Border Town Girl

by John D. MacDonald

TWO HEADLONG TALES OF INTRIGUE, SUSPENSE, AND MURDER BY A MASTER STORYTELLER

BORDER TOWN GIRL

Once, Lane Sanson had been a Somebody - a war correspondent and a best-selling author. Now he was a nobody, bumming around Mexico. Lost, lonely, hungry for hope, he was a pushover for a bordertown B-girl - the perfect fall guy for a lethal frame-up.

LINDA

She was born with the morality gene missing. As beautiful, as inviting, as treacherous as the sea around her, Linda is one of the most compelling women yet created by John D. MacDonald.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Noir, Short Stories, Mystery Thriller, Pulp

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1956

About the author

John D. MacDonald was born in Sharon, Pennsylvania, and educated at the Universities of Pennsylvania, Syracuse and Harvard, where he took an MBA in 1939. During WW2, he rose to the rank of Colonel, and while serving in the Army and in the Far East, sent a short story to his wife for sale, successfully. He served in the Office of Strategic Services (O.S.S.) in the China-Burma-India Theater of Operations. After the war, he decided to try writing for a year, to see if he could make a living. Over 500 short stories and 70 novels resulted, including 21 Travis McGee novels.

Following complications of an earlier heart bypass operation, MacDonald slipped into a coma on December 10 and died at age 70, on December 28, 1986, in St. Mary's Hospital in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was survived by his wife Dorothy (1911-1989) and a son, Maynard.

In the years since his death MacDonald has been praised by authors as diverse as Stephen King, Spider Robinson, Jimmy Buffett, Kingsley Amis and Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.. Thirty-three years after his passing the Travis McGee novels are still in print.

Reviews

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

Border Town Girl

Border Town Girl is actually two novellas in one package and the cover page should make that evident. Border Town Girl is the story of a package that everyone wants and that, in a comedy of errors, Lance Sanson has. Sanson is a newspaperman who has fallen on hard times and even his trip to Mexico goes wrong and, naive, good guy that he is, gets sucked into something no good. The characters include the mob boss, his femme fatale Diana, and his twisted henchman Christy who is the evil torturer of nightmares. The plot moves back and forth across the border. The storyline feels a bit stiff at times and the characters could be rounded out a little more.

The second novella is Linda and the set up for this story is great as Paul Cowley, a mild-mannered keep-to-himself kind of guy runs into the most popular girl from high school who doesn’t even remember him and ends up marrying her. He wonders sometimes how he got so lucky, but when he thinks about it he realizes she always want’s something more than he can give her and she’s not generally in the mood where she can’t keep her hands off him. The conceit here is that Paul is too blind too see what he’s really caught is a Venus flytrap and she’s going to chew him up and spit out the seeds. MacDonald expertly leads the reader in slowly, letting the reader know something is rotten, but not exposing it all until it’s too late and Paul has a knife do deeply in his back that it seems as if it will never come out. There are a lot of ways this story could have gone, but the place MacDonald takes it too is just explosive. When it comes to crime noir, Linda is the real deal.

[Kurt Reichenbaugh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've had this JDM paperback on my shelf for many years. Most certainly I got it from one of the handful of used bookstores in Phoenix that have now closed. Thinking about the bookstores that have closed is always a bit depressing, so pulling an old paperback off the shelf at home and escaping into a bygone time is comfort for the soul.

Anyway, as you might notice from other reviews, or not, Border Town Girl is actually two novellas by JDM. The first one, "Border Town Girl" was originally published in DIME DETECTIVE MAGAZINE as "Five Star Fugitive" back in 1950. JDM was a master at laying down a fast-paced pulp story, and this one has all the classic elements of pulp action. The beginning is a corker. A hard-nosed moll named Diana Saybree is laying low in a motel on the border of Texas and Mexico waiting for a drug deal to go down. Diana is pure pulp slattern with her cigarettes and sexy underwear, stockings hanging from suitcase, rye on the dresser and sweaty flesh on the bedsheets. Unfortunately, before her contact from Mexico arrives she's knocked over by a hood, leaving her without the payoff dough she's been trusted with. Just south of the border is Lane Sanson, a regular Joe who had notoriety several years before for penning a bestseller about the war. Now he's on the bum, spending the last of his money on tequila and hookers. One hooker sets him up for a roll which ends up with him getting confused for the smuggler that Diana Saybree is waiting for. Enter the scene, Christy, one psycho killer ex-circus strong man who gets kinky thrills torturing his victims before snuffing them out. And Christy can't wait to get his mitts on Diana's hot little bod!

