When I was a horny teenager back in the Sixties, Carter Brown books held a mesmerizing fascination for me. Initially, it was the siren song of the fabulous Robert McGinnis covers that compelled me to buy them. But, believe it or not, I just didn’t drool over those sexy covers, I actually read those Carter Brown books, too. Carter Brown had a number of series characters: curvaceous (though ditzy) private detective Mavis Seidlitz; Al Wheeler, a homicide lieutenant from the fictional Pine Country, California, and Hollywood detective Rick Holman. The White Bikini (1963) features Rick Holman, a private detective who somehow always has a case that features slinky blonds and willing women. That was pretty hot stuff back then when I was 14. Alan G. Yates published about 150 Carter Brown novels that sold millions of copies. Today, they’re getting tougher to find. But, if you haven’t read any Carter Brown books, your life is incomplete.
Great covers and spicy stories. What more could a guy want?
You’re exactly right, Bill! The combination of those McGinnis covers and the suggestive stories were irresistible to me…and millions of other Carter Brown readers.
Though McGinnis somehow forgot the bikini here…or was the working title THE WHITE FEATHER BOA?
Now, you see, when I was thirteen, John Varley’s orgies and handshake sex (and, conversely, meaningful affairs including between teens) certainly didn’t dissuade me from reading on.
I read Carter Brown AND John Varley, Todd. But Varley and I parted ways over a microwave incident.
You were a horny teenager? Really? Who would have guessed?
Okay, seriously, folks. I bought a few of these too, mostly for the covers, which is a good thing because I never did like the books themselves nearly as much as the ones featuring that other private investigator, Mike Shayne. Still don’t.
I thought the Holman were the best of the bunch, though still not good enough to make a fan of me. I guess at the time I was more SF oriented anyway. I’ve gotten rid of most of the CB except for a few very favorite covers.
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I liked the Rick Holmans best, too, James. And I liked Mike Shayne up to about 1965.
Looks like the bottom of the bikini is there, Todd.
I was never that much of a Brown fan either. I tried one of the Wheeler books and it didn’t live up to the cover. What could? But that was about it for me. I think I read a Holman many years later and didn’t think it was much better. Honestly, I’d rather look at the covers than read the books.
As the other guy said, I too like Shayne (and Richard Prather’s Shell Scott) better.
You’re going to be looking at a lot of Carter Brown covers, Rick, when the next Robert McGinnis art book is published later in 2010.
OK, I fess up. My life ain’t complete. I knew folks collected those books to leer at, but who’d have guessed there were actual stories inside?
Most of the Carter Brown stories were weak, Evan, and didn’t live up to their McGinnis covers. But, for a 14 year old kid, this stuff was addictive.
George, that microwave reference goes right past me…an incident in your mutual lives, or something in his fiction, or…?
Yes, the famous microwave in Varley’s story “Press Enter,” Todd.
Rick, you are correct…oddly enough, not looking closely enough.
Rick has laser-beam eyes, Todd.