Saturday, August 11, 2012

Peter Hawkins

Peter Hawkins, born in London in 1924, was a journalist in the 1950s who worked for the Sunday Pictorial. He is probably best known for his exposure of Satanism in a series of articles that ran for at least five years from 1951. He also wrote under the pen-name Boris Ramon.

Hawkins lived in the South of France.

It is possible that Peter Hawkins was also interested in science fiction, and wrote for both New Worlds and Science Fantasy in the early 1950s, as well as penning a novel under the pen-name Karl Maras. The writer of science fiction reputedly worked in a bank and was possibly born in 1925. So... are they one and the same author? Or two different authors? (Yes, they're two different authors!)

Novels
The Daffodil Girls. London, New English Library 0450-00396-5, 1969.
The Sun Lovers. London, New English Library 0450-00458-9, 1970.
The Neon Gods. London, New English Library 2731 (0450-00598-4), 1970.
The Naked Spy. London, New English Library 0450-00698-0, 1971.
The Man With the Mad Eyes. London, New English Library 0450-01497-5, 1973.
The Spying Machine. London, Corgi 0552-09128-6, 1973.

As Boris Ramon
The Magic Eye: Secrets of a Master Hypnotist. New English Library 0450-01518-1, 1973.

Non-fiction
Prince Ranier of Monaco. His authorsed and exclusive story. London, William Kimber, 1966.

The Daffodil Girls
New English Library 2528 (0450-00396-5), Oct 1969, 253pp, 7/6. Cover photo
The sexational novel which lifts the curtain on a world-famous dancing troupe.
Everyone knows The Bluebell Girls. Now meet The Daffodils – a stunning troupe of beautiful blondes who can out-kick, out-live and out-shock anyone on the jet-set showbiz scene.
__And meet Samantha – the latest teenage recruit who finds the path to success is paved with the beds of agents, actors, film stars and stage door johnnies.
__In this powerful and authentic novel, ex Fleet Street journalist Peter Hawkins who knows the dancing world sex-go-round, exposes the life and loves of The Daffodils on the stages of the world.
The Sun Lovers
New English Librar 2703 (0450-00458-9), 1970. Cover photo
The incredible story of the traffic of young girls in the South of France.
Against the luxurious background of yachts, expensive hotels and restaurants, along the gorgeous white sands, with the blue Mediterranean glinting in the perpetual sunshine, a horrifying game of seek and find is enacted to satisfy the perverted lusts of wealthy men.
__This is the story of Ginny, Mandy and Jan – three girls blinded by their desire to stay in this golden paradise – who are blackmailed into performing every kind of deviant act; and smooth operators like Rick who prowl the beaches and cafes looking for likely targets.
__Peter Hawkins, ex Fleet Street journalist, based in the South of France for many years, has drawn upon his first-hand knowledge to write a sensational, almost unbelievable novel about the sexual hothouse that is the world of the sun lovers.
The Neon Gods
New English Library 2731 (0450-00598-4), Sep 1970, 125pp, 5/-. Cover photo
The incredible story of the Hollywood sex-go-round in Europe.
Now, from the best-selling author of The Daffodil Girls, comes this frank, fearless novel which lifts the curtain on film-making in Europe. It's the most candid story ever written about an industry whose bright lights never penetrate its own dark corners. It's the story of shame, scandal and sex as the modern film scene comes to terms with the dolce vita – in the land of The Neon Gods.
__They're shooting a multi-million dollar epic. and from the moment high-living producer Mark Fredman holds his first script conference in a brothel the incredible plot unfolds – whilst Lindy Line, the latest supercharged superstar to make Europe her firmament, moves from co-star to co-star and bed to bed, skilfully shielded by her smart P.R. man.
__Once more Peter Hawkins pulls no punches as The Neon Gods act out their amorous on-and-off screen adventures against an authentic backcloth of jet set Rome.
The Naked Spy
New English Library 0450-00698-0, 1971, 30p. Cover photo by James Tormey.
How would you like to be trapped in a nudist camp with four nubile nymphos?
    As a spy, Geoffrey Trubshaw couldn't find his way out of a see-through raincoat. Already disgraced, he has retired to a nudists' haven on the Mediterranean.
    But suddenly Trubshaw is the one man every world power is looking for. He has some secrets buried deep in his memory, and a quartet of curvaceous counter-spies assigned to help him remember — whether he likes it or not.
    "Hawkins ... could emerge as a writer on a par with Harold Robbins" — Variety.

The Man With The Mad Eyes
New English Library 0450-01497-5, 1973

Used properly, in the hands of trained and skillful practitioners, hypnotism can be a powerful force for good. In the hands of the maladroit or the wicked, it can lead only to evil.
    John Wilmot, a young and not altogether innocent man, meets and is corrupted by the depraved Innes Farquharson. He is taught the mastery of hypnotism and the way he can use it to persuade women to obey his bizarre commands.
    Initial success serves only to excite his hidden desires and bring them - like slime on a stagnant pool - slowly to the surface. After the first death, there can only be others.
    A frightening new novel by the author of the best-selling "Daffodil Girls".

The Spying Machine
Corgi 0552-09128-6, 1973, 221pp, 30p. Cover by Michael Codd
One minute Tim Purdy was wearing itchy arrows in Dartmoor with no hope of release for years; the next he was part of an organised espionage team of ex-prisoners hell-bent on sabotage and reconnaisance in German-held France. The transformation was staggering.
__It seemed there was a memorandum from the Prime Minister giving his official approval to the scheme and calling it 'Operation Prodigal'. So a number of men had been picked who were all experts in their specific 'fields', There was Paddy, the explosives enthusiast from the I.R.A.; George the safe-cracker supreme; Gus, whose speciality was a perfectly turned-out bank note; and of course, Tim, who owned a French brothel and naturally, had spent a great deal of time there before the war.... 
The Magic Eye (by Baron Boris Ramon)
NEL, 1973.

2 comments:

  1. There's a self-published book (AuthorHouse, 2016) called Ellie, subtitled A Kind of Love,by Peter Hawkins--sounds like a mystery/thriller. Here's the link at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07964WCNS/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1 Do you think this is the same author? Sounds like it could be, but if published in 2016, and if he was born in 1924, that would be pretty old for him.

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  2. The Peter Hawkins who wrote Ellie is a professor of leadership development. There's a short bio. here.

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