Bruno Fischer was one of many skilled writers during the great
paperback era of the fifties. In Lustful Ape, he gives us a fast-reading,
fun, pulpy novel filled with murder, blackmail, sexy dames, news
reporters, and hoodlums.
The heart of the novel is Narda Hart, a femme fatale who would use
her body as coinage to get whatever she wanted. Dirk Hart, An ex-cop,
private eye, is her ex-husband and as beguiling as Narda is, he's been
burned by her too many times to trust her again. The pulpiest part of
the tale is the beginning as Dirk struggles with his passion and
frustration. When Narda is struck down in the street after he's turned
her away, Dirk has s determined to shake the city loose to find her
killer with only the narrowest of clues.
I might ultimately have preferred a simpler pulpier plot, but it's a good
exciting read. It just misses being really good as some of the plotting
in the book feels a bit cheaper and contrived like a Hollywood movie,
particularly the climatic scenes in the cellar as our young hero fights
against time for his life and that of the poor scantily clad damsel who
had the bad luck to be with him. ( )