What do you guys out there think about Prather?
I've only read a couple books by him, THE WAILING FRAIL and
the one I'm reading now, KILL HIM TWICE, but from what I've
seen I like him a great deal. Reading him after Latimer has
been an interesting experience
--both LADY and KILL are essentially jokey, breezy takes on
the PI story, but for some reason I like Prather's breeziness
far more than I like Latimer's. Well, humor is always a
subjective kind of thing.
Can anyone recommend any other Shell Scott books? Is there
such a thing as a bad Shell Scott book? From what I've read
so far Prather is a light but very entertaining writer, and
if you're in the right mood quite enjoyable.
I wonder why nobody's tried to bring these books back into
print? I'm under the impression that Prather at one time was
very popular. (Over 30,000,000 Shell Scott books sold! the
cover of KILL tells me). One would think that old-time fans,
if their are any, wouldn't mind seeing the best books in the
series again.
My Dad tells me that at one time there was a mystery magazine
out there called (I think) SHELL SCOTT MYSTERY MAGAZINE.
Really? Scott/Prather was that well known? If so, that
suggests that Prather's case is even more interesting. Maybe
he marks a kind of generational divide in PI/hb fans. Maybe
if you're over a certain age you know all about Prather,
whereas if you're under a certain age (I'm in my early
thirties)he's a complete blank.
Just wondering, doug
===== Doug Bassett
dj_bassett@yahoo.com
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