Thriller with sf elements: ''a perfect blend of a macabre German fairy tale with a convincing, up-to-date scientific and political mystery''.''UK antiquarian book dealer and author, in many of whose novels a powerful ambience of Horror derives from a calculated use of material from several genres, including sf, often simultaneously; he was a sophisticated, commercial exploiter of Equipoise in fantastic fiction. The loose General Kirk sequence beginning with A Scent of New-Mown Hay (1958; vt The Reluctant Spy 1966), A Sour Apple Tree (1958) and Broken Boy (1959), tends to manipulate the pattern... View More...
Spy thriller: the author's second book.''UK antiquarian book dealer and author, in many of whose novels a powerful ambience of Horror derives from a calculated use of material from several genres, including sf, often simultaneously; he was a sophisticated, commercial exploiter of Equipoise in fantastic fiction. The loose General Kirk sequence beginning with A Scent of New-Mown Hay (1958; vt The Reluctant Spy 1966), A SOUR APPLE TREE (1958) and Broken Boy (1959), tends to manipulate the patterns of espionage and thriller fiction to buttress and ultimately provide explanations for tales whose ef... View More...
Thriller.''UK antiquarian book dealer and author, in many of whose novels a powerful ambience of Horror derives from a calculated use of material from several genres, including sf, often simultaneously; he was a sophisticated, commercial exploiter of Equipoise in fantastic fiction. The loose General Kirk sequence beginning with A Scent of New-Mown Hay (1958; vt The Reluctant Spy 1966), A Sour Apple Tree (1958) and Broken Boy (1959), tends to manipulate the patterns of espionage and thriller fiction to buttress and ultimately provide explanations for tales whose effects are fundamentally akin t... View More...
Thriller, bibliomystery: ''they all wanted a copy of the blue octavo very badly and some of them died for it; one at least by torture. John Cain, a young book seller, wonders what is so special about the book''.''throughout Blackburn's more routine work, however, it is often the case that what seem to be sf plot devices on introduction turn out to be explicable in terms of contemporary science by the story's close, or are McGuffins like the atom-bomb conspiracy in The Face of the Lion. Though his use of sf situations is often ingenious, and though even his most straightforward novels are prone... View More...
The author's third book, a thriller with some macabre element: ''a sinister and macabre tale involving underground rituals, the revival of an unholy religion, and a cult of women, seeking revenge. Here too Blackburn weaves in espionage''.''UK antiquarian book dealer and author, in many of whose novels a powerful ambience of Horror derives from a calculated use of material from several genres, including sf, often simultaneously; he was a sophisticated, commercial exploiter of Equipoise in fantastic fiction. The loose General Kirk sequence beginning with A Scent of New-Mown Hay (1958; vt The Rel... View More...
SF thriller: ''''can best be described as a Da Vinci Code for the 1960s/70s with a general dollop of creepy horror moments. We have centuries old art mysteries, the search for the Holy Grail, an alien invasion, a sympathetic Nazi war criminal, a flame throwing Dean with a collection of war memorabilia, contracted IRA killers, a treasure hunt in a mysterious tomb full of mechanical traps and much much more'' (Holger Haase).''UK antiquarian book dealer and author, in many of whose novels a powerful ambience of Horror derives from a calculated use of material from several genres, including sf, of... View More...
SF novel with horror elements: ''recounts the strange happenings in a northeastern British town that presage the end of the world . The final discovery is among the author's more inspired creations, and the climax ranks among his best.'' (Sullivan (ed), The Penguin Encyclopedia of Horror and the Supernatural, p. 37).''UK antiquarian book dealer and author, in many of whose novels a powerful ambience of Horror derives from a calculated use of material from several genres, including sf, often simultaneously; he was a sophisticated, commercial exploiter of Equipoise in fantastic fiction. The loos... View More...
''throughout Blackburn's more routine work, however, it is often the case that what seem to be sf plot devices on introduction turn out to be explicable in terms of contemporary science by the story's close, or are McGuffins like the atom-bomb conspiracy in The Face of the Lion. Though his use of sf situations is often ingenious, and though even his most straightforward novels are prone to internal generic mutations from one form to another, it would be unduly stretching matters to describe Blackburn as a genuine sf writer'' (John Clute/Encyclopedia of SF, 3rd Edition). View More...
