PaperBack: “A Tiger in the Night”

Part of a series honoring the late author and blogger Bill Crider.



A Tiger in the Night, by “Robert Kyle,” aka Robert Terrall (Dell, 1955). Author Terrall (1914-2009) penned fiction under several pseudonyms, including John Gonzales, Brett Halliday, and of course Robert Kyle, That final byline appeared on his underappreciated novels about Manhattan private eye Ben Gates (Blackmail, Inc., Kill Now, Pay Later), as well as on standalones such as The Crooked City and the novel shown above. Cover illustration by George Gross.

Next month will mark five years since The Rap Sheet began its “PaperBack” series, a feature picked up from Bill Crider’s long-running blog right before his death in 2018. When he debuted that series in 2010, Crider planned to display only the rear sides of vintage softcover releases, figuring “the front covers of paperbacks were easy to find (Bookscans is a great place) but ... back covers were another story.” Just over 12 months later, however, and at the request of readers, he began featuring both front and back covers—with the back one on the left and the front on the right. I’m not sure exactly when he switched that order, but by the time Crider passed away, he was regularly showing the front on the left, with the obverse opposite it.

I’m certain Crider had a perfectly good reason for making that reversal, and when—as a tribute to him—I adopted the series into The Rap Sheet, I duplicated his final format. But it seems to me now that if this is going to called “PaperBack,” with the “Back” emphasized, then the rear cover really ought to appear first in the order. (This makes particular sense when dealing with wraparounds.) So as we start a new year, I’ve decided to restore the arrangement of covers Crider established in 2011, with the backside on the left.

There’s no doubt in my mind that Bill would approve.