Tuesday, August 01, 2006

New Stark House Noir Classic Double--Harry Whittington

It's no secret I am a fan of the old crime thrillers of the 1940s, 50s and 60s--not to mention the westerns, the science fiction and just about damn near everything else written--which is why this little number excites the hell out of me for two reasons. The first, and the most obvious is: Stark House Press is scheduled to release two vintage Harry Whittington novels--A Night for Screaming and Any Woman He Wanted--this September. This release, like all the Stark House publications, is a trade paperback with great cover art and two complete and unabridged novels. The novel retails for $19.95, which brings me back to an old gripe. Where have all the inexpensive mass-market paperbacks gone? I would be much more excited if I could pick this baby up for seven or eight dollars as a mass-market. Oh well, at least Stark House is out there, operating and bringing some of these old classics back into print.

The second reason I'm excited about this news has nothing whatsoever to do with the Whittington book, but rather how I found out about it. I have talked about a website called Mystery File on this blog before--it contains loads of information about current and past mystery writers and their work including bibliographies, book cover scans, interviews, reviews as well as light intellectual inquiry into the crime and mystery genres. The good and exciting news is, Ed Gorman is back! He is no longer blogging, but he has a sporadic column ongoing at Mystery File--today's column was about Stark House's new Whittington release. So thee you have it. If you want to hear some sage advice from one of today's best mystery writers follow this trail and read a little Gorman.

No comments: