The story of one of the world s greatest cover artists told through his iconic 1960s and 1970s Agatha Christie paperback designs, which influenced a generation of readers and artists. Includes a variety of other art and illustration from his 50 year career. The Agatha Christie covers painted by Tom Adams constitutes probably the most famous body of paperback art ever produced by a single artist. Between A Murder Is Announced in 1962 and Miss Marple s Final Cases in 1979, Tom was commissioned by Fontana in the UK and Pocket Books in the USA to paint covers for almost every Agatha Christie book, most of them more than once, totalling around 150 different paintings over two decades. They have been reproduced in many languages all over the world, defining the style of paperback artwork throughout the sixties and seventies and influencing a generation of artists and designers ever since. Tom s unique interpretations of the themes and stories in the books, often hiding clues about the plots within his paintings, have left an indelible mark on those who read those editions, and they are now highly sought after by fans of both Agatha Christie and Tom Adams. And Agatha Christie is only half the story. Concurrent with this extraordinary achievement, Tom was also producing art for other publishers, including an iconic series of Raymond Chandler covers and some brilliant jackets for books by John Fowles (The Collector, The Magus and The French Lieutenant's Woman), Patrick White (The Vivisector), David Storey (Saville), Peter Straub (Ghost Story), and Kingsley Amis (his James Bond pastiche, Colonel Sun). Tom Adams Uncovered is a showcase of the artist s best work from a career spanning more than 50 years. In addition to his many cover paintings, it features examples of Tom s broader work, including award-winning advertising, portraits, album covers, poster prints, and his work on the films 2001, Flash Gordon and Lifeforce. With captions by Tom and a commentary by the Agatha Christie historian John Curran, and concluding with previously unpublished Agatha Christie paintings, this book is a treasure trove for both crime fans and art lovers, and a fitting celebration of one of the world s finest cover artists."

This is a collection of early short stories and an essay which gave the book its name. The latter is fairly short and its main idea is an argument for the virtues of a noir mystery as opposed to a traditional British one. Considering the fact that this comes from a guy who became a classic of the former even before his death and that he picked up some below the average examples of the latter, I agree. The stories themselves left me out cold for the most part. I can actually describe the plot in practically all of them at once. A trouble starts involving a damsel in distress. A tough guy emerges (usually a PI or a good cop) who gets involved, gets knocked out, and shot at. It turns out the damsel in distress is a minor culprit which makes her a femme fatale. Everybody and their brother meet at the main villain place, a big shootout is insured. Everybody dies except for the tough guy with a heard of gold and the femme fatale who emerge unscratched; the latter escapes. The end

As a favour to an old friend, Hercule Poirot finds himself at a summer fete in Devon, taking part not in a Treasure Hunt, but a Murder Hunt, in this never-before-published novella version of Dead Man’s Folly. Now released for the first time as an eBook exclusive publication.

BOOKER PRIZE–WINNING AUTHOR Set in a world in which the Reformation failed, this award-winning science fiction tale is “one of the best . . . alternate-worlds novels in existence” (Philip K. Dick) In Kingsley Amis’s virtuoso foray into virtual history it is 1976, but the modern world is a medieval relic, frozen in intellectual and spiritual time ever since Martin Luther was promoted to pope back in the sixteenth century. Stephen the Third, the king of England, has just died, and Mass (Mozart’s second requiem) is about to be sung to lay him to rest. In the choir is our hero, Hubert Anvil, an extremely ordinary ten-year-old boy with a faultless voice. In the audience is a select group of experts whose job is to determine whether that faultless voice should be preserved by performing a certain operation. Art, after all, is worth any sacrifice. How Hubert realizes what lies in store for him and how he deals with the whirlpool of piety, menace, terror, and passion that he soon finds himself in are the subject of a classic piece of counterfactual fiction equal to Philip K. Dick’s The Man in the High Castle. The Alteration won the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for best science-fiction novel in 1976.

Includes over 90 paperback cover illustrations.

The story of one of the world's greatest cover artists told through his iconic 1960s and 1970s Agatha Christie paperback designs, which influenced a generation of readers and artists. Includes a variety of other art and illustration from his 50 year career. The Agatha Christie covers painted by Tom Adams constitutes probably the most famous body of paperback art ever produced by a single artist. Between A Murder Is Announced in 1962 and Miss Marple's Final Cases in 1979, Tom was commissioned by Fontana in the UK and Pocket Books in the USA to paint covers for almost every Agatha Christie book, most of them more than once, totalling around 150 different paintings over two decades. They have been reproduced in many languages all over the world, defining the style of paperback artwork throughout the sixties and seventies and influencing a generation of artists and designers ever since. Tom's unique interpretations of the themes and stories in the books, often hiding clues about the plots within his paintings, have left an indelible mark on those who read those editions, and they are now highly sought after by fans of both Agatha Christie and Tom Adams. And Agatha Christie is only half the story. Concurrent with this extraordinary achievement, Tom was also producing art for other publishers, including an iconic series of Raymond Chandler covers and some brilliant jackets for books by John Fowles (The Collector, The Magus and The French Lieutenant's Woman), Patrick White (The Vivisector), David Storey (Saville), Peter Straub (Ghost Story), and Kingsley Amis (his James Bond pastiche, Colonel Sun). Tom Adams Uncovered is a showcase of the artist's best work from a career spanning more than 50 years. In addition to his many cover paintings, it features examples of Tom's broader work, including award-winning advertising, portraits, album covers, poster prints, and his work on the films 2001, Flash Gordon and Lifeforce. With captions by Tom and a commentary by the Agatha Christie historian John Curran, and concluding with previously unpublished Agatha Christie paintings, this book is a treasure trove for both crime fans and art lovers, and a fitting celebration of one of the world's finest cover artists.