Nick Carter is a series of spy adventure novels published from 1964 until 1990, first by Award Books, then by Ace Books, and finally by Jove Books. At least 261 novels were published. The character is an update of the classic pulp fiction private eye Nick Carter, first published in 1886. Carter is described as a "Killmaster" in this series, and that term is used to distinguish this series from other Nick Carter runs.
No actual author is credited for the books, with the Nick Carter name being used as a house pseudonym. Volumes varied between first-person and third-person narratives. Authors known to have contributed entries in the series are Michael Avallone, Valerie Moolman, Manning Lee Stokes, Dennis Lynds, Gayle Lynds, Robert J. Randisi, David Hagberg, and Martin Cruz Smith. The name Nick Carter was acknowledged by the series as having been inspired by the early 20th century pulp fiction detective of the same name in the 100th Killmaster volume (labelled Nick Carter 100) which included an essay on the earlier Nick Carter and included a Nick Carter detective short story alongside a Killmaster adventure.
The title character of the series serves as Agent N3 of AXE, a fictional spy agency for the United States government. The novels are similar to the literary James Bond novels—low on gadgets, high on action. Sexual encounters in particular are described in detail.
The character The definitive description of Nicholas J. Huntington Carter is given in the first novel in the series, Run, Spy, Run. Carter is tall, over 6ft (1.83 m), lean and handsome with a classic profile and magnificently muscled body. He has wide-set steel gray eyes that are icy, cruel and dangerous. He is hard-faced, with a firm straight mouth, laugh-lines around the eyes, and a firm cleft chin. His hair is thick and dark. He has a small tattoo of a blue axe on the inside right lower arm near the elbow—the ultimate ID for an AXE agent. At least one novel states that the tattoo glows in the dark. Carter also has a knife scar on the shoulder, a shrapnel scar on the right thigh. He has a sixth sense for danger.
Carter served as a soldier in World War II, then with the OSS, before he joined his current employer AXE.
Carter practices yoga for at least 15 minutes a day. Carter has a prodigious ability for learning foreign languages. He is fluent in English (his native tongue), Cantonese,Dragon Flame French,The Eyes of the Tiger German,Fraulein Spy Greek,Seven Against Greece Hungarian,The Devil's Cockpit Italian, Portuguese,Checkmate in Rio Putonghua (Mandarin),The China Doll Russian,The 13th Spy Sanskrit,A Korean Tiger SpanishA Bullet for Fidel and Vietnamese.SaigonSaigon He has basic skills in Arabic,Safari for Spies Hindi,Double Identity Japanese, Korean, Romansch, Swahili, and Turkish.Istanbul In the early novels, Carter often assumes a number of elaborate disguises in order to execute his missions.
Weapons and paraphernalia Nick Carter uses three main weapons during the course of the series, all of which are named, and have histories. The gun, Wilhelmina, is a stripped-down German Luger. In the earliest stories, Carter got the gun off a German officer during a harrowing mission during World War II. Later stories state that he has had a series of Lugers, all named Wilhelmina. The knife, Hugo, is a pearl-handled 400-year-old stiletto crafted by Benvenuto Cellini. The blade retracts into the handle, and the knife is worn on a special sheath on the wrist, designed to release it into the user's hand with a simple muscle contraction. The third member of the triad is Pierre, a poison gas bomb, which is a small egg-shaped device, usually carried in a pocket but sometimes as a "third testicle" at his scrotum. Activated with a simple twist, it would, within seconds, kill anyone or anything that breathed its potassium cyanide, an odorless and colorless gas.
