Tip the Wink

A Killing In Quail County by Jameson Cole, Saint Martins Press; March 1996)

This 1996 hardcover had been sitting on the shelf since new, and I finally pulled it off the shelf in a fit of “I don’t know what to read next”. I’m sure glad I did. I especially liked the 15 year-old narrator.

It’s 1957. Mark Stoddard, 15, is growing up in Bob White, Oklahoma. Recently orphaned by an accident that killed his parents, Mark lives with dog Bopeep and taciturn older brother Jess, a deputy sheriff with little time for him but plenty for the girls he brings home at night. Mark’s best friend is Ferret, son of Reverend and Mrs. Brubacher, who are hosts for the summer to T.J. Gatlin, a pretty, tough 14-year-old cousin whose parents are divorcing. Mark also has an enemy: moonshiner Lafe Packard, a vicious old man whose son, arrested by Jess, has died in jail, leaving Packard promising a bloody revenge.

Mark has dedicated the summer to finding Packard’s still, hidden in the forbidden-to-him woods of Bottomlands. So far he’s had no success, but there’s another bizarre element in Mark’s God-fearing town: a tall, oddly dressed, long-haired blond stranger whom Mark christens Tarzan. The townspeople call him a variety of unflattering names, but he saves Mark’s life in a close encounter with Packard. Later, Mark finds Tarzan dying in his Bottomlands tent, refusing to name his killer. Mark is sure it’s Packard, but events finally bring him to recognize other, less obvious villains in his straitlaced town, even as his feelings for T.J. lose their panicky edge.

Several long excursions into the woods and a plethora of hand-to-hand battles may slow some readers (I enjoyed them), but the story has it’s tender moments, and insight. This was one of my favorite books read in 2018.

This is a revised version of a post that originally appeared in The Broken Bullhorn

Mr. Calder and Mr. Behrens by Michael Gilbert
Penguin Crime, 1982 paperback

“It was six o’clock, on as foul a morning as could be imagined. In Warsaw it was raining, in the way it rained just before the rain turned to sleet and the sleet to the first snow of winter.”
– “Emergency Exit”

This collection of twelve spy stories by British mystery author Michael Gilbert was first published in 1982 by Hodder & Stoughton in Great Britian and by Harper & Row in the U.S. The Penguin Crime edition shown here was published a year later.

When I hear the phrase “spy story” the first thing that comes to mind is fiction by Eric Ambler, Len Deighton and Helen MacInnes. Then I think of Ian Fleming’s James Bond novels. And there are the excellent if somewhat difficult espionage novels by John LeCarré

Perhaps a better term for these Calder and Behrens stories is counter-intelligence. Whatever label you affix, these are terrific.

I’d heard of these stories long before I read “The Road to Damascus” (not in this collection) in Muller & Pronzini’s very enjoyable collection Detective Duos. Reading that was the catalyst for me to hunt up a copy of this one, and I read it with delight. When I was done, I wished for more, and from me, that’s a high compliment for any book. These are good stories, the writing is crisp, the Calder and Behrens (and Rasselas, their Persian Deerhound) are likable characters and the stories clever and entertaining. I like the way Gilbert’s characters resolve the problems he puts in their way. The spy business is a no-nonsense game, and these men approach it as such, yet there is a trace of wry humor under the surface. They use force when necessary, with immediacy, seemingly in contrast to their otherwise mild personalities. Very enjoyable and highly recommended. 

Sands of Mars Arthur C. Clarke, publishing history: UK: Sidgwick & Jackson, 1951, as The Sands of Mars, US: Gnome Press, June 1952, as Sands of Mars, this copy Anchor  Permabook, 1962.

Sands of Mars was Arthur C. Clarke’s first published novel.

I bought this copy of Sands of Mars, when I was in high school. At the time it was the first novel by the popular short story writer. I read it, and liked it, and then put it away on the shelf. It’s held up pretty well through rereadings, the latest last month. It’s now considered a classic, though it would be another year before Clarke received a Hugo nomination for his next novel, A Fall of Moondust.