The 2nd story in the novel is simply titled "Linda" and I believe it was original to this two-fer published in 1956. Linda is described as a babe born with a "morality gene missing" who is married to all-round good guy (and hapless dupe) Paul Cowley. Paul is a plant engineer who married Linda after she returns from a wild life and shady past in California. Paul works with a hotshot sales guy named Brandon Jeffries, known to all as Jeff. Jeff and his wife Stella become social friends with Paul and Linda. Before long, Linda and Jeff start to work a plan for both couples to embark on a shared vacation to a remote beach in Florida. It'll be a kick, they promise, both couples taking in the sun, the beach, the fishing, and...well you can probably see it coming right? Betrayal and murder. This is another terrific yarn that'll have you hooked within the first few paragraphs.

So there it is, classic JDM in two short shots, perfect for a rainy day afternoon.

[Cathy DuPont · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to Kevin Comer who posted as a guest post on D. R. Martin's blog Travis McGee & Me, Reflections on the Man from Slip F-18, Travis McGee & Me. Kevin recommended this and thought Linda was the better read and I agree. I picked up this "not Travis" JDM novella(s) but he should have named it "Linda" since in my opinion too, that was easily the better story of the two novellas.

If you go to D. R.'s site (which I hope you will) you'll see that the entire blog is free for Kindle and how can you lose on free? It's a great reference source after a McGee is read since it has spoilers in every blog post.

Linda...four stars * * * *, I really liked it, it was a great story, well, great solid story told as usual for JDM.

Border Town Girl...three stars * * *, I liked it but Linda had, by far, the better storyline.

Since I always round up, the book gets four stars and well worth a read. A treat especially if you're like me and love JDM's writing. And yes, I admit to being a bit biased. So shoot me.

[Rauf · Rating 4 out of 5]

John D. MacDonald wrote about a score of stand-alone novels in addition to his Travis McGee books.
This one, two novelettes.

The first was Border Town Girl, was disappointing. Christy, chief henchman, tried to double-cross his boss, a drug dealer named George. He sent a man to steal George's money. Later, George sent Christy to catch the thief. Didn't like the way it ended. Christy's defeat came too easy.
I like the references to Of Mice And Men, though. Christy was a man of great strength who once killed a dame cause he smacked her too hard. And near the end when an apparition of George showed before Christy and he accused Christy of betrayal, Christy said, "I wouldn't do a thing like that, George, honest."
So Lennie-ish.
(In Of Mice And Men, Lennie's only pal was George Milton)

The second novelette, Linda, was very, very noir. Linda was your classic femme fatale. She hatched a plot to kill her beau's wife and made Paul, Linda's third husband, as the patsy. The way she planned it, no one noticed a thing till it happened. Dominos fell in shiny patterns. Boy, was Paul's face red.....
Bravo to MacDonald who created this goddess of discord by showing it expertly, bit by bit, to readers.

[AC · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two 1956 novellas.

The first, Border Town Girl (1956) = 4+ = Mexico: a strong crime-focused noir; but with a surprisingly weak, almost camp ending, which dramatically weakens the tale.

The second, Linda (1956) = 5 = is much stronger. A suburban noir; murder on the beach (don’t worry; that’s not a spoiler) is well handled.

Neither, of course, are as rich as the later noir character studies that I’ve recently finished, nor as good as the really outstanding 1952 short story, “Murder for Money” (in JDM’s first short story collection, The Good Old Stuff)

[Gu Kun · Rating 4 out of 5]

Border Town Girl was good. Linda was superb.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

This short novel packs a punch. Set on both sides of the U.S./Mexico border, it tells the tale of a washed-up writer who wanders into a drug deal and the arms of a bad girl named Diana. Most of the attention, however, is to a villain named Christy, a former carnie strong man who leaves a trail of bodies in his wake.

John D. MacDonald is best known for his Travis McGee stories set in Florida, but this isn't one of them. Border Town Girl is set in a Tex/Mex hell and has considerably less chivalry than the McGee books. (But there is some.)

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two novellas, “Border Town Girl” and “Linda” make up this book. Excellent hardboiled stories.

[Freddie the Know-it-all · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a BOGO.

Border Town Girl

Pros
1. Plenty of action, kind of gory though.
2. Very little porn.

