NICK CARTER

This section details another group of ACE singles, aimed at exploiting the popularity of books, movies, and TV shows related to spies and secret agents and the mystique of the Cold War and the intelligence wars in the latter part of the 1970's (to early 1980's). The ACE Nick Carter action-adventure stories represent a variety of tales written by numerous authors all under the house pseudonym. The ACE series code for these volumes is the five digit numerical series that started around 1978 under the ACE Charter edition label. I am also putting these in the ACE POTPOURRI section until I have sufficient control on the complete series. So, if there are any "Nick Carter" fans among the AIL users, please drop me an e-mail.

Have fun!

Award books, whose very first title ("Run Spy Run") was the first Nick Carter book, started this series in 1964 and produced 115 titles (and, at least, over a 100 reprints) under the pseudonym through 1977. ACE Charter edition published their first Nick Carter adventure in January 1978 with “Revenge of the Generals.” Later ACE Charter reprinted a number of the Award book titles, but not all of them or in any real order.  

Note that the titles of the ACE edition stories are reminiscent of the Man From U.N.C.L.E. story titles.  I think most of these have a numerical code (i.e., Killmaster #185; see ACE 01276-0) but they do not occur on all of the covers and thus I have placed them in ACE Letter-Number series for ease of use. The Nick Carter house pseudonym was used by a variety of writers, but often they are not identified.  I have provided author names when I have sufficient confidence that they are correct.  If any AIL users have additional information (as well as corrections), please let me know.  I also want to thank Bill for his research on the ACE Charter editions (more on this later).

01276-0 NICK CARTER (house pseudonym for JACK CANON) The Algarve Affair: Killmaster #185 (February 1984; 1st ACE printing - Charter imprint)

02277-4 NICK CARTER And Next The King (cover by George Gross; nd; 1st ACE printing - Charter imprint)

02592-7 NICK CARTER (house pseudonym for DAVID HAGBERG) Appointment in Haiphong (cover by George Gross; 1982; 1st ACE printing - Charter imprint)

03180-3 NICK CARTER The Asian Mantrap (1978; listed as "First Time in Paperback"; Charter imprint)

03800-X NICK CARTER The Azetec Avenger (Charter imprint)

06578-3 NICK CARTER The Black Death (cover by George Gross; c.1970; nd; 1st ACE printing - Charter imprint)

06861-8 NICK CARTER The Blue Ice Affair: Killmaster #197 (February 1985; 1st ACE printing - Charter imprint)

06861-8 (back cover)

09157-1 NICK CARTER(house pseudonym for ROBERT J. RANDISI) Caribbean Coup: Killmaster #184 (1984; 1st ACE printing - Charter imprint)

09274-8 NICK CARTER (house pseudonym for MIKE JAHN aka MICHAEL JAHN) Cauldron of Hell (cover by George Gross; 1981; 1st ACE printing - Charter imprint)

Original cover art by George Gross for Cauldron of Hell.  Mixed media on board, 19.5" x 13.25." Title labeled on bottom of board and signature (G. Gross) in lower right of artwork.

Michael Jahn appears to be a very prolific author. His pseudonyms include Mike Jahn under which he wrote a lot of TV or movie tie-in books. For instance "The Six Million Dollar Man" series for Berkley, "Switch" for Star and Berkley, "The Invisible Man" for Gold Medal, and "Rockford Files" for Popular Library. His other pseudonym includes Nick Carter - which is the house pseudonym used by author for the ACE series "Nick Carter."

