Paperback 558: The Sixpenny Dame / Eaton K. Goldthwaite (Pennant Books P49)

Paperback 558: Pennant Books P49 (1st ptg, 1954)

Title: The Sixpenny Dame
Author: Eaton K. Goldthwaite
Cover artist: Uncredited

Yours for: $11

Best things about this cover:

• Larry: "Hmm. She's OK, I guess. I'll give you fine pennies." Steve: "How dare you! En garde!"
• On the rocky shores of Mustard Cove, they settled their score like men—with a dance-off!
• Sheila: "Would you two hurry it up already? I wanna go home. My neck's sore and I think I ate too many crabcakes."
• Once again—love the dress. Not sure about the bangs, but love the dress.

Best things about this back cover:

• "Hey, boss, I got this design idea. Now, close your eyes and imagine ... instead of regular old bullet points: red squares! ... yeah, I know it clashes with the purple border ... but I just thought, you know, it's a novel about conflict, so ... yes, sir. Yes, sir. Sorry, sir."
• Bullet 3: See Bullet 1
• There's cryptic-good and cryptic-bad. Then there's this useless, befuddling mess of nothingness.

Page 123~

This put my Sixpenny dame in a new and uncomfortable light, for it showed she had employed psychopathic protection of a high order. 

I like how he talks about her like she's a seventh-level Wizard in "Dungeons & Dragons."

~RP

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Paperback 365: Drawn to Evil / Harry Whittington & The Scarlet Spade / Eaton K. Goldthwaite (Ace D-5)

Paperback 365: Ace Double D-5 (PBO / 1st ptg)

Title: Drawn to Evil / The Scarlet Spade
Author: Harry Whittington / Eaton K. Goldthwaite
Cover artist: Norman Saunders / Norman Saunders??? (Uncredited)

Yours for: $65


Best things about this cover:

• "Hey, tiger, whaddya think of this cami-" "Aw, shut yer yap, you loony dame!"
• Hazel was afraid to tell Bill that his Vulcan salute still needed a lot of practice.
• "Hey, babe, I just found a buyer for this stolen VHS tape I've got in my coat pocket! Gimme a high five! ... Up top? ... Aw, c'mon, don't leave me hangin', babe!"
• "I will karate chop your ass, so help me God, woman!"
• Norman Saunders was a cover painter in the great days of pulp fiction. His flair for the sensational and overdramatic is strongly in evidence here.

Best things about this back cover:

• In my head, she is making the worst, whiniest, most horrible noise in her throat.
• "Can someone please inflate the blow-up doll the rest of the way! Tom's gonna be here any second ..."
• Are those gigantic ice cubes in the background?
• "Nope, the spade's still black, sweetheart. Try again."

Page 123 (from The Scarlet Spade)~

Denver Calhoun's eyes smoldered in his broad, white face as he watched the full progress of O'Moriarty's exit.

So, some fat-faced white guy named Denver has the hots for some super-Irish guy. So what's new?

~RP

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]