In 1946, apparently during his time with Spillane in New York, Basinsky published two short stories in comic books: "Killer's Choice" in Vic Verity,[4] and "Knife Act" in Don Fortune Magazine.
[6] The original cover illustrations of Basinsky's novels, done by artist Robert Maguire, have been called some of "the most evocative and memorable of the period" by Lee Server, author of the Encyclopedia of Pulp Fiction Writers.
"[14] In Pronzini's later book Gun in Cheek: An Affectionate Guide to the "Worst" in Mystery Fiction, he said that Basinsky was better than his fellow Spillane protégés in that he shared his mentor's "knack for raw and stomach-churning violence," but that his writing was also cliche-ridden and narratively clumsy, with "a shameless desire to wax poetic every now and then.
"[7] Basinsky also published three short stories in crime-fiction pulp magazines in 1957 and 1958, titled, The Broken Window (February 1957), The Prison Break (October 1957), and Decision (March 1958).
[15] Critic Peter Enfantino, writing about them for Mystery File: The Crime Fiction Research Journal, said that they were "all short and unremarkable, flawed by outlandish premises and silly expositories.