I don't even have the protagonist's name yet! Strangely, the fellow who wrote the preface refers to Laumer as a "journeyman" writer. It's too early to really say, but, so far, if Laumer is a journeyman, them most writers are just hacks. 'Course most writers probably are just hacks, but still.
Oh, was it by chance the "A Plague of Demons" collection? That one's fun.
I think by "journeyman" they mean he's not quite up there with Heinlein and Clarke, et al. Nothing he wrote was awe-inspiring or changed the way SF looked at things. Everything he wrote was entertaining and solidly written, worth reading more than once. I like that more than some ponderous volume about the Meaning of the Universe.