I really enjoy Lawrence Block's hard case crime novels, especially his Matthew Scudder series. But before he ever wrote any Scudder or Bernie Rhodenbarrs, he wrote a ton of other stuff in the fifties and early sixties, much of it under different pen-names. Also much of his early work was considered erotica or soft-core porn. Cinderella Sims is one of these early "erotic" works originally published in 1958 as $20 Lust by Andrew Shaw. Block went on to write many paperback crime originals which were published by Gold Medal. He didn't really hit it big and become well-known until the mid-90s.
Cinderella Sims was republished in hardcover by Subterranean Press in 2003. Is it as good as Block's Scudder or Rhodenbarr novels? Of course not. But it was still a good crime novel that I enjoyed. It's very politically incorrect by today's standards...sexist, racist, and homophobic. But what novel wasn't that was written back in the 50s. It's the story of a reporter, Ted Lindsay, who goes to New York to try to forget his past. There he meets a woman name Cinderella Sims, or Cindy for short, who tells him about a con she was involved with which nets her $50,000. But the gang she took the money from is after her. Ted really falls for Cindy and decides to help her out but is the story Cindy told him true or is something else going on? Well, there is something else going on involving counterfeiting but can Ted be resourceful enough to wind up with the loot and the girl?
I did really enjoy this for what it is. Was it pornographic? There are a lot of sex scenes depicted but no I wouldn't say it is pornographic...definitely not by today's standards. But if I would have read this when I was in high school in the 60s, I may have thought otherwise. It is, however, a fast-paced crime novel with violence and some good twists to the story. I may look for more early work by Block.
Cinderella Sims was republished in hardcover by Subterranean Press in 2003. Is it as good as Block's Scudder or Rhodenbarr novels? Of course not. But it was still a good crime novel that I enjoyed. It's very politically incorrect by today's standards...sexist, racist, and homophobic. But what novel wasn't that was written back in the 50s. It's the story of a reporter, Ted Lindsay, who goes to New York to try to forget his past. There he meets a woman name Cinderella Sims, or Cindy for short, who tells him about a con she was involved with which nets her $50,000. But the gang she took the money from is after her. Ted really falls for Cindy and decides to help her out but is the story Cindy told him true or is something else going on? Well, there is something else going on involving counterfeiting but can Ted be resourceful enough to wind up with the loot and the girl?
I did really enjoy this for what it is. Was it pornographic? There are a lot of sex scenes depicted but no I wouldn't say it is pornographic...definitely not by today's standards. But if I would have read this when I was in high school in the 60s, I may have thought otherwise. It is, however, a fast-paced crime novel with violence and some good twists to the story. I may look for more early work by Block.
