A while back I posted about the title novella in this book. (I used a different cover, too.) Ed Gorman suggested that I re-read the second novella, "Linda," so I did. After I got into it, I remembered it pretty well, and it's still a dandy story, about a steady, unimaginative guy who marries a flashy woman whom he longed for when they were in high school. After a while he finds out that maybe being married to her isn't as great as he'd thought it would be, and before long, he finds out some even worse things about her. As I read this, I found myself remembering quite a bit about it, but it was still fun, right up until the ending, which seemed draw-out and contrived to me this time. Well worth reading, though. And well worth reading again.
2 comments:
Along with Graham Greene, JDM is who made me want to be a writer.
Not that I thought I could ever reach their level, but to just try and do what they did, and maybe even get paid for it... wow.
I will always treasure my JDM books. I just recently went back and re-read all the McGee books in order. It was so much fun!
I've probably written before about my JDM connection. My first fan writings, 40 years or so ago (!) were for the JDM Bibliophile, which connected me with Len and June Moffatt and then the larger (though at that time quite small) world of mystery fandom. I read and re-read all the JDM books I could get my hands on. Even won a prize in a student book-collecting contest at U of Texas for my paperback originals. I don't think many people other than me were interested in collecting them in those days. I never met JMD, but I owe him a lot.
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