--- On Sun, 7/13/08, Jeff Vorzimmer <jvorzimmer@austin.rr.com> wrote:
From: Jeff Vorzimmer <jvorzimmer@austin.rr.com>
Subject: RARA-AVIS: Summer Reading
To: rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com
Date: Sunday, July 13, 2008, 3:43 PM
I just got back from a vacation in Michigan's upper penninsula, trying to
interest my daughter in fishing and shooting. We're about 150 miles from
nowhere and we stop in a small town that's big enough to have a post office
where we buy stamps for postcards. I notice a couple of junk shops that
claimed to be antique stores. Well, since we're only half way though the
vacation and I've already finished the three books I brought, I figure maybe
they have some old paperbacks. No luck in the first store, but then, in the
second store I notice a dresser with a drawer half open. As I'm passing I
notice there are paperbacks in the drawer--spines facing up. I pull it all
the way open and see that's it completely full of paperbacks from the 50s
and early 60s. There are Gold Medals, Lions, Dells, Aces etc. I open the
second drawer, same thing. By the third drawer I'm realizing I'll have my
pick of lots of good stuff. The guy who owns the place notices my enthusiasm
and says, "Great stuff, eh? Two bucks each, three for five." Of course, a
lot of it I've read and I don't want to haul them back with me on the plane,
no matter how good the price is, but I do notice two authors I haven't
read--in addition to all the well-known authors represented in the
drawers--James McKimmey and Matthew Blood.
The Blood is a Gold Medal PBO called The Avenger and it's great and I'm
wondering why I've never heard of this guy. When I get home I find out that
Matthew Blood was a pseudonym of Brett Halliday. Written in 1952. He only
wrote one other title for GM, called Death is a Lovely Dame, also under the
Matthew Blood name.
I've always wanted to read James McKimmey, so I grabbed Squeeze Play (Dell),
Blue Mascara Tears (Ballantine) and The Long Ride (Dell). I read The Long
Ride after The Avenger and I couldn't put it down. Very original story and
very fast paced; written in 1961. I'll definitely be reading the others
soon.
In addition to those mentioned I bought a Mickey Spillane novel I missed
previously called Killer Mine and another book called Hate Alley by Martin
Weiss, an Ace paperback with a great cover.
Jeff
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