Rough Edges

Even late in the pulp era, you could still find some mighty good reading in the magazines that remained. This issue of DETECTIVE TALES featu...

It takes me a long time to read a book these days, a combination of being really busy, not having much time to read, and a rather scattersho...

John D. MacDonald is the biggest name in this issue of 15 STORY DETECTIVE, and of course, he wasn't as big a name in March 1950, when th...

I'm not sure who painted the cover for this issue of STARTLING STORIES. I immediately think of Earle Bergey when it comes to that pulp, ...

Even this late in its run, DIME DETECTIVE looks like a pretty darned good pulp. This issue has a Norman Saunders cover, and the line-up of a...

Now that's a striking cover. That guy looks a little calmer than I would be in the same situation. Not that I would ever find myself in ...

This issue of SUPER SCIENCE STORIES has a good cover by Lawrence Sterne Stevens. Not one of my absolute best, maybe (in my opinion), but ...

"The Best in New Detective Fiction", this cover from MYSTERY BOOK MAGAZINE proclaims, and I think they could make a persuasive ...

I keep telling guys, never trust a suit of armor. Nine times out of ten, there's a killer hiding inside it. But do they listen to me?...

Another great Norman Saunders cover graces this issue of F.B.I. DETECTIVE STORIES, a very late G-Man pulp. Inside are stories by some wel...

Another fine Norman Saunders cover graces this issue of SUPER SCIENCE STORIES. Inside are stories by Arthur C. Clarke, Ray Bradbury, A.E....

The cover on this issue of STARTLING STORIES is by Earle Bergey--but most of you already knew that, didn't you? I know his work was c...

Not a bad cover on this issue of NEW DETECTIVE, but look at that line-up of writers inside: John D. MacDonald, Day Keene, Fredric Brown, ...

I'm well aware that my brow is on the low side, but dang, I love this stuff. An Earle Bergey cover and stories by John D. MacDonald, ...

I have to cheat a little bit this week. I was going to reread this book so I could write about it intelligently, but time and real life cons...

It takes me a long time to read a book these days, a combination of being really busy, not having much time to read, and a rather scattersho...

This novel is one of John D. MacDonald’s rare misfires. Rather than his usual crime or suspense yarn, it’s more of a mainstream novel conce...

Ed Gorman and Bill Crider have both talked about John D. MacDonald on their blogs in recent days, and that inspired me to pull down one of m...