Cons
1. Dope-dealers.
2. Mexican stuff.
3. Circus strong-man.
4. After April Evil, it was a bit disappointing.

Linda

Wow. I was just transfixed with this one.

You could see some things coming, but JDM built those things up so, so slowly, and side-stepped with such astute timing that you always knew you couldn't count on your predictions.

I made it sound like I predicted more than I did, I could only see two things coming: Linda was no good and, since Paul was the narrator, he was still alive at the end. But Ray Charles with his back turned at midnight could see that from the inside of an alligator.

I guess I take it all back. I didn't see anything coming.

You always hear about "page-turners", but usually from liars who are clearly in the pocket of Big Ink or Big Paper. This is the real thing. This really is one of those page-turners and it made a nervous wreck of me all night. Sure, Paul was talking, but you didn't know if it was from an asylum, a villa on the Riviera, or if it was his last mutterings while being strapped into the chair.

I'm kinda new at JDM, so maybe I'm easily dazzled.

Oh, one more thing, no porn at all. Zero.

I've known a couple of Lindas in my day -- three to be exact. I was married to two of them and, in a much less dramatic, but just as lethal, way I know exactly what Paul went through. But my torment went on for a couple of months, not a couple of days. So, late at night, all alone, reading this story scared five more years off my life. Until Paul got off in the end, I was sick with fear. I didn't yet know what was gonna happen to Paul in the end ... and it made me think that I didn't yet know what was gonna happen to me. Maybe it wasn't over yet. You know, like a horror movie: The End (Question Mark!)

[Ed · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two novellas John D. MacDonald. Border Town Girl was originally published in Dime Detective Magazine as "Five Star Fugitive". Both are unmistakably from the pen of JDM but are completely different. Border Town Girl is a story of conflict and characters that reminds me of his Mexican Border thriller The Damned (1952). Linda is JDM's competent man in an uncomfortable marital setting. Compare it with Cancel All Our Vows(1953). Well worthwhile reading.

Thriller - Two Novellas: Border Town Girl (1950) - Linda (1956).
Border Town Girl" is an interesting tale of redemption that unfolds in the unlikely setting of Baker, TX right on the Rio Grande. It is there that Lane Sanson, a washed up writer, meets Diana Saybree, a gangster's girlfriend. Against a backdrop of drug smuggling and murder, each manages to help the other reclaim their respective lives.
In "Linda", narrator Paul Cowley is an intelligent but naive suburbanite who has been married for a number of years to the beautiful but shallow title character, Linda. As the compelling narrative unfolds, it becomes shockingly apparent that Paul has been living with someone he has never really known.

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of two novellas that shows off some of the things MacDonald does best as a writer. With Border Town Girl, a story of a down-on-his-luck ex-jounalist turned novelist who is set up as a drug smuggling mule, the first two chapters are MacDonald at his absolute best: set pieces that establish the plot and reveal character from the inside out, as we see these two characters dealing with their inner demons and then see them left for dead. Linda is a terrific noir plot featuring an "everyman" who falls for a femme fatale and then becomes the victim of her plot to set him up for murder. MacDonald excels at character and Linda is one of the great femme fatale characters in noir.

[Stormcrow Hayes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two novellas in one book. The second, Linda, is excellent. I read it in two sessions over one night, taking a break to stretch, grab a snack, and then returned until the end. Absolutely one of his best.

Border Town Girl, which I happened to read second for no particular reason (even though it's first and the title), I also read in one night, but took several breaks along the way. It's still good, but didn't grab me by the throat and drag me along the way Linda did (which is funny since Christy, the heavy in Border Town Girl, literally does grab someone by the throat). Anyway, BTG is heavy on the pulp and noir and that's a good thing. In fact, it reminded me a little of No Country For Old Men just in the fact that it involves crossing back and forth across the border, smuggling, and a tough hit man who's scary as hell. Obviously this isn't derivative of that since it was written decades before, but there are similarities just in the setting and theme.

Christy as the heavy was scary, but I wish JDM had used a different name. But the background, a former circus strong man with a screw loose, is great.

Anyway, Linda is five stars and Border Town Girl is somewhere between 3.5 and 4.

[Carla]

Two zippy noir novellas. The first is good, the second even better with a truly evil femme fatale. Fun.

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is comprised of two different unconnected stories. The first, "Border Town Girl" was, I guess, written for a pulp magazine and then it was combined with a newly written story, "Linda", when published in paperback.

