Sunday, April 24, 2011

Paperback 407: Border Wolves / Archie Joscelyn (Star Books No. 9)

Paperback 407: Star Books No. 9 (PBO, 1950)

Title: Border Wolves
Author: Archie Joscelyn
Cover artist: George Gross

Yours for: $12

Star9.BorderWolves

Best things about this cover:
  • Great girl art! Love the blouse and the skirt and I admire her firm and fearless (if unorthodox) gun-handling technique.
  • Captain Just-For-Men there, however, looks decidedly less confident. "Ehh, I don't like this shooting business! I'm just gonna dance myself off, stage left."
  • I'd love his neckerchief if it were on her.
  • Where are the wolves? I was promised wolves.
  • I defy you to find the adjective "gun-ruled" anywhere else. It's an adjectival exclusive!

Star9bc.BorderWolves

Best things about this back cover:
  • Again, no Wolves. Giant psychedelic logo, but no Wolves, Border or otherwise.
  • We get it. This was a range. Move along.
  • VENGEANCE! (I'm a sucker for all things revenge/vengeance/avenging/retribution/vigilante/payback)

Page 123~ (book too short, so ... Page 23!)
Her face warmed transfiguringly, but Thane had little time to watch that.
A big improvement from the first draft of this sentence: "She had a face like a hotplate, but Thane only had eyes for Dun Wanderin'" (which, I swear, is the name of a character in this book)

~RP

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6 comments:

Erik said...

Her gun handling technique isn't actually unorthodox. That's a legitimate method of reloading a single action revolver (rather than of shooting one).

JamiSings said...

He looks like Bruce Campbell. I knew Bruce was awesome but not time traveling to be a cover art model awesome! Groovy!

DemetriosX said...

Our hero there is going to wind up with a black eye. There's no way he could counter any sort of recoil holding the gun like that. OTOH, he is apparently a zombie or vampire, so maybe he can. It says right there that he "returned from Boot Hill" and as far as I know that means the cemetery.

Deb said...

Unless my eyes deceive me, even during a range war, there's apparently time for a manicure.

Also, what exactly is he shooting from his gun? It looks like the word BANG is about to drop down from it.

Finally, Thane? As in, Macbeth was the Thane of Cawdor?

infoqueen said...

"Transfiguringly" could be another adjective exclusive.

Nick O said...

Great stuff !

Just for interest`s sake, you might like to know that Archie Joscelyn also wrote as Al Cody.

Many of the Al Cody westerns seem to use the words `river` or `thunder` in the title, sometimes both.

No idea why, maybe just a personal obssession of his !