A Murderer In A Million

Wrapping up my Chopper Cop reviews with the third and final book of the series. It also has the best title. Well, maybe the best title of all time: DYNAMITE MONSTER BOOGIE CONCERT.

It's actually an accurate title, as the book is set at a massive outdoor rock concert called Monster Boogie. Not only is it sure to be a dynamite show, but there's a strong indication some crazy bastard may actually try to dynamite it.

Our star is anti-establishment cop Terry Bunker, who, contrary to how he appears on Popular Library's covers, is a young, long-haired hippie and 'Nam vet who takes special cases for the California governor on his tricked-out motorcycle that boasts a shotgun strapped to its handlebars. Bunker is assigned to investigate threats against the upcoming Monster Boogie show from a crank who says he or she plans to blow the venue up.

Among the victims/suspects are a thinly veiled Grand Funk, an obvious Janis Joplin clone, and a Rolling Stones ripoff led by charismatic lead singer Paul Byrd. Writer Paul Ross (surely a house name created by Chopper Cop packager Lyle Kenyon Engle) throws in several action scenes and a little bit of sex; even Bunker gets into the act, spending the night before the concert inside a tent with a pair of curvy jailbait.

The book's best setpiece takes place after an unknown sniper busts into Bunker's place while he's making it with the Janis clone and tries to shoot him. The shooter escapes in a station wagon with a big head start, while Bunker leaps barefoot onto his chopper in pursuit. Ross' depiction of the hair-raising chase is one of the best car (or cycle) chases I've ever read, and I was cringing every time Bunker's bare foot slid across the asphalt.

This 1975 novel is a lively read. I don't know why Popular Library discontinued the series. They aren't groundbreaking books nor do they push any boundaries, but they're entertaining and refreshingly left-wing in their approach.

A Hippie Cult Of Sex And Death

The Chopper Cop is back on the case in this Popular Library paperback from 1972. Well, I should say the Chopper Cop is here, because I previously reviewed the second title in the series, THE HITCHHIKE KILLER. Counterculture cop Terry Bunker debuted in VALLEY OF DEATH and is structured very much like the other. It opens with three beautiful young females, one in San Francisco, one in Los Angeles, and one in San Clemente, committing suicide in front of witnesses. However, a couple of weeks later, all three begin appearing to their families in the form of telephone calls and notes left at the parents' homes. One, Annette Caldwell, even seems to be continuing her painting in the family studio. None of the Caldwells—her parents and her younger sister Penny—have laid eyes on her, but…

Called to investigate is Lieutenant Bunker, an investigator for California's State Department of Criminal Investigation. Bunker reports to gruff Ted Haggard, who strongly disapproves of Bunker's long hair, choice of transportation and antiestablishment attitude. However, he really reports only to the governor, who also shakes his head at Bunker's individualism, but likes the 27-year-old and respects the way he gets the job done.

The idea of a left-wing action hero is fairly rare in crime drama. Frank Serpico, played by Al Pacino in the movies and David Birney on television, is about the closest I can think of offhand. Of course, Serpico was a real person. Not much is made of Bunker's politics in VALLEY OF DEATH. He despises authority, but, then, so did Dirty Harry. Paul Ross (a pseudonym for someone) could have had a background in TV writing, as nothing here is overly sexy or violent, and the novel shows hints of a classic three-act structure. Certainly nothing in VALLEY OF DEATH lives up to its cover blurb promising "a hippie cult of sex and death."

A Luscious Stewardess Is The Bait

I was pretty excited to find THE HITCHHIKE KILLER in a 50-cent box at last month's Gordyville flea market. I've been searching eBay for one of the Chopper Cop novels for several weeks, but haven't found very many of them (I think only three exist). I had never read one of the Popular Library Chopper Cop books, but was naturally drawn to the ludicrous concept of a, well, "chopper cop."

The Chopper Cop is Terry Bunker, a long-haired (though he doesn't appear to be on the cover) antiestablishment Vietnam-vet hippie, 26 years old, who works as a special investigator for the state of California who appears to be answerable only to the governor, one of the few establishment types with whom Bunker gets along. Bunker's police superiors spend most of their time grumbling about his hair, his non-conformist approach to law enforcement, his womanizing, his beer drinking and pot smoking, while begrudgingly admitting that, yeah, okay, Bunker's the best damn cop on the force.

1972's THE HITCHHIKE KILLER finds Bunker investigating three murders that took place during the same weekend, hundreds of miles apart, but appear to have been committed by the same person. All the victims were attractive teenage girls who were hitchhiking and terrorized and run down by a motorcycle rider. The cops all suspect a biker gang, but Bunker thinks the killer may have taken a commuter flight from San Francisco to San Diego to commit the murders, and begins shuttling up and down the state via a small airline, where he meets a pair of foxy stews, Lisa and Chris, and begins suspecting Lisa's married boyfriend, co-pilot Paul Bunn.

Another cheap paperback that could have been a pretty cool movie, THE HITCHHIKE KILLER is a brisk, entertaining read with an unusually left-wing hero for this type of book. I'm particularly looking forward to finding Chopper Cop #3, which is titled DYNAMITE MONSTER BOOGIE CONCERT! Author Paul Ross is identified in the indicia as Lyle Kenyon Engel, who "produced" THE HITCHHIKE KILLER and owns the copyright. However, it's reported that Engel never did any writing and farmed it out to various authors, so Engel was actually a house name working under a house name, so to speak.