I’ve blogged about Mr. Levinson a few times before. Some readers of action-adventure have called him a “trash genius”–an epithet that evidently pleases Len.

I really don’t like that label. I’ve read a lot of Len’s fiction and none of it was trash. It wasn’t Tolstoy, but it wasn’t meant to be. And here’s an important point: If Len wanted to write highbrow literary fiction, in my opinion he could easily craft a novel in a league with War and Peace.

I was fortunate enough to become an author years ago. All three of the novels (so far) in my Retreads series have been Amazon bestsellers. A pleasant surprise was a type of reaction those books got from readers: that they captured the fun and excitement of the pulp and paramilitary adventure fiction of yesteryear, but with a high caliber of prose that most of the classic men’s fiction never achieved. I was shooting for exactly that combination of excitement, realism (two attributes that seldom go together) and well-crafted writing. But the praise surprised me in that readers found it remarkable. I didn’t appreciate how rare it was, because I had read so much of Len’s work… which is action-packed, well-plotted, with realistic dialog and great characterization.

Len and I have different styles, different experiences, and different areas of interest, but anybody who likes my fiction should definitely read Len Levinson.

I am happy to share another insight into Len’s writing career, in his own words:

One day circa 1979 I was sitting in the East 50s office of paperback packager Jim Bryans. I just delivered a manuscript and we were speaking about various matters that I don’t remember. Then out of the blue he asked: “Have you ever written a World War Two novel?”

I replied that I had indeed written a World War Two novel called DOOM PLATOON by Richard Gallagher, set during the Battle of the Bulge, published by Belmont-Tower in 1978.

Jim said that a publisher contact of his was looking for someone to write a World War Two series, and asked me to bring him (Jim) a copy of DOOM PLATOON for submission to the publisher. I did so ASAP and a few weeks later Jim called to say the publisher wanted to meet me.

The publisher was Walter Zacharius who together with Roberta Grossman owned Zebra Publishing, their offices on Park Avenue South around 32nd Street. I think Jim attended the meeting but Walter and I did most of the talking. Walter told me he’d liked DOOM PLATOON and wanted me to write something similar as a series. He also said that he’d been in the Quartermaster Corps during World War Two and rose to the rank of sergeant. I distinctly remember him saying that he had participated in the liberation of Paris.

In turn I mentioned that I enlisted in the Army in 1954, served three years in the Infantry and Corps of Engineers during the Cold War, was stationed in Alaska about half of my enlistment, therefore I knew basic military life up close and personal although I’d never been in a hot war. I also said that infantry weapons during my Army years were identical to those used during World War Two, or modified somewhat, and main principles of fire and maneuver also were pretty much the same. I assured Walter that I could write about World War Two with a high degree of authenticity although I’d never been there.

I agreed to Walter’s deal, probably signed the contract then and there, walked home to my broken-down pad in Hell’s Kitchen and tried to figure whether the series should focus on one person or on a unit like a platoon. Finally I decided on one person who would be a tough sergeant similar to Sergeant Mazursky in DOOM PLATOON.

Mazursky had been based loosely on a friend named Mike, a World War Two veteran and very tough guy seven years older than I. Mike had been been ready to rumble at any moment and seemed to have no fear or caution when any conflict arose. Occasionally he threw shocking temper tantrums in public and seemed ready to punch out people. Physical intimidation was perfectly okay with him but we usually got along well and he became one of my most significant mentors, for better or worse.

Mike’s military career had not exactly been illustrious. He went AWOL numerous times during World War Two in Europe, had broken out of a stockade, and instead of fighting for his country full time, had been wheeling and dealing in black markets of France and Germany.

After mustering out, Mike attended Columbia University for a year or two, then dropped out to sell marijuana and become something of a gigolo. He got arrested at the Mexican/Texas border for smuggling marijuana and served five years in a federal prison during which he wrote for and helped edit the prison newspaper. I met him shortly after he was released in 1961, the same year I arrived in New York City.

