Wednesday, July 15, 2015

I Have Becky Masterman Covered!


I'm having one marvelous reading summer, and I'm hoping that you are, too. Yes, I've read a couple of books that I didn't finish, but right now I couldn't tell you their titles even if you threatened to drain my pool. What sticks in my mind are the ones that have made my Best Reads of 2015 list, and this week we're going to compare the covers of the US and UK editions of one of the books that recently made that list.

In fact... I reviewed it yesterday: Becky Masterman's Rage Against the Dying. That book hooked me from the prologue!

Before we get down to it, I want to share something with you that made me laugh. If you've been following this feature, you know that two of my favorite authors (writing as Michael Stanley) shared some of their own US and UK book covers with us. Well... others have been keeping an eye on the feature as well. Last week Peter Lovesey's UK publishers were happy to announce on Twitter that they had won "Kittling Books' cover-off." How fun is that?

Okay-- let's take a look at this week's duo:



(Have you ever noticed that UK books tend to be a bit bigger than US editions? Just thought I'd throw that out there.)

US cover first. Dark blue background, fading to black at the edges. The figure of a young woman that almost looks like a photographic negative. Almost. She's walking away from us in some high grass. Masterman's name is above the title, although it's in much smaller letters. The title stands out well from the dark background. We're told it's a thriller, and there's a blurb at the top from flavor of the month, Gillian Flynn. 

For me, there are two strikes against this cover. (1) Since I seem to be one of the few people who disliked Gone Girl, a recommendation from its author has the opposite effect on me, but of course I can see where that could boost sales with all the thousands who strongly disagree with me. (2) This book has definite thriller tendencies, but it's certainly not what I think of as a thriller, so that "A Thriller" makes me cringe a bit. To me, a thriller is a book that sacrifices character and setting (and sometimes plot) for lots of action. Rage Against the Dying does not fit my definition of a thriller.

What's right about the cover? I've already read the book, so I have knowledge that you may not. That young woman is walking along the edge of the highway, and headlights from traffic coming up behind her have caught her in their beams. This image is integral to the book.

Now the UK cover. There's really not much for me to say about it. Nice color scheme, but I flat out don't like it. Why? Remember how I've already said that I can't stand covers showing the back of a woman's head? Well, add to that covers that show a woman's throat and her jawline. Done. To death. Maybe she's showing off her excellent bone structure, or maybe that particular angle is supposed to make her look vulnerable. Either way, it doesn't work for me.

And before you say it, I do know that the US cover shows the back of the woman, but that image of her walking down the edge of a road in the dark with headlights coming up behind her intrigues me. And it's not just of her head!

End result? US cover by a half length.

So what about you? Which cover makes you want to pick the book up and read it? US? UK? Or does neither one float your boat? Inquiring minds want to know!


16 comments:

  1. Oh, that is so brilliant about Peter Lovesy's publisher! LOL!

    I prefer the US cover of this book. That UK one would not make me want to read it at all.

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    1. That pose on the UK cover makes me think of old Hollywood movie stars more than anything else, but even if the book were about Elizabeth Taylor and the like, I still wouldn't like the cover! LOL

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  2. To be honest, neither cover exactly thrills me, Cathy. But if forced to choose, I suppose I'd pick the US cover. Without the blurb.

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    1. Is that your way of saying you don't particularly care for that author either, or.... You know, I wouldn't care for any type of "flavor of the month" blurb, and you probably don't either. :-)

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  3. I know which cover I would rather have on view while in a waiting room or a public place-the U.S cover. I can see people giving furtive glances at me if I was reading the U.K. version.

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    1. Yes, it does have a slight "racy" edge to it, doesn't it? :-)

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  4. OK, first of all, I love the 'Kittling Books cover-off' designation. Cathy, you're famous. I always knew it. LOL

    I don't like either cover. I'll just say it right there. The US one may be integral to the story, but something puts me off. I know the first time I saw it I was wondering because I knew the protagonist was a woman of a 'certain' age (which I totally support). Obviously, the woman here is not the protagonist, but it annoyed me. I don't have to make sense - I'm a woman of a 'certain' age. :-)

    Hey, by the way - are you going to Left Coast Crime next February? Inquiring minds want to know. Ha!

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    1. No, you don't have to make sense, and it's got nothing to do with your age. I don't always make sense with my opinions-- dislike of women's throats and the backs of their heads, etc. We like what we like!

      Yes, I will be going to Left Coast Crime, and since I haven't gone to anything like that before and don't particularly care for crowds, I'm hoping I'll be able to have a buddy along. (Denis will be working, and it's a bit too much "book" for him if you know what I mean.)

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    2. I'd love to be your buddy. I've been looking at the website and trying to figure out how we'll do things. Told my husband that it would take up a bunch of my time for several days, but he just said 'more time for golf'. LOL

      We'll talk before the time comes, OK? I just feel that it would be dumb for me to miss this as it happens right at the time we like to visit and in a place we love to visit.

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    3. Yahooooo! I'll have a buddy! Yes, we'll definitely be chatting and planning before February. :-)

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  5. I liked the US one better. I did notice both US and UK covers are different from the one you posted with the review.

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    1. Eagle Eye Pepper! :-) Yes, that was the paperback cover with my review. I like to have a modicum of consistency with this feature, so I compare the hardback covers or the paperback covers, but not hardcover versus paperback. If I'm not mistaken, when the paperback came out, the US and UK used the exact same cover.

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  6. The very first book I read this year was the sequel to this one and it is definitely going on my reads list for this year! I actually just grabbed this one from the library and I cannot wait to read it! Glad you enjoyed this one so much!

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    1. I'm happy to hear that reading the second book made you want to grab the first, since I've had the exact same reaction in reverse! I went over to check out your blog, and it looks as though we share a bit of reading DNA with our mysteries. I'm glad you stopped by. :-)

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  7. I'm not crazy about either cover. The U.S. cover seems a bit blah and I don't get a sense that it's even a mystery, certainly not a thriller. But it's tame enough to read on a train, bus or in a doctor's waiting room.

    The U.K. cover scares me. I don't like to read anything with a frightening cover. This goes back to high school days when I loved Sherlock Holmes, Nero Wolfe and Perry Mason, but not Mickey Spillane/Mike Hammer books because the covers (and disfigured women's bodies) turned me off.

    Your review won me over, not the covers. And I like the paperback cover with your review, even though we are not comparing them.

    And the quote from Gillian Flynn would not win me over. I would not read "Gone Girl" nor see the movie. I read her first book and didn't like it -- first person, psychotic family, woman in peril, ugh!

    These authors' quotes on covers are starting to resemble Steig Larsson comparisons -- everywhere.

    I'm glad this thriller has a good plot, characterization and background. That's why I'll read this one.

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    1. Same here. Even though I'm comparing covers now, covers aren't the reason why I read the books I read.

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