Monday, October 22, 2007

Paperback 34: Signet 1724

Paperback 34: Signet 1724 (PBO, 1957)

Title: Triple Slay
Author: Adam Knight
Cover artist: [Robert Schulz]

Best things about this cover:

  • Yesterday, I said I'd buy pretty much any vintage paperback that featured a girl with a gun on its cover. I'd like to expand that claim to include girls with knives or other assorted weaponry.
  • She's really holding that knife in the jabby / kill position. Not fooling around...
  • Why do I find her completely unsexy?
  • Unless this novel involves baseball, that title is terrible.


Best things about this back cover:

  • God, the copywriter really goes on a cliché bender in that second paragraph. I also love how much mileage (and perhaps joy) said copywriter is getting out of the "[pregnant pause] MURDER!" line...
  1. "The beautiful brunette has a face and figure that could send a man ... to murder." (front cover)
  2. "LIGHTS ... CAMERA ... MURDER!!!"
  3. "... he discovers that a killer is setting the stage - for murder."
  • "Mari Barstow" ... "Steve Conacher" ... these names are almost as bad as "Barr Breed." Clearly I need to start a running list of the Most Ridiculous Character Names in my collection. I'll get on that soon.
  • What's a "TV singer?"
RP

4 comments:

Orange said...

Why do I find her completely unsexy?

1. Stiff posture not remotely alluring.

2. Ugly shoes (plus her right foot...what is that, clubfoot?).

3. Bra contour much too pointy.

Unknown said...

I can't get the word "watusi" out of my head.

Michael5000 said...

Why do I find her completely unsexy?

Well, like it says, she has a face that makes a devoted husband anxious to abandon his wife. And she's the wife.

justjack said...

the "[pregnant pause] MURDER!" line...

I love that stuff! Reminds me of the old Quinn Martin-produced p.i. shows back in the sixties and seventies, with the voiceover reading off the words you could see with your own eyes on the tv screen. And he'd always wrap up with some variation of:

"Tonight's Episode: Hickory, Dickory.....DEATH!"