Ed Gorman posted a nice piece about my friend Richard S. Prather’s Shell Scott books on his blog today.
I loved Prather because he was always fun. I was naive about his right-wing
politics so they never got in my way, I just liked the hilarious situations
chicks always led the willing Shell into. One of my all-time favorite scenes is
Shell in a hot air balloon flying above the nudist camp he’s just escaped from.
His attire consists of his holster and gun.
The Shell Scott books are dated but still as laugh-out-loud funny as they were forty years ago. In his heyday, Richard was one of the best selling authors in the world, with tens of millions of copies of his book in print.
I spoke to Richard a couple of days ago — he’d just signed a contract with Hard Case Crime to reprint one of his early, not-Scott books. So pretty soon a whole new generation will discover just how good a writer Richard Prather is.
Exxccellent. Prather is overdue for rediscovery. I wish more writers these days would use a bit more wit and humor.
Great to hear that Hard Case will be reprinting a Shell Scott caper. It’s about time.
Fantastic. Prather is one of my heroes.
Bill,
It’s not a Shell Scott novel. I don’t want to say which one (and undercut the official announcement) but I am sure you can guess.
Lee
I can think of only one non-Scott books…. and I think I have it. I’ve never read it because it’s an original Gold Medal and I can just tell it’ll fall apart if I try and open it too far. Regadless, this is indeed AWESOME news. –Brian