Border Town Girl was an atmospheric story of a down on his luck novelist, who is just drifting around, when he gets caught up in some kind of drug deal. Rescued at the last minute by his own surprising backbone and a local native women, it was an okay story with some interesting characters and atmosphere.

Linda, however, had a real John D MacDonald feel for it, with a regular guy finding out just how pitiless and evil his wife and friend are. Told in an interesting reminiscing fashion, he does a good job of keeping you both confused and on the edge of your seat. Very well done.

So we'll say ★★★ for Border Town Girl and ★★★★ for Linda and round up to ★★★★.

[Matt Lenz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the last JDM novel on my actual bookshelf and I put it off because it didn't look that appealing to me. It is actually two novellas, Border Town Girl and Linda. I finally picked it up to read and finished the first novella in the same day...and really enjoyed it. A few days later I finished the second one...and really enjoyed it, too. It is hard to believe that all of the story elements and character development found in a full novel can be found in each of these two novellas. Diana is the Border Town Girl that you may not like at first, but really like at the end. Linda is the beauty you think you really like at the beginning but may won't like at the end. I wonder if that was how he wrote them, challenging his readers to see the (presumably) bad to good and (presumably) good to bad. He was a master and almost everything he produced was terrific.

[Ron · Rating 5 out of 5]

These comments refer to the Random House e-book edition. Very good pair of noir novellas by JDM, but the e-book edition has typos that do not exist in the original print edition--like "Tortillas con polio," missing capital letters, and others. Like the intro by Dean Koontz but is it worth the $9, even with the added typos? Used print copies are $3 or less.

[Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is actually a collection of two novellas, "Border Town Girl" and "Linda." Both are basically character studies, which MacDonald does very well.

[Bob · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favorites by John D. Every time I read one of his novels, it's like opening a window or another dimension into a certain time period that I wish I could have lived through and experienced. Every time I read one of his novels, I can see and almost feel exactly what he is writing and what it was like back in that time period. It sounds cheesy, but it's true.

I acquired an almost perfect semi-original copy of this book from somewhere. It actually contains two stories, this one and "Linda". Short story, but the quality of the writing is on point for me. Take the character Christy, MacDonald gave the reader so much detail with such little writing. Christy is by far my favorite character in this book. A twisted, evil mob henchman. An ape-like hitman, former circus freak, who is stone cold in every aspect. The minute he arrived on the plane, you knew he was bad news, and how MacDonald described Christy's arrival was a fantastic piece of writing. I don't think I will ever forget that part.

Not all of MacDonald's books are fantastic, but I get something out of all of his works. Why isn't this guy more well know and re printed? You can't find new copies of his books anywhere, just old ones. And the old copies, with their retro look from the 1950's and 1960's, help open that window to the past. I almost don't want his stuff to be reprinted, because there is a certain feeling I get by reading his works from the old copies. Almost like time travel.

[K · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two novellas, two winners from John MacDonald. Until now, I'd only read his full-length novels, so I didn't know what to expect from these short stories. Not to worry, as JDM delivers the goods over and over.

Of the two, I found the plot of Linda, the second of the two, more intricate and compelling. In fact, I'd have thought it was over when, in fact, there remained an even more delicious second half that brought things to a rewarding ending.

In Border Girl, the plot was a bit less complex and intriguing, but that was balanced by a more interesting and fully fleshed cast, especially the deranged killer who had grown up an oddity, working as a strong man side-show in a travelling carny. There was something so menacing about him and his damaged personality that really brought him off the page.

Both novellas involve frame-ups, in which a sympathetic character finds himself framed for a crime he didn't commit and facing the serious consequences thereof. Yet, despite the odds, MacDonald manages to save the good guy without the story becoming too predictable or sappy. Things work out in a most satisfying manner.

4.5 stars rounded up and a hearty recommendation.

[Neal Fandek · Rating 5 out of 5]

The master! Mac is in a league of his own. This is actually 2 novellas; the second, "Linda," I find to be better than "Girl."

