RARA-AVIS: Recent readings

Mario Taboada (matrxtech@sprintmail.com)
Wed, 27 May 1998 23:56:11 +0000 Here's the old reliable, flame-proof threat to pass the time:

*Michael Collins "The Silent Scream" - I already commented on this.

*Max Byrd - "California Thriller" - another terrific P.I. novel. I hear
that Byrd is no longer in the mystery business. Too bad.

*Erle Stanley Gardner (as A.A. Fair) - "Giv'em the ax". A sloppy but
very funny and fast-paced Lam-Cool divertimento. I bet he wrote it in a
week. Dell, 35 cents, sensual babe on the cover fondling a roulette
wheel while the guy, head sunk, is either dead or meditating.

*Erle Stanley Gardner - "Dead Men's Letters". A wonderful collection of
novelettes featuring Ed Jenkins, "The Phantom Crook". Stories from Black
Mask, 1926-27. Reissued by Carroll & Graf (and thanks to them). This is
the old Gardner, a supreme pulpster. The plots are hard to believe, the
dialogue sparkles, and the action is dynamite. The story "Come and Get
It" is a classic.

*Frederick Davis - "Let the Skeletons Rattle". A terrific read. See an
upcoming Nostalgia review (this or next century).

*John D. MacDonald- "The Price of Murder". Ditto.

Regards to all,

Mario Taboada
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