Spy thriller. Very uncommon UK hardcover.''throughout Blackburn's more routine work, however, it is often the case that what seem to be sf plot devices on introduction turn out to be explicable in terms of contemporary science by the story's close, or are McGuffins like the atom-bomb conspiracy in The Face of the Lion. Though his use of sf situations is often ingenious, and though even his most straightforward novels are prone to internal generic mutations from one form to another, it would be unduly stretching matters to describe Blackburn as a genuine sf writer'' (John Clute/Encyclopedia of... View More...
''throughout Blackburn's more routine work, however, it is often the case that what seem to be sf plot devices on introduction turn out to be explicable in terms of contemporary science by the story's close, or are McGuffins like the atom-bomb conspiracy in The Face of the Lion. Though his use of sf situations is often ingenious, and though even his most straightforward novels are prone to internal generic mutations from one form to another, it would be unduly stretching matters to describe Blackburn as a genuine sf writer'' (John Clute/Encyclopedia of SF, 3rd Edition). View More...
Occult thriller: ''one of Blackburn's finest supernatural thrillers with ingenious plot skillfully woven around the legend of the Wandering Jew''.'''UK antiquarian book dealer and author, in many of whose novels a powerful ambience of Horror derives from a calculated use of material from several genres, including sf, often simultaneously; he was a sophisticated, commercial exploiter of Equipoise in fantastic fiction. The loose General Kirk sequence beginning with A Scent of New-Mown Hay (1958; vt The Reluctant Spy 1966), A Sour Apple Tree (1958) and Broken Boy (1959), tends to manipulate the p... View More...
SF novel with horror elements (unlike most of his fiction, which is usually the reverse).''UK antiquarian book dealer and author, in many of whose novels a powerful ambience of Horror derives from a calculated use of material from several genres, including sf, often simultaneously; he was a sophisticated, commercial exploiter of Equipoise in fantastic fiction. The loose General Kirk sequence beginning with A Scent of New-Mown Hay (1958; vt The Reluctant Spy 1966), A Sour Apple Tree (1958) and Broken Boy (1959), tends to manipulate the patterns of espionage and thriller fiction to buttress and ... View More...
Thriller with horror elements.''UK writer and antiquarian book dealer, author of many novels whose ambience of horror derives from a calculated use of material from several genres, including sf. However, though his use of sf situations is often ingenious, and though even his most straightforward novels are prone to internal generic mutations from one form to another, it would be unduly stretching matters to describe the author as a genuine sf writer'' (John Clute/Encyclopedia of SF): ''adrift and starving in a life-raft off the coast of Africa, Bill Easter and his corpulent side-kick Peggy Te... View More...
Gothic thriller with occult trimmings.''throughout Blackburn's more routine work, however, it is often the case that what seem to be sf plot devices on introduction turn out to be explicable in terms of contemporary science by the story's close, or are McGuffins like the atom-bomb conspiracy in The Face of the Lion. Though his use of sf situations is often ingenious, and though even his most straightforward novels are prone to internal generic mutations from one form to another, it would be unduly stretching matters to describe Blackburn as a genuine sf writer'' (John Clute/Encyclopedia of SF,... View More...
Supernatural novel: ''a tour de force version of the legend of the evil eye. The ending is the grimmest in all Blackburn's books'' (Sullivan ed, The Penguin Encyclopedia of Horror and the Supernatural, p. 37)''throughout Blackburn's more routine work, however, it is often the case that what seem to be sf plot devices on introduction turn out to be explicable in terms of contemporary science by the story's close, or are McGuffins like the atom-bomb conspiracy in The Face of the Lion. Though his use of sf situations is often ingenious, and though even his most straightforward novels are prone to... View More...
