Any Woman He Wanted

Whittington was one of the great pulp writers of the fifties and sixties. He published over 170 novels, many of them pulp crime fiction as well as westerns and country blues. “Any Woman He Wanted” reprises the character of Mike Ballard from “Brute in Brass,” the violent, mean, take-no-prisoners Homicide Detective who, despite being on the take, singlehandedly threw over Luxtro’s mob. Four years later, it’s still the same corrupt, dirty town but maybe there’s a limit to how much of a man’s soul can be bought. This is a violent, powerful novel that hits you over the top with the corruption and dirty practices. It’s got the young punks, the teenage dolls who cover for the hoods, the rich estates, the kids who are hopped up and doing it for kicks, the honest crusaders, and the dirty officials. But what makes this novel really work is the absolutely relentless pacing as the story builds up to the penultimate confrontation.