James Reasoner's reprints of his Block reviews inspired me to
dig out one of my own. The original, with cover scans, can be
found here:
http://billcrider.blogspot.com/2007/02/20-lust-cinderella-sims-lawrence-block.html
Since James Reasoner reviewed<
http://jamesreasoner.blogspot.com/2007/02/lucky-at-cards-lawrence-block.html>the
new Hard Case Crime edition of one of Lawrence Block's old
softcore novels (Lucky at Cards), I thought I'd chime in. The
Original Nightstand book (*$20 Lust)* was reprinted in
hardcover by Subterranean Press a couple of years ago as
Cinderella Sims. I like the paperback cover better, but
that's just me.
The book, by whatever name, is certainly a crime novel. In
the Afterword, Block says, "I set out with the intention of
writing a Gold Medal-type crime novel, and somewhere along
the way I decided it wasn't good enough and finished it up as
a sex novel."
The narrator, Ted Lindsay, loses his wife and goes downhill
fast. He quits his job as a reporter and moves to New York to
forget. He takes a job as a waiter in a greasy spoon and just
lives one day to the next until he sees a woman named Cindy,
Cinderella Sims. He knows she's the one, and he meets her.
That's when things get complicated because Cindy has a past,
and quite a past it is, involving killers and counterfeiters
and lots of money. She wants Ted's help, and he's glad to
give it, even though it means they're going to have to to
some Very Bad Things.
There's lots of sex along the way. It's nothing special now,
but it would have seemed plenty hot back in 1960. After all,
as Block says, the book was written "to be read with one
hand." The book isn't very long, and it would be a lot
shorter if the sex were removed.
When all's said and done, I think Block was right. The book's
not Gold Medal material. But it comes close enough to be a
lot of fun to read, even now. Check it out.
Meanwhile, I guess I'll read Lucky at Cards.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : 05 Nov 2007 EST