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

10505-X NICK CARTER The Christmas Kill (January 1983; 1st ACE printing - Charter imprint)

11851-8 NICK CARTER The Coyote Connection (cover by George Gross; February 1981; 1st ACE printing - Charter imprint)

13918-3 NICK CARTER Day of the Mahdi: Killmaster #190 (July 1984; 1st ACE printing - Charter imprint)

13935-3 NICK CARTER Day of the Dingo (Charter imprint)

14172-2 NICK CARTER (house pseudonym for JACK CANON) The Death Star Affair (cover by George Gross; October 1982; 1st ACE printing - Charter imprint)

14221-3 NICK CARTER (house pseudonym for ROBERT J. RANDISI) The Decoy Hit: Killmaster #181  (1983; 1st ACE printing - Charter imprint)

15244-9 NICK CARTER The Dominican Affair (March 1982; 1st ACE printing - Charter imprint)

15676-2 NICK CARTER Doctor DNA (cover by George Gross; nd; 1st ACE printing - Charter imprint)

15870-6 NICK CARTER The Doomsday Spore (cover by George Gross; nd; listed as "First Time in Paperback"; Charter imprint)

18102-3 NICK CARTER Earthfire North: Killmaster #182 (cover by Sergio; 1st ACE printing - Charter imprint)

18124-4 NICK CARTER Earth Shaker (cover by George Gross; nd; 1st ACE printing - Charter imprint)

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

23765-7 NICK CARTER The Filty Five (c.1967; nd; 1st ACE printing - Charter imprint)

29736-6 NICK CARTER The Golden Serpent (nd; 1st ACE printing - Charter imprint)

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

31845-2 NICK CARTER Hawaii (nd; 1st ACE printing - Charter imprint)

35868-3 NICK CARTER The Inca Death Squad (cover by George Gross; nd; 1st ACE printing - Charter imprint)

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

45520-4 NICK CARTER (house pseudonym for JACK CANON) The Kremlin Kill: Killmaster #193  (1984; 1st ACE printing - Charter imprint)

47183-8 NICK CARTER The Last Samurai (cover by George Gross; nd; 1st ACE printing - Charter imprint)

48541-3 NICK CARTER (house pseudonym for JON MESSMANN) Living Death (1982; 1st ACE printing - Charter imprint)

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

51353-0 NICK CARTER The Macao Massacre: Killmaster #198 (March 1985; 1st ACE printing - Charter imprint)

51354-9 NICK CARTER Macao (nd; 1st ACE printing - Charter imprint)

51633-5 NICK CARTER The Jamaican Exchange (cover by George Gross; ACE Charter imprint; listed as "First Time In Paperback")

51921-0 NICK CARTER The Man Who Sold Death (cover by Charles Copeland; c.1974; nd - Charter imprint)

The Man Who Sold Death was originally published by Award Books as AO1297 (1974). The Charter edition is reprinted with the same Charles Copeland cover art. The smaller "Nick Carter" cartouche portrait in the upper right is by a different artist.

52276-9 NICK CARTER The Mayan Connection: Killmaster #194 (1984; 1st ACE printing - Charter imprint)

The Killmaster series appears to be another Nick Carter spy thriller variant

52447-8 NICK CARTER (house pseudonym for ROBERT J. RANDISI) The Mendoza Manuscript: Killmaster #181  (1982; 1st ACE printing - Charter imprint)

57282-0 NICK CARTER (house pseudonym for JACK CANON) The Cyclops Conspiracy: Killmaster #213  (1986; 1st ACE printing - Charter imprint)

57286-3 NICK CARTER (house pseudonym for DAVID HAGBERG) The Death Orbit: Killmaster #217  (1986; 1st ACE printing - Charter imprint)

57287-1 NICK CARTER (house pseudonym for JACK CANON) Slaughter Day: Killmaster #218  (1986; 1st ACE printing - Charter imprint)

57290-1 NICK CARTER Crossfire Red: Killmaster #221  (January 1987; 1st ACE printing - Charter imprint)

57291-X NICK CARTER Blood of the Falcon: Killmaster #222  (cover by George Gross; 1987; 1st ACE printing - Charter imprint)

57293-6 NICK CARTER (house pseudonym for JACK CANON) The Terror Code: Killmaster #224 (1987; 1st ACE printing - Charter imprint)

57295-2 NICK CARTER Blood Raid: Killmaster #226  (June 1987; 1st ACE printing - Charter imprint)

