Sunday, March 17, 2019

Dead on the Pin by John D. MacDonald

John D. MacDonald has always been hit or miss with me.  I don't care for his Travis McGee series but I have loved and admired several of his standalone novels.  I'm not familiar with his short work but I've read that he wrote nearly 500 short stories and this morning I read "Dead on the Pin" and was just blown away.  I love when an author can keep leading you down the path where you're sure you know what's going to happen then turns the tables on you.  That is exactly what Mr. MacDonald did with lovely story about a man who loves bowling.

I read this story in the anthology "The Sport of Crime".  I looked for it online but couldn't find it.  I did find out that it's also included in one of his short story collections titled "The Good Old Stuff".  If you ever run across it, have a read, you won't regret it.

5 comments:

Fred Zackel said...

John D. was one of my early heroes. His advice to young writers? "Write a million words. If none of them sell, write another million words. Do it until you quit."

Al Tucher said...

I started writing seriously in 2000, and I’m closing in on that million.

Fred Zackel said...

Don't stop thinking about tomorrow!

(I said that.)

Manuel Royal said...

I read a couple of the Travis McGree novels, but actually some of his other work better.

Thanks for the tip, Sandra! I just found "The Good Old Stuff" on Kindle for $3.99.

sandra seamans said...

Sounds like good advice, Fred.

Good for you, Al.

I hope you enjoy the story, Manuel.