This is the second "69" book from Ramble House of the terrific sleaze novels of Jim Harmon. He wrote them in the late 60s just before the time when the censorship fiends of America were repudiated by readers who were sick of the innuendoes and asterisks that meant -- sex scene follows but you can't read it because it's bad for you. It took a great writer and a lot of metaphors to satisfy one-handed readers back in those days and Harmon was one of the best.
The two novels in this one volume are THE MAN WHO MADE MANIACS and SILENT SIREN, each in their own way, a trail-blazing novel of deviant sex and forbidden passions. Now we can laugh about the naivete of the Legion of Decency and other Nixonian prudes but back in 1969 it took a writer like Harmon to give us what we wanted without risking five years in prison. Many writers and publishers typed the wrong words and went to jail, let's not forget.
There are no real heroes in Harmon stories. No John Waynes or Jimmy Stewarts. There were some Robert Mitchums and John Garfields but only in their criminal personas. You would think that in this age of freedom and transparency -- our present government notwithstanding -- there would be many books written in the tense, capable style of Jim Harmon, but the knack seems to have been forgotten. Thanks to Ramble House, the rugged style of Jim Harmon is back for modern readers to enjoy -- and learn from. We still have demons like Nixon and Meese -- they just have different names. If we work and read together, we can push them back to the dark ages where they belong.