0295 Please Write for Details
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A long time ago, I said that I didn’t care for this story but that I might read it again. It was a slow day indeed at the Rivah, and I knew Freiler was coming and he’s the one who recommended I give it another try, and I had just picked up this very edition (I didn’t put the stain on it. Honest.), and well, I just broke down and read the damned thing.
Okay, it was better than I remembered. I remembered Miles Drummond as a pathetic character, which he is, but he comes off as less comedic and slightly more realistic the second time around. I still think the whole Margarita bit is ‘way over the top and not one of MacDonald’s better moments. The Colonel is still too one dimensional, but his “death” scene gives him some rounding out and makes him more human. Bitsy’s transformation from slut to devoted bride was and remains ridiculous. Klauss gets what he deserves in typical JDM fashion. Torrigan’s pompous character was more nuanced than I remembered, but Gloria steals the show. I honestly can’t tell whether her character is any different at the end of the novel than at the beginning, but she certainly rides a roller coaster in between. I found myself looking forward to her scenes, whereas the first time I read it, she just seemed mean.
The cover is a typical McGinnis of the period: a montage of characters drawn to different scales. The only person I can definitely recognize is Gloria, who is standing next to the sports car. I suppose by his vapid expression that the large head is supposed to be Miles, but Miles is in his fifties, has gray hair, and wears glasses. I’ll hazard a guess that the other girl is Barbara, but who knows? The man in the hat is a cypher.
I like how the adobe building (is that supposed to be the hotel?) sits on the easel.
0294 The Empty Trap
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I do like this story. There are several much more interesting covers (like here and here and even here), but this one is the one that most people recognize and it has its own quaint charm even though it is totally innocuous. This 1968 edition is a reprint (with a 20% price jump) from the 1967 edition. The cover is signed “McDaniel”; I don’t know who this is, but the cartoonish drawing of Sylvia leaving the hotel to run away from her mobster husband flies in the face of traditional pulp cover paintings. Her crazy 1960s dress pattern is competing with the sickening whirls of the carpet in a cage match to the death in their attempt to upset my digestion. And did women still travel with hat boxes then? I like the little touches, like the mostly obscured “Do Not Disturb” sign, her stiletto heeled pumps, and the black bra strap hanging off her shoulder.
I want to thank Peter Cahan for suggesting this site that has a zillion paperback covers scanned. Although I had seen it a year ago, I forgot about it and it has been updated since then, so I have a number of holes in my collection filled. Thanks, Peter!
0293 A Tan and Sandy Silence
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Whenever I see glass depicted on a cover, I always expect to see something — the killer’s face? — a subtle clue? — reflected in it. Usually I am disappointed. Today I am again disappointed that the unknown artist failed to use this technique to spice up the otherwise bland artwork. Well, at least it does depict one of the most harrowing scenes that John D MacDonald ever wrote.
0292 Vaarallinen suunta
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Oh, Bertil, it’s been so long. How have I posted without you?
Actually, I’m going to give our favorite Scandinavian whipping-artist a break today. Sure, a cynic would say that this drawing of a girl was only half finished, but as an eternal opimist, I am going to assume that it’s one of those deliberately unfinished sketches with heavily drawn outlines. And the shading on her skin is actually very nicely done. So no snark about her.
Him, on the other hand, is a different story. He’s not any Boo Waxwell my wife ever had nightmares about, and if that’s Meyer, I’m retiring from this job, so it must be Travis. Actually, it looks just like my image of Trav, if you discount his vaguely oriental look, the necktie (a necktie??), the bad hair cut, the blousy shirt, and the far-too-loose-fitting pants. Other than that, it’s a spittin’ image.
“Illves-sarja” means “Lynx Series”. That explains the cat.
0291 The Scarlet Ruse
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You know me; the last person to complain about some trifling inconsistency. I have no problem with yet another depiction of a red hat — after all, every single US edition sports one. No, my problem here is botanical. That flower is a water lily, possibly the American Lotus (Nelumbo lutea), and I’m sure everybody here knows that water lilies grow in fresh water ponds and lakes. Unfortunately, the scene in the book where the big red hat is used as rifle bait takes place in a mangrove swamp among the tidewater flats of Florida Bay. Correct me if I’m wrong, but tidewater usually implies salt water.
Hmph. I just re-read the scene and it never mentions lily pads.
Milk Carton
Have you seen me? I am a Greek edition of The Scarlet Ruse, titled Hē γλυκια παγιδα (The Sweet Hoax), printed in 1982 by Papyros as Viper 1644.
0290 O tempo do impossível
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- “Yeah, I stayed on the beach too long. Now give me a damn beer!”
- Once he finally got out of prison, Charles Manson decided to try this new-fangled disco dancing.
- Even from the safety of the space station, he couldn’t bear to watch as a series of nuclear explosions wiped out all life on Earth.
- “Oh yeah? It’ll take an oncoming freight train to make me move my motorcycle off the tracks.”
0289 Clemmie
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No, your eyes do not deceive you. You have seen this outstanding Barye Phillips artwork before, but you’re seeing it again because it’s different. The imprint ID has changed and so has the cover price. So what do you get for your additional fifteen cents? A review that actually pertains to the book you are holding in your hand, instead of a review for some other book that you are not considering paying an addition fifteen cents for. Oh yes, you also get myopia from trying to read the blurb which sports the tiniest font since the disclaimer for the promise to Cheops that the Pyramid would be completed “real soon now”.
