Don Pendleton and his Joe Copp, Private Eye Character

“Pendleton, author of the long-running paperback Executioner series, shows in his first hardcover that hardboiled writing can be insightful as well as action-packed.” ~Library Journal

Last night I had a dream about my writing and my late husband, Don Pendleton.  For those of you who do not know, Don Pendleton was creator of the best-selling, The Executioner: Mack Bolan series of novels, the first one being, “War Against the Mafia,” published in 1969. Don is also considered the “father of Action/Adventure.”

My vivid dream, and dream discussion with Don of my PI novel I’ve been working on, got me to thinking today about Don’s Joe Copp character, who first appeared in his novel, Copp for Hire, first of the six books in the Copp series.   This morning I also saw a FB post about fictional characters.  It also reminded me (as if I needed to be reminded) of the ease and skill of writing that Don had.  He allowed the creative flow to do just that, flow. 

So my mind went back to the first of Don’s Copp books.  We were at our dining table, after a nice breakfast, enjoying our coffee when Don said, “Today I’m going to start a new private eye series.  The opening is:  ‘I smelled trouble all over this kid the instant she stepped into my office. She was hot.’”  He picked up a pen and jotted that on paper.

He started writing that day, and a few days later, Don sent off a proposal to his agent, and if I recall, with three chapters.  Not long after he had a contract for hardcover publication of the series of six books with New York publisher, Donald I. Fine, Inc., and in addition, that was followed soon after by a nice paperback deal on the series.      

Joe Copp was a California cop, turned private eye.  A tough, hard-boiled guy.  But Joe had a big heart and a teddy-bear personality, that is, as long as you were on the right side of the law.  If you were on the wrong side, he would just be as happy to get rid of you in the easiest way possible.   

Copp for Hire:  “Tough, cagey, ex-cop turned private eye, Joe Copp, descends into the labyrinth of forbidden sex, corrupt politics, and multiple murders. It is a powerful story of gray and light and shifting shadows that conceal as much as they reveal about human nature. The fast moving story takes Joe Copp to the rough and tumble, down and dirty, anything-goes underbelly of Los Angeles and on to the deadly vice pits of Honolulu's Chinatown. “

I loved the character.  And so did many professional reviewers. 

"Pendleton's Joe Copp is a dynamo."

–Roanoke Times and World News

“Pendleton, author of the long-running paperback Executioner series, shows in his first hardcover that hardboiled writing can be insightful as well as action-packed.” ~Library Journal

"Pendleton mines another bestselling vein with the cases of ex-cop/private eye

Joe Copp, the toughest operator this side of Mike Hammer."

–ALA Booklist

"The latest Joe Copp adventure reads like an express train...

Pendleton knows how to keep us turning pages."

–Publishers Weekly

The books are available in print, ebooks, and audiobooks.  Books 1 and 2 in a Boxed Set at Kindle.  

 ~Linda