Carter often takes with him other weapons as the mission demands. These have included:
Cousin of Pierre: a smaller version of Pierre the poison gas bomb that can be concealed even more easily—described in The China Doll; Fang: a poison-tipped needle worn on a concealed index finger cap described in Saigon; Pepito: a non-lethal stun grenade used in Checkmate in Rio. Tiny Tim: a nuclear grenade "containing half a grain of sand of fissionable matter" used in Istanbul and The Red Guard 10,000-watt laser pistol used in Hanoi Cigarette lighter that fires drugged darts used in Hanoi Exploding cigars used in Hanoi
Carter has used a variety of equipment in the novels, most of which have nicknames. These have included: Antonio Moreno: a lifelike facemask made of a latex substance called Lastotex (apparently named after Antonio Moreno, the 1920s silent movie star); Gladstone: a rhino hide suitcase with multiple concealed compartments; Oscar Johnson: a small radio transmitter (unclear if it is named after Oscar Johnson, a baseball player active in the 1920s and 1930s, or Oscar G. Johnson, the World War II Medal of Honor recipient); Quantity K: a powerful acid strong enough to destroy evidence/documents; Laser torch: for burning through door locks used in The Weapon of Night; Singing Sam: a radio receiver concealed in electric razor/electric toothbrush used in Istanbul; Wristwatch with UHF transmitter used in Hanoi; Triple X tablet: a universal poison antidote and pep pill used in Hanoi; Talkalot: a scopolamine-like truth drug used in Danger Key; Unnamed injectable knockout drug requiring subsequent injection of antidote to regain consciousness used in The Weapon of Night; Store: an injectable drug that induces a week-long state of suspended animation used in Peking & The Tulip Affair
AXE The agency Carter works for is described as being smaller and far more secret than the CIA, mostly concerned with assassinations. In the first novel of the series, Run, Spy, Run, AXE is described as "the trouble-shooting arm of the US secret services". AXE headquarters are located in the 6th floor offices of a building in Dupont Circle, Washington, DC under the cover of the Amalgamated Press and Wire Service. AXE is purported to contain several different departments with specific functions including Editing (later called "Special Effects and Editing")—headed by Geoffrey Poindexter—which, among other things, creates false biographies for agents and provides appropriate props (e.g. fake latex fingerprints); Documents—whose role is to plant stories in the media to support specific activities and create false identification and travel documents; Records—which provides background information on suspects; and Operations—which provides logistic support for specific missions. AXE has a branch office near Columbus Circle, New York City and affiliate offices in countries around the world.
Agents are given code designations; Carter's N3, which has at least once been stated as standing for Number three, identifies him as one of the elite Killmasters. It has been stated in some novels that there are four Killmasters in AXE, with Carter the most senior. The meaning of the code N3 is described differently in different novels—sometimes it is Carter's personal designation, other times it is considered a rank, with N1 being the highest, while in other novels we are told that Carter is the third Killmaster to have worked for AXE, with both his predecessors having been killed in action.
David Hawk, described in early novels as looking a lot like Uncle Sam, is the head of AXE and Carter's personal boss. Della Stokes, Hawk's personal secretary, is a character similar to Bond's Miss Moneypenny—flirtatious but serious. Ginger Bateman is Hawk's personal secretary in later novels. Geoffrey Poindexter, AXE's equivalent to Q, runs the Special Effects and Editing department; in charge of weapons, gadgets, disguises, and papers.
