We got hold of one of the more unusual Robert McGinnis paperback covers in the form of Daniel Banko’s 1972 Fawcett Gold Medal mystery Not Dead Yet. McGinnis had range, but it’s still a surprise when a cover of his doesn’t feature a femme fatale. This one is even more unusual due to its rooftop setting featuring a man who’s wielding grappling hooks and a second who’s simply drinking. Does the unusual art relate to the story? Yes, it’s a moment directly from the narrative.
Banko weaves a find-the-real-killer tale in which a man named Matthew Kitterman catches his wife in bed cheating and is accused of murdering the lover. He didn’t do it—he only remembers snapping a Polaroid of the tableau and bolting. He sort of flips out and next awakens in the bed of an older woman with whom he finds aid and comfort. Hunted by police and shunned by his lawyer, he finally decides he must—let’s say it all together—find the real killer! In detailed and low velocity fashion he finally gets around to doing that, leading to a scene where he tries, with assistance, to break into his own house, but pauses for liquid fortification.
The book, unfortunately, did not thrill us. It reads more like a longish character piece than a crime novel. Banko can write fine, but his focus isn’t particularly upon the murder nor its solution so much as portraying a man whose life has been upended and who reacts in unpredictable ways. The tale never recovered to become a gripping thriller. At least not for us. Even Norman Mailer’s front cover approval didn’t sway our opinion. But hey—we got the McGinnis art, and that was worth the price.
