U of C reprints: The Rare Coin Score

While I’m thrilled that University of Chicago is bringing the Parkers back into print, I’ve been consistently disappointed by their covers, which are somewhat uninspired at best, absolutely terrible at worst. I’m sure a university press doesn’t have a huge budget for artists and designers, but for most of these new editions, it looks like they dipped into their clip-art file a couple of times and called it a day. For The Rare Coin Score, aside from the central gun image that graces all their Parker books, we’ve got an image of a worn and ancient Roman coin, which is fine, though probably not something you’d see at a coin convention. And you’ve got a silhouette of woman on a stool. Why? Because it fills out the cover, I guess.

I mean, compare this cover to a classic version. There’s no contest. One tells you the kind of book you can expect; the other just looks cheap and generic.

Again, I’m thrilled that these books (especially the incredibly hard-to-find Butcher’s Moon) are seeing publication again, but I really wish Hard Case Crime could have gotten their hands on the series.

is the original the one from the 1967 fawcet publication?

that’s the copy i have, i got it from amazon.

I recently read this for the first time and (of course) really enjoyed it. I was kinda surprised when Parker said that Dan Wycza was dead, though.