JAMES HADLEY CHASE

This website is dedicated to perhaps the greatest mystery / thriller writers of the 20th century - René Brabazon Lodge Alan Raymond a.k.a. James Hadley Chase. Widely read, hugely admired, sorely criticized, universally published and translated, Chase just cannot  be ignored.  This website has been created by a fan in India, from secondary sources of information and a personal collection of Chase's works. It is an humble tribute to an author, who deserves his own  place in the Net, which was lacking, till the launching of this  exclusive  website on 1st June 2004. 

Filmography, TV Productions and Plays   

My Phantom Comics Page

          Chase's first novel, No Orchids for Miss Blandish, was written in six weekends, during the late summer of 1938. After being rejected by Michael Joseph, it was later published in 1939 by Jarrolds (London). It was an immediate success, and was quickly published in several European countries, as well as South America, Canada, Japan and even Russia. Chase, at that time, had never been to the US. Nevertheless, with the aid of American slang dictionaries and reference books, he wrote this shattering book about the kidnapping of a millionaire's beautiful daughter,  by a mob of depraved killers lead by a Ma Barker- type gang leader. The heiress later commits suicide after being subjected to repeated rape and all sorts of depravities. 

     In 1944, George Orwell defended the book, which was apparently considered fascist and against all the values that England fought for,  in World War II. The novel sold half a million copies during the wartime paper shortages, and was read more than any other title by serving members, men and women, of the British armed forces. Orwell wrote, that "it is not, as one might expect, the product of an illiterate hack, but a brilliant piece of writing, with hardly a wasted word or a jarring note anywhere". 

     Although Chase lived in Europe, he continued to use the US for his locales in his subsequent novels, and created mythical  locations such as Paradise City and Orchid City, supposedly in Florida, USA. In all, he wrote about 90 novels, a play, some short stories and edited an anthology. For details, click here.  Chase also used London for his locales, for a few novels, most of his characters being based in the US.  It is interesting to observe the differences in language and  mannerisms of Chase's characters, as perceived by him, and even the differences in the plots themselves, when the novels are based in US and UK.  He briefly visited Miami and New Orleans, USA, quite late in his life. 

  In  W.J. West's "The Quest for Graham Greene - A Biography" (St. Martin's Press, 1998), based on a cache of letters written by Chase to Greene, it is revealed that the two shared the same tax consultant and that the two men, along with Charlie Chaplin and Noel Coward, became unwittingly embroiled in a tax evasion and fraud operation scandal with roots in the Hollywood mafia. 

     Widely read all over the world, Chase was frequently criticized  for the  sadistic treatment of  women in his novels. Critics dubbed him as a pulp fiction writer. His novels often had catchy titles and lurid covers,  although there was no particular sexual content or steamy descriptions in his writings per se, as compared to other thriller novelists of his time. Some critics also pointed out his lack of first-hand knowledge of American life and slang, as a result of which, his dialogues appeared dated. In defense,  he was  quoted as saying, "If an author's work sells steadily and well, worldwide, he should not need to waste time giving press interviews, writing introductions or bothering about what critics have to say".   

     Chase was reported to have been heavily influenced by William Faulkner, John Steinbeck, Jonathan Latimer and James M. Cain. Charges of plagiarism, by lifting passages verbatim or almost verbatim from other writers (including Hammett, Chandler and Latimer) dogged him through much of his career.