Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Top 5 Posts Of 2014

The Top 5 Posts Of  2014

The top spot this year goes to........



#2
February 16th


#3
March 1st


#4
September 14th


#5
January 17th


See you in 2015!

Tuesday, December 30, 2014

2014 Fiction Challenge Update

My update with the USA Fiction Challenge.
So far, 32 states and 34 titles.
I should be able to complete this in 2015


  • ALABAMA: To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
  • ALASKA: Birds of Prey by J.A. Jance
  • ARIZONA: Partner In Crime by J.A. Jance
  • ARKANSAS Dear Miss Demeanor by Joan Hess
  • CALIFORNIA: Kinsey Milhone Series by Sue Grafton
  • COLORADO: Buried By the Roan by Mark Stevens
  • CONNECTICUT: Deadly Advice by Roberta Islieb
  • DISTRICT of COLUMBIA: Murder And The First Lady by Elliott Roosevelt
  • DELAWARE: She'll Never Know by Hunter Morgan
  • FLORIDA: Danger Key by Lew Louderback
  • GEORGIA: Miss Dimple Disappears by Mignon F. Ballard
  • HAWAII: The Betrayers by Donald Hamilton
  • IDAHO: Deep Cover By Steve Roos
  • ILLINOIS: Bitter Medicine by Sara Paretsky
  • INDIANA: Deliver Us To Evil by Joe Hensley
  • IOWA: The Silken Nightmare by Carter Brown
  • KANSAS: Hot Summer, Cold Murder by Gaylord Dold
  • KENTUCKY: Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
  • LOUISIANA: New Orleans Mourning by Julie Smith
  • MAINE: Murder Most Maine by Karen MacInerney
  • MARYLAND: Baltimore Blues by Laura Lippman
  • MASSACHUSETTS: Promised Land by Robert B Parker
  • MICHIGAN: Angel Eyes by Loren D. Estleman
  • MINNESOTA:  In The Lake Of The Woods by Tim O'Brien
  • MISSISSIPPI: Alex Cross's Trial by James Patterson & Richard DiLallo
  • MISSOURI: Sheppard Of the Hills by Harold Bell Wright
  • MONTANA: The Last Good Kiss by James Crumley  In Open Space by Russell Rowland
  • NEBRASKA: 
  • NEVADA: Walk A Crooked Mile by Catherine Dain
  • NEW HAMPSHIRE 
  • NEW JERSEY: Dead Man's Float by Beth Sherman  Unbalance Accounts by Kate Gallison
  • NEW MEXICO: The Blessing Way by Tony Hillerman
  • NEW YORK: A Body To Die For by Valerie Frankle
  • NORTH CAROLINA 
  • NORTH DAKOTA 
  • OHIO
  • OKLAHOMA: 
  • OREGON 
  • PENNSYLVANIA 
  • RHODE ISLAND: The Witches Of Eastwick by John Updike
  • SOUTH CAROLINA 
  • SOUTH DAKOTA 
  • TENNESSEE 
  • TEXAS: 
  • UTAH 
  • VERMONT 
  • VIRGINIA 
  • WASHINGTON: 
  • WEST VIRGINIA 
  • WISCONSIN 
  • WYOMING 
  • Monday, December 29, 2014

    The Ghost Of Nick Carter

    Nick Carter Weekly
    No 621
    November 21, 1908

    The Ghost Of Nick Carter
    or The Secret of The Second Sight Seer


    Street & Smith Publishers
    New York City

    Sunday, December 28, 2014

    Twins

    Twins

    Two covers by Robert McGinnis


    Germany Edition 
    None But The Lethal Heart 
    by Carter Brown
    Ullstein Bucher
    #1152
    1967 Frankfurt Germany
    1968 West Berlin Germany
    ISBN 354 801152