Very few American mystery/thriller writers can compare: he's better than Dashiell Hammett, better than Raymond Chandler, better than 99% of such American writers today. He doesn't plough the same territory as Jim Thompson, but comes pretty close in his seedy backgrounds, amoral characters, sudden violence, sleazy deals... the difference is, Mac gives you someone to root for. Thompson has amoral anti-heroes. Mac's not read as much today, IMO, because of what we interpret as blatant sexism. Every women is a sex kitten, damaged goods, or both. So what? Good writing is good writing.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

These are two unrelated stories, the first being "Border Girl". The first story is very readable about a writer once well known but has suffered hard times. When returning from Mexico in a Mexican border town, is mistaken for a drug dealer. He is badly beaten up and his helped by a young Mexican woman. He is pressured into bringing a shipment across the border or risk being framed. Safely across he becomes involved with his contact, a woman in big trouble with her criminal boss.

The next story, I enjoyed less about a man being framed by his wife and friend with a scheme that sets him up for the murder of the friend's rich wife. Still I find John D. MacDonald captivating and very readable.

[Renee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Border Town girl was okay. Lane is a writer who's life has gone wrong. He gets mixed up in a bad situation involving drug running, a damsel in distress, and a classic thug.
Linda was the better of the two stories. In the first half, Paul is a shmuck who counts himself lucky to have married the pretty popular girl from high school so he lets her get away with anything. Things go bad after he agrees to take a couples' vacation with a man who's way too close to Linda. It really starts cooking when Paul ends up in jail and has to figure out how to get out of the frame Linda put him in. It's weird to see likable lawyers in a pulp tale.

[Karen K - Ohio · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love film noir. Those gritty crime dramas from the 40’s and 50’s, with femme fatal dames, tough talking cops or PIs and menacing crooks. Films like Double Indemnity, Laura, The Strange Lovers of Martha Ivers, Angel Face, The Big Sleep and the like. I also love Hitchcock films where the innocent hero is drawn into nefarious situations. Strangers on a Train, North by Northwest, Rear Window. Combine the two genres and you get John D. MacDonald’s Border Town Girl and Linda. Two short but great suspense stories in one book.

[James Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Included are the two JDM Novellas "Border Town Girl" and "Linda". Among the 43 JDM novels I have read, I'd rank this one in the top 10 without hesitation. These are good, fast-paced stories without so much of the analysis which even a master like JDM can cause the reader to feel entangled with. I would rate "Linda" as the better of the two although they're both great. I would recommend this as a good introduction to MacDonald's '50's period. It's easily better than The Brass Cupcake, A Bullet for Cinderella or even The Neon Jungle. Read it.

[Erik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yes, it's pulp fiction. Lots of gritty action, fast talking wise guys and ruthless dames. But you keep turning the pages because the writing is so damn good...

This one is actually two novellas. Border Town Girl and Linda. Neither title does their story justice. I'm not sure what I would've named them, but something with a little more pizzazz would've been better. I'm glad MacDonald kept these stories brief and fast-paced. Anything added would've felt like filler. He really knew how to keep a story flowing.

Both stories are good, but Linda was excellent.

[Quill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Of the two novellas collected here, I hated ‘Border Town Girl.’ The worst type of masculine writing, pure misogynistic wish fulfillment and nearly racist in its one note take on Mexicans. But ‘Linda,’ I loved. The protagonist is a loser, there is no wish fulfillment here. Just good, noir/hard boiled writing. Falling from the curb to the gutter type stuff. Constantly surprising plot. From moment to moment, I could never have guessed what would happen next. As well, the first person narrator voice was compelling and thoughtful.

[Chuck · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first novella, border town girl, is not all that great. I wasn’t invested in the characters. The story and events and characters all seemed very cartoonish. We set it down and didn’t pick it up for a long time.

Linda, however, had me hooked from the start. Something about the way the characters were written just drew me in. The plot did not disappoint. Gripping?? Feels a bit strong but I think it fits! Especially there at the end I couldn’t put it down.

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two separate short stories, I read them a with a couple of month gap in between. Very quick reads, the second story was 73 pages. Pure enjoyment. Found this at a Half Price book store. I don't imagine this is easy to find.

[Bagman · Rating 3 out of 5]

What can I say? It was . . . . ok. If it had been written today, or at least in the past ten years, it may have stood up to more current mystery novels, but alas . . . . it seemed a bit dated, elementary and rather pedestrian.

[Oli Ashwood · Rating 3 out of 5]

A weird recommendation from Man Carrying Thing. Two novellas - first was kinda crap: a noir book written by a man in the 50s for blokes stuck, mentally, in the 50s. Couldn’t really give a shit about anyone on it.

Second novella, Linda, was good fun though.