Wednesday, September 16, 2020

I Have Russ Thomas Covered!

It's a week after Labor Day, and the rest of the country thinks summer is over. My reaction? Would a loud guffaw be considered unladylike? Too bad. That was my reaction! 

October is more like the end of summer here in the Sonoran Desert, but I'm not going to bank on that this year. As I write this on Labor Day, Phoenix has had over FIFTY straight days of temperatures over 110° (that's 43° for you Celsius folks). Combine that with a non-existent monsoon season not providing us with badly needed seasonal rain, and this place is scorching.

What to do...what to do... How about staying inside and comparing the US and UK covers of a book I read a few months ago, Russ Thomas's debut mystery Firewatching? Sounds like a plan, so let's get to it!

 


 

Both covers are actually pretty good as far as giving you an idea of what the book might be about. The US cover has a shadowy figure in front of a house, and the flame-colored "specks" make it appear as though sparks are coming from the building. I only have two quibbles with the US cover. One, for cryin' out loud, scrap Lee Child's blurb. From all the covers I've seen, I think he hands his blurbs out like penny candy. Has the man ever read a book he didn't like? (Inquiring minds and all that...) Two, the cover is actually quite bland. Nothing stands out. Nothing really grabs me. I'd probably walk right past it in the bookstore.

As for the UK cover, it has an unnecessary blurb, but since Thomas is a debut author, I'll give that a pass. Interesting that the UK publisher didn't go for someone more famous (like Lee Child). On the whole, though, I like it. It's well-balanced. The red comes right out and grabs your attention. The little paper figures beginning to ignite speak to me-- and they would even if I hadn't already read the book and known that the arsonist/killer has a To Do list.

So it's the UK cover for me, but what about you? Which cover do you prefer? US? UK? Neither one? Inquiring minds just have to know what you think!

10 comments:

  1. The British cover would grab me in a bookstore or a library. It's red, the lettering and paper figures are puzzling and, therefore, draw in the browser.

    That's it. U.S. cover is blah.

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    1. We certainly see eye to eye on this one, Kathy.

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  2. I know just what you mean, Cathy, about blurbs on books. I really get tired of them, even though I know why they're there. I dislike them. You have a point, too, about the UK cover. I'm not wild about it, but I like it better than the US cover. Oh, and about summer? Yeah, we get the end of summer in October, too, and I sure hope the rains come here, too. We very much need it.

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  3. Add another vote for the UK cover. It's visual confirmation that the fire in the title has a role in the book. Although the US cover is nice, it reminds me of an old photograph with spots caused by overexposure, and seems to have more of a Gothic aspect, to my eyes.

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    1. I knew those spots reminded me of something! Overexposure-- thanks!

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  4. I'll add my vote for the UK cover. Much more of an eye-catcher and not nearly as vague as the US cover.

    And for me, summer is not over until the hurricane season winds its way to a close. As long as tropical storms and hurricanes keep coming off the hot Gulf water, it is definitely summertime at my house.

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  5. They're really so different! But it definitely reminds me that I want to read this one! The UK one is much more striking and seems even a bit more sinister!

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