    Modesty Blaise
    by Peter O'Donnell

    Fawcett Crest Books
    1965
    R899

    Saturday, December 27, 2014

    Girls With Guns Day 7

    Girls With Guns Holiday Edition

    Day #7

    Presenting 
    So Cold, My Bed 
    by Sam S. Taylor

    Cover by  Robert Maguire

    Printing History
    Written by Sam S Taylor 

     New American Library
    Signet Books
    #1247
    1955
     

    Friday, December 26, 2014

    Girls With Guns Day 6

    Girls With Guns Holiday Edition

    Day #6

    Presenting 
    The Venus Death 
    by Ben Benson


    Printing History
    Written by Ben Benson

    The M. S. Mill Co. and William Morrow & Co.
    1953

    Bantam Books
    #1271
    1954 

    Thursday, December 25, 2014

    Girls With Guns Day 5

    Girls With Guns Holiday Edition

    Day #5

    Presenting 
    A Corpse For Christmas by Henry Kane


    Printing History
    Written by Henry Kane

    Dell
    #735
    1953

    Wednesday, December 24, 2014

    Girls With Guns Day 4

    Girls With Guns Holiday Edition

    Day #4

    Presenting 
    Dead Game by Michael Avallone

    Cover by James Meese

    Printing History
    Written by Michael Avallone (1924-1999)

    Perma Books 
    M-3012
    1955

    Tuesday, December 23, 2014

    Girls with Guns Day 3

    Girls With Guns Holiday Edition

    Day #3

    Presenting 
    Baby Your Type's Murder
    by Marc Brody


    Printing History
    Written by W. H. ‘Bill’ Williams

    Horwitz Publications Inc.
    for and on behalf of Transport Publishing Company
    February 1958

    Monday, December 22, 2014

    Girls With Guns Day 2

    Girls With Guns Holiday Edition

    Day #2

    Presenting 
    So Dead The Rose
    by M.E. Chaber

    Cover by Jerry Allison
     Printing History
    Written by Kendall Foster Crossen (1910-1981)

    Pocket Book
    #1274
    1960

    Sunday, December 21, 2014

    Girls With Guns Day 1

    Girls With Guns Holiday Edition

    Day #1

    Presenting 

    Carter Brown Collectors' Series #8

    Cover by Gene Lett
    Printing History
    Written by Alan G Yates (1922-1985)

    Transport Publishing Company
    for and on behalf of Horwitz Publications, Inc

    copyright
    1955

    Saturday, December 13, 2014

    USA Fiction Challenge: Rhode Island

    Today is anther stop in the 2014 USA Fiction Challenge. The goal is to stop on every state and showcase a title from that state. It looks like I will not be wrapping this up this year, but hope to come close. The next stop is our smallest state of Rhode Island. And also called State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations

    Presenting
    The Witches of Eastwick
    by John Updike


    The story, set in the fictional Rhode Island town of Eastwick in the late 1960s It follows the witches Alexandra Spofford, Jane Smart, and Sukie Rougemont, who have acquired their powers after leaving or being left by their husbands. Their coven is upset by the arrival of a devil-like character, Daryl Van Horne. This mysterious Daryl seduces each of the women, encouraging them to play with their powers and creating a scandal in the town.

    Printing History
    Written by John Updike (1932-2009)

    Knoft 
    ISBN 394 53760
    April 1984

    In 1987 the novel was adapted into a film starring Jack Nicholson as Darryl, Cher as Alexandra, Susan Sarandon as Jane, and Michelle Pfeiffer as Sukie

    Friday, December 12, 2014

    Donavan's Day by Carter Brown

    Death's Head


    It looked like a plain brown package, but what it contained was more explosive than a bomb. Either someone had a bizarre sense of humor, or they just liked to send Paul Donavan, international playboy and meddler in revolutions, the gruesomely grimacing heads of hired terrorists. But Paul was not going to sit around waiting for the next shipment of corpses. Especially when a wealthy brunette beauty volunteered to help him dispose of the terrorists, heads and all. So Donavan, along with two buxom babes and a well trained muscle man, decided to pay the kingpin of killers a surprise visit. be he didn't know who the real kingpin was. And if he did not find out fast, Paul could really lose his head....!

     Printing History
    Written by Alan G Yates (1922-1985)

    copyright 1975
    Horwitz Group Books Pty Ltd
    Hong Kong

    Horwitz Publications Inc
    1976

    New American Library
    Signet Books
    ISBN 451 Y6716
     October 1975

    Monday, December 8, 2014

    You Never Know With Women by James Hadley Chase

    He could have quit when he met the sleep walker stripper.
    Now it was too late.
    He was wanted for murder!

    It was sucker bait and he took it!
    Floyd Jackson, private investigator and sometime blackmailer, was out of a license and out of dough. So, when he was offered ten crisp hundred dollar bills, he decided to take them. Even though the assignment was robbery. All he had to do was get past some man hungry dogs, break into a millionaire's castle and steal a gold compact. Jackson was smart enough to know it was a phoney proposition. But he didn't figure he'd run into a murder that could be pinned on him.

