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    The Slickers
    The Slickers
    The Slickers
    Audiobook2 hours

    The Slickers

    Written by L. Ron Hubbard

    Narrated by R.F. Daley

    3.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    Tex Larimee is a grizzled Arizona sheriff who’s leaving the deserts of Cactus County behind, blazing a trail east to mix it up with The Slickers in the canyons of Manhattan. Years later Clint Eastwood would follow the exact same trail in Coogan’s Bluff-a western lawman on the loose in New York City.

    Tex’s welcome to New York is a rude one. Robbed of his cash, gun and badge, he’s locked in a room in back of a run-down bar. Breaking out of the bar, he goes looking for his best friend . . . only to find him dead, his throat cut. And the cops accuse Tex of committing the murder. . . .

    But none of that’s going to keep a good Arizona lawman down. Discovering he’s been the subject of an elaborate frame-up job, Tex has got a few tricks of his own up his sleeve-and in his recovered Colt .45-to make even the toughest of city birds sing a different tune.

    Much like Tex, L. Ron Hubbard was born and bred on the western frontier and made his way east to explore and experience life in New York City. But unlike the sheriff, Hubbard enjoyed his time in the city, where his writing career took off as he became a leading figure in its literary world. He came to know the streets and haunts of Manhattan as well as he knew the arroyos and canyons of the west, giving him the kind of insights he needed to write stories like The Slickers.

    Also includes the mysteries Killer Ape, in which a man frees a mistreated orangutan, only to end up with a monkey on his back, as he’s accused of aiding and abetting the ape in a case of murder, and Murder Afloat, the story of a top narcotics cop in the U.S. Secret Service who’s pursuit of a million-dollar score could land him in some hot-and deadly-water.

    Strap on your six-gun and spurs and take a bite out of the Big Apple as the audio version of The Slickers mixes up Wild West action with big city suspense.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherGalaxy Press
    Release dateOct 20, 2014
    ISBN9781592125241
    Author

    L. Ron Hubbard

    With 19 New York Times bestsellers and more than 350 million copies of his works in circulation, L. Ron Hubbard is among the most enduring and widely read authors of our time. As a leading light of American Pulp Fiction through the 1930s and '40s, he is further among the most influential authors of the modern age. Indeed, from Ray Bradbury to Stephen King, there is scarcely a master of imaginative tales who has not paid tribute to L. Ron Hubbard. Then too, of course, there is all L. Ron Hubbard represents as the Founder of Dianetics and Scientology and thus the only major religion born in the 20th century.

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    Reviews for The Slickers

    3.5/5

    37 ratings16 reviews

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    • 3/5
      I own a lot of L. Ron Hubbard's reprinted editions of his pulp fiction work. I am a HUGE fan of pulp fiction and film noir and when I first saw these new editions, I knew I would be collecting them all. First, the front cover artwork is a tell-tale sign that you are stepping back in time to a world where anything can happen and where the unusual is...well, usual. The spine of the books have miniature versions of the front cover artwork, so even when you book them on a bookshelf, they still look great as a collection.Now, on to the actual story. The Slickers is actually only 26 pages long--which is another reason I love pulp fiction. The authors jam so much adventure into so few pages that there is NEVER a dull moment and you feel as though you're in the adventure as you tear through the pages. The Slickers was okay-- not my favorite (which is Twenty Fathoms Down) but not awful. I live in the south and I hate having to read about slow-talking, know-it-all, rude southerners which is how the main character was cast. With that being said, I move on to the next story. Murder Afloat is 41 pages long and is about "a top narcotics cop in the U.S. Secret Service who’s pursuit of a million-dollar score could land him in some hot—and deadly—water." This was my favorite story in this book, I wish it would have been the main focus instead of the much shorter "The Slickers." The pace is fast, the adventure is amazing (secret service searching for illegal drugs), and it was just an all-in-all good story.And the final story Killer Ape is 26 pages. It was a mystery, suspense story about a possible Orangutan, Ape Killer named Joe.My opinion: buy the book for Murder Afloat as it is the longest story in this book and is, in my own opinion, the best out of this book's collection.
    • 5/5
      In this book you get three and a pinch stories under one cover! The Slickers, Murder Afloat, Killer Ape and The Chee-Chalker. Written in the 1930s-40s in the hardboiled detective style, the action is fast and direct.

      In The Slickers Tex Larimee, Sheriff of Cactus County, Arizony, comes to New York to escort an old friend back home. What Tex finds is his friend murdered and Tex the prime suspect. Fast action, old West know-how prove that New York slickers are no match for Tex.

      Bob Clark, ace operative of the Narcotics Squad, U.S. Secret Service, is hot on the case of smuggled drugs aboard a luxury cruise ship. Things turn hotter when the ship is set afire and there has been sabotage to all the escape equipment. Why would the suspects want to go up in flames with their stash? It is up to the tough and quick thinking Clark to get help to the ship and find out who are the fiends who set things ablaze.

      News reporter, Bill Lacy, always seems to report the human interest side of the story, even on the most gorey of murders. This time out he finds he winds up with a monkey on his back. Actually an orangutan named Joe. Someone has pinned a murder on the ape and Bill isn't buying it.

      The pinch is a preview of The Chee-Chalker. Ketchikan, Alaska is where FBI Agent Bill Norton finds an heiress, a string of corpses and a missing G-man rolled into one mystery.