The story was published in 1951, before humans had achieved space flight. It is set on the way to, and on the planet Mars, which has been settled by humans and is used essentially as a research establishment. The story setting is that Mars has been surveyed but not fully explored on the ground.

[summary edited from Wikipedia]
“Martin Gibson, a famous science fiction author, is travelling to Mars, as a guest of the crew of the spaceship Ares. After arriving at Space Station One, in the orbit of Earth, from which all interplanetary journeys start, he begins the three-month trip to Mars.

On Mars, Gibson and the crew go their separate ways. On a trip by passenger jet to an outlying research station, Gibson and the crew are forced down by a dust storm. They explore the nearby area and discover a small group of kangaroo-like creatures, the unsuspected natives of Mars. They appear to have limited intelligence by human standards and are vegetarians, living on native plants. It is later revealed that the plants are being cultivated by researchers to enrich the oxygen content of the Martian atmosphere. This project, and related others, are being kept secret from Earth.

Hadfield reveals that scientists have been working on “Project Dawn”, which involves the ignition of the moon Phobos and its use as a second “sun” for Mars. It will burn for at least one thousand years and the extra heat, together with mass production of the oxygen-generating plants, will eventually – it is hoped – make the Martian atmosphere breathable for humans.

Gibson finds himself so persuaded of the importance of Mars as a self-sufficient world that he applies to stay on the planet, and is invited to take charge of public relations – in effect, to “sell” Mars to potential colonists.”

The good: I love this classic old science fiction cover by Robert Schultz. I really like what Clarke did imagining both the flight to Mars and the way the colony there has been created and is developing. Clarke is, and always continued to be masterful at the hard science aspect of his novels and stories, and this is a good example. Everything is explained in a way that makes it easy to accept and believe, “Yes, that’s the way it would be” the reader thinks.

The bad: The plot is pretty thin. Even with a secondary plot involving Gibson and one of the crew having a connection on Earth, you could summarize the plot as fellow goes to Mars, wanders around, decides to stay. The discovery of the Martians is underwhelming, and what and who they are seems mostly a setup for ending.

Anyone used to more modern, exciting, action-packed science fiction would likely find this boring. I didn’t, but I was mindful that I was reading a classic from the early 1950s, that it was Clarke and his style, and I just wanted to enjoy the book for what it is. You may too.

This review qualifies for VintageSciFiMonth at the Little Red Reviewer blog.

First published in 1938 as Hercule Poirot’s Christmas, and in 1939 as Murder for Christmas by Agatha Christie. Avon Books changed the title to A Holiday For Murder in 1947. This copy: Bantam Books mass market paperback 1976, and also shown, the William Murrow trade paperback, 2011. A Hercule Poirot mystery.

It’s Christmastime in a big old rambling country house. The entire family is gathered at the request – really an order – of the ailing octogenarian head of the family. There’s a lot of money at stake. What could be a better setting for a classic holiday murder mystery? Why, Hercule Poirot’s involvement, of course.

Simeon Lee called his sons and their wives together on Christmas Eve and told them he was drawing up a new will. The old man was worth millions, more than enough to tempt any of the family, most of whom were disgruntled with the old man in some way, to think of murder, especially if this new will would disadvantage them.

Arthur, long suffering sin living in the house, would love to have his life back. Harry, black sheep of the Lee family, always managed to get plenty of money out of his father, but wanted more. David admitted he despised his father, but claimed he didn’t care about the money. Pilar, Simeon’s beautiful granddaughter, was

Shortly after the family had finished their dinner, a blood-chilling scream came from the old man’s bedroom. Simeon Lee had been brutally murdered. For the visiting Hercule Poirot, it was time to put his little grey cells to work.

A good choice for the season. Unlike most of her books, I saw the solution to this one coming, but this is still an entertaining entry in the Poirot canon. Worth your time.