The Promoter by Orrie Hitt

Sleaze books aren’t known for their tight editing. They were released into the world banking on the cheap sexy covers and the suggestion of an immoral sexy plot. Orrie Hitt was one of the best authors of the sleaze genre. And yes, that was his real name. His stories were interesting and well written. The editing isn’t bad either. He probably did it himself. There was one huge editing flub in this though, but it’s no fault of Orries. When Beacon Books released this in 1957 no one bothered to make sure they were putting the right synopsis on the back cover. Ha! There is a plot and characters mentioned that are not in this book. It does have a somewhat similar plot though which made me read it over and over like, did I miss something?? Anyway, Paperback Warrior has an incredible deep dive into the author Orrie Hitt that I highly recommend. It’s on their blog but also an episode of the podcast. Go check it out.

So, after the back cover blunder, it makes me wonder if this book was even supposed to be called The Promoter. There is a “Syndicate of Sin” in this but no mafia. The main character becomes a “promoter” of sorts but he’s not having a great time with it like that guy on the cover and vice was not his business. His name was Bill Morgan and his business was writing articles about hot rods. It’s the 1950s remember? Hot rods were all the rage.

He's following a story lead of a small-town preacher who made a program for young lads to stay out of trouble by building a hot rod from the ground up. While at the preacher’s home he meets his repressed; sexually and mentally, daughter. Daughter is flirty but not over the top. More like she’s just bored out of her mind and it’s something to do. Preacher treats her like a house maid servant. All he cares about is helping young boys not be immoral. In a moment alone daughter tells Bill that she’s out of there. She’s going to the big city where her friend Elsa lives and getting a job. Peace out.

Next day she’s gone. Preacher wants to hire Bill to do some investigative journalism about all this filthy pornography that’s been floating around smalltown. He has a morality squad of local well to do businesspeople who are willing to throwdown serious cash to get this filth out of their town. As an afterthought the preacher is also like, oh hey, while you’re doing that can you also maybe look for my daughter?

Bill hits the ground running. He makes some calls and finds out where preacher’s daughter’s friend Elsa lives. He also starts buying up porn. He is sickened by this smut! Except for some of it which is pretty hot. Throughout the book Bill is repulsed by porn and the people in the industry but also sexualizes every woman he encounters. He is disgusted by the women he meets in the industry but only after admiring their filled-out luscious forms. He is very hypocritical. He has no problem sleeping with the enemy to get what he wants, essentially making HIM a prostitute but it’s his moral mission to put an end to this smut. He hires a prostitute to play a part when he meets the sex syndicate. Basically, paying her money to fuck these people. There are lots of inner turmoil moments in Bill’s head where he can’t believe he’s doing this, but these people must be stopped. You mean, you’re doing what you have to make ends meet, Bill?? I found it incredibly easy to dislike this guy.

As he works his way up and into the industry, he meets all sorts of nefarious characters. Lots of hot women with, “pointy breasts that are wide apart.” Huh?! Is that hot for anyone out there? That’s the first time I’ve ever heard of “wide apart” as an enticing descriptor of breasts.

It goes without saying he finds the preacher’s daughter caught up in the mess. The second the preacher hires Bill to put an end to porn and the runaway daughter, I knew where it was going.

It was pretty mild plotting wise. At first he starts moving up ranks and you’re into it. But then it becomes somewhat monotonous as each level he meets a similar character. I will say though I imagine it was written exactly like what an actual investigative reporter would have to go through. It’s tedious. He’s undercover and playing a part. There isn’t too much action. He gets clubbed over the head from time to time. He does kick down a door and beat the shit out of a guy. That was fun. He beds ladies. Sometimes because he wants to, sometimes for the undercover work. It’s never sexy. It’s always insinuated what’s about to happen and then it’s the next day.

I was clubbed over the head with something I didn’t see coming at all. In fact, if it weren’t for that I’d say this was very meh. But when the shit went down, I sat up like, whaaaat??? Did it make it worth reading the sloggin parts? Yeah, it kind of did. It wrapped the story right around and all of those earlier tedious moments came right back and slapped me in the face.

Beacon Books 1957

Review by Nick Anderson