16 NOVEMBER 1956, Page 24

THE TRAMPLERS. By Jason Manor. (Secker and Warburg, 1 ls.

6d.) Gangster warfare in California, with a mild-mannered young architect blundering around no man's land, bumping into a blonde with a heart, as well as a head, of gold; some crooked cops; and sundry corpses. Lively and lethal, and with fewer than usual of Mr. Manor's sociological overtones.