If the art of Robert McGinnis was one of the reasons why I decided I’d like to write pulp fiction, there was another artist, whose style was an inspiration, and whose designs were frequently imitated in Italian crime paperbacks when I was a kid.
Detroit-born Mitchell Hooks was a prolific artist in the world of paperback originals, and is today recognized as a master of the art of illustrating pulp stories paperback covers.
His designs are darker and “dirtier” than McGinnis’, but are equally suggestive.

Here is a small cover gallery.

Gold Medal S-1161 Paperback Original (Oct., 1961). Cover by Mitchell Hooks