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Mike Shayne #50
Michael Shayne's 50th case
New look for a private eye.How do you reform a detective who's been booked too many times for murder, swayed too many times by well-stacked temptation? You don't! But you can give him a case like nobody has ever had before---and get set for a night like you've never had before.
- GenresMystery
184 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 1965
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25 people want to read
About the author
Brett Halliday
508 books62 followersAKA David Dresser
Excerpt from Wikipedia:
Brett Halliday (July 31, 1904 - February 4, 1977), primary pen name of Davis Dresser, was an American mystery writer, best known for the long-lived series of Mike Shayne novels he wrote, and later commissioned others to write. Dresser wrote non-series mysteries, westerns and romances under the names
Asa Baker, Matthew Blood, Kathryn Culver, Don Davis, Hal Debrett, Anthony Scott, Peter Field, and Anderson Wayne.
Excerpt from Wikipedia:
Brett Halliday (July 31, 1904 - February 4, 1977), primary pen name of Davis Dresser, was an American mystery writer, best known for the long-lived series of Mike Shayne novels he wrote, and later commissioned others to write. Dresser wrote non-series mysteries, westerns and romances under the names
Asa Baker, Matthew Blood, Kathryn Culver, Don Davis, Hal Debrett, Anthony Scott, Peter Field, and Anderson Wayne.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 3, 2018
Imagine walking into a bookstore, seeing a Mike Shayne book and something about a 50th case. Then the book is opened, Mike Shayne can hardly be found and there's no other reference to a 50th case. You'd have to wonder if the wrong cover was attached to the book or the publisher is desperate to milk a series for it's every dime by sticking any story written and placing a Mike Shayne cover around it. The latter would best explain this book.
Making matters worse, the style of writing in this book is so much like so many authors use today. Extreme over writing. Especially involving descriptions of characters. As the book starts and goes on and on and on about a character that by 10 pages in of this short novel, I knew I was in trouble. More than half way in and a call is placed to Shayne asking for help. Shayne is written to accept, with no mention of Shayne's obsession with financial exchange. As Shayne is plugged in the last sixth of the book, the ending is as obvious as it was within the first ten pages.
The story is badly plotted and thought out. The writing is strongest of the book. But how it is all put together. It is all too obvious.
About Florida setting: This ghost writer knows little of Florida and so keeps setting details to a minimum.
Bottom line : I Don't recommend this book. 3 out of 10 points.
Making matters worse, the style of writing in this book is so much like so many authors use today. Extreme over writing. Especially involving descriptions of characters. As the book starts and goes on and on and on about a character that by 10 pages in of this short novel, I knew I was in trouble. More than half way in and a call is placed to Shayne asking for help. Shayne is written to accept, with no mention of Shayne's obsession with financial exchange. As Shayne is plugged in the last sixth of the book, the ending is as obvious as it was within the first ten pages.
The story is badly plotted and thought out. The writing is strongest of the book. But how it is all put together. It is all too obvious.
About Florida setting: This ghost writer knows little of Florida and so keeps setting details to a minimum.
Bottom line : I Don't recommend this book. 3 out of 10 points.
May 26, 2017
Wild Conventions, Trains, & Housewives
For the fiftieth Mike Shayne novel, the publisher came up with the tantalizing title of "Mike Shayne's 50th Case." In fact, Mike Shayne barely makes an appearance in this case until nearly the end. This was written under the Brett Halliday name years after Dresser stopped writing these mysteries. Much of the story follows the narrative of a middle class guy who attends a convention in Miami. In a lot of ways, this character reminds me of characters from early Block novels, particularly the way he slowly and deliberately thinks through and rationalizes his actions which are not necessarily natural reactions. Ace reporter Tim Rourke does most of the investigating in this case and is more of a central character than Shayne. There is also a nod to the civil rights era of the South in the sixties but it feels as if it doesn't really belong in this story.
For the fiftieth Mike Shayne novel, the publisher came up with the tantalizing title of "Mike Shayne's 50th Case." In fact, Mike Shayne barely makes an appearance in this case until nearly the end. This was written under the Brett Halliday name years after Dresser stopped writing these mysteries. Much of the story follows the narrative of a middle class guy who attends a convention in Miami. In a lot of ways, this character reminds me of characters from early Block novels, particularly the way he slowly and deliberately thinks through and rationalizes his actions which are not necessarily natural reactions. Ace reporter Tim Rourke does most of the investigating in this case and is more of a central character than Shayne. There is also a nod to the civil rights era of the South in the sixties but it feels as if it doesn't really belong in this story.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews