Hi Joy,
I've read many of the Prather SHELL SCOTT books over the last
20-30 years. They are a lot of fun, somewhat similar to the
Brett Halliday MIKE SHAYNE series, though perhaps a bit more
tongue-in-cheek.
I am a firm (perhaps overly firm) believer in reading series
in order--e.g., I'm currently working my way through the
Richard Stark PARKER series, as well as re-reading the Ian
Fleming JAMES BOND series in publication order. In each case,
there's a real value in reading them in order: The "Parker"
series builds to some extent (I am only about halfway
through, just finished RARE COIN SCORE)--and novels often
reference earlier novels; and the Bond series very much
builds book-by-book not on in terms of plot and reference,
but also some (subtle but meaningful) evolution of the main
character.
All that being said, I'm not sure there's any real need or
advantage to reading the SHELL SCOTT series in order. Each is
fun, some are better than others, but they all seem to me to
be pretty much stand-alone. If anyone cares to argue
otherwise, I'd be very interested to hear about it.
Note also that some of Prather's books, such as THE PEDDLER
(recently reprinted by Hard Case) are non-series and don't
star Shell Scott. (I have not yet read any of these, but
assume they are a bit more noir/hardboiled.)
Please send reviews/impressions of the books you read!
Best, Mark Nevins
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