Get a Load of This

James Hadley Chase is probably the best know synonym of René Lodge Brabazon Raymond, an English writer also known by other pen names, including James L. Docherty, Raymond Marshall, R. Raymond, and Ambrose Grant. He is one of the best known thriller writers of all time. He was influenced by American crime writes and writers of hardboiled pulp fiction, but he rarely visited the United States and the books are based on knowledge acquired by reading and using reference materials. He has written some 90 books, almost half of which have been made into movies.
Chase wrote "Get A Load of This", a collection of short stories, while he was still in the Royal Air Force. Although none of these stories have the trademark Chase touch of a full-length novel, they all are violent, erotic, and part of Chase history that cannot be ignored. They are set in sleazy streets, run-down hotel lobbies, and other similar soulless places, and are inhabited by characters typical of the Chase tradition, including all-metal blondes, thugs, and double-crossers.
In a letter to his editor, Chase wrote “My present activities don't permit me to tackle a full-length novel, but I have a number of situations up my sleeve I have been tempted to turn them into shorts. … I think it'll go.” And indeed it does. And, after these, he never went back to the short story format.