Stacked Deck
About this ebook
Frank Kane delivers another razor-sharp noir thriller, rich with smoky backroom poker games, glitzy nightclubs masking criminal enterprises, and a steady stream of suspects who all seem to have something to hide. Liddell, with his trademark wisecracks and stubborn streak, moves through a labyrinth of conmen, cardsharps, and molls whose loyalties change with the turn of a card. Each lead opens new risks, and each clue takes him closer to a truth more dangerous than the lies.
With snappy dialogue, breakneck pacing, and a hardboiled atmosphere steeped in postwar urban grit, Stacked Deck is a prime example of mid-century pulp fiction at its most compelling. For fans of the genre, it's a high-tension ride where the odds are against the hero—but in Johnny Liddell's world, that's just the way he likes it.
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About the author
Frank Kane (1912–1968) was an American author best known for his prolific output of hardboiled detective fiction, particularly the long-running Johnny Liddell series. Born in Brooklyn, New York, Kane worked in journalism and radio before turning to fiction, bringing a sharp ear for dialogue and a feel for urban grit to his storytelling. Over his career, he penned more than forty novels and hundreds of short stories, many appearing in leading pulp magazines of the era. Kane's creation, Johnny Liddell, became a fixture of mid-century crime fiction—a tough, wisecracking private eye navigating a morally ambiguous underworld. Kane's work stood out for its snappy prose, fast-moving plots, and colorful gallery of gangsters, cops, and femme fatales. Though firmly rooted in the conventions of the noir tradition, his stories carried a distinct energy and personality, earning him a loyal readership and a lasting place in the history of American pulp literature.