Mike was a very complicated guy. He could be vicious or extraordinarily gentle and kind. He could insult you savagely, then take you to dinner. He could cruelly put you down, then burst into laughter as if it was all a big joke. A deeply devoted party animal, he also was a heavy drinker and doper. Cocaine was his drug of choice. He did not believe in God, had Communist inclinations, was surprisingly well read and could talk like an educated man, which he was, or growl like a gangster, which he also was.

He also was amazingly successful with women although not exceptionally good-looking in my opinion. He vaguely resembled the actor Victor Mature combined with John Garfield, Rocky Marciano and Sylvester Stallone. He always had girlfriends even after he got married.

Once I asked him the secret of his success with women. He replied that women were attracted to confident men, but mainly just wanted to be loved. He certainly was very confident and actually seemed to love all the women with whom he was involved.

Another time he said to me: “You’re the craziest person I ever met in my life, but you SEEM normal.”

Mike was a first class conversationalist, raconteur and storyteller. I often listened to him spellbound, although his wife Maggie said he never let facts get in the way of a good story.

Mike introduced me to my first wife, a Cuban immigrant whom he called Chi-Chi. Our marriage was stormy and ended in divorce after four years because we simply weren’t compatible souls. During a period of post-divorce angst, I blamed Mike for my misery. “If it hadn’t been for you, I never would have met Chi-Chi.”

Mike replied with a winsome smile, “I only introduced you to Chi-Chi. I never told you to marry her.”

Of course he was right. My bad judgement was the cause of my unhappiness. I knew that Chi-Chi and I weren’t compatible but I was dazzled by her beauty and couldn’t think clearly, as happened often during my younger days.

Mike became the basis for my new central character Sergeant Mahoney and I decided to call the series THE SERGEANT by Gordon Davis. I was very excited about writing this series because I had been interested in war since childhood, and read many novels and historical works about war. Born in 1935, I literally grew up in the atmosphere of World War Two. I remember ration books, paper and metal drives, and regular reports of casualties. Victory was by no means certain, many setbacks were reported, and an atmosphere of desperation pervaded the land. Occasionally we schoolchildren did bombing drills where we sat with our back to walls and hoped no bombers would ever come.

I thought my background growing up during World War Two, and three years in the Army, were ideal preparation for writing a World War Two land battle novel. My next big literary decision concerned when to start the action, but the answer seemed obvious. I should begin the novel with the D-Day landings in Normandy and then carry each novel forward chronologically.

What would the first plot be? I didn’t want to write about actual landings and the subsequent grinding fight for the beachhead because it had been done in movies numerous times, most notably THE LONGEST DAY. Instead I dreamed up a suspenseful commando style mission behind enemy lines to blow up a critical bridge that supported trains carrying German soldiers and equipment to the front.

I wrote in a state of deep intellectual and emotional involvement, and around six weeks later submitted the completed manuscript to Walter, certain that he’d love it. A short while later he invited me to his office, told me that in fact he did like the novel and would publish it BUT he pointed out that ordinary soldiers never went on commando missions behind enemy lines, and he wanted subsequent novels to be about ordinary soldiers engaged in standard World War Two front line battle action. I said okay and that’s what I gave him in the next eight novels in the series.

I loved the cover for the first SERGEANT. It really stood out on book store shelves. Subsequent SERGEANT covers were similar. Walter really understood marketing and that’s why Zebra was the most successful privately owned publishing company in America.

Looking back, I think THE SERGEANT series marked a turning point in my literary career. Somehow I gained a more comprehensive understanding of novel writing while working on its plots, subplots and characters. It was the second series that I created, the first being BUTLER for Belmont-Tower, but THE SERGEANT seemed of much higher quality than BUTLER. Many readers have praised THE SERGEANT in blogs and on Facebook, which has been most gratifying.

THE SERGEANT SERIES has been republished by Piccadilly as ebooks by Len Levinson and presently available from Amazon. He also wrote another gritty WWII series called The Ratbastards which I heartily recommend. In my previous post, you’ll find links to my other reviews (to date) of his Sergeant books.