Mystery/thriller.''throughout Blackburn's more routine work, however, it is often the case that what seem to be sf plot devices on introduction turn out to be explicable in terms of contemporary science by the story's close, or are McGuffins like the atom-bomb conspiracy in The Face of the Lion. Though his use of sf situations is often ingenious, and though even his most straightforward novels are prone to internal generic mutations from one form to another, it would be unduly stretching matters to describe Blackburn as a genuine sf writer'' (John Clute/Encyclopedia of SF, 3rd Edition).... View More...
Thriller/horror novel: ''A thriller featuring a madman bent on building his own atomic bomb and a plague virus capable of wiping out the population of the Western world''.''UK antiquarian book dealer and author, in many of whose novels a powerful ambience of Horror derives from a calculated use of material from several genres, including sf, often simultaneously; he was a sophisticated, commercial exploiter of Equipoise in fantastic fiction. The loose General Kirk sequence beginning with A Scent of New-Mown Hay (1958; vt The Reluctant Spy 1966), A Sour Apple Tree (1958) and Broken Boy (1959), t... View More...
Historical (Roman) novel.''UK antiquarian book dealer and author, in many of whose novels a powerful ambience of Horror derives from a calculated use of material from several genres, including sf, often simultaneously; he was a sophisticated, commercial exploiter of Equipoise in fantastic fiction. The loose General Kirk sequence beginning with A Scent of New-Mown Hay (1958; vt The Reluctant Spy 1966), A Sour Apple Tree (1958) and Broken Boy (1959), tends to manipulate the patterns of espionage and thriller fiction to buttress and ultimately provide explanations for tales whose effects are fund... View More...
Spy thriller, non-supernatural though with horror trappings: ''in a decayed surburban house John Flack, madman, smiled at his tin soldiers and scribbled matchstick drawings on torn scraps of paper..until triple murderess Elsie Grant, who had been buried twenty years, climbed out of her grave''.''throughout Blackburn's more routine work, however, it is often the case that what seem to be sf plot devices on introduction turn out to be explicable in terms of contemporary science by the story's close, or are McGuffins like the atom-bomb conspiracy in The Face of the Lion. Though his use of sf situ... View More...
Macabre thriller.''throughout Blackburn's more routine work, however, it is often the case that what seem to be sf plot devices on introduction turn out to be explicable in terms of contemporary science by the story's close, or are McGuffins like the atom-bomb conspiracy in The Face of the Lion. Though his use of sf situations is often ingenious, and though even his most straightforward novels are prone to internal generic mutations from one form to another, it would be unduly stretching matters to describe Blackburn as a genuine sf writer'' (John Clute/Encyclopedia of SF, 3rd Edition).... View More...
Thriller with horror elements.''UK writer and antiquarian book dealer, author of many novels whose ambience of horror derives from a calculated use of material from several genres, including sf. However, though his use of sf situations is often ingenious, and though even his most straightforward novels are prone to internal generic mutations from one form to another, it would be unduly stretching matters to describe the author as a genuine sf writer'' (John Clute/Encyclopedia of SF): ''in his macabre new thriller, John Blackburn unravels the dark intricacies of a new form of evil as it holds ... View More...
''throughout Blackburn's more routine work, however, it is often the case that what seem to be sf plot devices on introduction turn out to be explicable in terms of contemporary science by the story's close, or are McGuffins like the atom-bomb conspiracy in The Face of the Lion. Though his use of sf situations is often ingenious, and though even his most straightforward novels are prone to internal generic mutations from one form to another, it would be unduly stretching matters to describe Blackburn as a genuine sf writer'' (John Clute/Encyclopedia of SF, 3rd Edition). View More...
Horror novel with sf elements.''UK antiquarian book dealer and author, in many of whose novels a powerful ambience of Horror derives from a calculated use of material from several genres, including sf, often simultaneously; he was a sophisticated, commercial exploiter of Equipoise in fantastic fiction. The loose General Kirk sequence beginning with A Scent of New-Mown Hay (1958; vt The Reluctant Spy 1966), A Sour Apple Tree (1958) and Broken Boy (1959), tends to manipulate the patterns of espionage and thriller fiction to buttress and ultimately provide explanations for tales whose effects are... View More...
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