8.28.2012

The Complete Nick Carter: Killmaster -- this is what obsession looks like

Yep, I done went 'n' done done it.  I collected all the freakin' Nick Carter series.  That's 261 books, as detailed here on this wonderful website which was invaluable to me in this insane endeavor.  Naturally, I didn't go back to the 1800's and collect the old detective pulps and dime-novels (info on those here)  - I stuck to the Killmaster books.

Luckily, I got the bulk of these really cheap, by haunting used bookstores, where they were a buck at most, and a lot of 'em were fifty cents, a quarter, etc.  My dad was a huge reader of Westerns but I had a couple of Nick Carter books around and told him to try them, and he got into them in a big way.  My dad got around the world quite a bit and he was impressed with the accuracy of the Nick Carter writers in depicting places he'd been.  So, much of this collection got built by buying him presents for Christmas, birthdays, father's days, etc. -- he didn't care if they were used and I'd usually get him like 20-30 books at a time, so, they built up fast.  When he died, I inherited 'em, and noticed I was only shy around 40-50 of 'em.  They're still fairly cheap from Amazon marketplace or ABEBooks, often going for just the price of shipping... so, even though $4 is a little more than I'm used to paying for used books, I chipped away at it, and finally got the last ones in today.

So, feast your eyes on what a complete set of Nick Carter books looks like, and admire my dogged persistence, or despise me for being a hoarder of junk, depending on your viewpoint (both are probably equally valid, but still fuck you if it's the second one!).





And here's what the same pile looks like with a stupid bad cat named Thirteen in front of it:

And here's the same cat lying down to rest from the exhaustion of his intense not-giving-a-shit-about-a-giant-pile-of-old-paperbacks:


And here's a couple of close-ups because I know a lot of you people are like me and have a fetish for the individually-unique wear 'n' tear of around 20-to-50-year-old paperback spines and this is like porn for you (and a beauty you'll never find from those goddamned fucking e-books):



 I wish you could smell them.  It's beautiful... the cinnamony smell of aged paper is like nothing else.

Now, all I need is the secret of immortality so I can read all this stuff.  So far I've read, ohhhh, maybe a dozen of 'em.  Never read a bad one (they're usually better than most series books).   And my dad read over a hundred and wrote "good" or "very good" in all of 'em 'cept two.  Those are pretty good odds, 'cuz my dad was often a harsh critic... you should read some of the stuff he wrote in the few Longarm Westerns I got him. Yikes!

(Now go follow people on Twitter).



16 comments:

  1. Ahhh... those beautiful stacks! That's some earnest dedication, that right there...

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  2. I am attempting to trace a title of a Killmaster book. Have you read them all? Would you be able to answer a few questions?

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    1. http://self.gutenberg.org/articles/eng/nick_carter-killmaster

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    2. pls try that link it lists ALL the 261 novels

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    3. https://www.goodreads.com/series/64502-killmaster

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  3. Hi! Sorry it took me so long to notice this reply - I don't get alerts and just lucked across it. I haven't read them all, but I've got 'em, and I've read a dozen or two. I'll be happy to try to see what I can do!

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  4. Hello, I am glad I have found an avid book collector just like myself. I began reading novels seriously at 13 when I was introduced to the world of James Hadley Chase. It was almost impossible to acquire more than a few because where I live looks like a setting from some 1800 movie. However, I begged some friends who travelled to hunt in old bookshops, as was in your case, and after a period of 5 years was able to acquire all but 2. These two books were banned when they released and so only a limited few were still around. I wrote in forums asking people who have them to send me scans. Now I have the whole collection.
    During the time I was looking for the Chase books I came across the Killmaster series. I liked them a lot because the books played like a James Bond movie. Unfortunately again I owned only 13 paperbacks.
    I was looking for ebooks of Nick Cater and came across your site. I wonder if you would be interested in creating ebooks of all your Killmaster books. All you have to do is scan and I will do the proofing. I know it sounds hard but I have scanned all my Chase books, John Creasey and some of the few Nick Carter books which you can find all over the internet. Remember it is only fans who look out for these books.
    I wanted to leave my mail here supposing you might want to get back onto me but decided not to because of spams. I will be checking this page regularly to see if you reply.
    Thanks

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  5. Here I am looking for those books and u got them all... I envy u dude.

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  6. I clearly see the volume I'm currently reading -- Target: Doomsday Island! I just picked up 7 or so of these books, after meaning to for a few years, and I picked that one to start with. I mean, what with its back cover blurb about "pot and sex parties," I couldn't resist. It's funny because so far it has nothing in common with most other men's adventure novels, basically just documenting Carter's visit to a luxury resort in the Bahamas, where he's tracking down this Howard Hughes type.

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  7. I have read the entire series and have all the US Editions I also have a blog that showcases them
    http://suspenseandmystery.blogspot.com/

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  8. That is a great Collection. But not downloadable??? Where can I get ebooks of Nick Carter series??? Pleas let me know.

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  9. One free site is archive.org. let me know any other site.

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  10. One free site is archive.org. let me know any other site.

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  11. I really love Nick Carter books....been reading them since I was about 14...

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  12. Nice collection you've here mate, does anyone know where I can download any of these online please?

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