AXE agents In the first novel in the series (Run, Spy, Run), AXE is described as comprising 24 agents. They are identified by alpha-numeric code. The following agents/codes have been described:
code name book date A2 unnamed Hanoi 1966 A4 unnamed Fraulein Spy 1964 October A7 Alec Greenberg; based in AXE's London office The Weapon of Night 1967 A12 using pseudonym "Alfred" Fraulein Spy 1964 October A24 unnamed Run, Spy, Run 1964 February B5 unnamed Hanoi 1966 B12 unnamed, but nicknamed "Vitamin" Fraulein Spy 1964 October C4 unnamed Fraulein Spy 1964 October D5 Dan Eiger based in Iraq, killed in The Weapon of Night 1967 E14 Red Turner A Bullet for Fidel 1965 March H19 Hakim Sadek, Egyptian policeman and academic The Weapon of Night 1967 K7 unnamed Run, Spy, Run 1964 February J2 unnamed; briefs Carter on his trip to Japan The China Doll 1964 April J20 Jean Paul Turnier The Terrible Ones 1966 May L32 Hank Peterson Operation Moon Rocket 1968 N1 unnamed stated killed in The Red Guard 1967 N1 unnamed stated killed in Temple of Fear 1968 N1 Stuart Hample The Peking Dossier 1975 N1 David Hawk in Trouble in Paradise 1978 N1 Theodore Salonikos dies in Hide And Go Die 1983 N2 unnamed stated killed in The Red Guard 1967 N2 unnamed stated killed in Temple of Fear 1968 N3 Nick Carter N4 unnamed stated killed in Temple of Fear 1968 N5 unnamed; an inexperienced agent Temple of Fear 1968 N5 McLaughlin Dr. Death 1975 N6 Joe Banks stated dead in Six Bloody Summer Days 1975 N6 or N7 Tom Boxer Macao 1969 N7 Clay Vincent Agent Counter-Agent 1973 N7 unnamed stated dead in Hide And Go Die 1983 N12 John Sparks Under the Wall 1978 N12 unnamed stated dead in Hide And Go Die 1983 N17 Dennis Gordon dies in The Golden Bull 1981 N17 Bill Qualley Hide And Go Die 1983 N30 Kiki Pederson dies in Trouble in Paradise 1978 N86 Sean Singer recruited in Hide And Go Die 1983 N92 Penelope Taylor knife trained by N86 in Ruby Red Death 1990 P3 David Trainor murdered in A Bullet for Fidel 1965 March P4 unnamed, described as a mole in the Kremlin Safari for Spies 1964 August P21 Martha Ryerson Rhodesia 1968 Q7 Ellie Harmon Hanoi 1966 Z4 Zeke, works in the AXE Psycho Lab Hanoi 1966
Novels N.B.: The listing here is in series order (not necessarily by publication date, which is given)
Run, Spy, Run (Feb. 1964) A101F by Michael Avallone/Valerie Moolman The China Doll (April 1964) A105F by Michael Avallone/Valerie Moolman Checkmate in Rio (May 1964) A110F by Valerie Moolman Safari for Spies (Aug. 1964) A114F by Valerie Moolman Fraulein Spy (Oct. 1964) A118F by Valerie Moolman Saigon (Dec. 1964) A122F by Michael Avallone/Valerie Moolman A Bullet for Fidel (March 1965) A130F by Valerie Moolman The 13th Spy (May 1965) A139F by Valerie Moolman The Eyes of the Tiger (Sept. 1965) A152F by Manning Lee Stokes Istanbul (Oct. 1965) A157F by Manning Lee Stokes Web of Spies (Jan. 1966) A163F by Manning Lee Stokes Spy Castle (Jan. 1966) A166F by Manning Lee Stokes The Terrible Ones (May 1966) A172F by Valerie Moolman Dragon Flame (May 1966) A173F by Manning Lee Stokes Hanoi (1966) A182F by Valerie Moolman Danger Key (1966) A183F by Lew Louderback Operation Starvation (1966) A197F by Nicholas Browne The Mind Poisoners (1966) A198F by Lionel White/Valerie Moolman The Weapon of Night (1967) A215F by Valerie Moolman The Golden Serpent (1967) A216F by Manning Lee Stokes Mission to Venice (1967) A228X by Manning Lee Stokes Double Identity (1967) A229X by Manning Lee Stokes The Devil's Cockpit (1967) A238X by Manning Lee Stokes The Chinese Paymaster (1967) A239X by Nicholas Browne Seven Against Greece (Sept 1967) A247X by Nicholas Browne A Korean Tiger (1967) A248X by Manning Lee Stokes Assignment: Israel (1967) A260X by Manning Lee Stokes The Red Guard (1967) A261X by Manning Lee Stokes The Filthy Five (Nov 1967) A276X by Manning Lee Stokes The Bright Blue Death (1967) A277X by Nicholas Browne Macao (1968) A294X by Manning Lee Stokes Operation Moon Rocket (1968) A295X by Lew Louderback Judas Spy (April 1968) A325X by William L Rohde Hood of Death (1968) A326X by William L Rohde