    Printing History
    Written by René Lodge Brabazon Raymond (1906-1985)

    Jarrolds Publishers Ltd.
    January 1949

    Simon & Shuster Inc
    Pocket Books
    ISBN 671 75716
    August 1972

    Saturday, December 6, 2014

    USA Fiction Challenge: New Jersey

    The next stop on our journey to visit each and every state is the Garden State or New Jersey.

    Unbalanced Accounts
    by Kate Gallison


    The year was 1977, when everybody smoked in the office, nobody earned a living wage, bosses called their clerks "my girls", and any idiot could get a job with the State of New Jersey. Onto this scene came down at heel Trenton divorce detective Nick Magaracz. Nick is looking for nine thousand dollars in stolen welfare checks and solving this case looked like a lead-pipe cinch, until the bodies began to fall.

    Printing History
    Written by Kathleen Gallison Dunn (1939- )

    Little Brown and Company 
    ISBN 316 30288
    April 1986

    Friday, December 5, 2014

    The Dame by Carter Brown

    A film star, a corpse, 
    and a swimming pool make trouble for Al Wheeler


    Police Lt Al Wheeler is out to stop the curvy blonde movie queen being cast in a fatal part. She is Hollywood's hottest property but somebody's cast her as a cold corpse.

    Barye Phillips Cover
    Stand in for Death
    The flaxen haired blonde was very beautiful and very naked, except for the knife she wore in her back. She made a honey of a corpse even though she was the wrong girl for the part. And when the killer discovered the mistake and realized the scene needed to be shot again. California cop Al Wheeler was already on the killer's trail, ready to ring down the curtain on this lethal killer before the killer made some other beauty take her final bow.


    Murder in the Cast
    The husband: He's a philandering mate, a ham actor, a handsome heel.
    The husband's mistress: She's a volcanic brunette in the suggestion of a bikini.
    The would be producer: He;s a small man with big, big plans.
    The wealthy financier: He was devoted his life to the mad pursuit of money.

    Each of these four people had his or her own special reason for wanting to see Judy Manner dead. One of them tried once and will try again, in his or her own sweet time. In this fast paced scorcher, Police Lieutenant Al Wheeler plans a murder to catch a murderer.
     
    Grant Roberts/Robert McGinnis Cover
     Printing History
    Written by  Alan G Yates (1922-1985)

    Horwitz Publications Inc
    Numbered Series #82 Oct 1959
    Long Story Magazine #8 March 1960
    International Edition #13 Feb 1962
    International Edition #66 1970, June 1977

    New American Library
    Signet Books
    1st (1738) November 1959
    2nd December 1959(Canada)
    3rd (D2827) 1965
    4th (Q6402) 1974

    Four Square Books
    1st (1614) September 1966
     Bonus Covers

    Australia (February 1962)

    UK (September 1966)

     Australia (June 1977)


    Russia (1992)

    Mexico (1963)

    Finland (1961)

    Netherlands (1962)


    Thursday, December 4, 2014

    Miss Callaghan Comes To Grief by James Hadley Chase

    Banned in the UK
    Author and Publisher Fined


    Not of any particular Miss Callaghan, but of the hundreds of Miss Callaghans who have disappeared from their homes suddenly and mysteriously and are seen no more by those who knew and loved them. This is also the story of Raven, who played with clockwork trains, the leader of the White Slave Ring in East St. Louis, who was responsible for the keeping to full strength the army of women for the service of men.

    Printing History
    Written by René Lodge Brabazon Raymond (1906-1985)

    copyright 1941

    Black Curtain Press 
    May 2013

    Bonus Covers

    France (1996)

     Blackmask.com (2010)

    Kindle (2013)

    Monday, December 1, 2014

    Goldfinger (1964)

    50th Anniversary


    James Bond investigates gold smuggling by gold magnate Auric Goldfinger and the eventual uncovering of Goldfinger's plans to attack the United States Bullion Depository at Fort Knox.

