Hmm, now why wasn't I as smart as you and think to use PBS to find Alistair Maclean's books? I've been surfing all the local bookshops. (Well, the reason is we have TONS of credit here since we've been trading in a lot of books during our move)
I've been looking mostly for Ice Station Zebra, since the title is so distinctive and has stuck in my memory, but I should write down the ones you liked the most and browse for them too. I think the only ones the local used book shop had were his older ones, though. :/
It didn't occur to me, either, until Jordi brought him up and I thought to check out Wikipedia. I'd had such disappointing luck at the libraries (getting the later books, as it turns out) that I was terribly afraid of buying a book that I really didn't care for. Lucky dog to have so many credits! I've had to raid the office book swap and list a bunch of nasty-looking horror books about serial killers. One of them was requested immediately. *rolls eyes*
Yes, just write them down and stick them in your pocketbook. :) I think just about all of them are readily available on PBS. He's far too under-appreciated these days, but isn't so badly out of print as, say, the Saint books are. All but the four new ones I did find at used book stores over time, but it took quite a while. The later ones do seem to be more common. They've been written in the last 30 years as opposed to 50, after all.
You will like Ice Station Zebra. It has many of my favorite elements. To paraphrase Larry, "I laughed, I cried - it moved me, Bob!" :D I can't wait
( ... )
Actually, that's an odd thing I noticed about the availability of the Saint books. I was browsing Amazon last night, just to look at the relative prices of different titles. While many of the older ones (even editions from the 1930s!) can be gotten for under ten dollars, some of the *last* Saint books from the 70s/80s go for more than $25. I figure the latter books are rarer because they were ghostwritten trifles that never had any reprints. :Þ
The very first book, though--"The Saint Meets the Tiger"--goes for anything from $75 to *hundreds* of dollars. If my library still does inter-library loans, I think I'm going to see if they can find it. (Seems Charteris didn't care for it, and even dismissed it from Saint canon later on, so maybe it wouldn't be a great loss if it's un-findable.)
I'll take your word for the comparative rarity, since you've done a whole lot more searching than I. I also agree about the lack of reprints. Although most of the ones in the libraries I've read were all from the later period - Vendetta for the Saint and the Hapsburg Necklace being two I recall.
Yes, I've noticed that. I'd be very interested in your take on it; its high price makes one assume it's a good 'un, but if Charteris himself didn't like it, one also wonders how Saintly it really is.
Assuming the library can actually find it, my idea was to do as I did with "Saint in New York" and those other two. ;) The reader reviews for it at Amazon are pretty positive.
The library here has "Hapsburg Necklace" and some other newer ones, too, that I haven't read. No time these days for books I don't own that are ghosted anyway. :Þ
I've been looking mostly for Ice Station Zebra, since the title is so distinctive and has stuck in my memory, but I should write down the ones you liked the most and browse for them too. I think the only ones the local used book shop had were his older ones, though. :/
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Yes, just write them down and stick them in your pocketbook. :) I think just about all of them are readily available on PBS. He's far too under-appreciated these days, but isn't so badly out of print as, say, the Saint books are. All but the four new ones I did find at used book stores over time, but it took quite a while. The later ones do seem to be more common. They've been written in the last 30 years as opposed to 50, after all.
You will like Ice Station Zebra. It has many of my favorite elements. To paraphrase Larry, "I laughed, I cried - it moved me, Bob!" :D I can't wait ( ... )
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The very first book, though--"The Saint Meets the Tiger"--goes for anything from $75 to *hundreds* of dollars. If my library still does inter-library loans, I think I'm going to see if they can find it. (Seems Charteris didn't care for it, and even dismissed it from Saint canon later on, so maybe it wouldn't be a great loss if it's un-findable.)
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Yes, I've noticed that. I'd be very interested in your take on it; its high price makes one assume it's a good 'un, but if Charteris himself didn't like it, one also wonders how Saintly it really is.
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The library here has "Hapsburg Necklace" and some other newer ones, too, that I haven't read. No time these days for books I don't own that are ghosted anyway. :Þ
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