Utah
Blaine is the second of three Louis L’Amour novels
published by Ace. It was originally published
as by Jim Mayo and made its debut as one half of an Ace Double (D-48) in 1954. The
artwork of the original paperback isn’t bad, but getting a copy could set your retirement
back.
The edition that caught my eye was an early 1970s
Ace reprint. It has an alarmingly orange
cover—something close to post-apocalyptic as it seems to devour the town in the
background—a gunman on an angry horse firing at someone offstage. It appears there is something close to
artillery kicking up dirt geysers (actually rifle slug impacts, I’m sure). It is a scene straight from a comic book, and
I love it. The artist is uncredited.
The opening paragraph:
“He
was asleep and then he was awake. His eyes flared wide and he held himself
still, staring staring into the darkness, his ears reaching for sound.”
I read this title as a teenager and I can barely
remember the plot, but I do remember I enjoyed it. I know the edition I read
was issued by Bantam in the 1980s. The
thing I really like about this old Ace paperback. It informs the customer it is Louis L’Amour “writing
under the pen-name ‘Jim Mayo’”.
This is the fourth in a new series of posts featuring cover and miscellany of books I find at thrift stores and used bookshops. It is reserved for books I purchased as much for the cover art as for the story or the author.
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