Historical April 1985 report or notice. Original dates, prices and contacts describe the source period; current availability has not been established.
In the Heat of the Summer by John Katzenbach, Altheneum, 1982.
If the name Katzenbach seems familiar, it is because the author is the son of former U.S. Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach.
The author has been a criminal reporter for both the Miami Herald and the Miami News.
His first attempt at a novel has been a great success and it is certainly one of the best suspense novels I have ever read; Kiosk patrons also have come to that conclusion.
The story is about Malcolm Anderson, a crime reporter who writes about a brutal murder only to have the killer call him and compliment him on the story.
Each time the murderer gets ready to commit another crime, he calls Anderson to give him the details; the police are never able to trace these calls. Little by little Anderson is drawn into the killer’s nightmare until he is able to piece things together and move in on the murderer. July is called the “mean season” in Miami and that is the name of the current film playing in St. Louis that is based on this book. Heat and Dust by Ruth Prawer-Jhabva, Perenial Library, Harper & Row Pub., 1975.
If you are still enamoured with the colonial period in India after the recent media blast on that subject then this book is just your cup of tea.
The story begins with a modern woman’s obsession with letters written by her grandfather’s first wife who ran off with an Indian prince while they were stationed in India in the 1920s.
The young woman journeys through India and becomes involved with a young man.
The story is told on two levels and moves gracefully back and forth from the older woman Olivia and her life with the prince to the modern life in India with the young woman.
As she follows along the paths of Olivia, she finds herself in a similar situation but comes to a much different conclusion as to how to deal with her life. Olivia’s husband as well as the prince and Olivia are beautifully drawn characters and we tend to sympathize with them in spite of selfishness and selfcenteredness.
The author, although Indian, does a marvelous job showing both sides in this lovely little book.
The novel won London’s Booker Prize. Heat by Ed McBain (Evan Hunter), Viking Press, 1981.
For a sizzling, summer story to warm you up in the still chilly spring, trot on down to the Kiosk and check this one out.
Two detectives are driving around in the heat of July with a broken air conditioner in their car checking on a puzzling suicide, a psychopath on the loose as well as other things. Bert Kling, the perennial sleuth from the 87th precinct, gets so caught up in his personal problems that his partner has to dig for answers alone.
This is a good book for understanding police procedures and to experience summertime sensations.
Originally published in The Times of Skinker-DeBaliviere, April 1985.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Original source: SD_Times1985_04.pdf, printed page(s) 7; PDF page(s) 7.
