Paul Cain (pen name)

George Caryl Sims
Born(1902-05-30)May 30, 1902
Des Moines, Iowa
DiedJune 23, 1966(1966-06-23) (aged 64)
North Hollywood, California
Pen namePaul Cain, Peter Ruric
Occupation
  • Novelist
  • short story writer
  • screenwriter
NationalityAmerican
Genrehardboiled crime fiction, mystery fiction
Notable worksFast One (1933)
Seven Slayers (1946)

George Caryl Sims (May 30, 1902 – June 23, 1966), better known by his pen names Paul Cain and Peter Ruric, was an American pulp fiction author and screenwriter.[1][2] He is best known for his novel Fast One, which is considered to be a landmark of the pulp fiction genre and was called the "high point in the ultra hard-boiled manner" by Raymond Chandler.[3][4] Lee Server, author of the Encyclopedia of Pulp Fiction Writers, called Fast One "a cold-hearted, machine-gun-paced masterwork" and his other writings "gemlike, stoic and merciless vignettes that seemed to come direct from the bootlegging front lines."[5]

Sims enjoyed a brief career in Hollywood as a screenwriter during the 1930s and 1940s, including writing the screenplay for the Boris Karloff vehicle The Black Cat.[3]

  1. ^ Boris Dralyuk (10 April 2018). "Paul Cain: An Introduction".
  2. ^ Cain, Paul (2013). The Paul Cain Omnibus: Every Crime Story and the Novel Fast One As Originally Published. Black Mask Series. Open Road Integrated Media, Incorporated. ISBN 978-1-4804-5689-1. Retrieved 2023-06-06.
  3. ^ a b Danger Is My Business: An Illustrated History of the Fabulous Pulp Magazines, by Lee Server (Chronicle Books, 1993) (p.70).
  4. ^ William Marling. "Paul Cain". Archived from the original on 2010-01-07.
  5. ^ Server, Lee (2014). Encyclopedia of Pulp Fiction Writers. Facts on File library of American literature. Facts On File, Incorporated. ISBN 978-1-4381-0912-1. Retrieved 2023-06-08.