Gilbert John "Gil" Brewer (November 20, 1922 – January 9, 1983) was an American writer of crime novels and short stories. Born on November 20, 1922, in Canandaigua, New York, he was the son of Gilbert Thomas Brewer and Ruth Wilhelmina Olschewske. Brewer's father was a writer who also published under the name Gil Brewer, specializing in air adventure stories. The older Brewer is most often remembered for having written "Gorilla of the Gas Bags," the cover story for the rare June 1929 issue of Zeppelin Stories.
After leaving the army at the end of World War II, Brewer joined his family, who had settled in St. Petersburg, Florida. There he met Verlaine in 1947 and married her soon after. Brewer started by writing serious novels, but soon turned to pulp paperbacks after a sale to Gold Medal Books in 1950, and afterwards specialized in fast-paced crime novels with a dose of soft-core sexuality. At one point, he had five books on the stands simultaneously. His best-selling book was 13 French Street (1951), which sold over a million copies.David Rachels (2018). , PunkNoirMagazine.com, accessed October 20, 2021
Unwilling to promote himself, his career took a turn for the worse after a mental breakdown, and a long decline into alcoholism. Brewer died on January 9, 1983.
Works This list does not include most of the many stories where Brewer was published under pseudonyms such as Elaine Evans, Connie Everett, Eric Fitzgerald, Morgana Hill, Jack Holland, Dee Laye, Marc Mixer, Bailey Morgan, Luke Morgann, Frank Sebastian, Alex Sexton, Anita Sultry, Viola Vixen, and more.
Novels Published as by Gil Brewer. Reprints.
+ title publisher year comment Gun the Dame Down - 1951 Gun the Dame Down Stark House 2015 reprint Satan Is a Woman Gold Medal 1951 So Rich, So Dead Gold Medal 1951 13 French Street Gold Medal 1951 Flight to Darkness Gold Medal 1952 Hell's Our Destination Gold Medal 1953 A Killer Is Loose Gold Medal 1954 Some Must Die Gold Medal 1954 77 Rue Paradis Gold Medal 1954 The Squeeze Ace Double 1955 –And the Girl Screamed Crest 1956 The Angry Dream Mystery House 1957 The Brat Gold Medal 1957 Little Tramp Crest 1957 The Bitch Avon 1958 The Red Scarf Mystery House 1958 Wild Crest 1958 The Vengeful Virgin Crest 1958 The Girl from Hateville Zenith 1958 Wild to Possess Monarch 1959 Sugar Avon 1959 Nude on Thin Ice Avon 1960 Angel Avon 1960 Backwoods Teaser Gold Medal 1960 The Three-Way Split Gold Medal 1960 Play it Hard Monarch 1960 Appointment in Hell Monarch 1961 A Taste for Sin Berkley 1961 Memory of Passion Lancer 1963 The Hungry One Gold Medal 1966 The Tease Banner 1967 Sin for Me Banner 1967 It Takes a Thief #1: The Devil in Davos Ace 1969 TV tie-in It Takes a Thief #2: Mediterranean Caper Ace 1969 TV tie-in It Takes a Thief #3: Appointment in Cairo Ace 1970 TV tie-in A Devil for O'Shaughnessy - 1973 A Devil for O'Shaughnessy Stark House 2008 reprint Angry Arnold - 1976 Angry Arnold Stark House 2015 reprint The Erotics Stark House 2015
Short story collections Redheads Die Quickly and Other Stories (University Press of Florida – October 7, 2012) Redheads Die Quickly and Other Stories: Expanded Edition (Stark House – March 2019) Death Is a Private Eye: Unpublished Stories of Gil Brewer (Stark House – August 2019) Die Once–Die Twice: More Unpublished Stories of Gil Brewer (Stark House – January 2020) Death Comes Last: The Rest of the 1950s (Stark House – November 2021)
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