57496-3 NICK CARTER The Night of the Avenger (1975; 1st ACE printing - Charter imprint)

57502-1 NICK CARTER (house pseudonym for JACK CANON) Night of the Warheads: Killmaster #189  (cover by George Gross; 1984; 1st ACE printing - Charter imprint)

57502-1 (back cover)

58612-0 NICK CARTER (house pseudonym for JACK CANON) The Normandy Code: Killmaster #202  (1985; 1st ACE printing - Charter imprint)

58866-2 NICK CARTER (house pseudonym for ROBERT E. VARDEMAN) Norwegian Typhoon (cover by George Gross; 1982; 1st ACE printing - Charter imprint)

58866-2 (back cover)

Robert E. Vardeman also writes in the fantasy and science fiction genres.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

63400-1 NICK CARTER Operation McMurdo Sound (cover by George Gross; 1982; 1st ACE printing - Charter imprint)

63424-9 NICK CARTER (house pseudonym for JACK CANON) Operation Sharkbait: Killmaster #187  (1984; 1st ACE printing - Charter imprint)

64426-0 NICK CARTER The Ouster Conspiracy (cover by George Gross; nd; 1st ACE printing - Charter imprint)

65085-6 NICK CARTER (house pseudonym used jointly by ANSEL CHAPIN and DEE STUART) The Pamplona Affair (1978; 1st ACE Charter printing)

65858-1 NICK CARTER The Pemex Chart (cover by George Gross; nd; listed as "First Time in Paperback"; 1st ACE printing - Charter imprint)

65176-3 NICK CARTER (house pseudonym for H. EDWARD HUNSBURGER) The Parisian Affair (December 1981; 1st ACE printing - Charter imprint)

67081-4 NICK CARTER (house pseudonym for ROBERT J. RANDISI) Pleasure Island (cover by George Gross; 1981; 1st ACE printing - Charter imprint)

67081-4 (back cover)

69128-3 NICK CARTER The Puppet Master (1982; 1st ACE printing - Charter imprint)

69656-2 NICK CARTER The Q-Man (1981; 1st ACE printing - Charter imprint)

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

70270-8 NICK CARTER (house pseudonym for DAVID HAGBERG) Race of Death (1978; 1st ACE printing - Charter imprint)

71133-2 NICK CARTER The Redolmo Affair (April 1979; listed as "First Time In Paperback;" ACE Charter imprint)

71133-2 (back cover)

71228-2 NICK CARTER (house pseudonym for FRED HUBER) Reich Four (1979; 1st ACE printing - Charter imprint)

71834-5 NICK CARTER Revenge of the Generals (1st ACE printing - Charter imprint)

74965-8 NICK CARTER (house pseudonym for JOSEPH GILMORE) San Juan Inferno: Killmaster #195  (1984; 1st ACE printing - Charter imprint)

76355-3 NICK CARTER The Sign of the Prayer Shawl (1976; 1st ACE printing - Charter imprint)

76838 NICK CARTER (house pseudonym for DeWITT COPP) Six Bloody Summer Days (1975; 1st ACE printing and PBO - Charter imprint)

77233-1 NICK CARTER The Society of Nine (cover by George Gross; 1981; 1st ACE Charter printing)

                                                                                            77233-1 (back cover)

77413-X NICK CARTER (house pseudonym for ROBERT E. VARDEMAN) The Solar Menace (August 1981; 1st ACE printing - Charter imprint)

Robert E. Vardeman also writes fantasy and science fiction for ACE.