    Cast
    Sean Connery as James Bond  
    Honor Blackman as Pussy Galore
    Gert Fröbe as Auric Goldfinger
    Shirley Eaton as Jill Masterson
    Harold Sakata as Oddjob
    Tania Mallet as Tilly Masterson
    Bernard Lee as M
    Cec Linder as Felix Leiter
    Martin Benson as Mr. Solo
    Desmond Llewelyn as Q
    Lois Maxwell as Miss Moneypenny 
     
    Directed by Guy Hamilton



    Sunday, November 30, 2014

    Singapore Sling by Jack Garside

    A Ruthless Drug Lord Keeps N3
    And His Sultry Partners On The Run....

    Killmaster #258
    Somewhere in the tumultuous streets of Singapore, two agents have been cornered by the cities most notorious hit men. and it's up th Nick Carter and his action hungry partner, a luscious CIA bombshell, to get them out alive. But AXE Agent N3 takes on more than he bargained for fighting Fat Chen, leader of the deadliest espionage drug ring in the East. Chen's got high tech weapon power at his command, and Quang, a Soviet pawn, at his side. The ultimate test stands before Nick. Can he infiltrate Chen's deadly circle, and survive a living hell?

    Printing History
    Written by Jack Garside (1924- )

    Berkley Publishing Group
    Jove Books
    Published by arrangement with The Conde Nast Publications, Inc.
    ISBN 515 10248
    February 1990

    Saturday, November 29, 2014

    You're Lonely When You're Dead by James Hadley Chase

    Her Kisses Were A Prelude To Death


    "Don't you ever play?"
    Anita Pitts voice was low and husky "Sure," said Malloy, "but not with the wives of my clients." Anita smiled mockingly. She moved close to him and put her arms around his neck. "My husband doesn't care a fig for me." she purred. Before Malloy could stop her she was kissing him with cool, experienced lips. Vic Malloy, private cop, had been hired by millionaire John Pitt to watch his wife, Anita. So far it seemed like a routine case of a doting husband trying to keep his kleptomaniac wife out of trouble Suddenly Anita vanished, and one of Vic's aides was brutally killed And Pitt denied that he ever hired Malloy. Then Malloy found that his case of wife spying had all at once become a deadly tangle of blackmail, blonde dynamite, and Murder!

    Printing History
    Written by René Lodge Brabazon Raymond (1906-1985)

    copyright 1950
    Duel Sloan, and Pearce

    Popular Library
    #378
    October 1951

    Friday, November 28, 2014

    Honey, Here's Your Hearse! by Carter Brown

    Mavis Seidlitz Story

    Cover by Bernard Blackburn
    She's slaying them in the aisles for peanuts 
    till death swings from a high wire to change her tactics......


    Printing History
    Written by Alan G Yates (1922-1985)

    Transport Publishing Company
    for and on behalf of Horwitz Publications, Inc

    Novel Series
    July 1955

    Second Collectors' Series
    Volume 1 Number 4
    July 1957
    w/The Two-Timing Blonde



    Wednesday, November 26, 2014

    Homicide Hoyden by Carter Brown

    I don't want to play "Murder" with a

    Cover by Bernard Blackburn
    5 million bucks and her taking ways got this dame everything but a murder rap.
    She figured Scott Denton could take that....

    Printing History
    Written by Alan G Yates (1922-1985)

    Transport Publishing Company
    for and on behalf of Horwitz Publications, Inc

    Novel Series
    1955

    Second Collectors' Series
    Volume 1 No 3
    w/Curtain For A Chorine
    July 1957


    Reprint By Demand Series
    #28
    1960

    Sunday, November 23, 2014

    The Big Sleep (1946)

    Bogart And Bacall


    Directed by Howard Hawks
    The first film version of Raymond Chandler's 1939 novel.

    Cast
    Humphrey Bogart as Philip Marlowe
    Lauren Bacall as Vivian Sternwood Rutledge
    John Ridgely as Eddie Mars
    Martha Vickers as Carmen Sternwood
    Peggy Knudsen as Mona Mars
    Regis Toomey as Chief Inspector Bernie Ohls
    Charles Waldron as General Sternwood
    Charles D. Brown as Norris
    Bob Steele as Lash Canino
    Dorothy Malone as Acme Bookstore proprietress
     
     Private detective Philip Marlowe is summoned to the mansion of his new client General Sternwood. The wealthy retired general wants to resolve gambling debts his daughter, Carmen, owes to bookseller Arthur Gwynn Geiger. As Marlowe is leaving, General Sternwood's older daughter, Mrs. Vivian Rutledge, stops him. She suspects her father's true motive for calling in Marlowe is to find his young friend Sean Regan, who had mysteriously disappeared a month earlier.

