Carter Brown is the great guru of the detective

He is called the guru of the detective genre. What was the author's way to deserve this "rank"? In 1949, the first novel was published from under his pen. Over 30 years of his literary career, he wrote more than 270 works. Of these - 261 detective novel, the rest of the works were written in different genres. Taking for reading any book of Carter Brown, you know for sure: it will not be boring.

Biography

The author wrote his books under pseudonyms - Paul Valdez, Tex Conrad, Sinclair McKellar, Dennis Sinclair, Carter Brown and Tom Conway. The real name of the writer is Alan Geoffrey Yates. He was born in London on August 1, 1923. Educated in Essex schools. At the age of 19, being in the rank of lieutenant, went to serve in the Royal Navy. After 4 years of service, Alan retires and works for Gaumont-British Films in a recording studio.

In 1948, Yates moved to Australia, obtained Australian citizenship and worked for several years in Sydney with Qantas. He was married to Denise McKellar, the family had four children - three sons and a daughter. At the age of 61, on May 5, 1985, the writer died.

The beginning of literary activity

Even while working as a manager, Carter Brown tried himself in writing. During this period he tries himself in various genres - westerns, "horror movies", science fiction. Many of these works are written under the pseudonym of Tex Conrad. In 1953, Alan decided to switch completely to literary activity. From this moment he writes exclusively in the genre of the detective.

His first work, the novel "Unarmed Venus", written under a pseudonym Carter Brown sold out in a huge circulation and brought him fame. A few years later he published the novel under his real name, and in 1966 a number of his works come out under the pseudonym Caroline Farr.

The author's early works were addressed to an Australian audience. But after the publishing house New American Library offered him cooperation, his name becomes widely known in the United States. In 1959, his books were published in France, translated into several languages, and world renown came to Carter Brown.

Fantastic in the work of Carter Brown

The first years of his work, Carter Brown worked in a fantastic genre. In this period (1949 - 1953) there were about twenty stories and stories under the pseudonym Paul Valdes. Most of the works are written in the genre of a thriller with elements of fantasy and mysticism. Particularly notable are Hypnotic Death (1949), The Time Thief (1951) and The Crook Who Was not There (1952). Sinister inventors and inventions, travels in time, X-ray vision and invisibility - these works contain all the elements of fiction.

In the same period, the author writes several science fiction stories under his real name. The most famous of them are Girl from Galaxy X, A Space Ship is Missing, Planet of the Lost, Genie from Jupiter, Goddess of Space.

By the end of his career, Alan unexpectedly returns to science fiction, from under his pen goes the novel Coriolanus, the Chariot! - perhaps the largest work he wrote in this genre. This novel was uncharacteristic of his style, quite unlike any other work. Perhaps, therefore, the book was met with some negative, and it remained unnoticed.

Detective novels

Detectives Carter Brown entertaining, with unexpected twists of the plot and excellent humor very quickly gained popularity, despite some roughness. The author places the heroes of his works in the realities of American life, which he knew more from guidebooks and movies. But readers forgive all the prolific writer for the lively and rich language of the characters.

The main features of his style - laconism, rapidly evolving intrigue, without unnecessary intricacies. Numerous conversations in spoken language, humor and, of course, terrific characters. The heroines of his works are invariably "juicy" and chic ladies, endowed with numerous talents and delights.

Detectives in Carter's novels are invariably "cool" guys who in any situation get out of the water. Sometimes, at the risk of their lives, they reveal serious crimes. But, as is typical of Brown's books, all attributes of a criminal nature do not strain, but are organically intertwined in the narrative.

Kindle in the readers' desire and curiosity, make them worry and read the books in one gulp, but at the same time distract and rest after the book - this was only the ability of Detective Carter Brown.

Books in one breath

All the detectives of Carter Brown "drag" the reader. It is impossible to describe what exactly they are attracting, are forced to again and again to pick up a book and reread. One feels a certain peculiarity, a desire to go beyond the framework of the idea and to introduce precisely that uniqueness, because of which there is a desire to return to the read.

You understand from the first lines that somewhere in the details lies the answer. But the author skillfully leads from the plot to the plot and the veil rises only in the last pages. Hints and dialogues, gradually, step by step, the author leads to the idea of the work. Different points of view, events, uncovered from different sides, mild irony, comic situations are so harmoniously intertwined in the plot that they become an integral part of it. For example, the book "House of Witchcraft".

Carter Brown brightly and simultaneously weighedly reveals the character of the protagonist. You read the novel and watch how the main character changes - from impulsiveness and emotionality passes to balanced and judicious actions. The author managed to raise in the book a number of questions on which it is worth pondering. Carter Brown's books - and philosophy, and psychology, and humor, and tragedy, and history ...