for 'the stuff', turns out to be only the surface of a stranger tale.

Henry Farrell's 1951 story opens with hard-boiled crime pastiche before its social-SF frame reveals itself. Sharp, playful golden-age SF. Read it for a clever tale where a two-fisted detective yarn proves to be something else entirely.

In its time

Published in 1951, during the 1950s, post-war optimism meets cold war anxiety.

Reading it

1 hr 9 min read (a novelette, room for a turn or two).

Illustrated by

Robert Fuqua