You're right. Hamilton, who began writing love stories for
the slicks,
had published nine suspense thrillers before being offered
the chance to
create Matt Helm for Fawcett. Of those nine, three were
westerns, among
them THE BIG COUNTRY, which was made into a big-budget
western epic in
the late '50s, starring Gregory Peck (who might've made a
decent Helm,
had anyone the wit to recognize it).
Among those early books are two that are must reads, since we
see the
beginnings of Helm and his various preoccupations in
them--Line of Fire
and Assignment: Murder.
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