By Sean Tuohy
New York City P.I. Ed Noon was always ready with wit, snark, and one-liners followed by right hooks. Noon possessed a schoolboy charm and the punching power of a back-alley heavyweight.
Prolific American author Michael Avallone—who claimed to have written up to 1,000 novels in his lifetime—created Noon in 1953 and published the final Noon tale in 1985. He crafted stories that saw our hero solve mysteries, save dames, and get mixed up with aliens on more than one occasion.
Ed Noon novels are a day read. You can plow through a whole book in a single shot. They are short and to the point, but filled with devilish characters and a breakneck plot.
Every Noon adventure was a step up from the last. From fighting heroin-addled goons on a train while protecting a priceless artifact to fighting voodoo witch doctors out for revenge, Noon got rough and tough all while making readers laugh at his trademark wisecracks.
Noon will go down in history as one of the greatest American detectives. We assume he is fighting pirates along some forgotten coast with a joke on his lips and a damsel in distress on his arm.
Enjoy some of our favorite Ed Noon covers, which fit the novels perfectly.
