Tag Archives: John D. MacDonald

One Monday MacDonald Killed Them All

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This blog has been dormant for a while, and that’s been due to time constraints. I’m bringing it back online. More on that later.

Today, July 24, is the birthday of John D. MacDonald (1916-1986). MacDonald wrote for the pulps and transitioned to paperbacks when the pulps died. (I wish someone would collect all his science fiction.) For today’s birthday post, I want to look at One Monday We Killed Them All.

Dwight McAran beat a girl to death and went to prison for it. He’s about to get out. Dwight is Fenn Hillyer’s brother-in-law. Fenn is a cop. They don’t get along.

Dwight’s sister Meg, Fenn’s wife, thinks Dwight has made some bad but is basically a good person. He just needs the police and powerful businessman whose daughter Dwight killed to get off his back and give him a chance. She’s said he can stay with her and Fenn and everything will eventually be fine.

She couldn’t be more wrong.

Do you think Fenn’s family life is about to get…complicated? Continue reading →

John D. MacDonald at 102

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John D. MacDonald was born on this date, July 24, in 1916.  I’ve written about him before (see here, here, and here).

Although he’s probably best remembered today as the author of the Travis McGee series of men’s adventure thrillers, MacDonald learned his chops in the pulps, albeit during the tail end of the pulp era.

MacDonald’s work is lean and crisp, whether it’s a Travis McGee novel, a stand-alone thriller, or one of his few (but excellent) science fiction tales.  His work is worth seeking out.  And while some of the attitudes expressed may seem dated to anyone who thinks literature began sometime after the year 2000, there’s plenty of philosophy integrated into the action to raise his work above that of pulp hackwork.  This is literature, and deserves to be kept in print.

John D. MacDonald’s Death Trap

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john d macdonald death trapDeath Trap
John D. MacDonald
Fawcett Gold Medal, 1957
mmpb, 191 pgs.,

If you recall, I picked up some old John D. MacDonald paperbacks last summer, which I wrote about here, with one reviewed here.

Well, while I was laid up with the flu last week, I got the hankering to read another one rather than the fantasy novel I’m susposed to be reading for review.  (I blame it on the pharmaceuticals.)

This is one of MacDonald’s earliest novels and went through a number of reprintings, as evidenced by not only several different covers, but several different prices on the same cover illustration.

The setup in this one is pretty straight forward.  MacReedy works for an international construction company.  A few years ago he was in charge of widening a highway from two to four lanes outside a small college town.  While there he meets a young woman named Vicky Landy, whose whiz-kid brother is a freshman at the college.  Vicky and Alister are orphans, and Alister is one of those brilliant kids who hasn’t quite caught the knack of fitting in socially.

MacReedy seduces Vicky, a seduction that culminates just as he is finishing the job.  Vicky had hoped to marry him, and he leaves her with a broken heart.  MacReedy spends the next three years in Spain on a major project, but he can’t get Vicky out of his mind.

Upon his return, he is planning on taking a couple of months off to do some fishing when he sees a small story on the back page of the paper.  Alister is set to be executed for the rape and murder of a 16 year old girl. Continue reading →

John D. MacDonald’s You Live Once

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939495You Live Once
John D. MacDonald
Fawcett

This was originally published as a Fawcett Gold Medal book, but the edition I have is a later one without that designation on the cover. But it’s still a great book. It’s one of the bundle I wrote about in my last post.

Clint Sewell is a rising middle manager in a midwest firm. He’s fairly new to town. Lately he’s been seen in the company of a local heiress, one Mary Olen. Even though Clint would like things to happen with her, their relationship is something of a ruse. Clint’s boss, Dodd Raymond, who happens to be married, is a hometown boy.  He and Mary knew each other years ago.  Now that he’s back in town, they’re having an affair.  He’s got Clint acting as Mary’s date so he can spend time with her.

The book opens with Clint being awakened from a deep sleep by a couple of police officers.  Mary didn’t come home last night, and Clint was the last person seen with her.  He tells them the truth.  Mary dropped him off after a double date with the Raymonds.  She was supposed to pick him up and take him up to a party at her family’s lake house.

The police believe him and leave.  Clint goes into his bedroom to get dressed and finds Mary in his closet.  She’s been strangled by one of Clint’s belts.  In a panic, Clint disposes of her body.  He soon realizes that this was a mistake.  But it’s too late to turn back now.  Clint can only hope he can find the real killer before suspicion is focused on him. Continue reading →

Acquisition: John D. MacDonald Bundle

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MacDonald bundleIf you’re ever in Ruidoso, New Mexico, check out Dog Eared Paperbacks.  I was there a few weeks ago, and I came across a bundle of eleven vintage John D. MacDonald paperbacks.  That’s ten of them on the right.  (I couldn’t get One More Sunday to fit in the picture in a way I liked.)

I’d like to thank Patsy, the proprietor.  The bundle was cash only, and I didn’t have enough left to cover the cost.  She graciously let me send her a check when I got home and mailed them to me.  They showed up in the mail last weekend.

I’m going to be diving into them over the next few months, so watch this space for reviews.  You just don’t find MacDonald titles anymore.  I’m looking forward reading these.