79073-9 NICK CARTER The Strontium Code (cover by George Gross; 1981; 1st ACE printing - Charter imprint)

79077-1 NICK CARTER (house pseudonym for GEORGE WARREN) Suicide Seat (1980; 1st ACE printing - Charter imprint)

79822-3 NICK CARTER Target Red Star: Killmaster #208  (nd; 1st ACE printing - Charter imprint)

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

80062-2 NICK CARTER Ten Times Dynamite (Charter imprint)

80860-3 NICK CARTER Thunderstrike in Syria (cover by George Gross; ACE Charter imprint; listed as "First Time In Paperback")

82407-2 NICK CARTER Triple Cross (1980; 1st ACE printing - Charter imprint)

82417-X NICK CARTER (house pseudonym for BOB STOKESBERRY) Tropical Deathpack (cover by George Gross; 1979; listed as "First Time in Paperback")

82460-9 NICK CARTER Trouble in Paradise (cover by George Gross; ACE Charter imprint; listed as "First Time In Paperback")

82726-8 NICK CARTER Turkish Bloodbath (cover by George Gross; 1980; 1st ACE printing - Charter imprint)

84309-3 NICK CARTER The Ultimate Code (Charter imprint)

84499-5 NICK CARTER (house pseudonym for DEWITT COPP) Under The Wall (1978; 1st ACE printing - Charter imprint)

85881-0 NICK CARTER The Israel Connection (Charter imprint)

87192-5 NICK CARTER War From The Clouds (cover by George Gross; 1980; 1st ACE printing - Charter imprint)

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

95935-0 NICK CARTER Zero-Hour Strike Force: Killmaster #186  (1984; 1st ACE printing - Charter imprint)

95485-4 NICK CARTER The Z Document (1975; 1st ACE printing - Charter imprint)

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

And for something completely different, a boxed set of Nick Carter tales.  Published under the Charter imprint with a simple cardboard box.  No coding for the box set, just Charter imprint numbers with each story. Based upon the copyrights for the stories, I would suggest this box set was marketed around 1976.  Contains five (5) previous published Nick Carter stories:  

The Z Document (95485-5; c.1975), Six Bloody Summer Days (76838; c.1975), The Filthy Five (23765-7; c.1967), The Night of the Avenger (57496-3; c.1975) and Sign of the Cobra (c.1974).

If any AIL user has a copy of this box set, please let me know if your copy has more information on price and marketing date.  Thank you.

Another venue NICK CARTER took was the silver screen - in Italy. There were (at least) two (2) movies based (very loosely) on these books (there appears to be more, but I am having a bit of difficulty determining if they are the same film, with different titles).

Nick Carter Non Perdona (released in the U.S. as "License to Kill")

Italian Locandina movie poster (13" x 27") from the 1964 Henri Decoin French crime action adventure thriller starring Eddie Constantine (in the title role as Nick Carter), Daphne Dayle, Barbara Somers, Yvonne Monlaur, Margo Lion, Charles Belmont, and Paul Frankeur. Features Renato Casaro artwork.

Nick Carter et Le Trefle Rouge (released in English and U.S. as "Nick Carter and Red Club")

Italian Locandina movie poster (13" x 27") from the 1965 Jean-Paul Savignac French/Italian detective mystery crime action thriller starring Eddie Constantine (in the title role as Nick Carter), Jeanne Valerie, Nicole Courcel, Graziella Galvani, Graziella Galvani, Marcello Pagliero, and Jacques Harden.

The "Nick Carter" franchise appears to have extended farther into the past than I imagined. Here is the one-sheet (27" x 41") movie poster for the 1939 Jacques Tourner aviation airplane crime mystery (Metro Goldwyn Mayer Picture)

Nick Carter - Master Detective

This movie is based on the popular series of pulp magazine stories from the 1930's. Film stars Walter Pidgeon (in the title role of Nick Carter), Rita Johnson, Henry Hull, Stanley C. Ridges, Donal Meek, and Addison Richards.  Image courtesy of emovieposters.com.

The more I look, the more I find (the tale of a research geek).  Here is an example of the 1930's era pulp magazine stories. 

NICK CARTER MAGAZINE (Street Smith Publication; July 1935; vol. 5, no. 4).

Last Update 24 October 2021

 

RETURN TO ACE IMAGE LIBRARY