The Man in the Revolving Door
June 1969
About the Author
Robert Edward Eckels is an American author who wrote around 50 published short stories between 1969 and the mid-1980s. He specialized in short stories about con-men, spies and swindles, preferring to avoid the blood and gore of violent crime. His stories were published in popular magazines such as Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine and Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, along with several hard cover books in the US. Several of his stories appeared in magazines and TV shows in Europe and Japan.
Click here to read interviews with his granchildren Alyssa and Austin.
Never Trust a Partner
A series of short stories by Robert Edward Eckels
"Extremely smooth and unusually entertaining" is how Ellery Queen described the short stories of Robert Edward Eckels. Swiftly paced, they range from taut tales of CIA agents to the delightful con man stories that were his specialty. Collected here for the first time are two complete series. Lang & Lovell are partners in art forgery, targeting the rich and arrogant, and appear in 12 stories. Lovell is the “inside man” who can copy any painting by any artist, living or dead, and Lang is the “outside man” who knows how to line up and reel in a mark. The five devious exploits of Major Henry T. McDonlevy, the "world's greatest adjutant," feature a subtler sort of swindle. McDonlevy and his co-conspirator, Thomas James, insinuate themselves into the social lives of card players and gamblers, and end up surprising both them and the reader with a completely unexpected deception.
Get a limited edition signed and numbered copy on the publisher website.
Stories
Visit different categories and read the full stories below...
First stories
Con-men
Spy
Crime
Sci-Fi
“Mr. Eckels tells us that he has been writing fiction “off and on” for more than 20 years. “The Man in the Revolving Door” is his first published story, and now that he has “broken the ice” on the surface of Rejection Lake, battered down the gate of Acceptance City, he is hard at work on other stories—which we, for two, can hardly wait to read…”
– Editors of Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine
Major McDonlevy Series
“My favorite character was Major McDonlevy because his physical description was the same as my Captain McDonough when I was serving in the Army at Schwabisch Hall in Germany during the Korean War”
– Robert Edward Eckels
Lang & Lovell Series
“Lang and Lovell—Lovell, the “inside man,” and Lang, the “outside man”—a coalition of con men, a partnership of pirates, a small syndicate of swindlers who specialize in art frauds…”
– Editors of Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine
Other Con-Men Stories
Anonymous Men of the CIA
“There is nothing obviously spectacular about Robert Edward Eckels’ spy stories – nothing even melodramatic about them. Mr. Eckels always underplays his hand – and that is precisely why his stories carry so much conviction. You could almost believe that you are one of the players yourself…”
– Editors of Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine
“Robert Edward Eckels’ anonymous men of the CIA may in fact be the same character. The author paints the CIA agent as the ultimate chameleon, constantly changing its colors to suit its habitat”
– Editors of Tales of Espionage
“I always proofread his stories. But then he wrote one about a little boy who was kidnapped (A Little Ride in the Car). And I refused to proofread that story because I thought of our boys”
– wife Margaret Eckels
“There was a science fiction magazine that ran a monthly pun. It was a little half page story setting up the pun and then the pun and that was it. I sent my story off to them and they bought it. They paid me $50 for the pun and it was published under a pen name I used which was E.E. Roberts.”
- Robert Edward Eckels
