author

A. L. Small

A largely elusive early 20th-century pulp writer, this author is chiefly remembered today for a contribution to the long-running Nick Carter detective series. The surviving record is thin, which gives the work an extra air of mystery.

1 Audiobook

Nick Carter Stories No. 123, January 16, 1915: Half a million ransom; or, Nick Carter and the needy nine.

Nick Carter Stories No. 123, January 16, 1915: Half a million ransom; or, Nick Carter and the needy nine.

by Nicholas (House name) Carter, Burke Jenkins, A. L. Small

About the author

A. L. Small is a hard-to-trace author whose name survives in library and ebook records rather than in detailed biographical profiles. Based on the sources I could confirm, Small is credited as one of the authors of Nick Carter Stories No. 123, January 16, 1915: Half a million ransom; or, Nick Carter and the needy nine, alongside Burke Jenkins and the house name Nicholas Carter.

That places Small within the world of early pulp detective fiction, where fast-paced serialized stories were often published under shared or house names. Project Gutenberg and other catalog records confirm this specific credit, but I could not verify further personal details such as full name, birth dates, or a broader bibliography.

Because the available public record is so limited, A. L. Small remains one of those intriguing bylines from pulp-era publishing whose work is easier to find than the life behind it.