    Saturday, November 22, 2014

    USA Fiction Challenge: New York

    The 2014 USA Fiction Challenge is heading to the home stretch. This time we visit the state of New York as well as the city of New York. The highlight will be Valerie Frankel's A Body To Die For.

     

    Investigating the suspected infidelities of a former tennis pro's wife, private detective Wanda Mallory becomes an unlikely member of an elite health club, where she uncovers a series of other crimes, including murder.



    Printing History
    Written by Valerie Frankel

    Simon & Shuster, Inc
    Pocket Books
    ISBN 671 79520
    July 1995

    E Book
    August 2010

    Kindle Edition
    February 2011

    Friday, November 21, 2014

    The Art Of Robert E. McGinnis by Robert E McGinnis and Art Scott

    A Modern Master



    Robert E. McGinnis began his career in 1947 as a cartoonist, and produced his first cover illustrations for 1956 issues of the magazines True Detective and Master Detective. Then in 1958, he painted his first paperback book cover, and from that day forward his work was in demand.

    The emergence of the “McGinnis Woman”, long-legged, intelligent, alluring, and enigmatic, established him as the go-to artist for detective novels. His work appeared on Mike Shayne titles and the Perry Mason series, and he produced 100 paintings for the Carter Brown Mystery Series. Yet McGinnis became famous for his work in other genres as well: espionage, romance, historicals, gothics, and Westerns.

    McGinnis’s first major magazine assignments were for The Saturday Evening Post, and his work has graced the pages of Cosmopolitan, National Geographic, Good Housekeeping, Guideposts, and others. McGinnis women frequently cropped up in the men’s magazines of the ’60s and ’70s.

    His first movie poster was for Breakfast at Tiffany’s, with an iconic rendering of Audrey Hepburn. Almost instantly, his poster artwork could be seen everywhere, in theaters, on billboards, in newspapers, and even on soundtrack albums. His work for Hollywood became a who’s-who, with posters for James Bond, The Odd Couple, Woody Allen, The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes, and many more.

    Some of his most ambitious works have been his gallery paintings, often depicting stunning American landscapes, vast Western vistas, and of course, beautiful women. The Art of Robert E. McGinnis collection reveals the full scope and beauty of the work of a true American master—one whose legacy continues today.

    Printing History
     Robert McGinnis (1926- )
    Art Scott

    Titan Books
     1st Edition
    November , 2014

    Monday, November 17, 2014

    La Embrujadora by Carter Brown

    Mexican Edition of 
    The House of Sorcery



    Editorial Diana #436
    Mexico City
    1st Edition October 1968
    2nd Edition January1971

    Sunday, November 16, 2014

    Isle Of Blood by Jack Canon

    N3 On A Deadly Manhunt For The 
    World's Most Wanted Terrorist!

    Killmaster #257
    After decades of violence, the Geek and Turkish factions of Cyprus are on the verge of peace. But when three key negotiators are suddenly murdered, the delicate diplomatic process is shattered.  Nick Carter knows the body count has just begun, because the mastermind behind the killings is Drago Vain. The most vicious terrorist in the files of Interpol Vain is poised to seize control of Cyprus in a savage coup. Nick must stop the assassin's takeover at any cost, or the Mediterranean will run red with blood!

    Printing History
    Written by Jack Canon

    Berkley Publishing Group
    Jove Books
    Published by arrangement with The Conde Nast Publications, Inc.
    ISBN 515 10217
    January 1990

    Wednesday, November 12, 2014

    USA Fiction Challenge: New Mexico

    The game is on in the 2014 USA Fiction Challenge. This time around we visit the Southwest, New Mexico to be exact. The highlight this time will be Tony Hillerman's The Blessing Way

    The Blessing Way
    by Tony Hllerman

    Introducing Joe Leaphorn


    When Lt. Joe Leaphorn of The Navajo Tribal Police discovers a corpse with a mouth full of sand at a crime scene seemingly without tracks or clues, he is ready to suspect a supernatural killer. Blood on the rocks...A body on the high mesa...Leaphorn must stalk the Wolf-Witch along a chilling trail between mysticism and murder.

    Printing History
    Written by Tony Hillerman (1925-2008)

    copyright
    1990