Here is the cover for the new University of Chicago reprint of The Green Eagle Score. The covers for the other two in this batch (The Black Ice Score and The Sour Lemon Score) will be posted in the coming days.
These are scheduled for publication in May, which probably means April.
Thanks again to the University of Chicago Press!
Warning: Declaration of Social_Walker_Comment::start_lvl(&$output, $depth, $args) should be compatible with Walker_Comment::start_lvl(&$output, $depth = 0, $args = Array) in /home/violentw/www/www/wp-content/plugins/social/lib/social/walker/comment.php on line 18
Warning: Declaration of Social_Walker_Comment::end_lvl(&$output, $depth, $args) should be compatible with Walker_Comment::end_lvl(&$output, $depth = 0, $args = Array) in /home/violentw/www/www/wp-content/plugins/social/lib/social/walker/comment.php on line 42
The cover’s laid out to appear the gun is playing a saxophone. Awesome.
I haven’t read this one yet, despite trying to find older copies online for awhile, but I did notice the saxophone shows up on the 80’s Avon printing as well. There’s a lot of suspense to be had in finding out how this saxophone ties into this Parker book. Does he rob Steely Dan’s backup band?
No he robs John Coltrane :)
I continue to be thrilled that these long-out-of-print titles are coming back. But I also continue to be monumentally unimpressed by U of C’s cover designs. I mean, look at that! That’s two pieces of stock clip art slapped onto the already-established gun motif. How long could that have taken to pull together?
If only Hard Case Crime could have gotten their hands on this series. Now, those would have been some covers to write home about.
Or Black Lizard Press. I can imagine them putting out some beautiful trade paperbacks. Check out the fine Patricia Highsmith and Jim Thompson titles they put out in the ’90s.
U of C’s cover art: Bah!
Still, it’s the story that matters, and The Green Eagle Score is a crackerjack entry in the series (the best of the whole “Score” run, IMO).
I understand the criticism of the cover art (although I’m more fond of it than many), but one thing to keep in mind is that university presses do not have a huge budget to work with. Go to the website of any university press and, in general, you will not find covers that are stunning works of graphic design. Most likely, they gave someone a very small budget and said, “Do what you can.”
Black Lizard would have done a fine job, but they didn’t pick up the rights for whatever reason. Hard Case Crime would have had wonderful covers, but they couldn’t get the rights and wouldn’t have reprinted the whole series if they had (and I’ll happily sacrifice gorgeous cover art to get trade paperbacks).
I wish Mysterious Press had done a full set of their matchbook covers–I loved those.
Oh absolutely, I understand that a university press must have a very small budget. But I still think an artist with a little more creativity could have come up with better covers for not very much money.
The U of C cover for The Score is probably my favorite, as it at least makes an attempt at depth and perspective with the limited tools available.
And I again want to stress that whatever disappointment I feel about the covers is simply dwarfed by my joy at having The Seventh through Butcher’s Moon back in print.
I’ll kid about the design on these covers too, but I’m thankful that it’s not only brought these Parker books back into print, but it’s made older printings more affordable. I’m filling out my collection nicely and will not sweat having to pay $60+ for a beat up Avon printing of Butcher’s Moon. If I’m not mistaken, we’re less than a few years from brand new $15 copies of the last two hard to find books.
Even better, Patrick. Last I heard, the plan was for Deadly Edge, Slayground, Plunder Squad, and Butcher’s Moon to all be released in fall 2010.
I actually like the U of C covers, though not as much as the matchbooks (and I confess to having a soft spot for the Avon series, probably because this is where I first read them).
One thing to keep in mind about the new covers: They reduce well to thumbnails – irrelevant back in the day but important in the age of Amazon and online sales.
Rigby- That’s great news. I just paid $10 for a “Here’s Parker!” copy of The Split and $11 awhile back for a 1973 paperback of Slayground, so I’ll be thankful if those prices turn out to be the highest I pay for a Stark novel.
Seth- I have a soft for the Avon series too. When I got into Westlake’s work, the price of the Avon books seemed to have dropped and could be found for cheaper than the current University of Chicago printings. They also look like the kind of books my hometown’s old newsstand would’ve carried in their paperback rack next to the hunting and sci-fi magazines.