This Avon Publications cover for The Deadly Game by Norman Daniels was painted by Bob Abbett. The book has a promising premise, though there’s no nude that interrupts a safe cracking. The story concerns a high society jewel thief who’s being constantly dogged by a determined police detective, and who decides to get revenge by bedding the cop’s wife, then, for good measure, implicating her in his next heist. It’s revenge to the nth degree—cuckold the cop, further humiliate him by succeeding with the crime, then railroad his wife to prison. We’re talking cruel. Too bad this one is undone by substandard writing. But it wasn’t bad enough to stop us from sticking with it until the end and finding out how it all resolved. If you find it for five bucks or less, it’s probably worth taking the plunge.
1969—Allende Meteorite Falls in Mexico
The Allende Meteorite, the largest object of its type ever found, falls in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. The original stone, traveling at more than ten miles per second and leaving a brilliant streak across the sky, is believed to have been approximately the size of an automobile. But by the time it hit the Earth it had broken into hundreds of fragments.