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Together for the first time in a single volume -- the two critically acclaimed Bookman crime novels that helped inspire America's passion for modern first-edition book collecting and that belong on every bookshelf. Includes "The Book Collector," advice and special tips from John Dunning on collecting rare books. BOOKED TO DIE Denver cop Cliff Janeway probably knows as much about books as he does about homicide. His living room resembles an adjunct to the public library. He's aware that some Stephen King first editions can bring more money than most Mark Twain firsts, and a copy of Raymond Chandler's Lady in the Lake is worth more than $1,000. And he realizes that, contrary to popular belief, "older" doesn't necessarily mean "more valuable." He also knows that valuable volumes can be hidden in plain view among otherwise ordinary book collections. It's not easy to find such books, but some people seem to have an extraordinary talent for honing in on the treasures. Such a man is bookscout Bobby Westfall. Bobby once earned $900 in a single weekend and has generally spotted enough valuable books to keep himself and his beloved cats fed and housed. Now Bobby is dead, murdered at the witching hour on Friday the thirteenth, his body dumped under a ladder in a dark alley. It's not a good end for a superstitious man. Janeway is sure he knows who did it. But can he catch him? And, in the process, will Janeway's own life change forever? THE BOOKMAN'S WAKE The story starts and ends, aptly, with a very special book: a 1969 edition of Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven, published by the tiny, prestigious Grayson Press of North Bend, Washington. The Grayson bibliography mentions no such edition. If, indeed, it exists, it could be worth a fortune to the right collector. It's the kind of book somebody might kill for. In fact, somebody probably already has. Ex-Denver cop Janeway is happily at work selling rare and used books when former police colleague Clydell Slater arrives with an offer. Slater runs a detective agency and he wants Janeway to go to Seattle to pick up a young female fugitive and deliver her to Taos, New Mexico. The woman is wanted for burglary and assault. More to the point, as far as Janeway's concerned, she may also have in her possession a stolen copy of the 1969 Grayson Press Raven, taken when she ransacked a Taos home. The rare-book angle gets to Janeway every time. He could turn down thousands of dollars in fees, but he can't say no to The Raven. Janeway signs on to the case because of a book, but he stays because of a vulnerable young woman. He will discover not only her painful story but the poignant tale of a once-great small press, where paper and ink became beautiful books in the hands of a master craftsman.



About the Author

John Dunning

John Dunning was born in 1942 in Brooklyn, NY. He was raised in Charleston, SC, is married, and has two adult children. John always wanted to write, but was a poor student. He left high school in the tenth grade, partly because of an inability to concentrate and absorb lectures. Several years ago he was diagnosed with attention deficit disorder (ADD) , a malady that could not have been imagined in the glorious 1950s. "This may explain my long affection for typewriters," he says. "Unlike a computer, a great old manual typewriter was an honest machine. You did your work, it did its work. There was no sneaky nonsense, no hidden screens that popped up and wouldn't go away, and at no time in my 35 years as a writer did I ever 'lose' anything because I hit a certain key, failed to hold my mouth right, or sneezed at the wrong moment. "John felt he should be a poster boy for ADD. Often the inability to concentrate demanded eight or ten hours of effort for two good hours of work. Sometimes it leads a writer away from his story, causing a month's worth of drifting, rambling around, groping. "In those times I really have to work to get my story, whatever it is, back on track. "John got a GED certificate from the state of South Carolina in the early 1960s. "Historically, it's an interesting document--not because it's mine but because it states that I am the equivalent of the average white high school grad in the state. Now if that's not an official admission that those old 'separate-but-equal' doctrines never worked, what is?"I was a raging failure early in life. Quit high school, then got kicked out of the Army with a broken eardrum after only two weeks, went on to work in a Charleston glass shop for $1.05 an hour, and looked to be on a fast track to nowhere."In 1964 I made my break with Charleston, came to Denver with some friends, worked in a glass shop here for a time, then got on the racetrack and went with the horses for two years. I worked for horse trainers in Denver, Idaho and California, finally hitting the 'big time' at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, CA. This was a magic time in my life."In 1966 I got a job as a clerk in the library at The Denver Post, which was then the city's afternoon daily. Eventually I became copy boy on the newspaper, and from that I began writing stories. Finally I was given a trial run as a reporter and soon was put on the newspaper's three-man investigative team."This only goes to prove that the hardest thing about any job is getting it."I was a collector of old-time radio shows for 30 years. I grew up with this stuff. It was like collecting part of my own life. I parlayed that into a weekly radio show, which I hosted on Denver radio for more than 25 years."I worked in politics for a while: campaign press secretary to candidates for mayor of Denver, U.S. Senate, and House of Representatives. I tau



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