TRASHY TUESDAY: JAMES HADLEY CHASE, THE PANTHER COVERS
James Hadley Chase (pseudonym of Rene Lodge Brabazon Raymond) was a British thriller writer probably best known for his tough fast paced novels that initially tried to imitate American gangster novels. During a career that spanned over forty years from 1939 to 1984 and nearly 90 novels, Chase covered a variety of styles and had several recurring central characters including California private eye Vic Malloy and the Paris-based CIA agent Mark Girland which ran for 4 books.
The covers of Chase’s novels were usually adorned with sexy women and guns. However, in the early 1970s Panther books developed an interesting line of covers. These often featured disconcerting close-ups (as with This Is For Real, which I featured back in March) and bleeding objects. I have set out three of my favourites below. The one for Believed Violent is particularly eye-catching!
I remember enjoying Believed Violent when I first read it and will be re-reading and reviewing it in the next few weeks.
I read a couple of his novels over (cough) forty years ago. I’ll look out for your review. Perhaps I may need to revisit the past ….
That was about the same period i was reading them! Where did it all go!
I wish I knew …
James Hadley Chase got 90% of Lagos youth reading in the 70s to mid 80s. Thank God I was part of that. I’m hoping to start a novel sharing club in Lagos soon. Bless JHC’s departed soul.