      Good fun, pulp fiction style and quick reads.
    • 3/5
      I did like this book, mostly because it reminded me of watching an old Mickey Spillane movie. Although I probably wouldn't have choosen it if I were in a Library selecting books to read, once I got into it, I found it a 'fun' read. Nothing heavy, and rather predictable, but a good book to take to the beach, where there isn't anything majorly thought-provoking to digest.
    • 3/5
      Won this through the early reviewers group. This is an entertaining throwback to the pulp fiction days of the 30's and 40's. I have won or read several of these L. Ron Hubbard collections and usually find them quite entertaining. This one for some reason didn't quite live up to the enjoyment of some previous volumes but it was still entertaining. If you crave action and adventure these are a good way to find it.A word to the wise though. Skip all the "L. Ron Hubbard is the greatest writer that ever lived" crap in the back.
    • 3/5
      Typical Hubbard. I didn't really care for this. I decided to read it because I'd heard it was better than his other stuff. I was disappointed.
    • 4/5
      All i can say is i really love l ron hubbards books. And this one dosent dissapoint . great charachtors and a really good storyline. Highly reccomend
    • 2/5
      Maybe I would be less disappointed in The Slickers if the extra long forward hadn't constantly compared the stories and the author to the all time greats of the "Golden Age" of pulp and adventure like London, Hammett, and L'Amour, but that comparison does the author no favors at all. Not having read any other writing from the author, I was really expecting a lot more from a guy with his level of fame and following. Overall it was just disappointing, and quite frankly, hackish.No amount of "It's just pulp, its fun!" disclaimers from the publishers can fix what's wrong with the book. Pulp can be great writing and storytelling, and this is not it.
    • 4/5
      This book was a bit better than the previous books I have read by L. Ron Hubbard. The overall book is a like a bunch of short stories. I think the stories were a bit predictable but the era in the book is a classic and I will continue to read more of this books.
    • 3/5
      I received this as an Early Reviewers copy from LibraryThing.com, and I freely admit that I only requested it based on the author. I knew that L. Ron Hubbard was a sci-fi writer, but I didn't know that he has an enormous body of work from the days of pulp. This book contains three short stories:The Slickers is a noir-ish story about a Western sheriff visiting New York City for a job, only to be embroiled in more trouble than he bargained for. With a fish-out-of-water point of view, the story is fine, exactly as advertised: Fun, escapist pulp.The next story [too lazy to find the title] concerns a T-Man aboard a ship from the Caribbean, unraveling a mystery of drug smuggling, corruption, and murder. No, I am not playing Pulp Novel Mad Libs.The final story is about an orangutan on the loose. [Could have been a different primate. Again, lazy.] Good story, but as with all of this, it is what it is: nothing too deep, just a fun adventure for a few dozen pages.
    • 4/5
      This was an entertaining book. I liked all three stories, and the feeling of kind of being a detective or a newspaper reporter. I wouldn't mind reading more of Hubbard's books.
    • 4/5
      My biggest beef with this book is that I wish it was longer! The stories were fast-paced and interesting, and I got an education on the golden age of pulp fiction, including a glossary of terms. In the past, I've avoided L. Ron Hubbard since the Scientology connection seemed like his dominant trait. After reading these short stories, I'm going to rethink that.
    • 4/5
      I have never read Pulp Fiction and was pleasantly surprised at this read. Quick and easy to read and very different from anything I ever read, I enjoyed the book. The style was like stepping back in time. Thank you for sharing this with me.
    • 4/5
      These storys from L.Ron Hubbard are the throw back to the days from the past, when the times before TV. All people had was a radio, I've listened to a number of these "Golden Age" L. Ron Hubbard stories and this is one of the better ones. They come across like Old Time Radio which I enjoy. The recording has a large cast and background music so it is pleasant to listen to. This is the first book I read, just as good.
    • 1/5
      for a short read this was fine. not my kind of writing. i was really lost most of the time. i guess i just do not appreciate it.
    • 5/5
      The Slickers was another great Ron L Hubbard book. Filled with great characters and a good story it made for a very enjoyable read for anyone who enjoys mystery/ westerns. Two thumbs up.
    • 5/5
      The stories in The Slickers are presented in an artfully designed volume from the L. Ron Hubbard Fiction Collection published by Galaxy Press. The story was originally published in the September 1936 issue of Detective, one of the many “pulp” magazines that had their heyday in the 1930s and 1940s. This is the 5th book in the collection I have read, and each one has colorful dramatic artwork on the cover and rough cut pulp pages to simulate the historical pulp magazines. Unlike the novels I review on my blog that focus on the insightful Imagined Experiences of authors, the three short adventure fiction stories in The Slickers are no holds barred narratives of exciting action, in this book detailing the interactions of cops and miscreants. The title story, tells the tale of a hick Sheriff from “Arizony” who is called to New York City for a body guard gig protecting a rich man from “city slicker” assassins. The second story is “Murder Afloat” that follows the heroic activity of a U. S. Federal Agent attempting to bust a heroin smuggler on board a cruise ship. The third story, “Killer Ape,” describes the relationship between an orangutan accused of the murder of an abusive owner and a newspaper reporter who sets out to investigate the killing. All three stories are page turners that are just long enough for the reader to keep excitement going for an hour.At first glance, would be writers may think that it is easy to write in the simple declarative sentences loaded with adjectives and adverbs. But, there was a great amount of competition to have work published in the pulps. Only a few writers were able to publish regularly in the market, and L. Ron Hubbard had a phenomenal 80% publication record. All of his stories in the Galaxy series are exciting adventures, and Hubbard explained his success in terms that are parallel to the novels I select for review in my blog. He stated that in writing good adventure stories, the writer has to be an adventurer himself. Hubbard's life, described a final piece at the end of the volume was one of personal adventures on land and sea throughout the world. I highly recommend The Slickers for fast reading at any time readers get a break from work or other obligations and young people who could learn from the revived pulp stories to enjoy reading as one of life’s reliable pleasures.